i think both seasons are important, you cant have such a deep understanding for thorfin if there's no first season so well, both to me are insanely good. I dont even wanna start aguing what is "better" its both needed.
@@niemalswieder1673 THANK YOU!!! Jesus H. Christ. I've been insulted non-stop for having a different opinion than the majority and I'm sick of it! Sure, I acknowledge that season 2 is awesome, but it IS NOTHING LIKE SEASON 1. Season one is a Shonen and season 2 switches to a mostly-slice-of-life Seinen. OF COURSE there will be backlash. While I understand what the artist and writer was going for, making this drastic of a change is commercially unwise and it's bound to have a negative impact on way-too-huge a percentage of the fan-base. They feel catfished, because they WERE catfished. "Hey, wanna have a hot time? Yeah? Oooh, yeah baby. Give it to me... and also pay for my child's school supplies. And my dog has vet bills. And" yada, yada, yada.
I agree with that. When first beginning season two, I often wondered if anyone would get why Thorfinn is the way he is. I mean, when you're a naive kid and spend most of your life mindlessly brutalizing others to achieve an objective you set out to do, then immediately fail in the pursuit of that too; it'll inevitably destroy your mind once you're old enough to understand what the consequences of what's been done really are. What you actually did to others was the same thing which happened to you. You can easily become the very thing you've sworn never to be. It especially hits very hard when you come to realize Thorfinn was so so close to finding peace when abandoning his quest and traveling back to Iceland to be with his family. Things are a little more complex than that but I think I've explained the gist of it fairly well. Lol
@@jman8350 lol both seasons are important but I think season 1 only has better action rest is season 2 better story better character development and those small moments of action they hit way Harder than season 1. Ofcourse you have to grow out of fixed mindset that most people have because they watched traditional shonen and they always want to draw a clear line.
I personally love the thought of treating the first arc as a prologue to the rest of the story, because it often helps people realize that Vinland Saga isn't a story about fighting and revenge, but rather overcoming those conflicts, so really, the Prologue Arc is an outlier from the rest of the story that serves as VS's own sort of Golden Age Arc, giving context to the Thorfinn we see in Farmland and beyond.
Really like that parallel for VS S1 with the Golden Age arc. The father issues, childhood abuse, forging fraternal bonds, and horrific trauma and sense of abandonment that both arcs ultimately mark the protagonist with. VS S1 perhaps leaves us with at least a larger dose of hope for what might come next.
So the tired ass, played out, overused "revenge bad, mkay?" Trope that has been done in virtually _every_ piece of media framed on vengeance. This is a moral absolutism simulator, not an actual story about people.
Exactly this. The golden age Arc from berserk and vinland sagas prolouge Arc share the exact same parallels. And while they are both great, they are simply setting the groundwork for the themes of both of the series (ironically both are quite similar as well) and while berserk takes are more dark and brutal routes in comparison to vinland Saga's pacifist and hopeful ones, they both are sharing a similar story on the path of redemption, and revenge. People who only read/watch the golden age (berserk) and prolouge (vinland) and refuse to continue afterwards are just missing the entire point of these series. This point is debatable on berserk, but for vinland saga after the first arc, the story was never meant to be entirely brutal and traumatic story with constant fighting. The point is redemption, and living a life free of hate, in turn throwing away any sort of "revenge" you might have for someone and instead to forgive them for yourself, and for them, so you can truly live a happy life, instead of being in the toxic cycle of hate and rage all the time.
@@practicalpatriot in fact, the original plan of the author was to straight up start with this season, and tell the previous events through flashbacks. But his editor told him people wouldn't get Thorfinn's struggle if he didn't show it directly, or smth like that
Im enjoying it so far. Not everything needs to be action packed slash and dash. Younger me would be annoyed but after rewatching berserk and reading the manga in my older years ive learned to appreciate story telling more than action
I prefer whatever the art needs. Vinland saga NEEDS this no action farmland arc and it's great. I love action a bit more than drama generally speaking but season 2 is way better. Plus revenge is bad and he finally realizes this in season 2.
Season 1 got part of its plot from hot rod haha.. when Thorfin saved the dude he wants to duel it reminded me of hot rod because he wants to get his step dad a new heart just so he could kick his step dads ass hahaha. I Enjoy the series though!
Same here! Berserk was the first Manga were I wasn’t just rushing to the next big fight but instead really wished for no fighting and more character development/drama/plot-progression
@@mmmmmsh Yeah, spy x family is good, but different type of Anime. It's Action Comedy. Vinland Saga is supposed to be Action Drama, sadly what has become is SLICE OF LIFE DRAMA (prove me wrong)
Love the progression. Love the metaphor of growing crops and how it correlates to growing as a person and a celebration of life instead of death and destruction. Even for those who obsess over the action there is still a fair degree of conflict within the farm and all the stuff regarding Cnut. I feel there's a perfect balance. Gonna go back through all of vinland in the manga after I watch this weekly. Gonna finally sit down and read the whole thing Prologue, Farmland, Baltic Sea, Vinland. I got 12 volumes and im aching to get the 13th. Side Note: its also sick that since I'm British and in final year of high school taking history learning about the Norman conquest and yes....Cnut comes up.
Except the actual character development of Cnut is actually much more nuanced and better. Thorfinn's development is like something you tell in a children's story about how it's very bad to hurt people.
Been liking season 2 more than season 1 tbh, I think the most special thing about Vinland saga is it's portrayal of violence and it's reflection on it. No one is your enemy.
as an anime watcher of vinland saga i actually like season 2 more than season 1 seeing how thorfinn changes as a person and realises what a true warrior is and the hellish nightmare he couldnt even sleep peacefully and it really changed a smiling boy to a dead serious depressed adult but he gets happy as he works with his friendand this character development was amazing
I seriously smiled the first time I saw thorfinn smile in season 2. I personally think people that don't like season 2 are smooth brained, this season has been so important to the characters.
@@bowiesensei5574 I think season 2 of vinland saga separates seinen watchers/readers from shounen watchers/readers. Season one of vinland saga is more shounen-like than anything else so it had quite a wide viewerbase. Shounen is for young people who like action (which there is nothing wrong with) while seinen is for people who don't need constant action to stimulate them, if any. Season 1 attracted all sorts of viewers, both seinen and shounen, but season 2 only appealed to more adutl or mature people, the seinen watchers.
