Vinland Saga

Tales of Vikings pillaging and plundering have always been exciting in my eyes, so the setting of Vinland Saga really grasped my attention. An anime produced by Wit Studio featuring a more historical take on the adventures of Vikings? What could possibly go wrong? A lot apparently. While it started off really promising, Vinland Saga got increasingly worse as it went along. And just like the serene land of England that the Vikings damaged and maimed, the Vikings did the same to the quality of this anime. Though it was primarily one Viking in particular. Frickin Thorfinn This dude is apparently the protagonist of the story, but he does absolutely nothing to deserve this title. No wait, he runs like Naruto and is OP for some inexplicable reason after receiving absolutely no adequate training throughout his young life, so I guess he does check off most of the boxes for "generic anime protagonist." Unfortunately, he has zero semblance of development until the very end of the anime. And his personality throughout the entire show is as stale as expired bread. Now I don't care if he evolves much more as a person in the much longer source material. I'm basing everything off of what I see in the anime, and what I see is a poorly written character whose total stagnancy is astounding. Also, Vinland Saga is considered to be a historical anime and boasts a more realistic take on Vikings. Now no one, least of all me, expected this anime to be entirely realistic. I mean come on, it's an anime after all. But when Thorfinn can accomplish feats like casually charging through hundreds of arrows shot at his head, leaping 12 feet in the air over a moat, sprinting up the side of a vertical castle wall, and running through dozens of trained soldiers in armor while making abrupt slashing motions with his knives that decapitate all of them with one slice, then I start to have a problem with the "realism" factor. Moments like these had deleterious effects on the quality of the anime in my eyes, and Thorfinn's inexplicable demigod-like feats of strength and skill when compared to the generally normal capabilities of the majority of the rest of the cast caused a disconnect with the historical direction that the anime seemed to be aiming for. Of course that loud, mountain of a man Thorkell is somehow worse when it comes to absolutely shattering any sense of realism that Vinland Saga was aiming for, but I don't even want to attempt to talk about that horrendously written character. Yes, I believe Thorfinn failed spectacularly as a protagonist. But thankfully, there's Askeladd. He's honestly much more of a main character than Thorfinn, and is actually quite compelling and given a believable reason for his actions. He's clearly the deepest character and most entertaining part of the show, and despite my issues with many aspects of the anime *cough* Thorfinn *cough* he kept things interesting. He's the type of character that you initially want to hate but then grow to appreciate as time goes on, and I have to commend Vinland Saga for writing him in such a compelling way. But even Askeladd couldn't save Vinland Saga from falling into mediocrity. And that's thanks to the inclusion of another certain character. Frickin Canute Canute is a Norse princess waifu...but he's a dude. The entire arc surrounding Canute can be summarized as Askeladd's vikings with Canute in tow march through all of England in fear of Thorkell's vikings who are in pursuit. It's terribly boring and is worsened by Canute constantly whining to his cone-headed adviser until even Askeladd gets annoyed by his character and tries to make a man out of him. Canute remains stagnant for many episodes until he has this incredibly pathetic and laughable epiphany about love that doesn't really make any sense and his character suddenly does a complete 180. His voice proceeds to drop an octave and his eyes get smaller and sharper to visually imply that yes, Canute's balls have finally dropped. His character transformation is so abrupt and nonsensical that I can only describe it as a monumental failure when it comes to development. This is especially sad because I know that the author of Vinland Saga has the ability to write quality characters. He did it with Askeladd after all. It just feels like he sort of gave up on trying to realistically develop Canute over a proper period of time and was just like "Screw it, he's a badass now!" Which is honestly quite unfortunate. I also find the narrative to be quite weak and lazily written. Sure, it shows on multiple occasions how harsh and cruel Vikings can be, but in reality it just depicts a bunch of dudes traveling around accomplishing not much of anything for like 20 episodes with a few "dark" moments sprinkled in to remind viewers that they're watching a medieval fantasy. I honestly couldn't find much depth or intrigue in this anime at all. It's just not interesting to me whatsoever and feels like a ginormous waste of time. And the whole revenge plot surrounding Thorfinn and Askeladd had about as much substance as the awful revenge plot featured in Masamune-Kun's Revenge. Which is to say that there's practically zero substance, as it never feels like Thofinn makes any progress whatsoever at getting back at Askeladd. Now this would be fine if the anime took the route of trying to develop their bond and bring them closer over the years, but it doesn't feel like that either. That is of course until the anime force feeds us that angle at the end in a last ditch attempt to derive some emotional impact...sorry, it didn't work. The whole show is just Thorfinn being perpetually angry at Askeladd and Askeladd being sort of indifferent to Thorfinn, which was quite disappointing for me. It made the whole anime feel sort of pointless. And when I can draw parallels to frickin Masamune-Kun's Revenge, which is in my opinion one of the poorest produced anime of the 2010s, you just know that Vinland Saga done goofed up somewhere along the line. Despite my harsh criticism of Vinland Saga, I don't actually hate the show or anything. It does have some solid visual and sound work (bar the jarring CGI), courtesy of Wit Studio. And there are some fun fight sequences included. I'm just disappointed that the anime squandered so much potential. While it admittedly starts strong with Thors and finishes strong with Askeladd, the rest...unfortunately isn't the best.

If Don LaFonaine narrated Vinland Saga from the start, he’d begin the show with “In a world….” In Vinland Saga, we are introduced to a Viking world, a world of historical fiction rich with culture and testing the limits of survival. Based on the manga of the same name, it’s a show that teaches more than about survival. If you’re ready to embark on this epic adventure, then be ready for a 24-episode saga like you’ve never experienced before. Thorfinn Thorsson is the Icelandic protagonist, a character with complex personality driven with an ambition. After the death of his father, he becomes a warrior, someone who will do whatever it takes to get his revenge. In this 11th century, the audience must understand how barbaric life is. Every day is an adventure where possibilities are almost limitless. Vinland Saga is very engrossing with a rich culture and preaches to the elements of historical fiction. This anime adaptation adapts a story to get us familiar with its Viking world, the harsh life of Thorfinn Throsson, and what it means to survive. Besides Planetes, Vinland Saga is mangaka Makoto Yukimura’s most prominent work. The anime adaptation remains faithful throughout the series but the director does mention that “there will be some adjustments to the manga”. With that in mind, the audience shouldn’t need to worry too much because Vinland Saga is fundamentally an adaptation for fans of the original series. The first few episodes takes off to showcase the violence and barbaric nature of the 11th century. From the harsh weather to immense amount of bloodshed, it is obvious the producers wanted to make the anime feels as real as possible. Wit Studio managed to carry a caliber of high production quality throughout a great deal of this series. The landscapes and Baltic Sea are illustrated with gorgeous visual quality enhanced by its realism. The scenes in some episodes contains elements of photorealism, characteristics that makes this show’s visual quality nothing less than a near masterpiece. There’s a Viking culture that we must quickly adapt to such as the rough clothing, crude ships, and historical weapons. Vehicles are replaced by horses and technology is crafted by the hands of humankind. In essence, this anime retains a beautiful setting but with dark elements of complex storytelling. With the characters in mind, Thorfinn is the central protagonist as we focus on his rebellious life. During his childhood, he was happier like an ordinary kid before his life changed forever. Now, he carries a vengeful attitude with a rebellious nature while trusting almost no one but himself. He is what I describe as a survivalist, someone who is opportunistic, wild, and unpredictable. He is fundamentally a decent person although some of his actions are questionable throughout the series. It’s hard to judge his character altogether in this adaptation but based on his actions, you could say he is far from a heroic protagonist. What is important is the relationship he develops with others in particular, Askeladd, the man who manipulated Thorfinn into his service. This becomes a complex relationship because Askeladd was contracted to kill Thors, Thorfinn’s father. As leader of his own Viking band, he is an important figure because of his influence on Thorfinn. And the more you watch Vinland Saga, the more you’ll realize how much certain characters have influence over others. Taking some steps back, the audience should also be familiar with Thors, the father of Thorfinn. As one of the most powerful character in the franchise, Thors is a testament and symbol of warrior. And despite not being around as much as the other characters, Thors teaches us what it means to be a true warrior. This is somewhat in contrast to Thorkell, a barbaric man with inhuman strength and widely considered to be one of the most brutal warriors in the series. He loves the thrill of fighting, to always find powerful opponents, and tests his strength. After encountering Thorfinn, he comes to respect the boy for his inner strength and determination. He is even somewhat honorable in that when facing against worth opponents, he prefers to settle it in a fair fight, without interference or bias. In my eyes, he is a breakout character to always keep an eye on. But Vinland Saga isn’t just about barbarism and violence. It has a society ruled by order with laws and dictatorship. From within the story, we meet Canute, a prince with a cowardly personality and bishonen-like appearance. Created as a foil as some of the main characters, he starts off as a meek man but transforms into a strong headed prince after losing someone close in his life. And that’s what makes Vinland Saga so meaningful. Character deaths are impactful and causes people to change as in the way it’s meant to. I can honestly say from heart that character evolution in Vinland Saga is one of the core fundamentals of the series. It’s not just about evolving characters either but showing the reality of death. It’s a clever way to avoid character assassination by changing their personalities through events. As I watched more of the show, it becomes more and more intriguing to understand each one. Unfortunately, a 2-cour adaptation does limit the potential of full character development. There’s much more to be found in the manga but that’s for another story. If I said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. Vinland Saga contains a cruel world and filled with moments of despair, emotions, and conviction driven by action. If you’re here to see fan service, it’s served with bloodshed and body horror, not half naked women. It has little time to humor as its time period isn’t an era to enjoy life. It’s to survive in it. What will seduce the audience to this series’ theme ultimately come down its hallmark of creative realism. It manages to be exactly what it advertised from the start and in Thors’ words, make a “true warrior with no sword”.

