Vinland saga Review

Genre: Adventure, Action, Historical, Drama, Seinen

Premiered: July 8, 2019

Studios: Wit Studio

Summer 2019 season has too much for us to offer, in the party here is the "Vinland saga", my best action seinen anime of this season. For what I had been waiting for a prolonged period of time, the theme which dives into the history, the tenure of Icelandic sagas!

The era of chronic wars, the epoch of when the Vikings had quite a reputation for themselves as the strongest families with a thirst for violence, but there settled a certain small village far away from those chronics, Iceland. Lead by a former hero of battlefield, one among the greatest of Jomsviking, Thors. A warrior who has lost his will to kill others, he undermined his own identity and started living a peaceful life in Iceland but the serene veined when one of his old comrades found him out. The smell of battlefield called him yet again.

Our protagonist, Thorfinn, the son of Thors. He is among those who has never seen a war in his life, he believes killing the "enemies" and dying as a soldier of war is the only pathway to havens.

First Impression

Astounding, nothing lower to astonishing is the word. How much I scrutinize, I can't find a single instance which wasn't satisfactory to my eyes. Right from the initiation of Vinland Saga, which lands in the middle of a battlefield, a perfect suggestion for the fan of a thriller loving action anime.

There aren't many anime these days which adapts from historical theme, especially not which centers Vikings, at least I have not found any yet, except for the Vinland saga. Vinland saga takes you to the era when the world was unstable, constant wars, slave trade, dominance of certain group or king were at its acme. These were the time when psychology of people was inclined on the abstract that, the one who kills the most in the war is the one greatest of all, succeeding with the certificate to impart in havens after the death.

The guy who fascinates me most is Thors. What a man he is. Brawny check. Pride check. Morals check. Morality check. Righteousness check. I would be delighted if Thors happens to be the protagonist of Vinland Saga, however he is not. Thorfinn, his son is the leading character of Vinland Saga, I don't have any issues with him either, he is a young man with a lot to learn. His story in Vinland Saga begins with him of 6 years, personifying the image of a kid who admires his dad for being a warrior, even if it is the former. He too wants to become like his dad but isn't knowing what the actuality outside the Icelandic village is. He is unknown to the pain and what the true meaning of being a warrior of battlefield is, at least yet. Throughout episodes Thors shows wearier of his son's love for war, which falls him to the category of annoying kid. Although, I'm rooting for him, Vinland Saga is a Shounen Action anime and every anime of this genre must have a quality character development, I'm hoping for the best of Thorfinn, which I believe it won't be disappointing.

There are so many things which I want to discuss from Episode 1,2,3 (they all were aired on the same day) like how Thors became a completely different person after the birth of his eldest daughter, Ylva. Succeeding with the same thought he determined to run away from Jomsviking, when he happens to be their commander, he surely did succeed however after living a peaceful life for about 15 years, an old comrade of his finally found him and called to join the battlefield again. Despite witnessing battlefield being a great setup for action, I'm looking forward to gaze at some history. Rule of the mighty one; slaves moreover, how religion differs the condition of the community. I can recall an event from episode 2 when Askeladd's men were harassing people for their Christianity, another event when Ylva found a runaway slave who was thin as stick, humiliated both mentally and physically. I felt really bad about the guy but also wanted to expound more on the caption. The point I'm centring is that Vinland Saga will make you feel like you already know how things used to go back in the days of our ancestors, world those days were more cruel and ruthless in those days, still you'll enjoy every friggin' moment of this show.

Like myanimelist users I too is having high hopes for this show, It was really fun to watch first 3 episodes also, from my reasoning this anime may run longer than most of the other recurring shows. Overall it was a good time spent.

Animation

With animation I don't see any issues, despite for it what being 17+ because they didn't shy away from depicting bloody action with sword while cutting people in half. By far to me it's cool, I liked they adapted to old school animation type, even showed Vikings like the Vikings. Backing up with the actuality of sceneries of how things were back in the 11th century. In short, good and genuine animation I could hope for an historical shounen Action anime.

Sound and Music

Opening song starts with a slow tone but get wildly enthusiastic as it proceeds, to be honest It kinda felt like fusion of Tokyo Ghoul's "Unravel" and Attack on Titan's "Red swan" but yes, a bit degraded in terms of quality if we compare those two with Vinland's opening. Perhaps It's considerable because at the end of the day, Vinland is Wit Studio's production, one which is behind Attack on titan. As about the ending song it's calm with a comforting tone. I'm liking both Opening as well as Ending song, they fit with the environment on which the theme is about.