@@kingwolf9447 I think it's because they didn't want to spend too much time on him in season 1 because he was a (relatively) boring character. Thorfinn in season 1 had oen thing and that was getting revenge on askeladd, which if they spent too much time on would have gotten repetitive. That isn't to say he was a bad character, as they were just setting him up for intense focus in season 2
Vagabond and Vinland Saga have farming arcs and I love both. They were important for the plot and character growth and I also enjoyed the pacing. I guess that's what you get when you have good writers
Unironically I instantly fell in love with season 2 of Vinland Saga. I honestly prefer it more over season 1. Season 1 is good, but season 2 is even better in my opinion. Much more deep introspection of the characters and their mental phyche as well as their relationship to violence and war on a deeper level. Season one had deep moments but nothing compares to how philosophical and thought provoking season 2 is . Season 2 took what season 1 had in terms of themes and went a step even further into it. I've never been this passionate about a Manga / Anime in awhile. Vinland Saga reminded me why I read Manga and why I watch Anime in the first place .
One of the best part of this story is that npc jormsvikking death where he thought he is going Valhalla but soon realize there is no Valhalla. That hit me hard.
I also like the part in the 3rd arc where these two soldiers of opposing factions woke up the next morning after the battle and shared a breakfast together.
Bjorn repeatedly asking Askeladd if he would acknowledge him as a friend even knowing he was mostly just a slightly more useful idiot to the other interchangeable Norse warriors Askeladd despised. I felt like he didn't care about his death being honorable anymore at the end so much as having the mercy of ending a nightmare he never even knew he could wake up to. No mention of Valhalla, honor, or anything at the end. Because Askeladd was a sociopath I think he genuinely didn't think Bjorn would care more about helping him than cultural dogma. Him coming to terms with the role he played was really painful. He just seemed like a lost kid trying not to be scared at the end of it instead of the proud Valhalla send-off I expected.
That shit literally gave me an existential crisis while reading. I had to stop and go for a walk and regain my composure before I could unpack that shit and keep reading. It hit so fucking hard.
I started listening to a new band the other day, and one of their songs just really resonated with how I feel about how Thorfinn's characters is going. I am loving seeing the change in Thorfinn, showing dealing with things like PTSD and learning to resolve living with yourself and your actions. If you are interested Through Stars by Unleash the Archers feels like Thorfinn's theme song to me right now.
Vinland Saga has the best character development I have ever seen in anime. People don’t realize the drastic changes and the effects created when faced with a traumatic event. Then after being detached from so long, you have no choice but to snap back in reality and feel misplaced, like how did I even get here? The anime is so realistic and deep, watching a heartbroken boy trying to find himself again as an enslaved man. Even Canute had one hell of a character development himself. Truly one of a kind in this generation ♥️
except there's not much reason why Thorfinn should be traumatized. It's literally a childish story about how "if you're a person and you've killed people, you should feel bad"
@@PsychicCatTCG you don't understand how people work. It would be like a cattle farmer waking up screaming, thinking about all the cows he's killed. The part the story gets right is the nihilistic feeling of losing a life's goal, i.e. death of askaladd, which it actually puts to the sideline in favor of "I killed people, wah"
The change is NOT complex enough to warrant that much time. Season 2 should have been 12 ep MAX. That's why people say it's boring. It drags so much. That's why it's annoying.. it's like okay we get it! MOVE ON. Other shows do change much better! Hell, "A Silent Voice" showed better character growth from multiple characters in a 2 hour movie
When I had first watched season 1, I was 17 and In active use within my addiction that had caused me to make many mistakes and immoral decisions. I didn’t realize at the at time how much I related with thorfinn because I wasn’t able to see my own problem for what it was either. I’m now 22 watching season 2 in my sober house and i resonate with this season very much being that I am also a shell of a person trying to learn to live more normally in society while battling my past. Although I think anyone can relate with thorfinn in the sense that we all tend to make more mistakes when we are younger and come to eventually regret those things when we are older and have to find acceptance for them. Assuming thorfinn was a teenager in the first season right and now he’s in his mid twenty’s ?. Life is hard and there is suffering but you find ways to keep living and to move on.
The thing that makes Vinland Saga special has never been the action sequences. What elevated season 1 from being just another battle anime was all the messages sprinkled in throughout the series, both subtle and not subtle. Thinks like the concept of a true warrior and Thors' message to Thorfinn, the sadness of seeing Thorfinn turn into this hateful being who is complicit in atrocities, Cnut's dialogue with the drunk monk about the meaning of love, Askeladd's role in Thorfinn's life and his dying message to Thorfinn, and so on. All of season 1 was supposed to show you the darkness of the world they live in and the pain caused by warfare, while season 2 is about overcoming that darkness and living a good, meaningful life.
Askeladd is like the smoker who tells you to quit/never start smoking, but has been smoking for too long and knows he'll never quit. A fitting analogy since his nickname means "ash lad".
I think Vinland saga started out pretty generic shonen origin, but it grows later in 1st season and grows even more in season 2... As the show grew i think the viewer should grow too.. very nice take on Vinland saga
This take is more for the manga reader than anime watchers, specifically those who followed the serialization every week. It's hard to ask for your viewers to grow up when it's only been 3 years in between the anime's shift from shonen to seinen storytelling. Plus there's also the case of people who never grew out of shonen manga, and extensively people who went into anime through shonen never branched out. The only way a story like this could grow up with its audience is to show its hand far slower than it already has, similar to how long Korra got greenlit after the first Avatar was released. Real slippery slope but it there's nothing much you can do
@@tobejiru vinland saga s1 is not even shounen, its seinen from the beginning. google it, it either says just action/drama or action/drama/seinen. no shounen so far
The problem started when season 1 attracted the wrong kind of audience who thought it was a battle shonen. And when the real story begins,they think it's boring.
The Farm arc reminded me a lot of what happens in Vagabond too, but I much prefer what Yukimura did here, I was really surprised at how well Vinland Saga went from just warfare to this. Hope you'll do a video on the most recent chapters too!
