Why Is Solo Leveling Episode 8 Being Delayed?

gamerant.com:

Fans of Solo Leveling were disappointed to learn, shortly after the airing of the series' seventh episode, that there would be a delay in the release of episode 8. The news was first dispensed on the series' official X (Twitter) account on Saturday after episode 7 ended, where it was revealed that the next one would be episode 7.5, titled «How To Get Stronger», which will recap the events of the Solo Leveling anime thus far.

For many fans, the series' distributor, Aniplex, is to blame for the decision, as they are notorious for putting recap episodes into several anime series in the past; however, some fans are also aware of the fact that Sung Jinwoo voice actor Taito Ban has fallen ill and therefore needs to take time off to recover before returning to the studio. The Solo Leveling recap episode will air on Saturday, February 24 at 12 am JST or 7 am PT, while the 8th episode is expected to drop on March 2 at 9:30 am PT.

The biggest reason for the decision to push back the release of the 8th episode of Solo Leveling was out of concern for the health of Taito Ban, who voices Sung Jinwoo in the Japanese dub. About a week ago, it was reported that Taito Ban tested positive for COVID-19, which means that things cannot be business as usual as it would put his fellow cast members and others involved in the production at risk of infection.

At the height of the pandemic, there were hefty delays in the production and release of various anime, and even after production was allowed to commence, various studios had to quickly close their doors due to huge swathes of their staff coming down with the coronavirus and therefore being unable to work.

«The young man was called „humanity's weakest weapon.''

He took the first step to become stronger.

Looking back at episodes 1 to 7 with newly recorded character narration.“

– @Solo Leveling_PR on X (Twitter)

Part of the dissatisfaction among fans is the fact that the recap episode is a tool that often comes up in various anime titles