Vinland Saga

Young Thorfinn grew up listening to the stories of old sailors that had traveled the ocean and reached the place of legend, Vinland. It's said to be warm and fertile, a place where there would be no need for fighting—not at all like the frozen village in Iceland where he was born, and certainly not like his current life as a mercenary. War is his home now. Though his father once told him, "You have no enemies, nobody does. There is nobody who it's okay to hurt," as he grew, Thorfinn knew that nothing was further from the truth.

The war between England and the Danes grows worse with each passing year. Death has become commonplace, and the viking mercenaries are loving every moment of it. Allying with either side will cause a massive swing in the balance of power, and the vikings are happy to make names for themselves and take any spoils they earn along the way. Among the chaos, Thorfinn must take his revenge and kill Askeladd, the man who murdered his father. The only paradise for the vikings, it seems, is the era of war and death that rages on.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Thorfinn Main

Uemura, Yuuto Japanese

Askeladd Main

Uchida, Naoya Japanese

Canute Main

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Thorkell Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Thors Supporting

Matsuda, Kenichirou Japanese

Björn Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Ylva Supporting

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Willibald Supporting

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Erikson, Leif Supporting

Ueda, Youji Japanese

Ear Supporting

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Fujiyama, Naokado Producer

Ueda, Youko Producer

Hasegawa, Hiroya Producer, Production Assistant

Yabuta, Shuuhei Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 7, 2025

arkirak

Recommended

At first glance, you might think it’s a series aimed at Action fans, and it’s definitely a series that Action enthusiasts can enjoy. However, it doesn’t solely cater to that audience.

As someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy Action and Shounen genres, I had a great time watching this series.

I really liked how the story was filled with mysteries, progressed quickly, and constantly surprised me with unexpected twists.

8/10

At first glance, you might think it’s a series aimed at Action fans, and it’s definitely a series that Action enthusiasts can enjoy. However, it doesn’t solely cater to that audience.

As someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy Action and Shounen genres, ... I had a great time watching this series.

I really liked how the story was filled with mysteries, progressed quickly, and constantly surprised me with unexpected twists.

8/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 7, 2024

ezbie

Mixed Feelings

I think this anime is mostly fine if you are forgiving. It starts off with a very promising story, one that seems of vengeance, but then it turns out to be very different.

I have a few problems with that spoil the fun though, they are:
1. Thorfinn is a weak protagonist and a badly written one
2. Young blonde guy (not Thorfinn) has changes personality too abruptly and it's an unreasonable part of the story, it's almost as if the guy becomes someone else
3. Everyone's swearing loyalty to the new would-be king out of the blue is also nonsense
4. The attitutes Askellad takes in the very last ... episode seems not to make any sense. The consequence of that is even more nonsensical

And that's it. The writers seem adept at using plot devices that make no sense whatsoever and they use it to take the story into directions no one was expecting, and it is not in a good way.

In the end the results are not very bad and I had fun watching the show, but this had so much potential to be a 10/10 like Sousou no Frieren, no flaws whatsoever, but the writers decided that was not supposed to happen and ruined the story almost completely

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 9, 2025

RemanTheArchean

Not Recommended

Funny

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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