Vinland Saga Season 2

Vinland Saga is the embodiment of anachronism and the self-fulfilment of the mocked utterance "If you kill your enemies, they win."

Imagine yourself being sold into slavery in 11th-century Scandinavia after brute-forcing your way to the Viking conquest of England’s conclusion as a mercenary. At this point you’re well acquainted with the brutish nature of the Dark Ages and the horrors of mankind--ceaseless wars and raids, slavery, the razing of entire villages, violent wars of succession--and in particular the ruthless 'might makes right' warrior culture of the Vikings which one of your loved ones died at the hands of. Now imagine one day in that traumatic ... life of yours you start preaching 21st-century first-world pacifist ideals as a hollowed-out, depressed slave because of a dream. Then give yourself a pat on the back if you think this is an inherently juvenile and asinine concept that first off could never see ideation in such a context, would never see the light of day even if you could conceptualize it, and would never work even if it did see the light of day; because unlike Vinland Saga, you have at least an iota of a grasp on reality. Vinland Saga Season 2 is not only ugly on the outside as an audiovisual experience but also on the inside as a grossly delusional historical fiction that insists upon itself with pretentious moral righteousness, wanting to have its cake and eat it with its faux philosophising whilst attempting to work within the confines of reality. It is a shounen in seinen’s clothing.

What started out as a half-decent historical fiction that read almost like a gritty epic, with clear direction and dynamic characters to match, degenerates into aimless, feeble meandering with sluggish pacing and lethargic characters that reads more like a rant from the author than an actual story in its whiplash of a shift into a slice-of-life. The seeds of failure, however, were already sown from the very beginning of the series when Thorfinn's father spoke the essence of his philosophy on his deathbed "A true warrior has no need for a sword"--like a true 17th century Bushido-ideal samurai based in 11th century Scandinavia who uses "no sword" in the literal sense of the words as opposed to metaphorically. Whilst admirable that he cast aside his penchant for violence and surrendered a prestigious life of fierce warrior-ship in order to settle down with his wife and children and ensure them a peaceful life, the story would immortalise him as an aspirational wise man for orphaning a son and widowing a wife into misery because he surrendered to a death he could've easily avoided by sacrificing his family and himself for his moral code of pacifism. What if Askeladd--who’d already shown not to be trusted--didn’t uphold his promise, or if Bjorn massacred the Icelandic village anyway? Vinland Saga expects you to take Thor’s unconvincing dichotomy in faith as it begins using this fundamentally flawed premise as the foundation of the Slave arc and Thorfinn’s character piece, and the self-defeating polarity of venerating an ideology that just lead to a family’s demise is foreshadowing for the story's downwards spiral from this season onwards. Thorfinn, seeing how well pacifism turned out for his father and reaping its fruits first-hand, suddenly becomes one himself this season.

Whilst anachronism is Vinland Saga’s biggest problem--how it’s flawed on a fundamental level because its thematic execution conflicts with its own established world due to the author projecting his modern-day moral standards onto a story about 11th century Vikings--its inoperative veer into a medieval farming simulator means the themes it wants to convey here aren’t even made palatable on an external, structural level. The Slave arc lacks a defined act structure and feels like a tedious detour from the prologue, with no narrative drive and momentum. There are long stretches of uneventful moments mostly accompanied by Thorfinn and Einar babbling in a struggle to come to grasp the basic concept of ‘self-preservation’ as the directing in all its unsophisticated artistry (or lack thereof) displays severed heads in order to depict the mental state of a man. All the philosophical ramblings with obvious implications mean pacing thrice as slow as the previous arc isn’t compelling when it fails to be the psychological character-driven introspective it pretends to be. What other stories resolve in 3 episodes, Vinland Saga takes 24 to do without a convincing conclusion. There is no reason for over a dozen episodes to be dedicated to the (bizarrely portrayed) mundane slice-of-life of slaves on a farm, it’s the most astroturfed way imaginable to advance Thorfinn’s already deficient pacifist epiphany; especially when such an overarching theme is something as basic as “Slavery is… bad!” You are taught this in elementary school. This could have been done in less than 3 episodes under the dynamism of the prologue, and Thorfinn’s pacifism would have at least been somewhat more believable in a plot with proper happenings gravitating him towards an active MC role instead of being a glorified exposition dump in disguise for what he’s thinking. The series’ soft reset completely bottlenecks the natural progression of the once hot-blooded plot and characters that the series laid out, and thus Farmland Saga struggles to justify its existence. It no longer moves forward in sharp incremental episodes but wallows in nigh-episodic bloat. The character who suffers the most from this stifling shift in direction is of course Thorfinn, who’s treated like a messianic figure for some reason that the narrative never challenges the ideals of. You can now break down his character arc as Sasuke Uchiha —> Jesus Christ. Honestly, Canute's way of peace is far more pragmatic and he should've been the main character after Askeladd's death.