“From the distant north, beyond the frozen sea… They came, bringing with them the black clouds of war.” As the struggles between English and Danes grew worse each passing year, calls for peace had diminished, and death became commonplace. In the wake of these restless times were Vikings; violent raiders who reaped the spoils of war and marched to the beat of their drum. Brutal, merciless and unfeeling, they pillaged whoever they pleased and left only wreckage behind them. And raised by the band who murdered his father is Thorfinn, a young boy driven by hatred, longing to cut down the one responsible and avenge his past. This is the tale of Vinland Saga, a sprawling epic penned by Makoto Yukimura that thrusts you into a world drenched in bloody violence and battle-hungry warriors. At least, that is what the manga first introduces readers to. Whereas the anime, produced by Wit Studio with director Shuuhei Yabuta at the helm, decides to take a different approach with the saga by telling its narrative chronologically. Aside from a short battle sequence, viewers aren’t subjected with carnage outright, but a calm and tranquil village on the coast of Iceland untouched by the remnants of war. In doing so, it trades the fast-paced feel of its original story for a more methodical slow burn that fortunately retains enough intrigue and uneasiness to keep it from becoming a tedious watch. Such a change carries significant implications for the remainder of its runtime, altering the show’s focus in such a way that brings more light to the world at large. Yukimura is often praised for his passion of technical realism as displayed in his previous work Planetes. Vinland Saga is no different, taking inspiration from Nordic tales that combine elements of culture, family and overarching philosophy into an engrossing plot. Here these features are given slightly more consideration, with early episodes providing a greater representation of the lifestyles embodied in this realistic setting. The nameless faces we encounter, though unimportant to the story at large do feel like real people, with their own goals, families and livelihoods. This level of realism is also found through various anime-only scenes later in the series, that both maintain the steady pace of the show between key events and help in conveying an appropriate air of verisimilitude for its interpretation of the saga at large. With a more methodical approach comes a better understanding of Vinland Saga’s characters initially. Some may be inclined to point out how this comes at the cost of cast members losing some degree of subtlety, feeling forced in the process. But what is important to note is that characters early on lay the foundation for the development of our protagonist. Thorfinn is easily impressionable and holds a curious eye from those he admires, most notably his father who he learned the concepts of honour and courage from. His actions when his morals are tested, and more importantly Thorfinn’s reactions aim to give viewers a clearer look at the bigger picture – a story of personal and global discovery. It is more than happy to let viewers dwell on the tender moments and melancholic scenery before the story inevitably shifts gears. As a child, Thorfinn sat at the feet of the great explorer Leif Erickson, captivated by his thrilling tales and in turn longed for adventure of his own. However, those youthful fantasies are soon shattered in a raid that leaves the boy craving revenge on the band’s leader, Askeladd. Vinland Saga thrives off the dichotomy between Thorfinn and Askeladd. A child’s innocence ruined with only vengeance left in its place, and a man that epitomizes what any Viking would want in a leader: strong, intelligent, calculated and charismatic. One wears his deadened heart on his sleeve, unfazed by the “comrades” around him and content with watching the world burn, while the other holds a silver tongue and laid-back demeanour, masking his desire for influence by any means necessary. Thorfinn is willing to take part in whatever atrocities asked of him if it means bringing him closer to killing his commander, even though he’s just a pawn in the greater game Askeladd is playing. Their relationship is one that walks on thin ice, giving each of their interactions a hint of uncertainty. Not only is it hard to predict how the plot will progress and subsequently where it'll take this band of misfits, but also how Thorfinn will be able to achieve his revenge, if at all. Consistent characterization is arguably the show's greatest strength, as within a story so epic in scope lies a profound study of character archetypes. The source material knows that historical stories often require authentic characters and the adaptation does not forget this. Vikings are neither vicious by nature nor are they depicted as idealized figures of legend, just men hardened through tough lives with dreams of making a fortune. The raids are done less out of malice but rather from the need to survive in a landscape where winters are long and resources are scarce. These warriors are humanized to an extent that prompts questions on the nature of war and those who voluntarily take part in such. The world and its inhabitants are considered for with a more holistic perspective than what anime normally offers, delivering on its rare setting that warrants a mature audience. There have been criticisms lobbied at the anime regarding some of the exaggerated feats of power and use of clichés as if it were a shounen story, which I find ironic given the manga was originally published as a shounen before being moved to a seinen magazine. Being a relatively faithful adaptation, the anime incorporates these parts but gradually grounds them into the plot, convincingly enough to where it slowly but surely no longer requires as much suspension of disbelief from the viewer. While Vinland Saga is rich in depth and subtext, it is still a story steeped in action and combat. Unfortunately, this is where the anime suffers most. It’s worth pointing out that this show does have its merits visually; art director Yusuke Takeda and his staff at studio BAMBOO boast some astounding digital background art that capture the gravity in times of mourning and sorrow. The voice acting performances – Thorfinn’s especially – are excellent in bringing the struggles and emotions to life. Character designs by Takahiko Abiru do well to imitate Yukimura’s artwork – albeit not with such excellent attention to detail or graphic displays of savagery, but still quite serviceable enough for a TV anime. There’s this myth that Vinland Saga is among the likes of Berserk, Kingdom and Vagabond as manga considered impossible to adapt. This is hyperbole, as apart from Vagabond’s aesthetic, these can all be realistically recreated in anime depending mostly on the staff, budget and scheduling. Fixating on atrocious efforts in the last decade only soils the standards that fandoms will have for future attempts. Thankfully, this adaptation is generally effective in transforming the majority of the manga’s illustrations and panel compositions to animated form... Expect for one key aspect: the action. The battles in Vinland Saga look about as disorderly as the computer-generated ocean that our cast frequently sail over. Of course, that isn’t the say that water is the only thing that is CG: the boats are always CG, the foot soldiers often turn CG, the entire environment in long-shots end up being CG, and all these examples of CG integration look especially jarring. It’s reminiscent of Shuuhei Yabuta’s work overseeing the 3D animation on Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2, with short yet often noticeable faults. The direction overall is still an improvement over his last directorial effort on Inuyashiki, even holding flashes of excellence as the different animation styles, models and digital effects merge into great action sequences. But these moments are few and far between a …

The following will be more of a critique, rather than a review, so expect a lot of spoilers. As a foreword I'd like to say that, while I do realise that the historical tag doesn't contain within itself a "realistic" tag, the events that play out in Vinland Saga are an absolute farce, given the time period and historical background. Even the suspension of disbelief made out of titanuim would eventually crumble and collapse under the amount of stupidity this show contains. With that out of the way, let's begin. -Characters Thors The Troll (aka Thorfinn's dad) - he is the most ridiculous character in Vinland Saga, as his background, decisions and moral stance make him seem simply insane in the world he inhabits. Thors is the former commander of the Jomsvikings, who, after the life full of war and bloodshed, decides to do a complete 180 after holding the hand of his newborn daughter. No meaningful setup, no explanation, no nothing. A man whose entire existance revolved around warfare, turns into a pacifistic buddha in less than a minute at the snap of the fingers. If you think that's acceptable, there's nothing I can say. Thors also shows his excellent decision making skills as early as the first episode, where he buys a runaway slave at a death's door. The payment? 8 sheep. Yes, a man that lives in Iceland of all places, during the winter, who also has a family, trades 8 sheep for a man that's about to die. If that's not a stunning display of stupidity, I don't know what is. He is also the strong proponent of childish morals on the level of: "If you kill your enemies, you're no better than them". Truly insipiring coming from a man who lives in 11-th century and who also happens to be a former leader of what is essentially a warband. Thors' death is yet again brought about by his inability to make well-thought out and weighted decisions, as he thinks that pirates(!) will honor his request, only to end up being shot down by a squad of archers. He also dies standing tall and proud, because of course he does. I also forgot to mention, that his ridiculous morals are further reinforced with the fact that he always fights unarmed and manages to defeat entire groups of fighters armed with swords, axes, shields and etc., as if he was Kenshiro from Hokuto no Ken. Thorfinn - a non-character that is defined by a singular trait and nothing else: a vendetta against Askellad, cause in his twisted logic - it's Askellad who is responsible for his father's death, and not his (Thors') stupidity. There's really nothing to say about Thorfinn, even if I wanted to. He's moody and edgy, talks primarily by barking out the same phrase over and over, or using edgy one-liners. Whenever someone mentions his dad he simple flies into a blind rage. As for his abilities as a fighter, he, for whatever reason, has an acrobatic fighting style with dual-wielded daggers (sometimes he weilds even 3 daggers, holding the third one in his mouth, as if he was Roronoa from One Piece), and, like a character that we'll get to soon, seems to be able to use shukuchi, as there's no other explanation for his sudden teleportations during fights. Askellad - a character that is hailed by fans as someone who is on par (depth and development wise) with such characters as Guts, Spike Spiegel, The Laughing Man, Shinji and etc., you get the idea. That is however, a blatant lie, though I will concur that Askellad is a lot better than the rest. He's a bastard son of Olaf, a local hero and greatest warrior of some city in Denmark, who once upon a time made "love" with a slave girl from Wales, which resulted in Askellad being born. This awful circumstances result in Askellad having one definitive trait and burning passion. The trait - hatred towards danes. The passion - to kill all said danes, or the very least subjugate them. Taking Askellad seriously was not too hard, until the flashback of his childhood occured in episode 22 or 23, where an 11 year old, who did nothing his entire life except clean the stables, clean the snow and taking out ash from the furnaces and fireplaces (that's where his name comes from, by the way), managed to hold his own in a duel against his father and local war hero Olaf. How was he able to go toe to toe with someone like that (eve if it was for no longer than 40 seconds) is never explained and the audience is just expect to accept it. Sorry, but that's not happening. Another thing he's known for is his "genius" schemes, in which he attempts to play his enemies, but achieves a pyrrhic victory at best, though he did manage to outwit Thors, but that's hardly an accomplishment. As he later states himself, most of his problems stem from the fact that his daddy (Olaf) didn't love him and his mom, and treated them like cattle. Canute - a young man, whose timid character and androgynous features lead others to mistake him for a woman. Like the rest of the cast, there's not much to say about Canute. Since his introduction and until episode 21, he was a sissy that did nothing except prayed to Jesus with his aide and a priest at his side, and abhorred war and everything that's moderately associated with it, which in turn led everyone else to point and laugh at them. In episode 21, he has a 3 minute discussion with priest about human nature and love, during which he arrives to the conclusion that humanty is flawed by it's nature, and that he'll be the one to right the wrongs and save everyone. This, together with the fact that Ragnar (his aide) was killed a few episodes prior, causes his metamorphosis from who he is into a discount version of Griffith from Berserk. Also, just like Askellad, the core of his issues comes from the fact that his father (the current king of Denmark) didn't spend a lot of time with him when he was a child and never loved him much nor accepted his unorthodox behaviour (for the times of the setting), which resulted in Canute treating Ragnar (his aide) as his actual father. Bjorn - another non-character and Askellad's right hand man. He's quite strong, and, in time of need, is known to consume mushrooms that cause him to enter a state of berserker rage, when he becomes violent to such an extentet that he is unable do distinguish between friend or foe. He's just there, but at one point he finds out that Askellad is not a pure dane, and that he actually hates them, which leads Bjorn to defect from Askellad. This conflict concludes in a duel which Bjorn loses, his last words being that he only wanted to be friends with Askellad *yawn*. Thorkell - an individual of exceptional stature, size and physical build, who is said on many occasions to be one of, if not the strongest warrior. In an interesting contrast to this is his behaviour, which is that of a child, as all he does is expresses glee and joy at the though of a battle, and wants nothing esle except that - more fighting. He is also the leader of an army that consisting of 500 men. How those 500 men can consider him a leader and follow him, when he has 0 leadership skills and also doesn't seem to rule over them with fear, is beyond me. Thorkell is also the character responsible for most damage done to one's suspension of disbelief, as he lifts boulders that weigh a couple tons above his head and hurls them. At one occasion throws a spear over what seems to be a distance of no less than 400+ meters and manages to impale 4 people on the said spear (somehow), and more. He used to serve under Thors during his time in Jomsvikings and has great admiration for the man, as he is the only one to ever beat him (how could that have happened is never shown, nor is it beliavble, but w/e). Therefore, he also expects Thorfinn (when he's confronted with him) to be up to par with Thors in that regard, something that Throfinn barely manages to deliver in their first bout. The rest of the cast do not warrant to be looked on individually in my opinion, as they can be summed up in a single sentence. -Plot Guess it's there?…