I was one of the more action lover when I watched the first season, I was like "Hey this is cool, I wonder what more this gives" so I started reading the manga after season 1. I tried it, but it was not to my taste (this was just after season 1, and I could say that this was when I was not critical to stories), so I dropped it, I managed to get to "I have no enemies" and I was like, "good for you" then dropped it. But now, after 4 years, with a lot of good animes, and bad ones, when 291 animes watched and like 450 series reading on the record, I wished to experience the so-called "peak". I did not have all of these feelings when I read Vinland Saga, but what I had was just pure admiration and happiness of Thorfinn, that just made me realise, what kind of story it is. A self reflecting story with a dark and regretful history, this story told me. That a man can still shine so bright after one's dark past, redeem one's wrongdoings through tribulations after tribulations, make mistakes along the way, correct them if it's necessary, for he is simply a man. Nothing more nothing less, for you are just human. And Thorfinn is one of the best written characters in literature.
Here's a visual detail that may or may not mean anything. In the Prologue, Thorfinn's hair always covers his ears. This is when he is completely single-minded and closed off from anybody else i.e. not listening. Some examples. He lets the English family who took him in get pillaged. He doesn't give two spits about what Leif has to say when they finally reunite. And more horrifyingly, he does nothing and moves on when he sees a woman being r*ped. He sees avenging his own suffering as more important than anyone else's. But in Farmland, even when Thorfinn's hair is down, we almost always see his ears. Here, he's more open and listening to those around him. He listens to Einar, finally feels guilt for all the people he killed, finally understands and learns from what Thors and Askeladd taught him, and is open to what he himself needs. Yes, listening may break him. As shown when he gets part of his ear cut off. But it's the beginning of Thorfinn's growth and redemption. You also have the scene with the necklace made of Englishmen's ears. Wonder if that has anything to do with 'warriors' like Thorfinn closing themselves off from (not listening to) those they kill?
I really love throfin’s development throughout his journey BECAUSE of how absurd his resolution is. It’s unrealistic and often times feels pushed, but also at the same it’s a mirror reflecting us and how we strive for perfect ideologies yet those ideologies are in a constant conflict with their counterparts. For example berserk and vagabond.
I'm personally an anime-only fan of the series (currently working on rectifying that, just finished reading Book 1 :D), but I cannot express how much I LOVE season 2 right now! The incredible character development that Thorfinn has undergone in the span of the 15 episodes that are currently out has been soul-crushing to watch and nearly brought me to tears on multiple occasions. But to see him literally dig himself out of the pits of hell in an attempt to atone for the sins he committed is so awe-inspiring that it's difficult to put into words.
Season 2 makes season 1 even better and vice versa. This might be the greatest anime show I’ve ever watched. Exposing the human weakness of greed and power and unforgiving sinful nature and hatred for god. It’s a beautiful story. I love every aspect of it
9:45 you said that warfare is impossible to stop. Maybe. But, if anything, the story shows us that we should never stop trying to strive for that world.
See, I think Vinland Saga is doing what Berserk occasionally teases its readers with but never commits to (for obvious reasons because Griffith sucks): the protagonist moving on from revenge and giving up on violence. That is much bolder in my opinion than presenting the best sword fights in the world. I also get a sense of actual historical fiction with Vinland Saga that I don't see in a lot of other historical fiction because the attention to detail is there (Canute referring to the Danegeld, Sverkel talking about Lent, all the various details involved in medieval peasant/farm life and of course the presentation of how difficult life was for slaves in Norse societies). As a result, I have a much more rounded vision of what Thorfinn and the world he inhabits might have been like and all the characters (from Einar to Thorfinn to Leif to Canute) feel like real people. The emphasis on pacifism makes Vinland Saga stand out. I REALLY like season 1 but I also know that Thorfinn is deliberately written to be a vicious idiot who refuses to learn and who pretty much ignores everthing his dead father tried to teach him and left his family for 10 years only to become complicit in Askeladd's crimes against innocent people. The way he later reflects on his complicity and guilt in season 2 is part of why the story is so great because everything gets recontextualised, as the story's focus shifts from showing the audience engaging fights to showing them the implications of that kind of violence.
Yknow I didn't really realize until now that the farm arc basically sets up all the experience Thorfinn needs to create Vinland. He learns how to transform the land, but to reach that point the middle of the story requires him to take on the challenge of devoting himself to peace. Once he reaches that mental enlightenment, only then can he actualize the knowledge he has.
This manga is life itself. From the excitement of youth to the traumas from the harshness of reality, and from the depression caused by that to growth and to the realization that there is something worth fighting for. Not with a sword, but with ideals and hope. A true warrior is not one that crushes his enemies, but one that fights adversities, and inspires everyone else to fight alongside them.
I haven’t really watched anime much for the last 10years, but if this trash is the best you’ve seen in years then I’m not going to bother getting back in to it 😅
Loved the choice of music in this video, really meshes well with Thorfinns character and his development, as well as the grander themes of Vinland Saga. Also a great and very insightful video 👏
In 2018, everything fell apart for me. I got cheated on, lost my job, had crippling anxiety and felt like a complete failure at life. I got into the final arc of Attack on Titan, and was very drawn to Eren being beaten down by the world and going, "F*** it, I'm destroying this world." I'm glad that instead, I'm finally getting into Vinland Saga 👍🏻 I was speechless at Thorfinn's "Oath", and the story has inspired me to make peace with the past and move forward. *This isn't a diss on AoT. It's an exceptional story. I was just in a really bad headspace and got into the story for the wrong reasons.
I absolutely love this show, I loved the action in the first season but the peacefulness with the small bits of fighting with an awesome sense of moral questioning during every fight, and the moral dilemmas that thorfinn is facing himself, and how he’s changing over time, it’s really amazing.
Great video! At first I was surprised by the direction season 2 took. Then I understood. I love how characters just grow together. I love both seasons because they have their own side, direction. And they share the same basis: warfare, revenge, acceptance.. Basically how to continue to live after trauma.
ive only watched the anime and honestly i really like it. i dig the mental shift of the character. he has to learn to live now, to be a man instead of simply a sword. his vengeance never had a chance to become real. now what? thorfinn has to find something to belong to or with. something to protect. it makes sense. he's growing.