The plot is also cultivated primarily by poor character drama, unintelligent character decisions, accidental happenings and plot devices, which is why aside from most of the cast being lifeless husks, are also unlikeable. Einar is only angry about no longer being a free man and seeing his family members murdered before his eyes in the immediate moment, and he and the 10 unrestrained slaves being transported by boat by the few Danish raiders never attempt to resist or hijack the vessel. Gardar is introduced to serve merely as a tool for the series to once again unsubtlely preach “Here’s why violence is bad” in a scene that diminishes both his and Arnheid’s character after the two had already received incessant flashbacks that could’ve instead made way for more pivotal moments in the story like a certain reunion not being underwhelming. Even the climax of this arc is an illustration of shallow thematic execution; a culmination of the poor character drama and unintelligent character actions, where Thorfinn displays suicidal levels of restraint that should’ve gotten himself killed if not for the plot armour that the narrative places on his idealism, followed by corny dialogue and an unbelievable resolution that assassinates Canute’s character writing.

"I have no enemies." Bravo Uzumaki Thorfinn.

I loved the first season. I loved it so much, that I sat through about 9 episodes of this before I realized that it was boring and I was just sitting around, waiting for something to happen. I loved it so much, that I continued to watch another 5 episodes, being as patient as I could. I can't keep watching this. I've been patient. I've given it 14 episodes. But I feel like the entire plot of the past 14 episodes could be summed up in about 2 paragraphs. Nothing happens. They go deeply into the backstory of random side characters, while ignoring the main ... plot. I'm not a hater. I really wanted to like this. But I have to be honest with myself and with you. This season sucks. I don't know what happened, but it's sad.

It's a completely different show. The stunning action and character development that we loved about the season 1 is totally gone without a trace. Instead this show focuses on some non violence Gandhi crap. You can even call is a slice of life anime on slaves. Thorfinn's character has taken a completele 180 and the story itself doesn't seem to head anywhere if it has any on the first place. It's getting more and more boring with each episodes and I might end up dropping it it this show continues this path.
The animation is decent and the FEW action sequences this show has were good.
If ... you like to watch slaves working hard and going through the ups and downs of life then you will like this show.
If you came for the action... Sorry, Wrong Show.

The concept of a Mangaka, encompassing both exceptional artistic talent and exceptional writing, has always been a challenging feat to achieve. To possess one can already be considered lucky, but to excel at both is truly rare. While there have been exceptional Mangakas, Makoto Yukimura's Vinland Saga Season 2 unfortunately falls short of this mark.

Part 1: A Mockery of the Norse Culture
Vinland Saga Season 2 can only be described as a direct mockery of the source material that served as its inspiration. In contemporary Manga adaptations, one would expect a deeper exploration of the chosen setting. However, Vinland Saga neglects to incorporate any elements of ... Norse mythology and culture. The omission of such crucial aspects is a glaring flaw, especially considering the story's focus on pacifism. This deliberate exclusion undermines the depth of the narrative and showcases the shortcomings of Yukimura, who can merely copy the aesthetics at a superfiscial level but not the substance. In contrast, even mainstream series like Vikings (2013) contrasted the Old Norse religion with Christianity, sparking engaging debates on life, death, and the Viking way of life.

Part 2: Pretentious Defenses and One-Dimensional Redemption
The zealous defenders of Vinland Saga dismiss any criticism, hailing the show as "profound and insightful," while labeling dissenters as individuals who merely revel in mindless violence, incapable of grasping the show's depth. Such claims come across as pretentious and fail to acknowledge the audience's own preferences. Let's not forget that Season 1 primarily focused on action and violence. Moreover, the redemption aspect of the show proves disappointingly one-dimensional. The main character, Thorfinn, undergoes an abrupt transformation from an Uchiha Sasuke archetype to a Jesus Christ-like figure, leaving no room for nuanced character development. While it is common for shounen anime to embody a specific idea through the protagonist, Yukimura positions himself on the moral high ground by advocating 21st-century pacifism in the Viking era, all the while eliminating any other ideologies that could challenge his narrative.