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, I will cut straight to the point. Have you ever experienced a work with an intriguing premise capable of appealing to you… being undermined by a plethora of flaws and handled half-heartedly? Vinland Saga is such a case. I do not consider this to be a great anime, let alone the AoTY; for all (or actually, because of) my love of medieval history, I couldn’t resist reviewing this too ambitious-for-its-own-good work. Note: this work may contain spoilers, at the final section for the plot. [1. Starting with the visuals] (-) The animation is simply put, lackluster. Audaciously lackluster. And it shows early: at the first episode we are shown a flashback to a naval battle where Thors (the protagonist’s father) participates, based on the Battle of Hjörungavágr. Immediately, we are greeted with ugly CGI. For example, water does not feel natural at all, but rather as some industrial sludge. This gets worse during later parts, for CGI utterly fails to not stand out like a sore thumb at animated sequences. The blending of hand-drawn animation with CGI is poor, with certain sequences having a rather unnatural feel. One of my biggest complaints though has to do with abusing stills and limited animation. Before presenting examples, I want to say this loud and clear: I do NOT look down on any animation techniques, but here the execution is full of eyesores and inexcusable. When decent CGI is featured on Land of the Lustrous or when Kill la Kill uses limited animation to save budget while oozing originality, I find it odd that WIT failed to achieve harmony. The production often screamed sloppiness and cutting down costs rather than presenting something worth its hype. Anyway, at the aforementioned battle we are treated to an aerial view shot of miniature toy soldiers “fighting” on longboats… resembling sequences in some B-grade browser strategy game. With these longboats floating on the aforementioned CGI sludge. Concerning limited animation and stills, they are abused for crowds, the result being jarring and ill-fitting. Mostly in duels, but is rather commonplace for enemies to be frozen in place before getting slaughtered by characters forcibly being established as master fighters. (+) The art is not perfect, and in fact, can feel bland and drained of detail. Examples include longboats, distant crowds, fortifications, armor, etc. They often lack eye candy and polish and the palette feels too “worn out”, despite the fact plain colors can draw the best qualities out of the historical genre. Nonetheless, I include art in the positive aspect for two reasons. First of all, each person depicted has a different build, clothing and facial features, including freckles and scars. The second is the backgrounds. Whether an Icelandic settlement wracked by the elements, the town of York or a mountainous passage in Wales, there is a plethora of gorgeous landscapes that caught my eye. [2.About the audio sector] I won’t say much, despite valuing sound direction, voice acting and music a lot. I’m mostly content, though I would prefer a more medieval-sounding OST rather than one fitting for a stock shonen. Characters from different peoples were supposed to be unable to communicate, but all lines are in Japanese. I recall the first chapter featuring Franks speaking in (nonetheless modern) French when in the presence of Norsemen, to portray this. An understandable break from reality, given how difficult it would be to include lines in Welsh, Old Norse, etc. But it still seemed odd. [3. On to the non-production factors, starting with characters] (-) I’m either neutral or dislike most of them. Thorfinn is a flat revenge story protagonist: being obsessed, brooding and resentful are his sole traits. He is static, never takes notice of the surrounding environment to contemplate and thus is easily manipulated. Thorkell is mighty and larger than life. Given the setting and his culture, his character somewhat fits but to an extend also ruins the tone; multiple sequences and lines are straight from B-grade action films, one of the worst offenders being his debut at the first episode. Still, the ones that left me with the sourest of impressions are Thors and Canute, enough to include separate explanations at the plot section. (+) Despite my distaste for multiple characters, one fascinated me deeply: Askeladd, the deuteragonist. He is a ruthless and callous commander but also compelling, being calculated and abusing obfuscating blitheness to take advantage of his enemies’ carelessness. But this is only the peak of the iceberg, as we are gradually shown more fascinating facets (e.g. being a “stealth mentor” and a person forged by tragedy). He is also morally myopic and commits multiple atrocities, but this makes him more than a mere villain or anti-hero, he is over half of the show’s magic. Askeladd aside, I believe some side characters served their selected roles well. One of them is King Sweyn, whom I deem fit as an aged and jaded ruler. [4.And, let’s conclude with the plot] (a.) “A true warrior does not need a sword.” – Thors. First arc: as you may understand, I am not fond of its start. However, the production is not the sole issue: it’s the presence of Thors. After the naval battle, we are treated to Thors living with his family in Iceland as settlers. Because of a conflict of interest, a landowner and his retainers arrive and we are treated to interesting historical elements: slavery and the workings of a commodity economy. Thors established himself as unlike his peers; he shuns violence and favors negotiations, even for no practical gain and much for the village to lose. The problem is, it makes zero sense to display such morality more in line with modern pacifism. It is simply not convincing in such a warlike honor-based society, and during these turbulent ages. My bewilderment is summed up by the aforementioned phrase. What on earth is its meaning? If you are not willing to take up arms and be cautious, you may end up enslaved, raped, tortured and/or killed. And this is a fact, no presence or enforcement of any form of international law back then. What really ticked me off however was the event that kick started the revenge arc: rather than brush aside his morals to defend nail and tooth his own son and kinsmen, Thors resorts to punching and preaching to a bunch of pirates, whose leader is willing to exploit anything and anyone for the sake of his goals. Everyone could end up dead or worse, if it wasn’t for the leader’s personal morality. The outcome to this clash ends as a disgrace entirely because of the context. It is an insult to my intelligence, and too convenient. The rest of the arc is about the relationship of Thorfinn and Askeladd, as well the Danish invasion on England, following St. Brice's Day massacre, concluding with a battle for London. The point of view is focused on the Norsemen, the Anglo-Saxons being treated as either naïve civilians or soldiers ready to die en masse. One positive aspect is presenting samples of Norse culture, such as whaling and the Laugardagr. I also liked how a siege at France was included in an episode. A negative aspect was the presence of pop and Japanese culture references; a moving Star Wars reference, the protagonist Naruto-running and others, this trend continuing to the second arc, without contributing to anything. Another example is right below. (b.) “Battle isn’t the same as Shogi.” – Askeladd. Second arc: I prefer this arc by far, yet also has issues of its own. I was mostly content with the plot; a conflict of faiths, legitimate elements of values dissonance, plus insight on the history of the British Isles. There were even clever tactical elements. This arc introduces Canute, based on Cnut the Great, for whom I will not pretend that I know everything. Whatever I judge is according to the anime. After a certain event and a trial of related hardships, Canute n…

There was a time when Vinland Saga was considered unadaptable. Along with Berserk, Kingdom and Vegabond, no one would touch it for 15 years. Man, have WIT proved everyone wrong. Vinland saga was absolutely masterfully crafted from beginning to end in every aspect. The story follows a young Icelandic adventurer on his quest for revenge so of course there’s great fight scenes, but where Vinland succeeds is its absolutely amazing writing. When watching the series, I genuinely forgot that I was watching an anime at several times. The acting, OST, writing and direction create a very live action experience and just feel Oscar worthy and real. Vinland Saga also maintains a very grounded approach throughout. Everything feels realistic. This is not a series with crazy power-ups, energy blasts, superpowers, etc. It’s about a man on a journey of self discovery and the lessons learnt along the way. Lessons which are very applicable to all of our lives. The character interactions, development and world-building are some of the best I have ever seen. Of course the fights are well done, but you’ll find yourself being absorbed into the story and characters in a way that rarely happens. In conclusion, if you’re a fan of GOT, history, seinen, anime with character driven stories and historical dramas, you will love Vinland. It is undoubtedly the new anime of the year and with WIT seemingly not doing SNK season 4, should be their new crown jewel.