I have never read the manga . But I’ve watched this anime and I love it .. I love how he went from a little kid with hatred and revenge in his heart . To a lost young man trying to find himself after realizing what it meant to be a true warrior . Someone tell me there’s more than a 3 season
funny how the anime actually showd that, the young kids joining thors and the village was excited about war but thors, the only person who experienced it is digusted
Bro, awesome video. I admittedly took a pause on season 2 because it was so different from season 1 and didn't meet up with my expectations of a fast paced action series. After watching this I continued season 2 with an open mind AND MAN AM I GLAD I DID. I totally didn't understand it at first but the depth in character development is so compelling I am more hooked than season 1. Thanks man, cheers
I think it's a wonderful adaptation with some welcome additions. The scene of Sverkel telling his story to Arnheid, and the expanded back story to her and Gardar are really powerful and emotional, and I love them.
As a veteran and a father, this season is absolutely top notch in my opinion. Its definitely different than the first season but i honestly prefer the approach to this season.
The Ketil Farm arc has got to be my favorite arc in the series. Because it is so crucial as the turning point of the series as it breaks all boundaries, stereotypes, and archetypes in an action-themed manga, it gives full dimension and brings a character depth and development only masterfully achieved by a few manga to date. If you appreciate good writing, I'm pretty sure you understand what I'm saying.
I just got watching season 2. I was constantly bored throughout the season and I think it came down to the pacing. So much time of nothing really happening. And the show it felt like was constantly hitting me over the head with the “war is bad” trope. We get it. I feel like the story could be told in a much more streamlined way.
Vinland saga has the most compelling characters a series can have with mappa glorious visual, every Tuesday morning becomes special for when I watch Vinland saga new episode.
I think what a lot of people don't talk about is what the whole story is setting up. Not having read the manga, it seems to me like this is a story of a character like his father, Thors. Somebody who was a warrior and has learned to strive for peace, "a true warrior doesn't need a sword". This is the story of his son, who grows up to be just like him. But in order for you to truly appreciate the strength of his convictions and to support him or feel for him if he does return to war, you need to have seen what he went through and what it took for him to reach this peace. We see a lot of characters like Thors, for example let's say somebody like Uncle Iroh of Last Airbender. We are very rarely shown a character like Uncle Iroh as evil or flawed, we only see them as the lovable mature wise figure. This is a show that helps you understand that character better, this is the equivalent of a show that tells Uncle Iroh's full story.
Vinland saga is amazing, people just put a huge emphasis on the "revenge" part and I'm having more excitement as new chapters go out great video to bookmark for new comers to the seris, ty :D One day when it finishes, it will be a one unique story everyone can learn from. Also in farm arc we are introduced to Einar the bringer of change but i cant wait when they introduce my personal favorite Hild ♥
Im loving this season because it is helping me overcoming one of my worst depressive phases so far. I cried in almost every single episode, especially episode 8.
11:09 OMFG EVERYTHING I FELT WHEN TALKING TO PEOPLE ABOUT SEASON 2. Especially in the later chapters about how Thorfinn then decides how to use his strength to navigate through the world after farm arc. Such a great story, about Erik the Red too judging from history the manga isn't even halfway through the full story yet so much more to tell!! Loved this video
Vinland Saga's Ketil Farm arc and Vagabond's Iori's Farm arc is for me the best written arcs in all of manga. It just transcends all archetypes of writing and warps the reader's perception as if they were made to understand the conundrum and the eventual enlightenment of the main characters.
At first I was also like, "so we just farming now?", but as I kept watching, it really started to click and I should've never doubted this season. Vinland Saga remains a true masterpiece.
I personally love the contrast between season 1 and 2. I like both but it really feels like a realistic story. Life is not all action, some times you need to take time to find yourself.
6:57 this, this exactly, almost everyone I knew that didn't like vinland season 2 are the same people who didn't like AOT after the basement arc, after the story taking a more moral side. I don't like being mean but in some way it gives me a picture about how those people brains work or think which is not usually good lol.
Great video! i love when ppl say no one understands X then proceed to explain what literally anyone with an a quarter of a fonctioning brain would be able understands by watching the show on mute without subtitles
At first I was disappointed (or shocked even) with season 2 but the incredible music kept me coming back and then when you realize how Thorfinn is growing and reconciling the sins of his past you start to adore him and the anime as a whole.
Vinland saga is a masterpiece, very philosophical and beautifully written and shot. Showing the brutality of war and the violence that can live inside of men, yet also showing the life of merciless killing leads to that of an empty one, and what revenge can turn you into. Especially loved the scene in the show where the farm master iron first ketil where he says he's afraid of his son and how hard it is to kill and harm and live that life and be a man (in a nutshell). Shit made me cry, speaks very true of feelings that all men will go through
I have waited every Monday to get home to watch this second season. What a beautiful story and evolution of character for more than just Thorfinn. It is obvious that the anime is not going to stay as slow paced or docile as it is now. The only people complaining are those who are entertained by transformations and meaningless violence. There of nothing wrong with that but there are still those of us who love a god story.
I don’t think that people misunderstand or don’t understand the point of Season 2 of Vinland Sage. Instead, I believe people are more upset at how slow it seems to be. For an anime with multiple time skips, to really stretch out the 2nd season of Vinland Sage seems unnecessary. By the time we’re introduced to Thirfinn, he’s already changed, so any excitement we wouldn’t gotten from seeing him change to such a mild mannered person is lost, and we’re left to watch him chop trees and have nightmares.
