Vinland Saga, one of the most popular anime of 2019, has already gained a lot of love among fans all over the world. Even though it follows the events of history, it kept entertaining the viewers and made quite an entrance to the list of best anime of 2019. Well, before you conclude yourself it’s a seinen anime, why don’t you give a try at my review? I hope that will make you watch this masterpiece. Alright then, let’s get to the review.
Also read: Attack on Titan: 5 Reasons Why It Is A Must Watch Series!
Vinland Saga
Genre: Adventure, Action, Historical fiction
IMDb: 9/10.
Vinland Saga is a Japanese historical manga series with the script and illustrations of Makoto Yukimura. The series was published by Kodansha, and serialized in the Weekly Shonen Magazine in 2005. As of 2019, the series has made into 22 volumes, and it’s still ongoing. The series is licensed in English by Kodansha USA. And as per the anime series, it can be streamed on Funimation and Crunchyroll.
Synopsis
Vinland Saga sets in 1013 AD, which was being ruled by Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard. As King Sweyn decides to make one of his sons a new King, there is an argument who’s it’s going be either Prince Harald or Prince Canute. The story draws the elements from historical accounts of the period, such as The Flateyjarbók, Saga of the Greenlanders and the Saga of Eric the Red.
Plot
The story starts with a 6-year-old kid named Thorfinn, the son of Thors, who was a Viking Commander fifteen years ago. Thors deserted the sea battle by faking his death and commenced a peaceful life in Iceland with his, Helga. However, the Viking Floki arrives at Thors village to invite him to join the next battle with them, but who knows what’s in Floki’s mind. However, when Thors set on a journey to fight for the sake of the village, he is killed by the mercenary leader, Askeladd, who is not as powerful as Thors but cruel and smart.
Thorfinn joins the mercenaries to sharpen his skills and hoping to kill Askeladd in one on one battle fair and square. While Thorfinn is trying for the vengeance for his father, he becomes involved in Askeladd’s plot to influence the coronation of the next King of England.
Characters
The best thing an anime series could have is a functional characterization. And this anime has excellent character development. This anime shows how a person can become when his life needs a reason to live and what a character can achieve from his past mistakes. A side character could end up becoming your favorite character.
It must’ve been a tough job for the writer to improvise the characters this way. The characterization is the best aspect of Vinland Saga.
Music
Vinland Saga has great soundtracks like Leaves Eyes, The Thorn, and Mukanjyo. The opening ‘Mukanjyo‘ is excellent. It has good background music, and the singer put his effort to his maximum. Throughout the series, the music doesn’t lose pace. It keeps going on with the scenes and thanks to YutakaYamada for such an epic Ost and soundtracks.
If you’re a fan of historical series, the music you experience in this anime will be so soothing. Not to mention the song “Dark Crow,” it gives you chills while listening to it.
Animation
Wit Studio has done a fantastic job while presenting the openings as well as the main scenes. Since it’s a historical setting, every stage has to be displayed based on the year 1013AD. And without a doubt, Wit Studio fulfilled the requirement.
Every character in the anime is a beautiful art, and honestly, I think its the best seinen anime with such a good quality of animation. Even though you find animation was a bit low at very few scenes, but they never did that at the crucial stages. And the way Action scenes were animated is exceptionally significant. I firmly believe Animation is the best aspect for Vinland Saga being a seinen anime.
Action
The action usually contains some epic fight scenes. It shows how Thorfinn evolves as a fighter, and that includes many action sequences that make you excited for the next episodes. And the anime is made of a lot of violent scenes, at least that’s what everyone expects.
There are plenty of action sequences and amazing characters that make every moment valuable in Vinland Saga.
Besides these, there are a few quotes that will make you like it even more:
“The world…God’s divine creation…Is so brimming with love…Yet there is no love in the hearts of men.” – Canute
“Not all warriors fight on the battlefield with a sword in hand. A sailor makes his living battling the sea.” – Leif Erikson
“The only reason I must rely on this sword is because I am imperfect. A true warrior needs no sword.” – Thors
“A fight you can’t win becomes an obsession.” – Askeladd
Every quote they mentioned in the anime will somehow connect to the characters and their backstories. That’s what makes the dialogues emotional. Every viewer who has already watched this anime will have mixed feelings. It’s not that easy to explain Vinland Saga in one word. At a point, it feels epic, and at some point, it feels emotional, but in the end, everyone likes it, and it conveys a profound message.
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