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It’s been over ten years since gates that lead to another dimension have begun appearing across the world. The battles between the magic beasts inhabiting the dungeons through the gates and the human hunters who have awakened the abilities to fight them show no signs of ending. Ordinarily, a hunter’s abilities do not change upon awakening, with their rank never increasing. However, the low-ranked Sung Jinwoo, known as “The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind,” gained the ability to level up through battle during a raid on a double dungeon.
Jinwoo has become a formidable necromancer with an army of loyal shadows at his command. But he must master these abilities while keeping them hidden from other hunters, all while racing against the clock to save his mother. As he faces humanity’s toughest foes, Jinwoo pushes his body and mind to the limit, and the full extent of his newfound power is revealed. Having completed a job-change quest that earned him the job “Shadow Monarch” and command over an army of shadows, Jinwoo heads into battle seeking the ingredients for the Elixir of Life to save his sick mother.
Crunchyroll, in collaboration with Aniplex, is bringing the world the eagerly awaited second season anime adaptation of the Korean manhwa sensation, Solo Leveling. (Our site’s review of the first two episodes of Season One) If you were lucky enough to catch Solo Leveling -ReAwakening in theaters last year, it featured a great recap of the first glorious season to prepare you for this new season airing this year.
Here’s a mostly spoiler free review for the first episode of Solo Leveling, Season Two which premiered on Saturday, January 4, 2025 on Crunchyroll. A big thanks to Crunchyroll for the early access!
You Aren’t E-Rank, Are You?
This second season of Solo Leveling drops the audience back at home with Jinjwoo–he’s in bed resting and recovering from the epic battle that he had with Igris–that’s worth rewatching. His first call to action was to pop up at Jinah’s, his younger sister, school for the parent/guardian teacher meetups. This is a great anchor to remind the audience of who and what our protagonist is doing all this for, this part of the emotional tether to his mission–providing for his kid sister and doing what he can to heal his ailing mother. He’s gone from the “Weakest Hunter of All Mankind“ to a force to be reckoned with, a man on different hunter’s radar, and also someone transformed starting with his own will. Sung, Jinwoo, you are that dude. You are exactly who you think you are.
But in Jinwoo’s case–there’s another task added to his ever mounting mountain of duties. By request of a teacher at Jinah’s school, he is asked to talk to one of her classmates, Han Song-yi, who has been working as a hunter. She may be familiar as the high school student who we saw in one of the motley crews hastily put together last season to make the required hunter quota when Jinwoo and Yoo Jinhoo were mining dungeons for treasure. This teen, while determined, is a low level hunter, who will ultimately have a difficult career ahead of her. Attempting to show her the harsh reality of the job, Jinwoo takes her to a raid designated for new hunters of the White Tiger guild. Things do NOT go as planned–as you can guess.
Can we stop and appreciate the new opening animation and song combo here for season two of Solo Leveling? The opening song is a BANGER! I did not know that LiSA and Felix of Stray Kids would sound so great on a track together, and the song gets me hyped. The new animation sequence for the opening opens to Jinwoo walking away with what looks like a bloody mouth and as he does we see a pomegranate fruit on the ground. The literary nerd within me instantly thought about what the symbolism could represent here. Depending on what part of the world, the pomegranate can represent a great number of meanings. My mind went to Greek mythology, and how the pomegranate is known as the “fruit of the dead.” This feels on par as last season Jinwoo leveled up and changed his job class, picking up a undead army.
Starting with that pomegranate, I followed the color red through the opening: from the red colored enemies of Jinwoo’s undead army to the tassel of Igris’ helmet all the way to the dying reddish light of the day where the country’s top hunters battle against creatures. There’s the red squares of the blackjack/roulette wheel to the red gem of pendant that Jinah–Jinwoo’s younger sister holds up to the light. There’s more red colored enemies that our main characters face off with, the red color of the slashes on impact from his weapon’s attacks ending with another pomegranate towards the end. I also first leaned on Greek mythology once seeing the fruit as I thought of the story of Hades and Persephone and how one was led into the underworld. We see a glimpse of the past Jinwoo–laying with a bed of lilies surrounding him–resurrection? A trade off? A sacrifice? This is a very intentional piece of animation with some hints and foreshadowing- I bet for the rest of the season.
