DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ActionVINLAND SAGA
MANGA ComedyGanso Ylva-chan
ONE SHOT ActionAssassin's Creed: Valhalla x Vinland Saga
ANIME ActionVINLAND SAGA SEASON 2
MANGA ComedyAnimalland Saga
MANGA ComedyAnimalland Saga season 2

REVIEWS

• 

  Mangosex

  90/100
  God of War turns into Harvest Moon with Vinland Saga's drastic tonal shift.

  Spoilers

  Vinland Saga turns from a grimecore of blood, guts, and glory into a story about human suffering and weakness you could expect to see at the Oscars.

  Vinland Saga has three parts: Battle Part 1, Slavery Part 2 and Battle Part 3.
  Battle Part 1 has an edgy Sasuke-Expy who rips and tears other Vikings on the battlefield. Fans of Berserk and Doom will enjoy the gore. Game of Thrones fans will enjoy the strategy that gives breathing space between fights.
  Slavery Part 2 has the same edgelord now neutered to the point of being a slave. Part 2 is a masterpiece of its own but will be appreciated by a different audience (with some overlap) who prefers media like 12 Years a Slave over 300.
  Battle Part 3 has the slave once again return to the battlefield, yet the fighting just doesn't have the same spark it did in Part 1. Maybe it will get better.

  Whiplash

  "Hey Viking Guy, that asshole is raping your friend, why don't you walk over there and punch him in the face?"
  "Nah man, I want to win that Oscar."
  Part 1 is a bloody masterpiece. Part 2 may not be my cup of tea but it is also a masterpiece for people who enjoy bathing in deep feels.
  The transition from Part 1 to Part 2 is atrocious.
  Teenage Thorfinn became so sad that he just let himself be enslaved. He remains as a slave until he reaches his late 20s/early thirties. This is a character who charges straight into battle and slaughters men three times his size.
  And the reason he let himself be enslaved? He wanted to kill his rival/father figure who ended up getting killed by another person. I could understand physical injuries. I could understand Berserk-style psychological trauma. I can even accept the main character getting sad for a few months before using his ferocious strength to bust out of whatever prison and join another band of Vikings. I refuse to accept such a weak reason. Rival-died-before-I-could-kill-him reads like an excuse plot because the artist was tired of drawing blood and gore and wanted to write something more emotional.

  Part 2's drama sometimes stretches to the point of Oscar-bait.

  Thorfinn has been keeping his strength with all that slave farm work. Why doesn't he do something about all the injustice and violations that his masters put his friends through? A few punches or stabs in the night is all it takes to free himself. A man, brainwashed since he was a child in a Viking warrior culture and raised on the battlefield, just takes abuse and allows abuse to happen to his friends, and when he gets angry, he just holds it in. Warrior culture holds a strong in-group/out-group mentality (protecting those you consider your family and friends). For them, disrespect is worse than death. Yet this has been going on for years. It stretches the limits of disbelief.

  Conclusion

  If you consider Part 1 and Part 2 to be different stories with different characters, then both parts are 9/10 masterpieces. When you add both parts together with a flimsy transition it ruins the whole experience.
  Either read Part 1 and skip Part 2, or, Read Part 2 and skip Part 1.
  If you must, then read Slavery Part 2 first, then read Battle Part 1 second. Reverse order should get the disgusting taste out of your mouth.