(I am assuming u have read the manga and u still like it.) I personally did not like the direction where Vinland saga went: 1. The author could have easily gone in detail with canutes wars to contrast it with thorfinns farming. But we never get much of canute,i.e the wars he won and the politics around that. A. His brother is already dead and was never a challenge for canute . B. There's not much conflict between Canute and thorkell,floki or anyone tbh.. the only conflict canute has is with the imaginary head of his father. 2. Let's go to thorfinn and his farming. His motivation that he will devote himself to prevent wars and violence is decent ...but the way they go about it is lazy. Thorfinn decides to never hurt ANY guy ever again. But before he makes that decision..he never gets questioned by himself or einar about the logic or how he is gonna even achieve this. (I have caught up with the manga and there are even more things i disagree with in that)
@@mugenbop [spoilers]i am fine with him being a pacifist (i.e him favouring peace). The problem is his naive nature(he commits that he will never hurt anyone ever) and no major consequences. We see later that he can't keep that commitment forever and has to knock people out in some situations. But the story never challenges him enough: Almost all his friends are alive and well- Einar, Hild,his family,Leif and others(ofc arenheid doesn't count) So essentially it's the lack of conflict (external+ internal) in the story and not his pacifist nature. Conflict and pacifist characters can exist together. Like thorfinn hasn't been put into a situation like Thors ,where he basically had to go to war to prevent killing in his village. (I am excluding the new Vinland -forest arc cause it's still in progression and maybe it will get better)
i've recently started vinland saga after hearing so many good things and the "i have no enemies" arc of tikitok, and the start was a normal revenge story, however there was something i can't put my finger on what was so compelling. the first season was so cool compared to others, even though it was so similar when it comes to action. i am halfways through s2 and it is just a beatiful story, and i like it way more than s1. i haven't seen such great growth from any character and it just makes me feel like i, myself, gained a positive mindset from it. i think this is one of, if not the greatest story from anywhere, the feeling that the only way to love the world and others, is to love yourself first. something beatiful came from this anime and i think something better will come in the next few seasons. def my fav anime already
Vinland saga season 2 divides the anime watchers into 2 parts ,one who watched it for story and the other who watched it for action. Those who understood the story knows this show isn't about viking or farming it's about the lesson of forgetting your past life and becoming a better person for the future.
Vinland saga season 2, makes Joe dirt 2 look like a cinematic masterpiece. I guess it's my fault for not reading the manga and knowing what was coming up, an entire season of thorfinn just being a slave and having nightmares. I was okay with the slowdown of pace, but 8 entire episodes of thorfinn just being a shell of his former self is so depressing. Season one might have been in my top 10 anime, season 2 I had to fast forward through the last episode because I couldn't watch more s***. I thought he would have fought his way out of slavery once he found his will to live after episode 2 but absolutely not.
It’s fair if your not liking it, but I think you’ll find when you remember how he was in season 1 and who he is now as he meets people who only want to engage with violence you’ll find moments of him struggling with his ability to keep anger and hatred away as he engages in violence to prevent further death
Agreed 100%. After awhile thought he’d fight his way out too. And episode 8 in the Valhalla scene was just so drawn out and unnecessary. It didn’t need to be that long for us to get the point. I just don’t think the plot and way they’re going about the story is good enough. Even with no fighting and watching him change they could’ve done it so much better.
Personally i prefer third arc most. The newer 4th arc seems super intriguing too. But all four are top tier imo, and i am sure that those that stick around for the animes season 2's slowburn will come to love them all too.
In the third arc, there is a moment which involves an anonymous dying Viking that is the most empathetic and darkest moment in the entire story imo. Manga readers will know what scene I'm talking about.
i think s4 of AOT or the moment time travel is introduced in the story the story went straight to downhill leading to one of the worst ending in anime yeah so i actually really enjoyed seasons 1-3 since it combined a great story with great spectacle, season 4 however seems to value epic spectacle while shafting the great writing to the side. it feels like season 4 is focused on “how can we make the most WTF moment?” rather than “how can we continue a compelling a story while incorporating cool moments. the entire introduction of marley just fell completely flat for me. the reason we sympathized with the eldians in season 1 was because they were on the losing side of a terrible battle, so we rooted for the underdog character to fight and win. but then they introduce marley and show them horrifically killing mass groups of people - this isn’t inherently bad, but i can’t sympathize with a group that is introduced like that. seasons 1-3 took a medium sized sandbox and filled it to the top, but season 4 after widening the scope of the story now has an overly large sandbox with just a little more sand. having the story stretch so far in so many different directions made a lot of the marley characters feel shallow and two dimensional with a lot of them eventually repeating the same character arc in realizing neither side was right. the marley characters never clicked with me since a lot of them are shallow and those who aren’t just repeat the same arc, there’s no depth or interesting philosophies to explore since it becomes too predictable and stale. the time skip, in my eyes, was also a massive shot to the foot since it created a massive disconnect between the audience and characters. putting a 4 year time skip this late into the story was not a good idea since it completely ignores the aftermath of the basement reveal. as a result of this, we watch characters we know completely teleport into different mindsets and become different people off screen. for example, the show asks you to car about the relationship between sasha and niccolo when the entirety of it is shown off screen, we never see it develop or grow and as such we can’t grow invested. we see one or two flashbacks after the fact but that just seems like a lazy response and shallow writing. if he didn’t intend to put emphasis on this plot point then why add it in the first place? i’ll admit that this next bit is more so my opinion on the type of story being told, but i think making the show take place in a predetermined timeline is incredibly stupid and stops any and all tension dead in its tracks. eren seeing into the future means that the timelines already been decided which means i can’t get invested in any of the characters decisions anymore. i can’t get mad at levi for choosing armin over erwin because that decision was already decided before the fight even began. i can’t say “why don’t they do this or that” because they are strictly bound to doing what the timeline says. again, this is more opinion and preference based but i think predetermined timelines are majorly flawed in stories since i can’t invest myself in anything. everything’s already been decided so the characters actions are nothing but meaningless movements to push a story forward as opposed to the driving force behind altering the narrative in their own individual vision. the largest offense in my eyes is what the story did to eren. after seeing the memories of the future, eren essentially teleports into a different character. we never see eren develop from a kid into his new form - we see him develop throughout seasons 1-3 and then completely develop offscreen into someone else, but because we don’t see how or why he changed, i can’t sympathize or even care about him anymore since it’s not the same eren. also, being influenced by future memories completely eradicated any personal character motivation. eren has already seen that he fights in marley and starts the rumbling and dies all the way back before season 4 even starts. and because the timeline is predetermined, he knows he can’t change anything he sees. this leads to eren knowing stuff he shouldn’t know simply because the plot literally tells him, not because of his own experience learning and growing, but becuase the script literally tells him what to do. throughout season 4 he’s basically just reading off a script that he’s already read which to me is just completely unappealing since there’s no driving motivation or passion behind him actions, he’s just carrying out what he’s already seen. for example, eren goes to marley and fights in order to obtain the war hammer titan so that he can be victorious later in shiganshina, but how did he know the war hammer would even be there openly, how did he know he would need extra support in shiganshina, how did he know when to attack? the answer to these is that the plot tells him because he already saw it which is just a stupid idea in my eyes since it eliminates any and all personal motivation and stakes. i will say that some of these ideas aren’t necessarily bad on paper, but with a story like attack on titan, some of them just don’t fit well in the established narrative, and this leads to the show giving off the impression that it thinks it’s smarter than it actually is which comes across as overly edgy and dark. these ideas could have potential resolutions and expansions later in the story, but as we see with the ending they just don’t and a lot of the themes and ideas introduced in s4 p1 just fall flat on their face by the end without any real introspection. obviously this is all my opinion and i’m not just a blind hater of the show. i thoroughly enjoyed seasons 1-3 but it seems that s4 just really dropped the ball narratively speaking in order to make the flashiest and most “WTF!” moments it could think of. so yeah that was long lol but those are some of my opinions on the show
That's exactly the problems i had with post time skip in aot, the story just falls apart narratively with the introduction of elements that undermines the Essence of the themes explored before. The theme of freedom which is arguably the most important in the story falls completely appart with the predetermined time line, and what pisses me off is it's never been questionned by the story and especially eren who became a slave to the script. Aot after s3 instead of giving more insight into the characters after the big reveal of the basement and more exploration of the themes decided to go for the time travel trope without giving it the time and the depth that it deserves because it's such a complexe theme (steins gate spent 10 episodes just building it up and here it's done in one chapter) the story just kept holding itself because of the hype of the action scenes and the overuse of fantasy elements that appeal to a lot of people without digging into the most important things which made it feel pretty pretentious for most parts after s3.