Back to this review: This first episode of Solo Leveling’s second season really helps establish Jinwoo’s new status after all the training and grinding he did last season. Yes, he’s that dude, yes, he’s a force to be reckoned with, and yes, he’s a problem. He’s back home and leaning on his newfound strengths and knowledge and he’s moving forward with the plan. He gets to perform on a stage and that will include a boss baddie that will challenge him…whom I’m guessing was the short glimpse we had at the end of this episode. Jinwoo is rising to the occasion of his powers and his growing presence in the hunter world–he’s made use of his E-ranking as a hunter to fly under the radar and carry out his business, for sure.
The rising action off the battlefield really drives home the point that Jinwoo is on the radar of many more people now–hunters, hunter management, and more–for better or worse. He’s become too powerful and the timeline of his rise of power and him being at certain locations has pushed some to hypothesize that he’s reawakened. This comes in the form of dangerous and vindictive hunter Hwang Doongsoo who is looking to avenge his older brother, a hunter who lost his life last season. This also comes in the form of hunters who want to turn on him as their circumstances change as we probably see more in the following episodes this season.
“Solo Leveling Season Two arrives on the scene with much spectacle and substance: reminding us what drew us to the anime adaptation of the web-comic in the first place. A solid start for a new season, grounding us in Jinwoo’s purpose and presence in this latest chapter of his adventures.”
Verdict
While the pacing of the first episode of the first season bothered me, this time around the studio got it right with the first episode of the second season. We start off with Jinwoo and a piece of his emotional center: his family via his sister. And we’re reminded of some of the major players on the board who have or will soon have a greater interest in Jinwoo and his abilities. The gate incident brings him and his mission forward with much hinting about power and where his path leads.
I do love that this first episode of Solo Leveling does not disappoint on the animation quality side. Yes, we can gas up the fight scenes–which I am a fan of. (Shout out to the new opening sequence for season two, embedded above in this review!) Seeing Jinwoo’s new powers manifest in this new dungeon is a feast for the eyes, of course. These battles are only as appetizers for the main dish in the upcoming episode for next week, I’m sure. I am really loving the more subtle details from this episode like how this new version of a gate manifested and the brilliant scene where hunter Hwang Doongsoo is confronted by another hunter upon returning to Korea.
As amazing as it was to finally see Solo Leveling‘s first animated season, it feels just right having it return and be among the first in the Crunchyroll Winter 2025 Anime lineup. We are starting off strong with this action-packed series complete with so many little complexities and a protagonist we’ve been emotionally invested and rooting for. Solo Leveling Season Two arrives on the scene with much spectacle and substance: reminding us what drew us to the anime adaptation of the web-comic in the first place. A solid start for a new season, grounding us in Jinwoo’s purpose and presence in this latest chapter of his adventures.
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-
Streaming on Crunchyroll in January 2025
– SEASON 2 PRODUCTION STAFF –
Original Story by
Chugong
Original Illustrations by
DUBU (Redice Studio)
Directed by
Shunsuke Nakashige
Series Composition by
Noboru Kimura
Character Design by
Tomoko Sudo
Monster Design by
Hirotaka Tokuda
Art Director
Yasuhiro Okumura
Director of Photography
Daichi Iseki
Music Composed by
Hiroyuki Sawano
Animation Studio
A-1 Pictures
Motion Graphics
Production I.G
– SONGS –
Opening Theme Song “ReawakR” Performed by
LiSA (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)
– JAPANESE VOICE CAST –
Taito Ban as Sung Jinwoo
Reina Ueda as Cha Hae-In
Daisuke Hirakawa as Choi Jong-In
Hiroki Touchi as Baek Yoonho
Banjo Ginga as Gunhee Go
Makoto Furukawa as Woo Jinchul
Genta Nakamura as Yoo Jinho
Haruna Mikawa as Sung Jinah
Miyu Tomita as Han Song-Yi
– ENGLISH DUB VOICE CAST –
Aleks Le as Sung Jinwoo
Michelle Rojas as Cha Hae-In
Ian Sinclair as Choi Jong-in
Christopher Sabat as Baek Yoonho
Kent Williams as Gunhee Go
SungWon Cho as Woo Jinchul
Justin Briner as Yoo Jinho
Rebecca Wang as Sung Jinah
Emi Lo as Han Song-Yi
Solo Leveling is animated by acclaimed A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online). The series is directed by Shunsuke Nakashige (Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld).
Watch the first season of Solo Leveling only on Crunchyroll.com.
About Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the global anime brand that fuels fans’ love of anime. With the ambition to make anime an even bigger part of pop culture, Crunchyroll offers fans the ultimate anime experience and destination centered around a premium streaming service. Crunchyroll has the largest dedicated anime library, an immersive world of events, exciting theatrical releases, unique games, must-have merchandise, timely news, and more. Anime is for everyone and is accessible to stream across territories through Crunchyroll—whether on the go on mobile, through gaming consoles and big-screen devices at home, or on desktops anywhere.
Crunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.
Cover image: ©Solo Leveling Animation Partners
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The post Spectacle and Substance: ‘Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-’ Episode 1 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
It’s been over ten years since gates that lead to another dimension have begun appearing across the world. The battles between the magic beasts inhabiting the dungeons through the gates and the human hunters who have awakened the abilities to fight them show no signs of ending. Ordinarily, a hunter’s abilities do not change upon awakening, with their rank never increasing. However, the low-ranked Sung Jinwoo, known as “The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind,” gained the ability to level up through battle during a raid on a double dungeon.
Jinwoo has become a formidable necromancer with an army of loyal shadows at his command. But he must master these abilities while keeping them hidden from other hunters, all while racing against the clock to save his mother. As he faces humanity’s toughest foes, Jinwoo pushes his body and mind to the limit, and the full extent of his newfound power is revealed. Having completed a job-change quest that earned him the job “Shadow Monarch” and command over an army of shadows, Jinwoo heads into battle seeking the ingredients for the Elixir of Life to save his sick mother.
Crunchyroll, in collaboration with Aniplex, is bringing the world the eagerly awaited second season anime adaptation of the Korean manhwa sensation, Solo Leveling. (Our site’s review of the first two episodes of Season One) If you were lucky enough to catch Solo Leveling -ReAwakening in theaters last year, it featured a great recap of the first glorious season to prepare you for this new season airing this year.
Here’s a mostly spoiler free review for the first episode of Solo Leveling, Season Two which premiered on Saturday, January 4, 2025 on Crunchyroll. A big thanks to Crunchyroll for the early access!
You Aren’t E-Rank, Are You?
This second season of Solo Leveling drops the audience back at home with Jinjwoo–he’s in bed resting and recovering from the epic battle that he had with Igris–that’s worth rewatching. His first call to action was to pop up at Jinah’s, his younger sister, school for the parent/guardian teacher meetups. This is a great anchor to remind the audience of who and what our protagonist is doing all this for, this part of the emotional tether to his mission–providing for his kid sister and doing what he can to heal his ailing mother. He’s gone from the “Weakest Hunter of All Mankind“ to a force to be reckoned with, a man on different hunter’s radar, and also someone transformed starting with his own will. Sung, Jinwoo, you are that dude. You are exactly who you think you are.
But in Jinwoo’s case–there’s another task added to his ever mounting mountain of duties. By request of a teacher at Jinah’s school, he is asked to talk to one of her classmates, Han Song-yi, who has been working as a hunter. She may be familiar as the high school student who we saw in one of the motley crews hastily put together last season to make the required hunter quota when Jinwoo and Yoo Jinhoo were mining dungeons for treasure. This teen, while determined, is a low level hunter, who will ultimately have a difficult career ahead of her. Attempting to show her the harsh reality of the job, Jinwoo takes her to a raid designated for new hunters of the White Tiger guild. Things do NOT go as planned–as you can guess.
Can we stop and appreciate the new opening animation and song combo here for season two of Solo Leveling? The opening song is a BANGER! I did not know that LiSA and Felix of Stray Kids would sound so great on a track together, and the song gets me hyped. The new animation sequence for the opening opens to Jinwoo walking away with what looks like a bloody mouth and as he does we see a pomegranate fruit on the ground. The literary nerd within me instantly thought about what the symbolism could represent here. Depending on what part of the world, the pomegranate can represent a great number of meanings. My mind went to Greek mythology, and how the pomegranate is known as the “fruit of the dead.” This feels on par as last season Jinwoo leveled up and changed his job class, picking up a undead army.
Starting with that pomegranate, I followed the color red through the opening: from the red colored enemies of Jinwoo’s undead army to the tassel of Igris’ helmet all the way to the dying reddish light of the day where the country’s top hunters battle against creatures. There’s the red squares of the blackjack/roulette wheel to the red gem of pendant that Jinah–Jinwoo’s younger sister holds up to the light. There’s more red colored enemies that our main characters face off with, the red color of the slashes on impact from his weapon’s attacks ending with another pomegranate towards the end. I also first leaned on Greek mythology once seeing the fruit as I thought of the story of Hades and Persephone and how one was led into the underworld. We see a glimpse of the past Jinwoo–laying with a bed of lilies surrounding him–resurrection? A trade off? A sacrifice? This is a very intentional piece of animation with some hints and foreshadowing- I bet for the rest of the season.