Vinland Saga is pretty awful, but for reasons I truly find unfortunate, most of why can be boiled down not to its story, characters, or anything like that, but simply to its troubled & misguided production. Above all else, Vinland Saga is an absolute nightmare of mixed media failure after mixed media failure. As they have the prestige of being Production IG’s subsidiary, WIT Studio was hooked up with the legendary art director of countless illustrious productions, Takeda Yūsuke, and naturally, he and his team at IG funded and staffed, Studio Bamboo, began work on Vinland Saga’s background art selection an estimated half a year before WIT took to animating it. This process was able to proceed ahead of WIT Studio’s despairingly behind schedule storyboards because—as anyone whose seen even a minute of this artless indignity could guess—WIT Studio had appointed their CG Director to direct the project and resigned the anime to being a direct adaptation months before pencil was even put to paper or stylus to tablet, and so the adaptation was thereby in no position to get ambitious with its cinematography. In the end, anything not ripped directly from the pages of the manga was, in consideration of the director’s credentials, fitted to 3DCG environments obviously not handled by Takeda or his team of 2D artists. Inevitably, what was vomited atop these modern masterpieces of digital artwork was some of the most embarrassing character animation and equally humiliating CG models proportional to the caliber of the studio putting them out of all time. From the very third episode onward, there would be weekly threads on 4chan’s anime and manga board dedicated to archiving mountainous amounts of off-model character artwork picked from hopeless abundance. Nearly every single frame of this show which isn’t one of a character close-up is off-model at worse or funnily under-detailed at best, and the further away from the camera perspective the characters stood, the more laughable if not depressing the state of the character artwork found itself…until calling it “artwork” became a true stretch of the world. By the time episode counts were getting into their teens, Takeda Yūsuke’s heartbreakingly gorgeous backgrounds were being used as the pathetically lazy hammock of unmoving CG models, because I guess even redrawing unanimated background characters for one more frame was just too much to ask. It is truly difficult to oversell how shameful this thing is on every visual level. Outside of episodes one and four there is but one meager cut of full-frame-rate sakuga animation in the entire two cour long show, and half the cuts from even those exception episodes were only able to be animated at the frame rate they were because the character animation was traced over CG references, with Thor running from ship to ship in episode one or Thorfinn rushing the soldiers on the ramparts in episode seven being the most egregious examples of this criminally lazy and talentless technique. But the laziness of Vinland Saga much runs much deeper than its disgraceful indulgence in cost-cutting animation to the point of being paradoxically effortful. This entire adaptation is seated in appeasing public desire and always has been. Thanks to the ever impressive artwork of young legend, Makoto Yukimura, Vinland Saga has found itself much in the same category as the works of the god, Kentarō Miura. Constantly labeled with words like “unadaptable,” the success, acclaim, and of course, popularity of Vinland Saga kept fans demanding an anime adaptation for over a decade until the project was finally announced, but the announcement in spring 2018 came with a surprising time table of the very next year. It had been rumored WIT Studio was about to embark on a massive project which may even begin to threaten their Attack on Titan franchise—which it very much did given the total train wreck second cour production cycle for season three—but the rumors were referencing a strictly anime original project. We now know this huge and ambitious project to be Great Pretender, but at the time, only one thing was for certain: this project was NOT Vinland Saga. The Vinland Saga anime was, remember, a fanservice production first and foremost, and two aspects of the manga’s metaculture were what sparked the weirdly effortful laziness I mentioned haunting the story’s core in a misguided effort to serve those fans. One, the target audience, and two, “Farmland Saga.” Farmland Saga, as it’s facetiously branded, is the second arc of Vinland Saga’s expansive narrative, and it takes the bloody, gory, edgy seinen manga of the first four volumes and turns it into a more contemplative and mature wandering adventure manga for the next two and a half volumes. Despite the fact this arc develops the main protagonist in a way which actually makes the series meaningful and smart, this is very much not what the teenage boys—the fans—of this series desire. Terrified to reach this point in the manga, which remember, is only five short volumes in, the adaptation team riddled the story with filler to push Farmland Saga out of the planned two cour adaptation to keep the fans happy, and what resulted is one of the most mind-numbingly boring slogs of so-called entertainment I’ve ever sat through. Frankly speaking, Vinland Saga is not even that enticing a narrative. Yukimura himself—as if he needed to tell us—stated the inciting arc structure of Vinland Saga was heavily based on his admiration for aforementioned Kentarō Miura’s Berserk. Berserk is a series which begins in earnest after a couple volumes of setup with an epic prologue arc which ends in one of the most legendary upheavals in literature to incite what will be the remainder of the story, and Vinland Saga tries very hard to replicate this effect to its utmost. That said, Yukimura very clearly missed the mark on what made that shell-shocking prologue of Berserk so moving. Putting aside its thematically gigantic accomplishments, what made that story what it was, was its well developed, human characters undergoing emotional transformations weaved throughout the otherwise innocuous seinen battle manga which just happened to sport some of the medium’s greatest artwork. And I think it was the flashiness of this artwork which made young Yukimura think that in itself was the appeal. Shortly after the debut of Vinland Saga as a weekly release, Yukimura had the publishers change it to a monthly release, and the quality of his artwork soared even higher thanks to this extra time. The early chapters of Vinland Saga are well planned, well written, and as cohesive as any good story is, so clearly, the only reason he did this was to make his already gorgeous artwork that much better…when Vinland Saga was already good. The story shows its hand quickly enough, though, because after the obviously long premeditated and tightly executed opening volume comes to its close, the so-called prologue arc which seeks to emulate the complex build up and break down of Berserk’s Golden Age Arc is little more than style over substance battle manga antics and edge tossed back and forth until the ending comes around, and the main character’s goal is betrayed in an unceremonious fashion just for the sake of having done it. The anime, if anything, translates this to screen perfectly, but whereas I got to flip through those hellishly boring three remaining volumes of the prologue in a mere fifty five minutes at maximum, I had to let the anime go at its own eight hour pace to finish the damn thing—and that’s plus its previously noted filler. If they were so desperately eager to avoid Farmland Saga and equally willing to shaft the production values for the sake of pre-production on Great Pretender, then why on earth did they not just forget about the filler, cut the hours of wholly uncharismatic viking side characters on a road trip through England plaguing volumes two and three of the manga, and go for a one cour …

The first arc of Vinland Saga has been touted as one of manga’s greatest prologues. As such, many were curious about how well the anime would fare. While it may seem like a mere revenge story at first, this 24-episode series acts as a GAR infused yet slow-burning meditation on vengeance and war, as well as the thrills and horrors that await. Moreover, it's a character study revolving around the arc's main protagonists: Thorfinn and Askeladd. They make up the tragic backbone of the show, and that backbone is powerful enough to cement this show as one of the best of the year. Visually, this show is both better and worse than one might think. The CG ships and occasional CG humans are enough to set alarm bells off, and their prevalence would help spell the death of lesser productions in terms of quality. Even this show can look terrible at times, since not every episode is as detailed as one another and some make use of awkward CG environments way more than others. Sometimes the animation can really falter, leading to jank frame rate issues like in two critical moments of episode 4, or just a few really terrible sequences. However, director Shuuhei Yabuta has improved significantly from his last full directorial work, Inuyashiki. On top of that, Studio Wit tends to make anime with worthwhile production values, and he’s been their main man when it comes to CG for years. He knows what he’s doing, and it shows more often than not. Some big scenes lack the weight they should, but Vinland is so chock full of them that Yabuta’s given plenty of chances to add a visceral sense of weight and detail into several of the more explosive or otherwise powerful scenes. Seeing Thorfinn’s face in great detail as he huffs in seething rage for the first time or witnessing the sheer impact of Thorkell punching a horse into the air made for some of the craziest moments of the year. Those aren’t even the more tremendous moments he gets to adapt from this arc, either. Some camera movements such as the few first-person perspective 3D sequences are also eye-catching. Even more impressive is the artwork. Most of the time, it’s incredibly detailed, almost on the level of something like the Gundam Origin OVAs or the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie. The art direction also leads to some stunning environments, like the horizons of Iceland or the golden crops of Vinland. Combined with Shuuhei Yabuta’s direction, some of these sequences that bask in the environments become breathtaking. A lot of the fight scenes have their incredible, weighty moments as well such as the first half of the fight between Askeladd and Thorfinn’s father in episode 4. The show straddles the line between looking amazing and looking terrible disturbingly often, which is a shame since without some of the jarring dips in quality here and there and with superior (or no) CG, the show would be one of the most well-produced anime of the year by far. The music is also a bit complicated. Yukata Yamada does provide a rather decent score for this anime, with a fair number of emotional pieces and early medieval tunes that often serve as highlights from the very beginning. The tracklist does seem a bit limited as evidenced by how the anime likes to make constant use of one singular piano track for most of the emotional scenes in the show. There are multiple piano tracks so some of them might even be used interchangeably. Additionally, a lot of pieces don’t quite feel tailor-made for this show or setting and instead feel like tracks that could have gone to any other dramatic title. The few that do feel perfect for the setting are not only some of the greatest tracks in the show but are unfortunately rarely used outside of the first quarter of the anime. I don’t mean to be too pessimistic with the soundtrack since there are still several nice tracks present, but the show ends up throwing a lot of them by the wayside and the ones the show uses more than a couple times don’t feel like they add a sense of identity to the show like say, Kaguya-sama’s OST did this year or like other fantastic OSTs such as Berserk 1997’s do for their shows. The first opening is honestly no better, feeling like a generic j-rock song with forced and hideous sounding screamo towards the end. It’s my least favorite piece of music in this entire show. The second opening, “Dark Crow” by MAN WITH A MISSION is a far more hype opening, with the wake-up call of the bagpipes at the beginning, and a rockin’ tone throughout. The first ED, “Torches” by Aimer, is a decently calming and pleasant enough piece, though it doesn’t feel as impactful with its chorus as I would have liked. The second ED, “Drown” by Milet, is more emotional and impactful, and it’s probably one of my favorite ending themes of the year. It’s perfect for the explosion of tremendous emotional moments and character development that is the second half of the show. The first few episodes of the show center around how the last stand of Thorfinn’s father, Thors, as well as the different phases of his upbringing before and after that moment, affect Thorfinn. He always had the potential for violence, after all, he and his people practiced war games all the time as they waited for the day they could finally join a war. However, he was still a child at heart, so seeing him turn from that innocent boy to an angsty killing machine is devastating. Few moments hurt quite as bad as the moment he resigns to his fate and accepts how horrible the path he takes is going to be in episode 6. That sigh of resignation seeing someone he hurt who genuinely wanted him to live the life of a boy again, and how that reminded him of the family he’s sure he’ll never see again, is a brilliant capstone to the first quarter of the show. Many have levied criticism of how stagnant he becomes in later episodes, as his single-minded drive to honorably kill Askeladd dominates his character. However, there are a few points worth bringing up to argue against that notion. He still has plenty of moments to be more than just that kind of person, like during his interactions with the then scared and reserved prince Canute, where he teases him halfway into the series. He’s not like Hajime from Arifureta or anything. He also thinks about how far he’s fallen from his father’s ideals, agonizing over how much worse he’s become since the man’s death despite how much he refuses to admit it to anyone else. His dreams and hallucinations are well-crafted reminders of his humanity and folly. These factors, as well as his stagnant nature, also serve as a form of tragedy. Not only is he painfully aware that he could drop this and not continually sully the message of the man he ultimately idolized, but he also serves as a reflection of who his target of hatred, Askeladd, used to be. By the time the halfway mark rolls around, Askeladd becomes the true star of the show. He’s long since grown past the vengeful killer he was as a child and has become a cunning man of ambition. He is the epitome of the glorious side of the show, with his glorious cackles being the cherry on top of each crazy plan that gets executed. He’s a proper magnificent bastard who would honestly be a standout character even if he were just a glorious, over the top schemer with a strong personality. However, he’s far more than just that, both as a foil to Thorfinn and as a person in his own right. Each reveal about why he became the man he is, about his feelings towards everyone around him, and about why he sees something in both Canute and Thorfinn, adds more to his personality and his journey throughout the series. To spoil his journey any further would do you a disservice, but let it be known that he is easily the richest character in the entire show, and my favorite character to have been introduced to the anime landscape this year. There are other noteworthy characters beyond just the main two. The aforementioned Canute has a surprisingly natural and tactile sense of progr…

