This anime had so much promise going into it, and I was really intrigued by it for the first few episodes. However, after about episode 5 or 6, it all sort of went down hill for me.
Don’t get me wrong, the visuals, sound, and music in this anime were great. And the story concept seemed interesting. But from about episode 7 until the end it just felt like the same repeated song and dance. Thorfin is always angry and hyped up for revenge, but he never ever ends up being able to properly fight Askeladd because he never is strong enough to. And for some reason the writers just decided to make Askeladd extremely disinterested in Thorfin for many, many years. It was really hard to watch. It just all seemed pointless.
I also just couldn’t stand the feel of this anime. Like I get it, it was a lot different back then in the Viking era and people weren’t always all lovey-dovey to each other. But still, I would’ve loved for someone other than Leif to have shown genuine care for Thorfin after he left his mother & sister. It felt like there were no emotions between the majority of the characters other than “I love killing, let’s kill everyone to get what we want” or “I will be angry for practically forever until I get my revenge”.
And then there’s Canute. The first time I saw his character, even without seeing his face, I just kept on thinking “it’s a girl! Not a guy. They must’ve just been keeping that a secret until now for some reason.” But no, it’s just another anime guy that for some reason has to look almost exactly like a girl. Idk why anime writers feel the need to add that kind of ridiculous stuff to anime that would otherwise be fine without it.
But on another note, there was another thing that upset me about Canute’s character. I know this probably bothers very few people who watched this anime, but as a Christian, I was deeply bothered by the fact that it seemed like this anime was trying to say that the reason Canute’s character was so weak was because of his faith and love for God. Don’t get me wrong I understand him having doubts during this time with all of the death and suffering that he has witnessed, but this anime basically made it seem like he needed to completely abandon and forsake God in order to be a proper ruler. I hope I’m not the only one who feels this way about his character, but maybe I am. And that’s okay, it’s just my opinion.
Overall, this is an anime that I have no desire to go back to. It just has a really depressing and hopeless feel to it that I just can’t stand in anime. Sure the fight sequences were cool; but with the main character being very average and just angry at everything at every second of the anime after episode 4, and all of the other depressing things going on in this anime, it’s not exactly something I want to revisit.