Back to this review: This first episode of Solo Leveling’s second season really helps establish Jinwoo’s new status after all the training and grinding he did last season. Yes, he’s that dude, yes, he’s a force to be reckoned with, and yes, he’s a problem. He’s back home and leaning on his newfound strengths and knowledge and he’s moving forward with the plan. He gets to perform on a stage and that will include a boss baddie that will challenge him…whom I’m guessing was the short glimpse we had at the end of this episode. Jinwoo is rising to the occasion of his powers and his growing presence in the hunter world–he’s made use of his E-ranking as a hunter to fly under the radar and carry out his business, for sure.
The rising action off the battlefield really drives home the point that Jinwoo is on the radar of many more people now–hunters, hunter management, and more–for better or worse. He’s become too powerful and the timeline of his rise of power and him being at certain locations has pushed some to hypothesize that he’s reawakened. This comes in the form of dangerous and vindictive hunter Hwang Doongsoo who is looking to avenge his older brother, a hunter who lost his life last season. This also comes in the form of hunters who want to turn on him as their circumstances change as we probably see more in the following episodes this season.
“Solo Leveling Season Two arrives on the scene with much spectacle and substance: reminding us what drew us to the anime adaptation of the web-comic in the first place. A solid start for a new season, grounding us in Jinwoo’s purpose and presence in this latest chapter of his adventures.”
Verdict
While the pacing of the first episode of the first season bothered me, this time around the studio got it right with the first episode of the second season. We start off with Jinwoo and a piece of his emotional center: his family via his sister. And we’re reminded of some of the major players on the board who have or will soon have a greater interest in Jinwoo and his abilities. The gate incident brings him and his mission forward with much hinting about power and where his path leads.
I do love that this first episode of Solo Leveling does not disappoint on the animation quality side. Yes, we can gas up the fight scenes–which I am a fan of. (Shout out to the new opening sequence for season two, embedded above in this review!) Seeing Jinwoo’s new powers manifest in this new dungeon is a feast for the eyes, of course. These battles are only as appetizers for the main dish in the upcoming episode for next week, I’m sure. I am really loving the more subtle details from this episode like how this new version of a gate manifested and the brilliant scene where hunter Hwang Doongsoo is confronted by another hunter upon returning to Korea.
As amazing as it was to finally see Solo Leveling‘s first animated season, it feels just right having it return and be among the first in the Crunchyroll Winter 2025 Anime lineup. We are starting off strong with this action-packed series complete with so many little complexities and a protagonist we’ve been emotionally invested and rooting for. Solo Leveling Season Two arrives on the scene with much spectacle and substance: reminding us what drew us to the anime adaptation of the web-comic in the first place. A solid start for a new season, grounding us in Jinwoo’s purpose and presence in this latest chapter of his adventures.
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-
Streaming on Crunchyroll in January 2025
– SEASON 2 PRODUCTION STAFF –
Original Story by
Chugong
Original Illustrations by
DUBU (Redice Studio)
Directed by
Shunsuke Nakashige
Series Composition by
Noboru Kimura
Character Design by
Tomoko Sudo
Monster Design by
Hirotaka Tokuda
Art Director
Yasuhiro Okumura
Director of Photography
Daichi Iseki
Music Composed by
Hiroyuki Sawano
Animation Studio
A-1 Pictures
Motion Graphics
Production I.G
– SONGS –
Opening Theme Song “ReawakR” Performed by
LiSA (feat. Felix of Stray Kids)
– JAPANESE VOICE CAST –
Taito Ban as Sung Jinwoo
Reina Ueda as Cha Hae-In
Daisuke Hirakawa as Choi Jong-In
Hiroki Touchi as Baek Yoonho
Banjo Ginga as Gunhee Go
Makoto Furukawa as Woo Jinchul
Genta Nakamura as Yoo Jinho
Haruna Mikawa as Sung Jinah
Miyu Tomita as Han Song-Yi
– ENGLISH DUB VOICE CAST –
Aleks Le as Sung Jinwoo
Michelle Rojas as Cha Hae-In
Ian Sinclair as Choi Jong-in
Christopher Sabat as Baek Yoonho
Kent Williams as Gunhee Go
SungWon Cho as Woo Jinchul
Justin Briner as Yoo Jinho
Rebecca Wang as Sung Jinah
Emi Lo as Han Song-Yi
Solo Leveling is animated by acclaimed A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online). The series is directed by Shunsuke Nakashige (Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld).
