Vinland Saga, as you know, is a story about a kid whose dad gets killed by a viking and wants revenge. If that was all this story was about, then it would just be a very well animated, but mediocre, viking/pirate anime. But, that is only partly what this anime is about. The main story is actually following the greatest villain in the history of anime: Askeladd. (Yes, a better villain than the Furor, Aizen, Hisoka, Dio, whoever.)
SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Askeladd is the viking who killed Thors, the strongest viking of them all. But, he and his friend Bjorn, do it in an underhanded way. The way they do it, pretty much traumatizes Thorfinn, his son, and makes him absolutely obsessed with getting revenge. This revenge story, while necessary, was probably the weakest aspect of the story. It made Thorfinn a one note character. A very cool one-note character, but a one-note character, nonetheless. Everything he ever does in the anime, is totally focused on getting revenge. Almost every word he speaks, every action he takes, every thought he has, even every dream he has, is all focused on this obsession. It's understandable, given the circumstances, but it didn't allow for a very broad or nuanced character.
Fortunately, many others in the cast were more varied and vibrant as characters, but none more so than the true MC of this anime: Askeladd. Askeladd, the leader of a small army of vikings spends his time raiding different villages and killing people. But, as war breaks out between the Danes and the English, an opportunity to shape the fate of the Danish kingdom falls into his lap. And that's where things really get good, and you see just how nuanced and complex of a character he is. He's cunning, humorous and charming, but also ruthless, vicious and hateful. One episode you might find him cool, the next episode, he might do something so terrible you feel like: "Well, he's gotta die for that.". He was just an overall amazing character that you could either love, or hate, or both.
The cast overall was good. But, it was Askeladd that carries the anime to one of the best ever. Beyond him, the overall story was amazing as well. Most of it is focused on the battlefield, where Vikings are invading English territories alongside the Danish army, as the King is getting revenge against England for killing Danish people in his country. The King, however, is getting old and there is an internal fight between who will succeed him, his older son Harald, or his younger weak son, Canute. Because of these intertwining storylines, you get a mixture of awesome war battles and palace intrigue. There's never a moment that's not interesting in one way or another.
In addition to this, the animation was fantastic, as well. Two things really stood out from the animation, and that were some of the fight scenes, especially when Thorfinn would fight, and the emotion drawn on the character's faces. They did a really great job animating how they felt in the moment.
But, even beyond that, this anime had those special moments. The moments that just differentiate an anime from the rest of the pack and become a moment remembered by fans, everywhere. (When the Furor's true identity is revealed in FMA, Zero Requiem in Code Geass, Kenshin and Kaoru's final scene, etc...) Great moments like these may differentiate from person to person, but I think most people would agree that Askeladd's reaction to choosing between Wales and Canute, would be one of them.
Vinland Saga is pretty much close to perfect, but not completely. The first episode, for me, was boring and uninteresting. Which, oddly, a lot of my all time favorites seem to be in the beginning. I wasn't really captured by Gintama, One Piece, Hunter X Hunter or Black Lagoon in their first episode, and those 4 are all in my favorite anime of all time list. In fact, I just binge watched this entire show over the weekend, because when I watched the first episode when it came out, I dropped it. I only gave it a second chance out of boredom. I'm just glad it didn't take me years to give it another shot, this time. The first episode was kind of "Meh", as they were just kind of setting the table for the anime, introducing people, etc... But, episode 2 it immediately picks up.
Also, there is one mistake with the characters that broke reality and that was with Canute. Canute was terribly weak, possibly one of the weakest characters I've ever seen in an action anime. The man wouldn't even speak and he looked like a trap. But, after the caretaker who made him that way was "removed", he almost instantly becomes a super-confident leader. Like, ridiculously confident. It was unrealistic, for such a transformation to happen so quickly. Especially in an anime that made it a point to take years to develop Thorfinn from a bubbly kid, to a twisted, revenge-obsessed, killer. You might be going through trauma, but you're not going to go from being like Sawako Kuronuma to acting like Lelouch Lamperouge in a couple of days.
But, other than that? The anime was fantastic. Even the musical score was great, especially the ED of the second cour. It was just top-to-bottom awesome and is now one of my top ten favorites of all time. It's a true masterpiece.