Conclusion:
In my preliminary review, I maintained a rather comedic tone, but the praise bestowed upon Vinland Saga Season 2 seems excessive considering its actual merits. The talented artists who brought the animation to life deserve better material to showcase their skills. Ultimately, Vinland Saga Season 2 fails to meet expectations, leaving viewers longing for either a more thought-provoking plot or more action. Peace.

I rewatched the first season before starting this one, and man did it keep up with my memories of it watching the first time around. The thrill of action, story, and developments of the first season are undoubtedly up there with the best. Diving straight into the 2nd season-- it's terrible. I feel like 6 episodes went by without a single meaningful thing happening. It genuinely felt like sitting through the endless 8 arc. So far there is no action, no meaningful contributions to the original story, and no characters developments. Sadly, the production is still almost as beautiful the first season. Which is an ... absolute shameful waste of talent on this uninspired boring show.

The main character was conveniently "emptied out" and had his personality replaced by hollow depression. They virtually nullified the entire plot of the first season with amnesia to, what feels like, buy time to come up with the next good storyline. You could genuinely watch a 2nd season of a plot-heavy anime and understand almost everything that has happened so far. It's unacceptable.

It's like watching a CGDCT anime, but the characters are all depressed and void of any unique personalities. So far, it's 7 episodes of nothingness. Every new character is entirely uninteresting. Their scripts all follow what you'd expect to hear from an NPC during a sidequest. The main character is literally doing a sidequest while the authors develop the rest of the mainstory. I could understand this sidetracking for an episode or two, but this looks to continue on for probably half the season.

I'm extremely disappointed to see such a beautiful and well executed story get absolutely dumpstered. Even if it picks up in the later half, this stain will never go away. I can no longer in good conscience recommend Vinland Saga.

The audience’s reception of Vinland Saga S2 has been pretty bipolar. On one hand, we have the fans saying Thorfinn has had fantastic character development and is now a very wise and mature figure, while on the other hand, critics say this season was slow and boring like a farming simulator. However, very few people seem to share my main issue with the show.

Thorfinn is a hardcore pacifist, which is alright, but the show tries to present him and his philosophy as *THE* right way to live your life, and that anyone who uses violence has yet to come to the “enlightenment” that Thorfinn has ... arrived at. I think a great example to illustrate this would be Thorfinn’s iconic “I’ll run away” line, which is basically his response to Canute’s violent expansionism. I’ll reiterate that there is nothing wrong with Thorfinn’s ideology, but at the same time, there’s also nothing wrong with standing your ground and fighting back. Vinland Saga fails to realize this. Ketil is portrayed as this insane, bloodthirsty man who beats up pregnant women simply because he chose to fight for what is rightfully his. Yes, Ketil’s paltry farm guards had no chance against Canute’s Vikings, but what matters here is the intention, and Ketil has every right in the world to try to defend his homeland, even in a losing cause. Meanwhile, Thorfinn pulls up at Canute’s camp to show off his masochism in the most obnoxious way imaginable. The 100 punches deal was dumb for a variety of reasons. First, there is no way an ordinary person can bear a 100 punches. Thorfinn was only able to do it because he used to be a Viking, aka the antithesis of his present ideology. Second, 100 punches was just an arbitrary deal made without the knowledge of Thorfinn’s past. What if the deal was a 100 punches by a 100 different people? Even Thorfinn wouldn’t be able to bear that. The point I’m trying to make is, there’s absolutely no need to subject yourself to such suffering simply because someone tells you to. If you want to do something and someone is trying to stop you, you either defeat the guy by force or give up on your objective. The whole idea that you’ll prove his violence wrong with your silent suffering is so embarrassingly childish.

But for whatever reason, Canute, who went from being a devout Christian to an unholy, immoral aggressor in the span of 10 minutes in S1, again did a 180 and decided to shrink his fleet in England after Thorfinn told him to do so. And guess what happened next. The people whom Canute had so brutally oppressed suddenly realized his goodwill and were all too happy to let themselves be ruled over. The amount of plot contrivance Yukimura adds just to justify his puerile pacifism is honestly hilarious, and it’s baffling to me how so few see the show for what it truly is.

As for the production, MAPPA did a fairly decent job, but I guess the manga is the superior version. Despite finding his ideology disagreeable, I do think Yukimura is a great mangaka, and his panels, at least from what I’ve seen here and there on the internet, are absolutely gorgeous. Either way, the experience isn’t going to be much different if you agree with the points I’ve made.