Watch the first season of Solo Leveling only on Crunchyroll.com.
About Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the global anime brand that fuels fans’ love of anime. With the ambition to make anime an even bigger part of pop culture, Crunchyroll offers fans the ultimate anime experience and destination centered around a premium streaming service. Crunchyroll has the largest dedicated anime library, an immersive world of events, exciting theatrical releases, unique games, must-have merchandise, timely news, and more. Anime is for everyone and is accessible to stream across territories through Crunchyroll—whether on the go on mobile, through gaming consoles and big-screen devices at home, or on desktops anywhere.
Crunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.
Cover image: ©Solo Leveling Animation Partners
Love anime? So do we! See what else we have to offer on the site via anime here!
Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here! Follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram!
The post Spectacle and Substance: ‘Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-’ Episode 1 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Let’s start off with a tangentially related fact: Netflix has managed to cultivate an aggressively comprehensive anime library over the last few units of time. As far as Winter 2024 anime, they gave us the simuldubs of Dandandan, and Ranma ½, as well as one of the most thrilling historical fiction animes I’ve seen in a minute, Orb: On the Movement of the Earth. Over the last year, I watched Hajime No Ippo: The Fighting and Captain Tsubasa, to say nothing of how they started 2024 with Dungeon Meshi (which you may know as Delicious in Dungeon). It’s impressive that I watch more of anime on Netflix than on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and HiDive (that said, Crunchyroll is where I still get my One Piece fix as well as Solo Leveling and things like, and I’m not quite as familiar with HiDive’s library like my friend Carrie, and Hulu’s Medalist is making a really strong play but that’s a different article).
Based on the pilot, Sakamoto Days is going to continue that trend because it is so much fun and is going to be a perfect weekend watch harkening back to good old Saturday morning cartoons in the best way possible.
The basic premise of Sakamoto Days is that a legendary hitman, Taro Sakamoto, fell in love and gave up being a hitman to be a convenience shop owner and loving husband. However, when you’re that good, you’re not exactly able to leave, so Sakamoto still occasionally has to deal with hitmen. For example, Shin, a hitman with inexplicable ESP, who is the main instigator in the pilot episode.
Right from the introduction and the OP, one of the first things that jumps out is that Sakamoto Days feels like it has more in common with anime from two to three decades ago than its contemporaries. While it’s premise and sensibilities are in line with series like Spy x Family (another series with inexplicable ESP and an assassin living a normal life, except with a spy) and The Way of the House Husband (Yakuza turned doting husband), its aesthetic feels different. While watching, my immediate benchmarks were Black Lagoon for the clean gun animation and Full Metal Alchemist, mostly because Shin reminds of Edward Elric (it’s the blonde hair, the kneeling poses, and exaggerated facial expressions).
Hell, in a slightly different timeline, The Legend of Taro Sakamoto would have been a beloved early 2000s action anime that could have kickstarted a whole genre, not unlike John Wick. But instead, we live in the one where Sakamoto Days is about a guy who really loves his wife who has impressed onto him that he needs to help which he is also insisting upon impressing upon anyone willing to listen.
Watching Shin, the telepathic assassin, try to eliminate Sakamoto and ensuing shenanigans is just straight up joyful. It’s this wonderful tale about how sometimes you meet your heroes and have your life changed for the better. It’s about the fact that a simple boring life is worth protecting. It’s embracing the very 2020 trend of built in Anime Music Video energy. The dub cast was phenomenal between Kirk Thornton’s narration, Matthew Mercer’s Sakamoto, and Dallas Liu’s Shin, and honestly a good dub is a very good sign. It shows investment and belief in a series.
If it’s not clear, I like this series a lot and I think Netflix has another hit on their hands. I had picked up the manga last year and fell off quickly due to the nature of life, but after watching the pilot, I immediately hopped on the Shonen Jump app to pick up where I left off because I was so invested in the life of a man who just wants to exist and also happens to be skilled in several kinds of combat. We got ten more episodes in part 1, and we’ll get part 2 in July. It’s gonna be a really fun time y’all.
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The post 2020s Sensibilities with Early 2000s Aesthetics: ‘Sakamoto Days’ Pilot Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Justin Timberlake is continuing his “Forget Tomorrow World Tour” in 2025, kicking it off on Monday, January 13. While the singer only has 16 shows left in North America before he jets off to Argentina for Lollapalooza, it’s not too late to get your hands on some tickets.