[Paragraphs that contain spoilers have been marked] I was hyped for Vinland Saga, more hyped than I’d been for any anime the whole year. I even waited for all episodes to air before binging the show because considering the things I’d heard about it, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop once I started watching it. It definitely did live up to the hype and I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I did find few pacing issues among other problems. [Story and World] Vinland Saga is a show about Vikings. You know those horned helmets wearing, axe wielding, wine drinking badasses who discovered America? Considering anime now-a-days usually follows the formula of having cute chibi characters and tossing them into dangerous situations, Vinland Saga was a breath of fresh air. It’s been a while since I saw adults as the prominent cast in an anime. The last good anime with a mostly adult cast, Golden Kamuy, aired way back in January 2018. Not saying that anime having a main cast comprising of children and teens is bad, but I’m getting off topic. Vinland Saga has a great cast of characters, a great story interweaving personal and impersonal, political and non-political, religious and non-religious narratives, amazing world building, great writing and awesome animation as the icing on the cake. We follow Thorfinn, son of Thors, as he is on a quest to fulfill his vendetta against Askeladd. That’s all I can say about the plot without spoiling anything. The story is set in 1000 AD during the English invasion of Denmark. The show does an immaculate job of portraying the environment of that era. The attention to detail is astonishing. From huge ships with heads shaped like dragons to the smallest of details on a coin everything is proof of the love and care that was put into creating Vinland Saga. You can feel the author’s passion for history in the veracity of the architecture, in the aerial view of cities and battle camps, in the clothes and jewelry that people wear and last but not least in the politics and the characters who are derived from historical figures who existed in the same era. [Characters] Superficially, Vinland Saga may seem like a story about the violence, atrocities and other events that took place due to the war between the English and the Danes, but it is first and foremost a character drama. We have a vast array of extremely well characterized cast which does not limit itself to the main group of characters. Thorfinn and Askeladd’s dynamic is one of the best, if not the best character dynamic, I had the pleasure witnessing in recent years. This happens pretty early in the show so I wouldn’t consider it a spoiler, but if you’re the kind of person who wants to go into a show blind, then skip the next paragraph. ------------------------------------------------------Spoilers Start---------------------------------------------------- Thorfinn’s father, Thors, is called by one of his old comrades to join the war and he reluctantly agrees. During their journey to the battlefield Thors’ ship is attacked by pirates led by Askeladd, who was tasked with killing Thors. Thors is murdered by Askeladd in front of Thorfinn and thus starts Thorfinn’s quest for vendetta. Thorfinn, 6 years old at the time of his father’s murder, sets out on his goal of killing Askeladd despite his father’s best efforts in his last moments to try to steer Thorfinn away from the path of revenge. But Thorfinn, driven by instincts and emotion and wanting to quench his thirst for vengeance, disregards his father’s words. Thorfinn joins Askeladd’s group of pirates in order to earn a chance to duel him and Askeladd, while at first exploiting Thorfinn’s anger and using it for his own merit, slowly but surely starts to respect Thorfinn’s determination. This is how one of the best character dynamic starts developing between a boy and his father’s killer. ------------------------------------------------------Spoilers End---------------------------------------------------- Thorfinn is a good character but he may seem pretty one-dimensional at times as his motivation for all he does is to gain a chance to duel and kill Askeladd. He doesn’t receive much development this season and that’s perfectly fine. I’d rather have a character develop slowly and persistently rather than having him change in a few episodes. We do see Thorfinn’s struggles and thus growth as he transforms from a sweet little boy into a vicious killer even though that’s the farthest thing from what his father would’ve wanted. Askeladd is the most interesting character to come out of any anime this year. He’s ruthless, plunders villages and kills the villagers for food and money, he’s a shrewd scheming bastard and yet I couldn’t help but like him. He has a kind of mysterious aura to himself to which we get insight later in the show and when you consider what kind of person he is and the life he’s led you can make sense of why he treats Thorfinn, a kid who’s out to kill him, with respect. Askeladd thinks he owes a debt to Thors which he can never repay directly and thus tries to repay it vicariously through Thorfinn. There are many other characters who play a pivotal role in this season, some of them include: Thorkell; Canute, the prince of Denmark; Floki, one of Thors’ old comrades and few more. Canute is the prince of Denmark, but he’s quite effeminate for a prince. He is a pacifist despite being raised by a Viking and he is a religious Christian. All this changes drastically however, after certain events unfold and he turns into a figure much reminiscent of a prince; but I thought the development happened too quickly and was rushed. I’m not stating that he shouldn’t have undergone change, but a steadier change would’ve been less jarring and would’ve had a larger impact on the audience in the long run. Still, watching him become more sophisticated after witnessing war and being imbued by a philosophy which was very different to his own was goosebumps material. Thorkel is a character whom I, at first, thought of as Goku because he loves is eating and fighting strong opponents, but he turned out to be a much more introspective person. The characters are great and are a great addition to the already rich world of Vinland Saga. Another aspect of what I loved about Vinland Saga was the portrayal of religion. Episode 14 is probably my favourite episode of anything that deals with the faith that people hold on to in desperate times and the message the episode was trying to get across was depressing but beautiful at the same time. [Music and Animation] The animation is absolutely fantastic. There is some weird use of CG here and there, but the character animation and the backgrounds, especially the backgrounds, are magnificently animated. The picturesque scenery portraying all mountain ranges and the snowy landscape of Iceland was breathtaking. The hilly areas and the mountainous terrain of Wales was aptly displayed for maximum immersion. The titular world – Vinland – seemed like it was something out of a Ghibli anime. The character animation is just as good. Expressions of anger, sadness, regret are properly encapsulated. The fights are fluid and flow like water with not sudden jump cuts or weird framing. The music was also good. I especially loved the first opening and the first ending songs. The second opening and ending tracks are amazing, just not as good at capturing the tone of the show. The tracks used during the episodes were well suited for the show and properly conveyed the emotion in a scene. [Cons] 1. As I explained, Canute’s development was a bit too quick. 2. The pacing was a bit slow in the middle segment of the show. It didn’t drag, but the change from the earlier parts of the show was noticeable. 3. Now, this is my biggest problem with the show. Some of the fights are so unrealistic that it feels like a power fantasy at times. I can already hear the distant, “It’s an anime so it doesn’t matt…

when I first started this anime it looked very promising and I watched like 8 episode in a day, but when it got to episode 10 it started to get really boring and it got really boring near the end and there were a lot of times I though about dropping the anime. I also found the story very basic, a orphaned kid trying to get revenge for his dad, I've seen anime like this multiple times I just think the author could of made it more interesting and unique. also I found that Thorfinn came from a weak little kid to a super strong teenage boy without any training shown in the anime, he kills one person and boom becomes one of the strongest people in Askeladd's army.

Overview: Here it is folks! My vote for best anime of 2019. Vinland Saga is a faithful adaptation of the dark and brutal manga that took the internet by storm over a decade ago. Do you like Berserk? Do you like Rurouni Kenshin? Would you like to add Vikings to those 2 things and mix them all together? If so, then Vinland Saga is the anime for you! Vinland Saga takes place during the reign of Sweyn Forkbeard in the early 1000s. In the year 1002, King Æthelred the Unready made the disastrous decision to slaughter over 100 Danish settlers as revenge for Viking raids. The St. Brice's Day Massacre provoked Denmark into invading the British Isles, which would be conquered by Sweyn's son Cnut the Great. The first character we're introduced to is Thors the Troll. He is a mighty Viking warrior who has seen so much bloodshed that he eventually has an existential crisis and abandons the Vikings to live a pacifist life in Iceland. However, the peaceful times don't last. Thors is assassinated early in the series by a Viking raider named Askeladd. Thors' son Thorfinn witnesses his father's murder and devotes his entire life to getting revenge on Askeladd. In order to do this, Thorfinn joins Askeladd's crew of ruthless killers and commits many atrocities. This is all so that one day he can challenge Askeladd to a duel and kill him using weapons that belonged to Thors. The plot of Vinland Saga reminds me a lot of Kenshin. You have a mix of historical accuracy with comic book superhuman feats and WAY over the top representations. Of course, exaggerated historical fiction is very old. A few examples would include the Three Musketeers and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Even the Iliad was possibly based on a real world conflict and simply exaggerated with demi-gods, sea monsters, and dudes who're immortal unless they get stabbed in the heel. While the plot is amusing, it is the characters that make Vinland Saga my anime of the year. Firstly, lets look at our protagonist Thorfinn. This isn't your everyday anime hero. Thorfinn is a stupid, selfish bastard who kills hundreds of fathers to hopefully one day avenge his own. He spends virtually the entire series being rather unlikeable...and this is a good thing. American comic books are obsessed with the idea that the protagonist HAS to be likeable. This greatly limits the types of stories that they can possibly tell. American comics can't have epic scale, gradual redemption arcs because our publishers wouldn't accept Thorfinn as a main character. In order to find a Thorfinn in American comics, you have to go to underground indy comics like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. In other words, cult comics with zero budget that will never be adapted. The best character in the series without question is Askeladd. This guy starts out as hateful as possible. He leads a band of killers that slaughters villages, rapes women, and tortures priests to death for the lulz. Only later do we find out that he has sympathetic motives! Askeladd joined the Vikings to get in good with them and try prevent an invasion of his native Wales. He tries to justify the atrocities to himself by saying that Anglos displaced the Celts and deserve what's coming to them. However, he's deeply disgusted by the things he has to do and despises himself as much as he despises his henchmen. Askeladd is certainly not a clear cut hero, but becomes sympathetic enough to become an unlikely anti-hero. If I had to select an anime "Mt. Douchemore" of loveable bastards it would have Askeladd, Oberstein, Joe Yabuki, and Lucy from Elfen Lied as the 4 faces. While Askeladd is the best character, my favorite character by FAR is Thorkell. This is a 10 foot tall giant who wins entire battles by himself. He is a killing machine, but doesn't kill with any sense of spite, anger, or hatred. He switches sides and fights against his fellow Vikings simply because he wanted a better challenge! In Thorkell's mind, dying on the battlefield is the best thing that can happen to someone. Those that die bravely get to enter the beerhall of the Gods in Valhalla and party forever! Thorkell sincerely believes that he's doing his victims a great favor, which makes his mass killings both chilling and oddly hilarious. "Hey, who do you think would win: The Gods in Valhalla or this Jesus guy? I see that skinny Jesus always getting nailed to stuff and I just feel sorry for him!" - Thorkell's informed opinions on religion. Art: The most controversial part of Vinland Saga definitely comes down to art and animation. While the character art is decently adapted from the manga, some of the detail of course gets lost. The animation is mostly solid, but also has some god awful CG that's highly distracting. At least the series cuts down on this after the first few episodes. I showed the first 3 episodes to a friend who doesn't watch anime very much and he started laughing when he saw the CG. That's just embarrassing for anime as an artform that modern anime graphics are comical to outsiders. Music and Sound: Yes, all the Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Welsh, and English people are speaking Japanese. Get over it. The soundtrack is pretty damn solid and both OPs get me PUMPED to watch more Viking violence! Overall: I mean...I already said this is my anime of the year. I obviously love this series! However, my offline buddies weren't as enamored with it as I was. It can be jarring going from American Comics and their firm moral code to having protagonists like Thorfinn and Askeladd. While America loves violence, we specifically love righteous vengeance. That's NOT what Vinland Saga is about, so this anime seems to have limited appeal for American general audiences. If you're willing to keep an open mind though, Vinland Saga is an incredibly rewarding title and unlike any anime I've seen come out in years!