Thank you for reading.

This pains me to write but Vinland Saga season 2 is a huge disappointment. I am a huge fan of the series but Season 2 just might have some of the worst pacing, characters, acting, and directing I have ever seen in an anime of this caliber. I won't go too into details, just watch the show for yourself and you can see, but my main issue with the show is the characters. My problem isn't the lack of action, the new characters are just about the most unlikeable people in all of anime.

Two characters in particular bother me the most: Einar, who takes ... up way more screen time than Thorfinn, would be the worst character in all of anime, except for Olmar, the son of the farmer who owns Thorfinn. Einar's actor is just bad, plain and simple (you have to watch for yourself). Olmar is the typical cocky loudmouth, except he also gets more screen time then Thorfinn. Honestly all of the actors are bad, even Thorfinn's 2 lines every other episode are awkwardly delivered and overshadowed by his weird ass screaming.

Oh yeah Thorfinn is no longer even in the show, he has been reduced to Sakura status and his acting is pretty poor too. It has to be the director. Whoever directed this absolutely butchered the season. They have tried so hard to turn Vinland into a comedy which is clearly not the way the author wants the story to go. Between the plethora of annoying characters, bad acting, terrible pacing, and unclear directing, Vinland Saga season 2 is beyond salvation (at the halfway point).

I just wanted to take this chance to compare it to season 1. Not even the action but the characters. By episode 4 we had an array of badass, interesting, developing characters with stories to tell and backgrounds to discover. Season 2 has none of that, not even for Thorfinn. He serves no purpose in this season, so far, and it breaks my heart. Thorfinn is one of the best characters in Anime and he has been reduced to a side character in his own show. Only to be replaced by an annoying foil for Thorfinn. Season 1's pacing and directing were God tier. Unfortunately season 2 has no good notable qualities. Somehow season 2's animation also took a significant step back, but it is clearly on the director as it is more of a pacing issue and not so much bad animation.

Overall, just stop at season 1. The story was complete.

Season 1 offered us an exceptional experience, with incredible openings and endings, and high-quality dubbing that added even more depth to the characters. The animation of the fights was beautifully done, and the battles and wars were closely tied to a story of revenge, promising a perilous journey towards a utopian destination: Vinland. We hope to see this explored further in the following seasons. In summary, Season 1 presented us with a captivating and successful set of elements.

However, Season 2 is a disappointment in many ways. The absence of fights, battles, and wars has taken away the very essence of the Viking world. Instead of ... pursuing epic quests, the characters now seem to spend all their time crying over nothing and digging holes, waiting for wheat to grow (oh, miraculously after 10 episodes, we realize that indeed the wheat grows well in the ground), which doesn't align with the Viking spirit at all. The story stagnates for numerous episodes, which is frustrating for fans who were expecting a continuation that would match the first season's level.

It's hard to understand why Season 2 was conceived in this way, disregarding elements that had worked so well before. The absence of fights and alcohol, which are prominent aspects of the Viking universe, is a very regrettable idea. Many other animated series have also declined in quality by continuing beyond their initial strong point, and unfortunately, this one falls into that category.

As a result, Season 2 was a considerable waste of time and greatly disappointed me. Although I would like to give it a 0 for this letdown, the lowest rating being 1, I will give it a 1/10, no more. It's a shame to see a series with promising potential sink in this manner.

I don't get some positive reviews on this scam... If you want to get what this season is about quickly, take a minute to imagine what you would feel if a series like "Friends" from one season to another turned out into something similar to a horror/suspense movie instead of fun and entertainment. If you wouldn't like something like that to happen, then you get what this season is about.

On the other hand, if you are a loser who enjoys that kind of nonsense changes of topics in a series, then you will love this.

I like drama series, and I like action animes; I watch ... them depending on my mood when I start it, and here, I wanted action, but I found drama.
I recommend you to watch "To Your Eternity" if you are into the topic; there, you will find real emotions (as in many other good animes), not this scam of the season.

I don't know who marked this thing as Action/Adventure, but he should really buy a dictionary.
Action is non-existent, they spend 10 seasons farming.
Adventure is non-existent, because they never leave the freakin' farm!
Almost nothing happens.
This is slice of life with drama elements, and 99% of what you see is moralizing. What's more, the moralizing doesn't even fit the historical setting. Plot armor is the only thing allowing the main character to nurture his new way of life.
Boring, boring, thrice boring.