Throughout Timberlake’s tour, there have been some hiccups along the way where Timberlake was forced to reschedule a few shows due to health issues. The “Mirrors” singer took to his Instagram to share that he had to reschedule six shows, writing:
“You don’t seem like a Jo Malone type of girl.”
I remember when my girl Felice said that to me when I was raving about a fragrance I’d fallen in love with from the brand. After I quizzed her exactly on what she meant (I needed to understand if I should be offended), I learned that she and others, often associated this as a beloved brand of our parents generation, and not one of the trendier brands you’d often see as you scroll on #FragranceTok.
And while that may have been a theme once upon a time, I’m here to say, not anymore. Or at least, not in my eyes.
For those unfamiliar, Jo Malone London has been around since the early 90s, and yes, they have become synonymous with their coveted scents and luxurious products for bath, body, and home (and also yes, your parents probably love them). Their most loved scents include Wood Sage & Sea Salt, English Pear & Freesia, and Lime Basil & Mandarin.
But those weren’t even any of the ones that caught my eye (or nose). I came to find out I’m a Mimosa & Cardamom kind of girl, and I’ve been obsessed ever since I first got my nose on it. This isn’t just another pretty perfume – it’s a masterpiece that reveals new dimensions throughout the day, and it’s safe to say the brand has converted me, an elder millennial, to its fold.
But let me break it down for you, so you can fully understand the Jo Malone journey I went through with this scent. This fragrance opens with fresh cardamom, its spicy-sweet warmth immediately drawing you in. Don’t expect the typical heavy spice note found in other fragrances, though. Here, it’s delicate and precisely balanced, reminiscent of that perfect morning chai.
The heart of the fragrance showcases the true star – mimosa. For those unfamiliar with mimosa in perfumery (and many aren’t), picture delicate yellow flowers with a powdery, honeyed sweetness that feels both ethereal and grounding. This isn’t the mimosa from your brunch cocktail – this is the mimosa flower, a sophisticated bloom that brings a subtle almond-like quality to the composition. When these powdery floral notes merge with the cardamom, creating a warm, skin-like scent.
The dry down reveals creamy tonka bean and sandalwood base notes, grounding the composition with a soft, cashmere-like warmth that lingers beautifully. There’s also a whisper of damask rose weaving throughout, adding an elegant touch without overwhelming the composition.
Everything about this fragrance sounds like something I would love. So dare I say it — I am in fact “a Jo Malone type of girl” after all?
Why I love it: What makes this fragrance exceptional is its evolution throughout the day. In the morning, the cardamom note feels invigorating and fresh. By afternoon, the mimosa creates a sophisticated aura that’s both professional and uniquely personal. As evening approaches, the base notes develop into a cozy, intimate scent that feels like luxury in fragrance form.
Now here’s one thing to note — Jo Malone fragrances are formulated as colognes (making them lighter and airier than traditional eau de parfums), meaning although I love the scent I did need to reapply throughout the day to get this to last on my skin.So consider this your opportunity to revisit that magical first spritz or experiment with different layering combinations. And speaking of layering…
Perfect pairings: What makes this fragrance even more versatile is how beautifully it plays with others – both within and outside the Jo Malone collection. Layer it with Byredo’s Gypsy Water to amplify its woody undertones, or pair it with Le Labo’s Vanille 44 for a cozy, sweet embrace that feels perfect for winter evenings. For an unexpected twist, I’ve found it works beautifully with D.S. & Durga’s I Don’t Know What – the combination creates an ethereal, hard-to-pin-down scent that garners constant compliments. And on days when I want to lean into the spicier side, a spritz of Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge 540 transforms Mimosa & Cardamom into something utterly magnetic.
The British fragrance and lifestyle brand has earned its reputation for their unique portfolio of scents, from beloved classics to innovative new releases. They consistently reimagine the rules of perfumery by mixing unexpected combinations of ingredients and creating elegant yet playful concepts. Mimosa & Cardamom stands as evidence that Jo Malone London isn’t resting on tradition – they’re creating contemporary classics that resonate with a new generation of fragrance enthusiasts.
This scent has become my signature for good reason: it’s sophisticated without pretense, unique without being polarizing, and comfortable without fading into the background. So for those who’ve also dismissed Jo Malone as “not their type,” I encourage you to give Mimosa & Cardamom a chance. You might discover, as I did, that sometimes the most unexpected choices become the most perfect fits. After all, isn’t that what personal style is truly about?
The post ESScent Of The Week: This Unexpected Jo Malone Scent Became My Signature — And Here’s Why appeared first on Essence.