This review will contain minor spoilers. 2019 has been an interesting year for anime. It was the year that gave us such great shows like Dororo, Kaguya Sama Love is War, Beastars. High Score Girl 2, Skilled Teaser Takagi San 2 and The Promised Neverland but at the same time it gave such disasters like Fairy Gone, Domestic Girlfriend and The Seven Deadly Sins 3 done by Studio Deen. We also saw the positive decline of the isekai genre thanks to stuff like Isekai Cheat Magician, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Wise Man Grandchild and that unbearable long isekai show that featured the MC mum. Needless to say, 2019 was a fun year for anime despite its various shortcomings.  Out of all the anime that aired in 2019 there was two anime that stood out from the crowd. Two series that managed to outshine every other anime of 2019 thanks to their superb writing, outstanding character development and excellent production values. The two anime in question are Fruits Basket 2019 and Vinland Saga. I have high expectations for theses since their annulments back in 2018, yet they managed to meet and surpass my expectations.  If you haven't seen my Fruits Basket 2019 I recommend check it out as I go into detail what made that show amazing because this review will about Vinland Saga and how amazing it is. Establishing a world is one of the key components for any historical series to succeed and Vinland Saga completely nails it. I was blown away of how Vinland Saga established its world and chararters. The first 6 episodes do a great job at of setting up the tone, theme chararter motivation to the viewer. Which leads me to the story itself which is astonishing. The pacing is perfect from the slow but impactful first 6 that manages to establish is setting and character to the fast-paced Viking battles for the rest of the series. Vinland Saga is at heart a revenge story as well as a story about ageing. The revenge part of the story centres around Throfin trying to kill the person that led to his father's death. Through his journey we see him achieving and confiting his main goal. He would gladly follow Askeladd's orders just to have another duel with him even if it cost him his life from facing threatening foes that are experienced in combat. As the show progresses we see him slowly conflicting his main goal, especially after he learns about Askeladd backstory in episode 22. By the end of the show, you would begin to realize t revenge isn't the right source of action. Sure you have had the thrill of planning your revenge against someone but at what cost.  Did you have to abandon your sister and your fragile mother for the sake of revenge? Did you have to drastically change your personality for the sake of revenge? Do you still consider delivering the killing blow against the person after they told their backstory to you Vinland Saga is a great revenge story that makes you think? The ageing part of the story centres around Askeladd facing against time. I don't mean he's dying of illness but his body is slowly deteriorating him due to ageing. He has done so many things in his youth both good and bad and we see this with his past and conversation with the other characters.  (Spoilers) One of the best moments in the show involves Askeladd and Bjorn fighting each other as a dying wish as a warrior for Bjorn due to an infection. It was a heartbreaking duel that perfectly portrayed the theme of ageing. Askeladd and Bjorn both charge at each other. Askeladd pierces Bjorn chest and collapses in front of him. Bjorn tells him that all he ever wanted was to be considered a friend Askeladd as his dying words as a warrior.'' Askeladd tells him that he was his only friend, and he dies. Keep in mind these people are brutal murderers, bad people who killed countless men, women and children during their lifetime together yet their stories were presented in such a way that they aren't just generic evil guys who are evil for the sake of being evil. Askeladd losing Bjorn is like losing your best friend. The person has been with you since childhood and you did many great things with them however your best friend body eventually gave up due to ageing. Right after the tragic duel a broken down Askeladd challenges Thorfinn to a duel and as usual, Askeladd beats in a duel but this time he didn't just win the duel. He beats the ever-living crap of him. After that, Askeladd says a couple of lines which are important to Thorfinn and Askeladd characters.  (End of Spoilers) One of Vinland Saga's main messages is facing against time. Askeladd may still be a ruthless Viking but as time passes on his glory days as a Viking will be a thing of the past as his body is slowly deteriorating him. If you have a hobby that you are passionate about it, it's best to do it while young otherwise before you know it you become old and fragile. This also plays along with Throfinn character arc as he just ends up killing a deteriorating old man instead of a middle-aged man that Throfinn met 10 years ago as a kid. This is stuff I want to see in anime. A show that is not only entertaining to watch but it teaches you something and Vinland Saga's, case it taught me the dark side of revenge and ageing.  A well-written plot is only as good as its characters and this is where Vinland Saga truly shines thanks to how multi-layered the cast is. Thorfinn is a great and well-written lead. From his innocent youth to his cold-blooded individual he still remains to be a compelling chararter from beginning to end. Some people may label Thorfinn as an edgy empty husk with no personality and I can see why but you have to remember that he was at one point at rock bottom. After losing father he had nowhere to go. His first course of action is to follow and kill the person that killed his father. He develops his survival instinct and dagger fighting skills needed to survive while Askeladd and his men are busy killing people. His transformation from an innocent kid to a cold-blooded warrior was satisfying to watch.  As much as I adored Thorfinn, growth, Askeladd completely steals. He is easily the best character in the show. He's a ruthless Viking but also a twisted father figure for Thorfinn. He knows that Thorfinn has a grudge against him yet he doesn't really care about Thorfinn main goal as he just wants to live his life as a Viking as best he can before time, reaches up to him. I really like his backstory his revenge on his father. I liked his chaddy personality and generally a badass on the battlefield. Seeing Thorfinn and Askeladd relationship playoff is like watching a master taming an aggressive stray dog. You know the dog will deliver the killing blow to you at any moment but you sent the dog to various dogfight competitions in the underworld just to keep it busy.  This relationship happened until the second half as they respect and care for each other. He's the true hero of Vinland Saga as well-being the heart of it because it wasn't for him then the show wouldn't have been as astonishing as it is. One of the things I appreciate about Vinland Saga was how it was able to make its villains as grounded as possible and Thorkell is the best example of this outside of Askeladd. When you first see Thorkell you think to yourself ''another muscular one-dimensional guy that Throhin has to kill just have a duel with Askeladd just for revenge'', however, the show manages to flip people's expectations. Outside his threatening appearance, he's one of the most compelling characters in the show. Despite him being the villain for the majority of the series he has a strong sense of honour towards his opponents in battle. He absolutely hates being interrupted in battle as he thinks that stopping a fight is worst than retreating. This is shown when his facing off Throfinn for the second time. On of all that he has a great backstory that relates to Thor. The supporting chararter are just as strong as at the main ch…

Season 1 is alright while watching Askeladd, who acts more like the protagonist than anyone else. The actual protagonist, Thorfinn, has a problem of being really annoying. He's an irate broody idiot in season 1, and he becomes even worse in season 2 when he becomes a fanatical pacifist. The show has an overarching philosophy that can be summed up as "war is bad, so just refuse to fight". This is not a stable Schelling point for any major society, and the fact that the show keeps trying to push this nonsense really puts me off. Letting your enemy beat the crap out of you, then running away is not "winning". This is "if you kill your enemy, they win" level of silliness. I'm not the type of person who thinks anyone who opposes the protagonist needs to die, but it should be enough to just build a society that's *moderately* less violent and call that worthwhile progress. The show also has problems with severe personality changes coming out of almost nowhere. This happens to Canute, Thorfinn (twice), and to some extent even Askeladd. It's particularly jarring with Canute, who basically transforms into another person entirely over the course of one montage (which lasts for 5 IRL minutes). With a childishly hollow philosophical message, stilted character development, and action scenes that aren't particularly impressive, there's little to recommend here.

Vinland Saga is nothing more than Shonen disguised as a Seinen , I am offended that this series receives so much praise for doing nothing This series tries so hard to be like Berserk and it fails in every way , the writer tries so hard to make the story appear dark and mature and edgy and all I do is cringe at his terrible writing I will never why this series receives praise it follows a cliche story of a guy wanting to get revenge but this isn't any ordinary revenge no no no , he wants to get revenge in an honourable way like why would anyone waste 11 years of their life trying to get revenge when they can just kill the guy in his sleep , Nonsense and what makes it worse is how they try to attach so much emotion into his plan when it's just plain stupidity He then gets Stockholm Syndrome and gets attached to the guy he wants to kill, Like come on the writer put absolutely no thought into this The side characters are also awful and plain , there is nothing to them , they are just a couple of NPC's and the characters designs are also ugly , the writer has some sort of fetish for blondes The fights are just unrealistic , it makes no sense for a 5'2 18 year old to be overpowering and easily killing GROWN ass men I also dislike how Thorfinn sounds , this guy tries tooooo hard to be all EMO