In other news:
- story was unpredictably stupid and unrealistic, not fitting at all
- characters either lacked depth or had depth that doesn't fit them
- art style didn't ... matter, just like horrible meal will not be better whether you serve it on golden platter, or on toilet paper
- the only people I can imagine enjoying this 2nd season are those so self-rightous that they fail to see realism (or rather blatant lack thereof)

Vinland Saga Season 2 is a complete disaster and a waste of time. It's supposed to be a historical anime about Vikings, but it's more like a soap opera with boring dialogue, unrealistic characters and plot holes. The animation is terrible, the music is annoying and the voice acting is cringeworthy. Thorfinn is a pacifist who can't fight for himself or his friends. He's constantly lectured by Einar, a farmer who thinks he knows everything about life and morality. Leif Erikson is a useless old man who can't navigate or sail. The story is full of clichés, contradictions and inconsistencies "I have no enemies". There ... is no excitement or emotion in this anime. It's just a dull and depressing mess that tries to be deep and meaningful, but fails miserably. Vinland Saga Season 2 is a 1/10 and I don't recommend it to anyone.

The idea that Thorfin had any meaningful character development this season is simply WRONG. The premise of pacifism, more specifically the ideals that Thorfin was preaching is simply flawed.

Consider the following: Without hate, love is meaningless. If you do not hate those who destroy what you love, you do not love.

In just one small sentence, the whole premise of Thorfin's season 2 "character development" is rebutted and we didn't need 24 episodes to realize pacifism is a fundamentally flawed premise.

Throughout the show, the viewer is force fed this idea that to be morally virtuous, one must 'have no enemies' and forgive literally everyone unabashedly. ... Even when faced with an adversary who opposes your desires directly, one must submit in order to avoid violence! In the anime, Thorfin shows this is his ideology time and time again by letting people walk all over him (and even at times, being ok with paying the ultimate price of death!). It pains me to watch Thorfin being used as a metaphorical martyr for a fundamentally flawed ideology.

The contrast between season 1 Thorfin and season 2 Thorfin is not a natural character's development. It's like the author tried to shoehorn in the idea of pacifism being good, on a character which is (and should be) incompatible, at a time where it would be impossible. Thorfin's ideals completely flipped 180 seemingly over night, for not real justifications (as explained above) It makes no sense.

Only watch this season for continuity for the coming seasons I guess...

One of the most boring anime I've watched in a long time. Nothing happens. It's fine that a viking-based anime doesn't have action. But where action lacks, there needs to be a better story, dialogue or something to carry it. None of that was noticeably better than the next anime. Fanboys will tout the character development, but it was mediocre. I really don't see what's the big deal. The best argument for the anime is a setup for a further part of the story, in which case, maybe it raises the overall ranking of the whole show. But this specific season was incredibly painful to ... watch. I had to drag myself to keep watching. Even at 1.25x speed, it seemed slow. Coincidentally, the music works pretty well at that speed as well. Writing this review solely so the reviews aren't swayed in the "Recommend" direction.

Vinland Saga, you’ve heard of it, it is this incredibly serious, mature and realistic series telling a tale of Vikings, rich in great characters, whose visuals are breathtaking and it has one of the greatest stories to ever be conceived in manga and anime… except, all of this is a lie. Vinland Saga as a narrative isn’t really enticing, and the realism dies on the very first minute of the first episode of the first season where a guy chops 4 men standing separately in a square-like formation and a mast in the center of them with a single axe swing, and it doesn’t get ... better from there. As a series, Vinland Saga is not even that bad, but when it is sold as this “serious, mature and realistic” series when it is actually closer to a typical shounen nekketsu series in execution, then it comes out as a pretty bad and you can blame it as a big part of why Vinland Saga bothers me so much.

Whenever I hear people saying that this season is boring, it makes me feel confused, it’s not like Vinland Saga had been fun in the first place. The first season had an easy to follow plot, so you can understand why people were bothered by the change, however, the pacing of the first season was horrible, to the point even someone who hasn’t read the manga like me can notice it was dragged far more than it should’ve just so it wouldn’t get to the so called Farmland Saga arc to have the teenagers entertained by fights between Vikings so they wouldn’t pay attention to the ridiculous characters, so when the more grounded second season came, it seemed like a complete 180 degrees change from the first one, as it was more centered on the characters and opportunities to showcase the writing and the contemplation of its own themes because, if no one noticed until now, the first season was the prologue of the story, and this is what the first season was building up to, and I know it’s not the fault of anyone but the people at Wit studio who thought that making the first season 24 episodes long was a good idea.