Vinland saga changed me. Thor Finn is a hero to me and watching season 2 made me cry so many times. Watching him become compassionate and loving and even when it’s impossible, Thorfinn try’s to remain strong in his goals to stop violence and takes a hundred punches just to restrain and stay strong. He’s a beautiful character
If you think Vinland saga got boring, it only means you haven’t grew up with the story yet. If you are someone more reflective, you would see it as relatable.
Gotta love the comparison between Thorfinn and Canute's progression, with Canute starting the story as a sheltered prince that progressively gets darker and more cruel as the world around him continues to affect him, while Thorfinn goes through most of his violent bloodthirsty phase in his youth and beginning to reject violence and make amends for his past as we continue his life story. Hope these two get to meet again soon as their paths are greatly opposed to one another
Great video! I would love to see an in depth character analysis on thorfinn and eren yeager just a couple video ideas i would love to watch you talk about that.
as an icelantic and dont watch alot of anime loved the vinland saga and i would do everything for this show to continue. No- one has made such a good saga as this one
To me this more peaceful and mature thorfin was setup well in the 1st season. From canooks talks with the monk to thorfin also kind of losing his only reason to live. So as soon as season 2 started and it was clear he was a shell of himself it made perfect sense to me and I was excited to see where his character went
Season 2 and the future events of adult Thorfinn are what made me fall in love with Vinland saga, before this arc it was a pretty okay (if not overly standard) series that was mostly carried by Askeladd. Watching Thorfinn grow as a person and face down his mistakes with dignity made him into one of my favorite characters and got me to read the manga, making Vinland Saga one of my favorite series ever.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
watching thorfin"s struggle with his humanity is to me better than the 1st season.
i think both seasons are important, you cant have such a deep understanding for thorfin if there's no first season so well, both to me are insanely good. I dont even wanna start aguing what is "better" its both needed.
@@niemalswieder1673 THANK YOU!!! Jesus H. Christ. I've been insulted non-stop for having a different opinion than the majority and I'm sick of it! Sure, I acknowledge that season 2 is awesome, but it IS NOTHING LIKE SEASON 1. Season one is a Shonen and season 2 switches to a mostly-slice-of-life Seinen. OF COURSE there will be backlash. While I understand what the artist and writer was going for, making this drastic of a change is commercially unwise and it's bound to have a negative impact on way-too-huge a percentage of the fan-base. They feel catfished, because they WERE catfished. "Hey, wanna have a hot time? Yeah? Oooh, yeah baby. Give it to me... and also pay for my child's school supplies. And my dog has vet bills. And" yada, yada, yada.
I agree with that. When first beginning season two, I often wondered if anyone would get why Thorfinn is the way he is. I mean, when you're a naive kid and spend most of your life mindlessly brutalizing others to achieve an objective you set out to do, then immediately fail in the pursuit of that too; it'll inevitably destroy your mind once you're old enough to understand what the consequences of what's been done really are. What you actually did to others was the same thing which happened to you. You can easily become the very thing you've sworn never to be. It especially hits very hard when you come to realize Thorfinn was so so close to finding peace when abandoning his quest and traveling back to Iceland to be with his family. Things are a little more complex than that but I think I've explained the gist of it fairly well. Lol
and the way they depict his struggle is so good, with the mountain of corpse on his back. chefs kiss
@@jman8350 lol both seasons are important but I think season 1 only has better action rest is season 2 better story better character development and those small moments of action they hit way Harder than season 1.
Ofcourse you have to grow out of fixed mindset that most people have because they watched traditional shonen and they always want to draw a clear line.
I personally love the thought of treating the first arc as a prologue to the rest of the story, because it often helps people realize that Vinland Saga isn't a story about fighting and revenge, but rather overcoming those conflicts, so really, the Prologue Arc is an outlier from the rest of the story that serves as VS's own sort of Golden Age Arc, giving context to the Thorfinn we see in Farmland and beyond.
Really like that parallel for VS S1 with the Golden Age arc. The father issues, childhood abuse, forging fraternal bonds, and horrific trauma and sense of abandonment that both arcs ultimately mark the protagonist with. VS S1 perhaps leaves us with at least a larger dose of hope for what might come next.
So the tired ass, played out, overused "revenge bad, mkay?" Trope that has been done in virtually _every_ piece of media framed on vengeance. This is a moral absolutism simulator, not an actual story about people.
Exactly this. The golden age Arc from berserk and vinland sagas prolouge Arc share the exact same parallels. And while they are both great, they are simply setting the groundwork for the themes of both of the series (ironically both are quite similar as well) and while berserk takes are more dark and brutal routes in comparison to vinland Saga's pacifist and hopeful ones, they both are sharing a similar story on the path of redemption, and revenge. People who only read/watch the golden age (berserk) and prolouge (vinland) and refuse to continue afterwards are just missing the entire point of these series.