*Minimum Spoiler Review* TL;DR: Did you miss edgy Sasuke? Did you miss Eren screaming like a whiny little girl? Do you need a Daddy in your life slapping and kicking you so you can shut up and do what's needed to be done? Then look no further, for Vinland Saga is the right historical anime for you. Now shut up and read this awesome review before I send Bjorn after you. [Story: 8/10 , Characters: 9/10, Art: 8/10, Sound: 8/10, Enjoyment: 9/10] “You don't have any enemies. No one has any enemies. There's no one who it's okay to hurt” – Thors From the studio that became famous by adapting one edgy teen's revenge story comes a new edgy teen's revenge story, called Vinland Saga. Just swap some titans for Vikings, Levi for Thorkell, Erwin for Askechad and boom you have a new instant classic that the studio can bank on to make instant profits. Jokes aside, knowing how great 2019 was for the shounen genre, Wit Studio with the help of Production IG, pulled off this mega adaptation of a cult classic manga, Vinland Saga authored by Makoto Yukimura. This wasn't your typical shounen story where we see a clear divide between good vs bad, right vs wrong, moral vs immoral. It's a story with layers. Layers of ambiguity, layers of plot development, layers of character development and layers of morality. It's about understanding and bettering oneself to adapt to the situation one is dealt with by having control of one's emotion. Also stop with the whole what it means to be a true warrior bullshit, that was just used to bait all the edgy teen audience in so they can make profit selling Prince Canute figurines. Anyways, let's take a closer dive to see what makes this anime so good, from it's character driven story, to breathtaking visuals and eargasmic OST and how it could be a dark horse to win anime of the year. "You can make use of anyone with the right approach" - Askeladd From a story perspective, though at first it seems like a story based on revenge, as we watch more, you finally understand why the title of the show is called Vinland Saga. It's a historical epic that takes place during the 11th century when the tension between Vikings and Danes were at an all time high. This show is by no means historically accurate but since it has characters that are based on actual historical characters like Harold, Canute even Thorfin to characters based on the Norse Folklore like Askeladd and Ragnar, it gives a false sense of realism to this historical saga. It starts off with a happy adventure seeking boy, Thorfin seeing Askleladd, a witty dishonourable Viking, mercilessly killing his father, Thors, an escaped honourable Viking pacifist, in an unfair battle. So this Viking Sasuke, Thorfin vows to kill Askeladd in an honourable duel as revenge for his father but let's be real, how can a shrimp kill a shark in a duel? Oddly, Askeladd having no son of his own, decides to adopt Thorfin, promising that if he proves worthy in his raids, he will let Thorfin battle him 1v1, as so the Viking tradition entails, for the revenge of his father. This sets the story in motion as we start to see the development of Thorfin as he grows from a child to an edgy hot headed teen, blessed with his father's genes of being an excellent warrior under Askeladd's tutelage. Along this journey, they meet various potent side characters like Prince Canute of Denmark, a sissy Prince who's Daddy left him to die in battle, to Thorkell, a Viking Hercules who can take on 100 men at once, almost reminiscent of Thorfin's father, Thors. Without spoiling too much, what makes this anime great is that the story pushes the boundary to the point you can still believe the story is plausible. Nothing is romanticized, no veil of fantasy, no clear divide between right or wrong. Reality is just much more unforgiving and we have to just make do with what cards we are dealt with in life. None of that lucky deus ex machina bullshit. You are weak, you die. You are clever, you will survive. It's a true dog eat dog world. If you thought you could watch this anime without people not dying, well you couldn't have been far from wrong. It's the era Vikings; bloodshed, pillaging and raping are but the norms. This gritty aspect of realism makes the story arcs great. "I love fighting, but even more than that, I hate losing! I only fight to win!!” – Thorkell Despite the gritty realism of the sad story, what makes this anime great are really the characters. This anime has one of the best character developments and it doesn't just stop with the main character. Throughout the entire journey, we are introduced with multiple side characters who acts as foils for Thorfin and each of them undergoes their own character growth alongside the MC. The four major characters are Thorfin, Askeladd, Canute and Thorkell. They each compliment one another but also fills the void the other lacks. Each of them have their own definition of what being a Viking is and what being a warrior really should be. I won't spoil too much but for me the standout character was Askeladd but let's be real his name should've been Askechad. He is witty, he is charming, he is clever, he is cunning and above all he is a damn strong warrior. He has a great origin story and his motives are never clear till he reveals it later on. Upon the revelation, everything starts to make sense, from his actions to his choice of words to his philosophy on life to how he believes one must execute a plan. He is a great leader and he is blessed with an eye for judging a man's character from just looking at them. He is the Dad you don't deserve but the Dad you need to get your weeb ass out of your mom's basement to face the harsh reality that is life. That's who he becomes for everyone else in this anime. His methods maybe grim but his execution is beautiful. Using Askechad's character development as a template, you can understand just how well he develops the other characters in this anime. He doesn't do disservice and each of them deserved the deaths they received. That's all you need to know for now. “I'll achieve something in no time. Then you'll die by my hands” – Thorfin” Although the story and characters can be amazing, we all saw what a shit show Berserk came to be when a studio fails at animation. Luckily with Wit Studio at its helms, from a technical standpoint this show definitely shined in the technical department. Right from the beginning to the end, the anime looks polished. Every panel, every fight sequences, every slow shot to even the physics of the water movement, it was hand drawn and blended really well. Wit Studio has some great key animators and they used them accurately in this adaptation. Alongside its animation, the sound team did a phenomenal job. The first OP song was a banger and the second ED song was a chart topper. If you have something against English songs being in played in anime, then just leave. Learn to appreciate talent. The OST overall fits with the theme very well and the orchestral sounds flowed well with the story. Comparing the soundtrack to the actual show Vikings that I also love to watch, I can see this team actually did research and tried to replicate it to the best of their ability. Moreover, the seiyuus voicing the characters did a great job. "He just doesn't realize it himself. Everyone is a slave to something" - Askeladd Overall, Vinland Saga, may just be the dark horse shounen anime of this year despite just how many great shounen anime came out this year, like Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack on Titan, Mob Psycho, Dr. Stone to the ever popular airing now, Boku no Hero Academia. What sets this show apart from the rest, is the gritty realism and feeling you get that it's not much a kid shounen anime. The adults are running the show and the kids are trying to learn as fast as possible under their tutelage to become the leaders to build a better future. This show is blessed with great characters and seeing how they develop under great road…

Historical fiction is a famous way of telling a journey behind different decades, at the same time it corresponds to names and real events of ancient times, they show us a different perspective of situations, as even putting elements that are only incorporated into books / series / animations they also fulfill a part of making concepts true to history, historical fiction presents viewers with a story that takes place during a remarkable period in history and generally during a significant event during that period, as the name says " historical fiction "is linked to the medium of entertainment that is not close to reality, also bearing the fact that many mangaka's are free to use frantic action to hook readers and tell their own story, if you have read Kingdom, Historie, Altaïr already must note this, so there is no discrimination behind this subject unless there is some kind of person who is unaware and has started consuming stories in 201X, not to know the difference of this medium and to say the bigbrain in any historical fact. Since many Seinen's adaptations have often failed to capture strong anime entertainment for years and still living with traumas like Berserk (2016), there is a rallying cry in 2019, and he comes from Denmark with a rich worldbuilding, Vinland Saga. tells a story about humans, yes, it's a story about humans. In fact, humanizing characters without leaving the model is a difficult game that few authors can play, but here is solid and with more convincing motivations, note the passion of an author to build their established characters in a risky situation, but I will address more of this soon. You may already be tired of the same protagonist wanting revenge and training for years in a place that only serves to bring together the strongest heroes and thus accompany his journey, but I ask you to forgive this attribute used here, even if it is a cliche In fiction, the important thing between stories is knowing how to use this cliché, it all depends on its use. Thorfinn is not the typical protagonist who will train for years, he is a child who lived growing up in battles and that was shaping his personality, the environment in which he lives turning an innocent child into a cold killer, but what's different about that? Thorfinn has not joined the heroes, he is accompanying his own enemy on this journey and coexists with himself without a mere sense of empathy, just wanting revenge on a fair duel, which was something his father did not have, he fights for an honor Blind, I have never seen a protagonist going through this same situation, at least in the first line I recite his journey, and of course Thorfinn is not an intelligent person who will manipulate everyone around for revenge, he is an empty man in search of a futile goal, while defending that honor, he's a hypocrite, and that's great, but all I mean is Vinland Saga is not a story of revenge. Usually a focused plot where only the protagonist needs to carry the whole plot (when you don't have a solo focus) becomes a failed plot and often full of labels, but there's none of it here, Thorfinn doesn't have to carry everything around it. , that's why there is a deuteragonist, the one who suffers the actions of the plot, Askeladd, but I wouldn't say that only he carries the plot as much as Thorkell and Canute did, further expanding the situation from a survival journey to a political plot. completely closed. The way the script goes on, wasting no time on futile things is impressive, usually 2nd cour of ordinary anime would decay the plot, but here it all enriches it, bringing study of characters and themes that become tangible as it is being done. In directions to the themes of pacifism, love, slavery, and war by character building, Vinland works, Askeladd as the one who leads the subject of slavery, in a more isolated episode and at the same time how understandable it can become. to the characters, just as Askeladd criticizes a person using his slavery analogy this becomes referring to Thorfinn himself who is a slave to his revenge, and this follows him to the end, as Thorkell is a battle slave, Canute a slave to comfort, Sweyn a slave to the crown, and even Askeladd himself to be a slave to his past, making every action taken be by the dearest person in his life: his mother. Love in vinland is divided into several stages, making it a broad theme, we have all its introduction in episode 12, in a speech with the Danes themselves, until we follow a solid construction and where all believed love is destroyed in the perspective of Willibald episode 14, yes) and this resumes the character criticizing his own faith for lack of love, until it comes to Canute who after an act of loss questions himself about what it is to love, and every form of love is led to love for all living things, but what can this interconnect with the other theme? It is linked to pacifism, said as a form of someone who seeks not to discriminate or kill others, it relates in a way that is not pretentious but natural, because every action has its consequence, and Vinland brings these consequences, every theme of pacifism. it can be contained in a single arc as shown in the Thors-focused prologue to history, as a consequence of a person who has chosen a middle way of living suffering for the politics and culture of an age, as if the past itself haunts him to the point of your peaceful life crumble. Vinland's approach to and criticism of the war is very well designed, relying on the contexts and substances he himself put in the path, we follow Thorfinn's self-destructive journey in the beginning to see how this war has a physical and mental consequence. to the protagonist, I admit that glorification of war is a difficult subject to address in fiction, but Vinland makes it possible and cohesive, a presentation to all human carnage and victims' perspectives on war (episode 14, yes, again), even if he makes some war points more "epic" attention he deconstructs every archetype when characters like Canute and Willibald are inserted, we have a more advanced and mature worldview on the subject, just as Thors fled the field thinking of his family and seeking to live peacefully stunned from the pain of battle, Canute thinks of all the people of the world, yet living in battle, tries to reconstruct the meaning of pacifism and move on against this war, the way no one loves anyone, and how men fight for something so futile, given all the experience Canute has had in his life and in the countryside. the whole direction of episode 18 overshadowing the battle between Thorfinn and Thorkell is a directional aid and shows how the director understood the manga theme, all that battle is futile, the characters criticize it, so it wouldn't be fair to split these two Focusing on parts, this is why in sparking the battle Canute's criticism becomes concrete, why do we yearn so much for something the author wants to criticize? This is a question that needs no answer, just think, it is rare for anime to do this in a sensitive way and there is substance here to describe it, the way they humanize the Vikings and at the same time critique them, the same Vikings. who call themselves warriors but when cornered surrender and do not touch their own swords, destroying any archetype of honorable Nordic warrior, the fact that they criticize Ragnar for being a coward but being the only one not to abandon his sword even at the last minute, a warrior which can sometimes be one who never forsakes his sword as well as one who fights for a cause other than the war itself, this is in contrast several times, as the definition of barbarians is used and exemplified by Askeladd, this context makes the criticism is balanced and made so that you think both ways, with the help of perspectives, those criticisms become solid. Regarding the characters, we need to keep in mind one thing: it is not because a character follows an ideology or if he is annoying, that …