There was this episode that was mainly focused on Thorfinn and Einar doing work at the farm, it was entirely about moving trees and stuff, and I actually found it entertaining, it was easily better than most of the stuff from the previous season, since we are seeing how Thorfinn changed from this shell of a non-character into someone different, who has different reasons to live aside from revenge. And actually, that is what makes Thorfinn much more better this season, last season he was an empty husk searching for revenge as his only motive and not having character aside from that, even Sasuke from Naruto is far more interesting than this, however, after Askeladd died, now Thorfinn has no more reason to keep searching for revenge, not because he finally managed to get it, but because after years he got to have a reasons to live besides revenge. When you look at his evolution, this makes sense, after all, his father was a pacifist, and as much as I could complain that this Viking who was on a lot of battles changing into a pacifist after holding the hand of his daughter a lot, that is not the point of what I’m talking, he taught Thorfinn that he should try to not use violence, but then he had turned out as the exact opposite of what his father hoped back in the first season, it makes you see he has grown up as a person by this season, maturing into a man similar to his father.

However, this is a double-edged sword, as you can see now Thorfinn is even more of a pacifist than his father to the point of receiving as many punches in the face without reacting, he went from Sasuke to Gandhi across the span of this season. When this scene where, after Thorfinn received 100 punches to the face, he was able to talk with Canute once again, and after talking for a while and being asked what he was going to do, he answers saying "I'll run away" and the wind makes his hair flow as this big super serious moment that I'm sure many will be gushing over it, I couldn't help but think of a Mexican telenovela watching it, it was very funny, it is understandable why Canute was laughing midway their conversation with how dumb that sounded and with the way it was framed. Worst thing of all, Canute accepts it as if he didn’t rightfully win the battle in the farm to make it his, and then he goes away, reduces his army and everything ends well. And I can’t help but think that I had thought the big amount of unrealistic moments stopped after the end of the first season, but it seems like I was wrong, this was like watching a shoune MC pull a talk-no-jutsu but on a supposedly serious series. This was always the problem with the supposed realism of Vinland Saga, you can see the autor tried to build this realistic world and then put characters with obviously superhuman abilities that don’t get any explanation because well, this is trying to be realistic, so any mention of obvious superhuman abilities will take away that, sadly, not mentioning them also takes the realism away since I’m not blind.

And I don’t know how to feel about the rest of the characters, Vinland Saga’s cast was always a mixed bag, when you will receive really interesting characters such as Askeladd, who was definitely the biggest spark of the first season and probably of the entire series, no wonder he is the favorite character of most of the fans, to characters like Thorkell, who is extremely annoying and the bringer of some of the most unrealistic scenes of the first season and whom I’m happy basically isn’t present on this one. This season isn’t different on that aspect, we have Einar, a man living happily with his family until a bunch of Vikings invade his hometown and kill his mother and sister, so he is sold as a slave and he gets to the farm, he is an example of a character who doesn’t actually change, he is the same across the whole run of the series as he always had the opinion that slavery was bad and would prefer if it didn’t exist. Unlike last season, this one has some more naturally handled developments, such as Olmar’s, who went from this bratty, spoiled, stupid, bothersome person to a calmer man, he had to get through a lot of dumb decisions to get there, from asking Canute to be part of his army, to unintentionally making his father’s farm enter in a fight with Canute’s army, and after seeing the horrors of war, he definitely changed for the better. We also continue where we were left after the change with Canute in the previous season, he is looking to be the rightful king, but at the same time has his hallucinated father’s floating head telling him that he isn’t that much different from him, and this is his conflict during the season, which is definitely better handled than his absolutely unnatural sudden change of personality in the first season.

And it seems like no matter the studio, Vinland Saga can’t get good animation, comparing the anime to the manga is like day and night, Wit did a terrible job in Vinland Saga, there wasn’t a single shot that wasn’t a close-up that looked actually good, every time the background characters were a little afar from the screen they were on clanky ugly looking CGI that burned my eyes, fighting scenes would be as minimalistic as possible as if this series was hundreds of episodes long instead of the 24 episode season where a clearly capable studio was working. However, this season looks even worse, that’s right, the already ugly looking Vinland Saga started looking worse and by no other hands than the people at MAPPA, it seems like every series they take from Wit immediately starts looking worse, just like what happened with Shingeki no Kyojin. Now, the character art from close didn’t look that bad, but when it was from afar? Well, they didn’t even have drawn faces, they unironically wouldn’t have mouth or eyes as if they were a hentai protagonist, if you cannot even bother drawing your characters then how I’m supposed to care about them? And not only that, they kept the ugly CGI walking soldiers from the previous season, just that since in this season less Vikings appear the CGI also appears less, sometimes it’s difficult to decide what is worse, trying and failing hard like Wit did or not trying at all like MAPPA did.