This point is debatable on berserk, but for vinland saga after the first arc, the story was never meant to be entirely brutal and traumatic story with constant fighting. The point is redemption, and living a life free of hate, in turn throwing away any sort of "revenge" you might have for someone and instead to forgive them for yourself, and for them, so you can truly live a happy life, instead of being in the toxic cycle of hate and rage all the time.
@@practicalpatriot in fact, the original plan of the author was to straight up start with this season, and tell the previous events through flashbacks. But his editor told him people wouldn't get Thorfinn's struggle if he didn't show it directly, or smth like that
Im enjoying it so far. Not everything needs to be action packed slash and dash. Younger me would be annoyed but after rewatching berserk and reading the manga in my older years ive learned to appreciate story telling more than action
Fax! My brother, spit ur shit indeed!
I prefer whatever the art needs. Vinland saga NEEDS this no action farmland arc and it's great. I love action a bit more than drama generally speaking but season 2 is way better. Plus revenge is bad and he finally realizes this in season 2.
Yes! Exactly.
Season 1 got part of its plot from hot rod haha.. when Thorfin saved the dude he wants to duel it reminded me of hot rod because he wants to get his step dad a new heart just so he could kick his step dads ass hahaha. I Enjoy the series though!
Same here! Berserk was the first Manga were I wasn’t just rushing to the next big fight but instead really wished for no fighting and more character development/drama/plot-progression
I like how Einar refers to him as a "big baby" or something like that. Thorfinn has never truly lived.
or grown. Until now.
Overgrown baby
He didn't even know that bread was made from wheat!
The most recent episode was just a pure work of art
It was quite special indeed
so special that I fell asleep twice
episode 9 was an art
Oath
@@mmmmmsh Yeah, spy x family is good, but different type of Anime. It's Action Comedy.
Vinland Saga is supposed to be Action Drama, sadly what has become is SLICE OF LIFE DRAMA (prove me wrong)
Love the progression. Love the metaphor of growing crops and how it correlates to growing as a person and a celebration of life instead of death and destruction. Even for those who obsess over the action there is still a fair degree of conflict within the farm and all the stuff regarding Cnut. I feel there's a perfect balance. Gonna go back through all of vinland in the manga after I watch this weekly. Gonna finally sit down and read the whole thing Prologue, Farmland, Baltic Sea, Vinland. I got 12 volumes and im aching to get the 13th. Side Note: its also sick that since I'm British and in final year of high school taking history learning about the Norman conquest and yes....Cnut comes up.
Except the actual character development of Cnut is actually much more nuanced and better. Thorfinn's development is like something you tell in a children's story about how it's very bad to hurt people.
Been liking season 2 more than season 1 tbh, I think the most special thing about Vinland saga is it's portrayal of violence and it's reflection on it. No one is your enemy.
big true :)
"I have no enemies" mfs after i kill their whole family in cold blood (they suddenly have some enemies now)
@@mugenbop I don't understand. "No one is your enemy." makes zero sense if every way and especially during the Viking age.
@@battlerifle8642 this is really not how it works
as an anime watcher of vinland saga i actually like season 2 more than season 1 seeing how thorfinn changes as a person and realises what a true warrior is and the hellish nightmare he couldnt even sleep peacefully and it really changed a smiling boy to a dead serious depressed adult but he gets happy as he works with his friendand this character development was amazing
I seriously smiled the first time I saw thorfinn smile in season 2.
I personally think people that don't like season 2 are smooth brained, this season has been so important to the characters.
@@bowiesensei5574 I think season 2 of vinland saga separates seinen watchers/readers from shounen watchers/readers. Season one of vinland saga is more shounen-like than anything else so it had quite a wide viewerbase. Shounen is for young people who like action (which there is nothing wrong with) while seinen is for people who don't need constant action to stimulate them, if any. Season 1 attracted all sorts of viewers, both seinen and shounen, but season 2 only appealed to more adutl or mature people, the seinen watchers.
I felt the same way.
Thorfinn didn't even feel like the main character in Season 1, Askeladd was.
@@kingwolf9447 I think it's because they didn't want to spend too much time on him in season 1 because he was a (relatively) boring character. Thorfinn in season 1 had oen thing and that was getting revenge on askeladd, which if they spent too much time on would have gotten repetitive. That isn't to say he was a bad character, as they were just setting him up for intense focus in season 2
Vagabond and Vinland Saga have farming arcs and I love both. They were important for the plot and character growth and I also enjoyed the pacing. I guess that's what you get when you have good writers
Unironically I instantly fell in love with season 2 of Vinland Saga. I honestly prefer it more over season 1. Season 1 is good, but season 2 is even better in my opinion. Much more deep introspection of the characters and their mental phyche as well as their relationship to violence and war on a deeper level. Season one had deep moments but nothing compares to how philosophical and thought provoking season 2 is . Season 2 took what season 1 had in terms of themes and went a step even further into it. I've never been this passionate about a Manga / Anime in awhile. Vinland Saga reminded me why I read Manga and why I watch Anime in the first place .
One of the best part of this story is that npc jormsvikking death where he thought he is going Valhalla but soon realize there is no Valhalla. That hit me hard.
That shit went so damn hard, that and the addition of hild might have been the greatest part of the series
absolutely
I also like the part in the 3rd arc where these two soldiers of opposing factions woke up the next morning after the battle and shared a breakfast together.
Bjorn repeatedly asking Askeladd if he would acknowledge him as a friend even knowing he was mostly just a slightly more useful idiot to the other interchangeable Norse warriors Askeladd despised. I felt like he didn't care about his death being honorable anymore at the end so much as having the mercy of ending a nightmare he never even knew he could wake up to. No mention of Valhalla, honor, or anything at the end. Because Askeladd was a sociopath I think he genuinely didn't think Bjorn would care more about helping him than cultural dogma.
Him coming to terms with the role he played was really painful. He just seemed like a lost kid trying not to be scared at the end of it instead of the proud Valhalla send-off I expected.
That shit literally gave me an existential crisis while reading. I had to stop and go for a walk and regain my composure before I could unpack that shit and keep reading. It hit so fucking hard.