History teachers have forsaken us! Not only do they convince naive students that Christopher Columbus discovered America — Leif Erickson beat his ass by 500 years — but they neglect to inform us about the exhilarating escapades of the barbarous Vikings, themselves. Some of whom were so insane, that they would gnaw at the ends of their shields and trip-out on psychedelic mushrooms (i.e. the amanita muscaria; the ‘Super Mario’ mushroom that Bjorn consumed before his battles with Thors). But besides hallucinogenic drug trips, Vikings were cunning mercenaries that preyed on other people’s weakness to gain an advantage. Something Askeladd (Artorius) did time and time again to sustain his lavish lifestyle. Askeladd, however, was no brute. As he possessed first-rate sword skills, keen tactical knowledge, and an ability to manipulate others through words. Where others saw roadblocks, Askeladd saw possibilities. Like when he instructed his Viking troops to carry their long boats over a field to seize and enemy stronghold (a bit exaggerated, I know; but Vikings did carry their boats to gain tactical advantages). Besides Askeladd’s cunning nature, he was a deep thinker that looked towards the past for future inspiration. In essense, Askeladd was a historian — and, more importantly, a politician. But instead of imparting his knowledge to a bunch of ambivalent students, he used it to persuade village raiders and pirates that he had their best interests in mind. This subterfuge not only afforded Askeladd a comfortable life, but gave him clout with the Jom Vikings, and, be default, the Danish Monarchy. Despite these strategic advantages, Askeladd was not averse to putting on a bluff (every now and then). A bluff where he displayed weakness — and sometimes ignorance — to put his adversaries in an unguarded state; thereby, giving himself a sizable advantage (e.g. the fight with Thors). Indeed. Askeladd had numerous virtues, all of which were within the realm of reason — thus, avoiding in-universe plot conveniences. Furthermore, he displayed internal turmoil for his abhorrent acts against the Welsh people in episode 14. But the beauty of that scene was that was all visual, without a single utterance. Sometimes, silence says more than words ever could. And it is refreshing to see an anime treat the viewer with cognitive respect, rather than spelling everything out to the last detail. Truly, Askeladd’s characterization was remarkable, with a healthy range of emotions that allowed the viewer to understand him from multiple levels. What Thorkell possessed in strength, Askeladd possessed in intellect. But what makes Askeladd infinitely better, is that his machinations are grounded in Viking lore; whereas Thorkell’s strength is the stuff of myths and legends. Segueing to the ‘Tall’ man himself, Thorekell is a brute force of nature unlike any other — yet, his strength is exaggerated to the point of comical absurdity. A short list of his impossible feats goes as follows: tossing trees like twigs at Viking ships; shish-ka-bobbing four of Askeladd’s men with a single spear throw; Shot-putting massive boulders from London Bridge to Canute’s encamptment; and using a ‘Dragon Punch’ to eviscerate the soul of an unsuspecting horse (although, this last one wasn’t as egregious as the others). Vikings were brutal — just ask the New Orleans Saints (2018 NFL Playoffs). But a real-ish story should know when to restrain itself, otherwise the juxtaposition doesn’t work well together. Thorkell’s amplified physical feats were simply a (London) bridge too far. Every time he entered the screen, he stuck out like a sore thumb, and took the viewer out of the historical experience. The anime staff could have diminished his physical prowess, while still maintaining his menacing nature. Surely, if Christopher Nolan can do it with Bane, then Vinland Saga could have done it with Thorkell. Transitioning from the strongest to the weakest character, Canute is a Danish Prince that was despised by his father (Sweyn Forkbeard). Thus, causing him to grow insecure and adopt socially withdrawn persona. The moments where he is attempting to discover who he is, are right up there with Askeladd’s best moments. Admittedly, though, his ‘breakthrough’ moment was a bit contrived (i.e. the zero-to-hero conversion). But given his dogmatic ideals, it is feasible to see someone of his ilk propagate this transformation. A metamorphosis that will certainly be interesting to watch, as the writers have dropped some interesting clues that would have you believe that Canute will propagate some heinous acts. The last character worth mentioning, is ‘thee’ main character of the series (Thorfinn). At this juncture, however, his arc is dry and derivative. One could easily compare him to the king of edge-lords, Eren Jaeger. Both of whom are eternally pissed-off protagonists with an insatiable urge to kill (titans for Eren, Askeladd for Thorfinn). In fact, the only thing I’ll remember from Thorfinn this season was his constant screaming and plagiarized ninjutsu (Naruto-esqe running and jumping). The animation for Vinland Saga was an ill-prepared jambalaya: some components being tasty and pipping hot, while others being gross and ice-cold. And with Beastars and Demon Slayer setting the bar high for 2019, it would have been nice to see a better effort from Vinland Saga. In the end, Vinland Saga’s story incorporated a myriad of historical factoids that elevated the viewer’s understanding of Viking history and mythology — and for this, it should be praised. It should also be exalted for its marvelous development of the mischievous Askeladd (based on Ashlad from Norwegian folktales). Unhappily, due to a multitude of missteps, Vinland Saga did not achieve the distinction of ‘masterpiece’ or ‘great' -- a great shame, I know.

Honestly appalling show considering how many people told me it's the second best thing since sliced bread. Characters are beyond bland and one sided, cringe, unrelatable, and have zero grounding to the environment they are placed in. Art is "fine". Mid. Plot? If this is a plot then it makes shows like Demon slayer have depth and breadth. But no. This isn't plot, it's slop. It's written by a 5 year old who saw a Viking video and is now running around the house in a Viking hat. Vikings? They aren't even vikings! There is very little other than some aesthetics to tie them to vikings. More like a bunch of narutos teleported to Denmark. Over all, skip this one if you have above room temperature IQ.

This is a Shonen Anime which disguises itself as Seinen. There is no depth to it, barely any character arcs aside from Askeladd and inexplicable superhuman powers for characters which do not fit the setting or "realism" this show supposedly strives for. We have "character development" happening on a whim as well, nothing of this is at any point organically written or shown on screen. Episode 16 through 19 killed the show, these three Episodes were what made me lose any interest in it at all. While the other episodes had issues, some of them could've been forgiven but what came after Ep 16 was the death knell for the investment I had into the show. The final episode tried to twist things around again, but there was nothing left to care about at this point already. So instead of lifting the score up again It just felt like some twist for the sake of it,instead of something thought through and organically happening. Do not be fooled by the tags or the hype. This is subpar storytelling filled with hollow platitudes and decent action. There is nothing "mature" about gore and violence for the sake of it, which is exactly what this show is and nothing more and nothing less.

“Far, far to the west, across the sea, there’s a land called Vinland. It has lush green plains and trees bearing countless fruit. It’s warm and fertile. It’s a faraway land without slave traders and without war.” If you know your basic geography (and watched the show), then you would know that the physical place of Vinland is referring to America (as it is later revealed in the 2nd OP as well), and the ideal that Vinland represents is the American dream. It is without a doubt that the show was inspired to be a commentary on the American dream and the values it represents set during the Viking era of the 10th and 11th centuries. The way “Vinland” plays a role in the show is extremely subtle and remarkable as it serves to be a spark of hope, prosperity, and most importantly peace, in this dark, corrupt, and war-tormented world of Western Europe. I read a few reviews for this show already and I get that this 1st season is just the prologue, however, I am still surprised that a lot of people missed this allegorical connection to the American Dream so I just wanted to point that out. Vinland Saga is a fictional Viking lore based on the lives of REAL PEOPLE. That’s right, the writer actually chose real people from that time period and created his own story of how their lives may have played out solely from their knowledge and curiosity of medieval European history. I want to be clear that not every character is real, for example, Askellad is an original character whose their for maintaining proper flow within the narrative. Most of the main cast, such as Thorfinn, Canute, King Sweyn and more are all real people that existed. Considering that most historical anime happen to be based around Japanese history, I cannot stress enough the cultural and historical significance that Vinland Saga brings and what it means for the future of anime. The premise of the show is about a boy, Thorfinn (based on the real sailor Thorfinn Karlsefni), whose honorable and “true-warrior” father, Thors, is murdered by a band of pirate mercenaries run by the conniving and snake-like Askellad. In order to exact revenge, Thorfinn travels along the band of mercenaries in hopes of slaying Askellad in an honorable Viking duel. Ok. So I noticed that a lot of people are saying that Thorfinn is an absolute garbage main character who is just an emo teenager, however, I can assure you that that is completely false. Sure, Thorfinn may come off as an edgy teenager during the middle few episodes, but it oddly enough works considering the rough past he has had and all the traumas he’s been through on his journey with Askellad. Regardless of his edgy behavior, Thorfinn still goes through a whole lot of significant character development. For example, at the start of the show, Thorfinn enjoyed playing war so much he intentionally used to injure the other kids severely and cheered with pride and honor when he finds out he can go to war. Several episodes later, after his father’s death and a few broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder, Thorfinn begins to realize the cruelties of war and the inherent evil of all human beings. There is also the contrasting philosophies of Askellad and Thors that play towards Thorfinn’s development where Thors stands for honor and civility and being a “true warrior,” whereas Askellad represents represents the virtues of scheming and abandoning pride in order to survive. Seeing Thorfinn go from being a cheery young boy to a somber teenager because of the shit he goes through is the main highlight of his story. Now, Askellad is one of those characters that you would come to hate at the beginning but slowly grow respect for over time. When you think of “conniving”, it is often associated with negative connotations, however, with brilliant writing skills, world building, and the overall flow of the story, the show genuinely convinces the viewer to respect such attributes. Askellad is one of the most philosophically deep characters in all of anime and the lessons he indirectly teaches Thorfinn over the show are some really beautiful moments and speeches that really resonate within me. There is a lot more I would like to write about Askellad, however, it’s almost impossible to do so without spoiling. He is without a doubt a doubt one of the greatest Anti-Heroes of all time. As for Thorkell, there isn’t anything philosophically deep like with Askellad, nor is he a growing character like Thorfinn. Instead, Thorkell is used primarily as a depiction of what the ideal Viking should be like and just the stereotypical Viking as a fun and comedic character within the show that really brings the historical atmosphere of Vikings to life. Canute is the prince of the Danes and the commander in charge of leading the revolt on London. Being the whiny wuss of a character he is, gets himself repeatedly tossed around like a basketball from King Sweign to Thorkell to Askellad and his life just completely being toyed with, and the only reason he’s still alive in this cruel world his because of his nobility status. He is even characterized to have the physical appearance of a woman to depict just how much of a wuss he is. One of the episodes is about Canute finding out his subjective opinion on what the meaning of love is based on the cruel and tormenting background he comes from. Although I was half hoping that Thorfinn would come out of nowhere and tell Canute that love is not “death” but in fact “hope” and proceed to tell him about the ideal of Vinland, Canute’s development is still an outstanding treat to enjoy that will really get your blood boiling and especially considering his change in motive and how he wishes to accomplish them. This one episode really nails downs Canute’s development from being a shy, weak boy to a fearless and authoritative prince. This episode is one of my absolute favorites, despite the fact that the whole “meaning of love” thing came off as a little cringe at the beginning but it absolutely pays off later in the 2nd half. Wit Studio has also outdone themselves in the making of the show. The sound editing is absolutely phenomenal everytime I hear the sound of swords clashing and the boats soaring the seas and even the sound tracks prevalent throughout the show are so well done and capture the atmosphere of a medieval setting so nicely. The animations are on point from the scarlet red blood drops to the beautifully choreographed and directed fight scenes. Not to mention, the CGI is actually fairly good. I know, CGI in anime has really come a long way since the abomination that was the 2017 Berserk. The biggest highlight from Wit would have to be the extraordinary writing as it captures the setting extremely well by being loyal to the historical accuracy in that time period it takes place. When you think about war in the modern era, the most common answer is that people want to stay away from it at all costs. That is with the rise of advanced technology in weapons, infantry is almost redundant and the horrors of war are far worse than they were in the 10th century. In the Viking lore however, it is the opposite as Vikings take far more pride and joy in fighting as infantry are the biggest resource in war back then. One scene depicts all the young citizens in Iceland, including young Thorfinn, cheering in joy as they find out they have the opportunity to go to war alongside the Danes. This is my favorite scene in the anime as that is what caused me to get hooked on the show. It is honestly a beautiful scene that captures the Viking nature so fabulously. The writers also manage to include Gossip within the show along with many other small features, that would take too long to list, which really further adds to the world building. One thing I think the Wit could’ve done better was to make the show about a series of sequential episodes that focus on the main story rather than diverting to side events. However, these few side events are still very outstandin…