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

Kawazoe, Chitose Assistant Producer

Reviews

Dec 20, 2025

AnimeEnjoyer433

Recommended

When you hear about the word "viking", you wouldn't expect the show to be somewhat emotional and has deep story in it. You would expect something maybe like "HAHAHA. Give me money and I let you live" kind of show, or some kind of historical boring narrative story that would make people go to sleep in less than 10 minutes. But, this show isn't like that. This show is definitely not your typical viking kind of film. What makes this show great is definitely because of the Characters.

Art style and animation, no questions asked. WIT definitely did a great job for animating Vinland Saga. ...

8.25/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 12, 2025

elumizu

Mixed Feelings

What does it mean to live without enemies? Can a man forged in hatred truly choose peace? Or is that just another story we tell ourselves to sleep at night? Vinland Saga wears the mask of a grand epic, blood-soaked, windswept, heavy with purpose. It sells itself as a sweeping tale of revenge, survival, and the search for meaning in a brutal Viking world. A place where blood and honor are currency, and where ideals are tested against the relentless grind of reality. The world it builds is harsh and immersive at first glance, icy shores, sprawling battlefields, the quiet dread of a campfire where ... you might not wake up the next morning. Yet for all its historical weight, much of the setting feels more like a painted backdrop than a living world. The politics and religion of the time are touched on, but rarely explored in enough depth to make them feel inevitable and inescapable. There are moments that hint at something deeper beneath the violence: reflections on cycles of hatred, the emptiness of vengeance, the fragile possibility of redemption. But the road to those ideas is long, grim, and often repetitive. Thorfinn starts off as an angry boy with murder in his eyes and ends as a silent man with slightly less murder in his eyes. In between there are a lot of staring, screaming, running, stabbing, and brooding. Many of the side characters even ones with fascinating potential like Askeladd or Canute, feel more like narrative tools than people allowed to exist outside of Thorfinn’s orbit. Characters talk about peace while standing over fresh corpses. There’s irony there, but not enough self-awareness to make it feel intentional. The anime wants to show that war is hell, but it doesn’t mind lingering in the hellfire. Every blade glinting, every blood splatter lovingly framed, every slow-motion kill treated like a painter’s brushstroke. For something that eventually becomes anti-violence, it takes its time reveling in violence. Visually, it’s uneven. Some scenes strike with raw beauty, while others stumble with choppy movement and static backgrounds that feel like placeholders. The muted palette fits the tone, but also risks blending everything into the same shade of gloom. The character designs, especially Thorfinn’s, sometimes look hastily approved rather than refined. Voice acting is more consistent. The cast sells their lines with conviction, though at times the performances lean heavily on shouting to convey emotion. The soundscape, however, is where the cracks show most. Entire stretches are devoid of music, not in the artful, deliberate way that builds tension, but in a way that feels like the score simply forgot to show up. It robs some scenes of emotional punch, leaving the pacing flat. As a moral statement, Vinland Saga reaches for something rare: an anti-war narrative wrapped in the skin of a revenge epic. As a viewing experience, it’s colder, more distant, and technically rougher than its ambitions deserve. Enjoyment will vary depending on your tolerance for slow burns and heavy themes. If anything, personally, at times it didn't feel like watching an anime, but it felt like being guided through an animated religious documentary. The kind of animation that is used for air during Holy Week. Something between The Passion of the Christ and old Bible cartoons about Moses, a sermon disguised as a saga, a lesson about peace wrapped in layers of gloom. There's an audience that thrives on this kind of storytelling, the kind that likes to sit in silence and think, and that's valid. But in my case, the emotional coldness, the technical roughness, and the muted direction, it's something I admire more than I love. It's a kind of series I’m glad I watched, without necessarily wanting to sit through again.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Nov 26, 2025

Singular9

Not Recommended

Funny

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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