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• 

  Joe

  100/100
  On a quest to find ones humanity.

  ~~~Spoiler free review with a brief part dedicated to the farmland arc (c55~).

  I've had a deep interest in history for as long as I can remember and in this regard, a year ago I launched myself in search of historical seinen that had a plot, a graphic style or at least an element of novelty that could somehow catch my attention. When I approached the first volume of Vinland Saga I wasn't quite sure what I was about to read, but the sublime drawings, the setting, the characters and the spectacular battles had already captured me. And let's face it, a manga about Vikings has a certain appeal regardless of everything. In this sense, I was pleasantly surprised by Vinland Saga, a manga written and drawn by Makoto Yukimura, former author of the popular and acclaimed Planetes, as well as unique of its kind in terms of setting.

  Story

  The story begins in the midst of a siege: in northern France, an army of Nordic warriors is preparing to support a local squire in the conquest of an apparently impregnable stronghold. The enterprise is completed thanks to an unexpected stratagem and the precious contribution of Thorfinn, our lethal protagonist. The young fighter seems to have an unfinished business with the leader of his gang, the cold and calculating Askeladd, so much so that he insistently asks him to challenge him to a duel: however, much to Thorfinn's frustration, it is always his superior who wins. A child robbed of his innocence with only vengeance left in his heart, and a man that embodies what any Viking would want in a leader: persuasive, charismatic, clever and calculating. Thorfinn is willing to partake in anything Askeladd asks him to do, if it means getting closer to his head, he’ll do it. But much to Thorfinns unbeknown, he’s just a pawn in the greater game that Aksleadd is playing.

  In a sad moment of reflection, the boy plunges into memories and a brief yet majestic flashback illustrates his past, revealing the dark reasons behind the ferocious thirst for revenge against Askeladd. At this point the manga begins to take off. Quickly returning to the present, we observe the various characters presented so far, but Yukimura does not give us a breather and always introduces new and fascinating ones: the gigantic and deadly Thorkell and the taciturn Prince Canute, just to name one pair. The author shows an innate ability to outline credible, expressive and never out of place characters with extreme naturalness. A dense network of intrigues, merciless battles, deceptions and surprising twists leads us, with a fast pace, to the textbook climax of the eighth volume. The subsequent developments of the plot, whose narrative quality does not diminish one iota, lay the foundations for a wider story yet to be discovered.

  Art and Characters

  Speaking of art style, Vinland Saga is really well done, the drawings are realistic and very detailed, but at the same time evocative and dynamic when needed. The scenes of the great battles will strike for the number of warriors who clash and their theatrical, but after all quite realistic, brutality and the clashes between Thorfinn and the other Vikings, always impeccably directed and always reasoned and exciting. The most reflective, evocative or even dreamlike moments will impress with their aesthetic beauty, solemnity, grotesque and sometimes even the simplicity with which they are sometimes represented on paper.

  Even writing wise, the manga is not far behind. The amount of relevant characters for the plot and for the protagonist is truly remarkable, above all because they are all psychologically characterised in a different way, each with their own goals, their own character and their own evolution, which is often also accompanied by a change in their physical aspect.

  What does it mean to be a true warrior? (c55~)~~~

  >“Warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights” - Sitting Bull.

  At first, this statement comes in as quite unusual and contrary to what most people’s conception of a warrior is; a brute, gruesome and fearless fighter who is not afraid of anyone and anything. So how is it that the warrior that we know of is someone who doesn’t fight?

  After being sold as a slave to Ketil's farm, It is here, that after a few years Thorfinns spiritual conversion takes place which leads him to deny his violent past as a killer in search of revenge by embracing a philosophy of absolute non-violence, setting himself as a new goal: the utopian creation of a place on Earth where war and slavery are not tolerated. Yukimura's work is above all a great criticism to violence and, at the same time, its glorification, albeit not trivial or blind, of peace and love for the next, for other human beings. Viking culture is completely based on war and therefore on the warrior, on the military, just think that in the Norse religion the equivalent of the Christian paradise, Valhalla, is accessible only by those who die in war in a glorious way or by those who have proven themselves as a valiant warrior.

  Giving this work a setting linked to this culture to convey a message of peace and love was a brilliant choice, and the medium through which this message reaches us is mainly Thorfinn. After years spent in the midst of the horrors of war, becoming in fact one of them, blinded by hatred for Askeladd, when the latter dies not by his hand, Thorfinn will find himself a slave and without a purpose in life, forced to face the his conscience after all the mistakes he made. The memory of his father dying for him, in order not to kill the men who were attacking him, and of his teaching on the meaning of being a true warrior, added to the devastating remorse and guilt that emerges from his subconscious.

