For me it was between Apothecary Diaries, Frieren and Dandadan. I'd be fine if either one won. Solo Leveling though...it's good, and I'm a fan as well, but it's not AOTY good.
Imo it doesn't matter that they changed him a bit here and there. In the 1st place, as an MC, Jin-woo isn't really that deep of a character, he's just a OP guy who either easily sweeps through everything, or struggles a bit and still win in the end.
The best thing the author did is showing his emotions when his mother recovered. Besides that, there wasn't much depth in his character. Like the fact that he was a weak E-rank before was basically erased from his personality. After he became strong, that part of him was just gone.
So the only thing important about him starting as a weak dude is how he was worth the power and that's it. It had minimal impact over his psyche and that just feels inhuman (but I guess that can be explained with how he's no longer human anyhow?)