I have come to the conclusion that Vinland Saga is just like Monster, a so-called “mature and serious” anime that, when you watch it, it’s devoid of everything something that actually deserves to be called that would have, ranging from realistic characters, to good animation, to good directing, and it is very high on it’s supposed ideas of matureness, but unlike Monster and its total inability to say anything of intellectual value, Vinland Saga has a thematic value even if it is as simple as that saying which goes “revenge is never good, it kills the soul and poisons it”.

Thank you for reading.

Why were so many people excited about the first season? The Vikings, the violence, the interesting characters, the fights, the hate, and even a touch of brilliance. Characters like Thorkell were celebrated with many memes for a reason. This is how I imagine the hard, cold north.

But what happened to the second season? A midlife crisis with moral apostles and a retirement home. Even a supporting character was given a starring role. I was hoping every minute for an exciting turning point, but nothing came. The boredom was only surpassed by more boredom.

I want to see bare skin, violence and fights like in the first ... part. How could anyone come up with the idea to deface an anime manga like this? That would be like season 1 of Dragon Ball suddenly being followed by season 2 with babies, and we're all supposed to be happy about the new format.

I don't want to see a Barbie, I want to see what I loved about the first season. If they want to make another anime that revolves around an old people's home, let them, but they should portray the North the way they did in the first season.

As someone who mainly cares about the story, this season is as awful as it can get. I've just finished episode 6. Friends warned me that this season wouldn't have a lot of fighting, but I took that warning less serious than I should have. If you are really in love with Thorfinn, you may find validation in this season by telling yourself "This is all character development. A build up to something great". To those who watch a lot of animes for the fun of it, this season is as boring as it gets.

Story:

The story pretty much takes place years after the events of ... season 1. Trying not to spoil too much, Thorfinn and a new, somewhat protagonist, guy end up as slaves on a farm. Now add in some farming, screaming, and 10 minutes of torture, and you basically catched up to episode 6 already. Don't expect those happy chemicals in your head to go crazy from great action and heartbreaking drama. Take a cup of coffee and sit ready for some gameplay of Farming Simulator: Trauma Edition.

Characters:

You got Thorfinn and Canute. That's all of the cast from the first season that had a good enough impact on the story for me to remember them. Canute pretty much got an upgrade. Cool guy. Thorfinn has pretty much been downgraded ever since his introduction and he's currently at his lowest point. Sorry if I offend anyone here but he went from happy child to motivated warrior (upgrade) to revengeful idiot to braindead slave. He has no more emotions, the bare minimum of dialogues, and overall become boring. Hence why you can only love this season if you aren't here for the action, but simply for Thorfinn.

For the other characters, you got some new ones. None besides the new somewhat protagonist guy stands out though. You have the kind slave owner.. random woman.. brainless "guards".. somewhat cool guard leader.. and grumpy grandpa. If I forgot any, you can't blame me. Anyways, the new somewhat protagonist guy is your regular boring guy who's just.. living life. He didn't really do anything special besides losing his chill a few times. I'd say the only reason people find this bearable is because the animation and sounds are good and they liked season 1. Comparing the current cast ,including braindead Thorfinn, to the season 1 cast, then this season has become even more of a disappointment. Thors, Thorkell, Askeladd. Nothing in this season compares to their level of coolness (though although I forgot to mention it, Thorkell does have a little screen time here as well).

Anyways, I assume I'll get a lot of hate for this opinion, but I really don't want those action lovers thinking that this season is the same as season 1. The 2 hours you'll spend watching these 6 episodes can be better spent watching half of a short but actually fun series. As I didn't read the manga, I have no idea how long this is going to continue or if it's going to get wayyyyy better, but they will have to get on Attack on Titan's level to make up for such a long character development arc. For real, there are enough animes with a lot of character development that don't even sacrifice 1 episode dedicated to someone's development. Anyways, enjoy it or don't enjoy it, I don't really care.