  This is how he resumes his life, setting himself as a new goal the creation of a sort of earthly paradise without war and without slavery, its direct consequence, in the conviction that no human being has enemies, so as to atone for his sins. Objective that he decides to achieve without violence in the most absolute way. As Thors would say in fact, a true warrior does not need a sword to achieve his goals, because the true warrior is the one who finds strength and determination in his principles and not in weapons. All this, however, while he is surrounded by people who live by killing others, just as he once did, believing that in this way they will go to Valhalla or even more simply because they have fun doing it. It is therefore clear how difficult it can be for Thorfinn to pursue his goal while remaining faithful to his ideals and Yukimura, makes this difficulty really evident and increasingly heavy chapter after chapter, putting Thorfinn to the test, physically and mentally, on the other hand it is not even assuming that non-violence is always the right way.

  Overall

  This is the tale of Vinland Saga, an epic blood drenched narrative that plunges you into a world of gruesome bloodshed and battle-hungry warriors. But also, a tale of love, compassion, revenge and most importantly, redemption. Vinland Saga is one of those manga that aims to leave something deep in the reader, an important message and concrete emotions, not just entertainment. A wonderful example of how Japanese comics, however mainstream, can be a complete artistic product worthy of the name. So much so that there is still a lot to say, the themes to be examined are many and each main character deserves an in-depth study in itself, but after all, the work is still incomplete and you never know what might come out of Yukimura.

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• 

  lloydcyber

  100/100
  This is my review and idk what to put here

  Vinland Saga was the first manga that i read and the best too. Im very excited to see the future of Thorfinn in the lands of Vinland. It was the best experience with manga that i ever had tbh. So i'll make this review with topics and i'll analyze them all.

  Autor: Makoto Yukimura
  Demographic: Seinen
  Original run: 2005-Present

  My name is Lloyd and this is just my opinion and my perspective about Vinland Saga. Enjoy and sorry if this review has a lot of orthography errors, i'm from Brazil and still studying english.

  • Worldbuilding and Character Devlopment

  Score: 10 (Masterpiece)

  A little bit of the plot:
  The world takes place in the war between Denmark and England. Our protagonist is Thorfinn, son of Thors. Thors was a badass viking who won a lot of battles to the end, understand that a warrior don't need a sword. After Thors death by Askellad, Thorfinn became a monster seeking for his revenge against Askeladd.

  This is the story of the first arc, i'll not mention the other ones like the farm or the seek for Vinland to improve your experience :)
  

  So let's talk about character devlopment. The first characters that we need to analyze is our protagonist and our antagonist. Thorfinn is a child that wants his revenge at all cost, he abandoned his family and friends just to have a duel with Askellad. But Thorfinn also works with his own enemy in the war. He's a complex character cause he ignores everything that he learned about Thors ideals and in the future, after all of his sins, he decide to help people, creating a peace land that is Vinland.

  We also have Askellad, that is my fav character in the story. He's the antagonist of Thorfinn's entire journey and he also have ideals about what is a man or what is revenge for him. He's always telling Thorfinn that his revenge would be totally useless if he don't think about what comes next or why the cycle of hate is never broke.

  There's also another character that is important to have a mention like Einar, Knut, Halfdan or Sigurd. Knut is the Price of Denmark, son of King Sweyn of Denmark. He's one of the most incredible characters in the story beacuse of his evolution trought the plot and he's the character who intensifies the meaning of what is a man.

  Einar is Thorfinn's Brother basically, in the farm arc they create a strong friendship bond. Halfdan is Sigurd's father. He's nickname is Iron Chain and he is a landowner and moneylender. He helps Thorfinn in the seek of Vinland. Sigurd has a incredible change after seeing what Thorfinn saw.

  The Design And Art Of Expressions

  

  Score: 10 (Masterpiece again, damn this s#it is perfect)

  There's a lot of things that i should talk about this: Revenge, compassion, humanity, emptiness, redemption and aspiration love. Pointy weapons making minced meat of people. Every single one of this feelings and aspects are demonstrated by EXPRESSIONS and the entire DESIGN of the manga in general. The art of the manga is realistic and dark, to make it better to imagine. Also, there's a lot of violence of course, viking age bro.

  Enjoyment and Why You Should Read

  

  I confess that I don't like so much vikings and that kinda of stuff but with Vinland Saga it is...wow. Every single aspect is so interesting that I think it is impossible to get bored. The plot and the characters make the experience so enjoyable that you want more and more content about it.

  Final Score: 10 (Masterpiece again and again and again)
  

  ---

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