There are some series I can tell from the get go I'll most likely love throughout, i.e. Cowboy Bebop and Nichijou. There are other series that have me very intrigued for the majority of the time, but where I'm not quite sure how I'll feel until the end, and so withhold my judgement until then, i.e. Evangelion and Promised Neverland s1. There's a third type of series where I'm absolutely enjoying myself from the start, but certain characters or the series itself aren't skyrocketed into my favorites until a specific story beat takes place (this happened with me for Emilia in the middle of Re:Zero
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season 2). Vinland Saga falls into this category for me.
The show and the manga both start off strong, and hit some really nice emotional character beats and touch on some interesting philosophical themes. The show also has some anime original scenes that further develop these strengths even more and only serve to further the excellence of the series.
The end of the prologue is superb, although I do think I prefer it in the show, because of the added sound, color, animation, and absolutely stellar voice acting for Thorfinn and Askeladd.
It was the farmland arc that truly cemented the series as one of my favorites, however. I'm still in the middle of the arc, but I got the overwhelming urge to write my first review after reading chapters 70 and 71 which absolutely blew me away.
These chapters take place during the fist fight that Einar and Thorfinn get into with the farm hands, and it is the dream sequence Thorfinn experiences after being knocked out.
Yukimura utilizes an effective literary tool to make this section hit even harder in the fact that this is one of the first times in the story where we're delving deep into Thorfinn's pov and headspace/thought process and emotional state. We see a little bit of his pov early on, like immediately after Thors is killed, and snippets during action sequences, but never to this extent up to this point.
Another reason these chapters hit home so well is that throughout the start of the farmland arc, we've seen Thorfinn's nightmares and PTSD from Einar's perspective, but not what those nightmares actually entail. There's also a scene one morning after one of Thorfinn's nightmares, where he's trying to remember something he felt was of the utmost importance from his dream. This all sets up for a beautiful payoff when Yukimura finally does show us the specifics of those dreams.
Throughout the prologue we see Thorfinn forsake some of his morals, his father's teachings, and his overall humanity for the single-minded goal of revenge. This absolutely consumes him, and it makes sense why Yukimura doesn't show the story through the lens of Thorfinn's eyes too much early on, as it would most likely be much of the same burning hatred and rage. Once Canute kills Askeladd and Thorfinn's potential for revenge is abruptly torn away from him, he is left as an empty husk, since his entire existence hd been built upon getting back at this one man. Thorfinn is now a man without any purpose, who doesn't even care if he lives or dies.
Once we get to see into Thorfinn's dream, we see just how much his years of killing have torn into him subconsciously. The use of Askeladd here as a main focus/narrator is brilliant as well, and reiterates how much of a focal point in Thorfinn's life he was for a decade. It also showcases Thorfinn's shifting worldview, as he no longer views Askeladd as the ultimate evil, but more so a flawed mentor who consistently did horrible things.
The entire sequence of Thorfinn starting off in the field and thinking his decade of violence was just a bad dream, to him being dragged down below by his corpses, to his conversation with Askeladd urging him to escape this way of life, to him climbing back up with his corpses in tow and then waking and finally remembering the dream this time, it's all so poignant and phenomenal.
Thorfinn vows a life of pacifism from this point, and while I definitely can't think of another piece of media I've consumed with a pacifist main character (I guess it's not the type of thing I'm usually reading/watching), I'm definitely intrigued and excited to see Thorfinn's continued growth and journey from this point. I just hope he's able to reunite with his family at some point.
Lastly, I want to touch on another literary mechanism Yukimura seems to be using as a sort of main theme in Vinland Saga. It probably has an official name, but I'm unsure of what that is, so I'll just describe it as the "character role swap" or something. What I'm talking about, is how when we're introduced to Canute, he is very timid, and obviously not prone to brutal violence, while Thorfinn on the other hand very much is at this point in the story. Then as the story progresses, this is kind of swapped in a way, where now Canute is directing a war and obviously commanding violence (albeit much more cold-blooded and level headed then when Thorfinn killed), while Thorfinn is farming as a slave, and has now sworn a life of peace. From what I can tell, he's doing something similar with Einar, as he proclaimed that he hated warriors early in the arc, but now it seems he is more and more being driven to violence due to his environment, right at the point in the story where Thorfinn is casting off that heavy cloak. This, along with the cover art for omnibus volume 6, builds a sense of foreboding in the audience about what might be to come for Einar's character, and it unfortunately points to possibly being tragic.
In conclusion, the farmland arc has elevated Vinland Saga to a plane higher than where it was in the prologue, though it seems apparent this type of shift in story was something Yukimura had planned from the start. I can't wait to read the rest of this incredible story!
Oct 13, 2022
Vinland Saga
(Manga)
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There are some series I can tell from the get go I'll most likely love throughout, i.e. Cowboy Bebop and Nichijou. There are other series that have me very intrigued for the majority of the time, but where I'm not quite sure how I'll feel until the end, and so withhold my judgement until then, i.e. Evangelion and Promised Neverland s1. There's a third type of series where I'm absolutely enjoying myself from the start, but certain characters or the series itself aren't skyrocketed into my favorites until a specific story beat takes place (this happened with me for Emilia in the middle of Re:Zero
...
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