On the main page of this anime, it is clearly said that the genres are action, adventure, and drama, yet it seems like there was a mistake. I didn't see any adventure and the action was questionable enough to call action.

Story: 3/10
Let's start with the story, well there isn't much. The whole story is set in one place only, a farm. Whilst that might not necessarily mean it's going to be bad, when you add to it a plot that is centered on farming, which isn't much of a surprise, then it becomes stale. The majority of this season is about a few characters ... on the farm, and almost none of them are very notable. In the very late stages of the season, we finally see something we've been waiting for the whole time, action. But to our "surprise," we don't see it from the protagonists. It's like they don't even want this to be an action anime. With the way it ends, I don't ever see it being an action anime in the following seasons, at least from the main characters. The theme of this season is a very idealistic view of pacifism in a world full of wars, which seems a bit far-fetched and most likely never achievable.

Characters: 4/10
In the first season, we saw what Thorfinn has become... In the second season, we didn't see any of it. He was the complete opposite of Thorfinn from the first season. This would normally be fine because we didn't see much character development from him in the first season but the problem lies in the way he grew as a character. Well, we don't actually know, as everything that happened between was skipped just like that and we ended up with a totally different character.
For the other characters, there isn't much to say. Einar seems interesting at first glance but becomes pretty boring after a few episodes. It's like you'll know what he's going to do in a situation without even thinking about it. The only character that felt like something more was Snake. The other characters were either bland or just not very original.

Art: 7/10
The only clear positive was the art. It looked very realistic and the animations were smooth. Though it still wasn't anything breathtaking, considering they had to mostly animate lips moving.

Sound: 5/10
No clear problems with voice acting, and there was quite a bit of talking. Not surprisingly, the OP and ED were good, though they weren't as good as in the first season. The OST felt pretty dull, nothing noteworthy.

Enjoyment: 5/10
From the beginning, I was looking for something to happen. Can’t say it ever truly came. Though it was captivating enough to watch a whole episode at once.

Overall: 5/10
Disappointing, to say it mildly. Not on par with the first season and not even on the same page. It’s almost like a new anime. I wouldn’t recommend you to continue watching Vinland Saga after the first season if you are looking for action and adventure. However, if you are looking for pacifistic experience from the main characters then this is the perfect anime for you.

“I have no enemies” look how well that philosophy got you. Your village in Iceland is defenseless, for all we know or care your daughter and wife was graped and milled or sold into slavery. Your son was left abandoned and forced into a horrible life.

Thorfinn literally has a home he can return to. Why does he not leave and go back. Leif is looking for him.

Instead we get the “redemption arc”. How exactly does playing farming simulator make up for your past sins. It’s selfish to think it even remotely contributes.

Plowing wheat is not going to make the people you milled ... happy.

In the grand scheme following our own history, this will end when they reach Vinland and they will mill and grape the natives just as they’ve always done, not learning or doing anything different, but it’s ok because they’re sad now.

They should put a slice of life tag for this season, this is a complete 180 turn from season 01 and the first 5-6 episodes are great for character development but then it just starts to feel too long drawn. This is utterly disappointing this show became a waste of time. it gets a bit better after 11 episodes because finally the story progresses but again it becomes a disappointment, it's just too lengthy there isn't much progression with the story. This season is too slow and no longer an action-adventure series. This is just drama and slice of life.

Summary: A 180 from season 1 which may leave many anime-only viewers questioning whether they should continue the Vinland adventure.

Story
Season 2 appears as a full slice-of-life rather than focusing on development through conflict, history, politics, and visuals. It also doesn't appear to follow season 1 necessarily and instead, almost presents itself as a different show entirely. The pacing is substantially slower as we no longer see quick character development. Growth, and thus the story, is nearly halted to tortoise speed.

Visuals
They're good but do not live up to season 1. It's been a while since season 1 and considering its success, season 2 should have been ... at minimum, around the same. Instead, many scenes appear as stills, almost like a PowerPoint. The visuals themselves don't appear as vibrant or commanding of attention. Something about it all feels like a downgrade, although, still good enough.

Sound
Sound is on par from what you may remember from the previous season. It's pretty good, setting the mood and background of whatever setting is displayed. Nothing extraordinary noteworthy however.

Overall
I'm not impressed with the 180-turn the anime has taken. It disappointed me and may leave many anime-only viewers questioning the overall content and pacing. Similarly, if the two seasons were flipped, viewers may find themselves asking the same questions.