I started listening to a new band the other day, and one of their songs just really resonated with how I feel about how Thorfinn's characters is going. I am loving seeing the change in Thorfinn, showing dealing with things like PTSD and learning to resolve living with yourself and your actions. If you are interested Through Stars by Unleash the Archers feels like Thorfinn's theme song to me right now.
I can kinda hear it yeah :)
Vinland Saga has the best character development I have ever seen in anime. People don’t realize the drastic changes and the effects created when faced with a traumatic event. Then after being detached from so long, you have no choice but to snap back in reality and feel misplaced, like how did I even get here? The anime is so realistic and deep, watching a heartbroken boy trying to find himself again as an enslaved man. Even Canute had one hell of a character development himself. Truly one of a kind in this generation ♥️
The manga gets better bro read it man
except there's not much reason why Thorfinn should be traumatized. It's literally a childish story about how "if you're a person and you've killed people, you should feel bad"
@@GameFuMaster then u don’t understand it
@@PsychicCatTCG you don't understand how people work. It would be like a cattle farmer waking up screaming, thinking about all the cows he's killed.
The part the story gets right is the nihilistic feeling of losing a life's goal, i.e. death of askaladd, which it actually puts to the sideline in favor of "I killed people, wah"
The change is NOT complex enough to warrant that much time. Season 2 should have been 12 ep MAX. That's why people say it's boring. It drags so much. That's why it's annoying.. it's like okay we get it! MOVE ON. Other shows do change much better! Hell, "A Silent Voice" showed better character growth from multiple characters in a 2 hour movie
I honestly found the action in S1 exhausting. S2 started showing me what I was craving from the previous season, people to root instead of against.
When I had first watched season 1, I was 17 and In active use within my addiction that had caused me to make many mistakes and immoral decisions. I didn’t realize at the at time how much I related with thorfinn because I wasn’t able to see my own problem for what it was either. I’m now 22 watching season 2 in my sober house and i resonate with this season very much being that I am also a shell of a person trying to learn to live more normally in society while battling my past. Although I think anyone can relate with thorfinn in the sense that we all tend to make more mistakes when we are younger and come to eventually regret those things when we are older and have to find acceptance for them. Assuming thorfinn was a teenager in the first season right and now he’s in his mid twenty’s ?.
Life is hard and there is suffering but you find ways to keep living and to move on.
Keep going friend. No matter what happens, keep fighting.
The thing that makes Vinland Saga special has never been the action sequences. What elevated season 1 from being just another battle anime was all the messages sprinkled in throughout the series, both subtle and not subtle. Thinks like the concept of a true warrior and Thors' message to Thorfinn, the sadness of seeing Thorfinn turn into this hateful being who is complicit in atrocities, Cnut's dialogue with the drunk monk about the meaning of love, Askeladd's role in Thorfinn's life and his dying message to Thorfinn, and so on.
All of season 1 was supposed to show you the darkness of the world they live in and the pain caused by warfare, while season 2 is about overcoming that darkness and living a good, meaningful life.
Real and true
Askeladd is like the smoker who tells you to quit/never start smoking, but has been smoking for too long and knows he'll never quit. A fitting analogy since his nickname means "ash lad".
Farmland saga is really painfull for me because the episodes always end on a Cliffhanger and i have to wait 1 week
I think Vinland saga started out pretty generic shonen origin, but it grows later in 1st season and grows even more in season 2... As the show grew i think the viewer should grow too.. very nice take on Vinland saga
This take is more for the manga reader than anime watchers, specifically those who followed the serialization every week. It's hard to ask for your viewers to grow up when it's only been 3 years in between the anime's shift from shonen to seinen storytelling. Plus there's also the case of people who never grew out of shonen manga, and extensively people who went into anime through shonen never branched out. The only way a story like this could grow up with its audience is to show its hand far slower than it already has, similar to how long Korra got greenlit after the first Avatar was released. Real slippery slope but it there's nothing much you can do
@@tobejiru vinland saga s1 is not even shounen, its seinen from the beginning. google it, it either says just action/drama or action/drama/seinen. no shounen so far
The problem started when season 1 attracted the wrong kind of audience who thought it was a battle shonen. And when the real story begins,they think it's boring.
@@tobejiru vinland saga was never shonen
@@pitamberarora6232 shonen?????? yeah, season 2 started to atract more basic people who think that story is so dEeP
The Farm arc reminded me a lot of what happens in Vagabond too, but I much prefer what Yukimura did here, I was really surprised at how well Vinland Saga went from just warfare to this. Hope you'll do a video on the most recent chapters too!
Incredible video, good job bro. This is my favorite anime
Thanks man :)
I was one of the more action lover when I watched the first season, I was like "Hey this is cool, I wonder what more this gives" so I started reading the manga after season 1.
I tried it, but it was not to my taste (this was just after season 1, and I could say that this was when I was not critical to stories), so I dropped it, I managed to get to "I have no enemies" and I was like, "good for you" then dropped it.
But now, after 4 years, with a lot of good animes, and bad ones, when 291 animes watched and like 450 series reading on the record, I wished to experience the so-called "peak".
I did not have all of these feelings when I read Vinland Saga, but what I had was just pure admiration and happiness of Thorfinn, that just made me realise, what kind of story it is.
A self reflecting story with a dark and regretful history, this story told me. That a man can still shine so bright after one's dark past, redeem one's wrongdoings through tribulations after tribulations, make mistakes along the way, correct them if it's necessary, for he is simply a man. Nothing more nothing less, for you are just human.
And Thorfinn is one of the best written characters in literature.
Love how this arc is simple farming concept but the philosophy and redemption makes this arc is so good
Here's a visual detail that may or may not mean anything. In the Prologue, Thorfinn's hair always covers his ears. This is when he is completely single-minded and closed off from anybody else i.e. not listening. Some examples. He lets the English family who took him in get pillaged. He doesn't give two spits about what Leif has to say when they finally reunite. And more horrifyingly, he does nothing and moves on when he sees a woman being r*ped. He sees avenging his own suffering as more important than anyone else's.
But in Farmland, even when Thorfinn's hair is down, we almost always see his ears. Here, he's more open and listening to those around him. He listens to Einar, finally feels guilt for all the people he killed, finally understands and learns from what Thors and Askeladd taught him, and is open to what he himself needs. Yes, listening may break him. As shown when he gets part of his ear cut off. But it's the beginning of Thorfinn's growth and redemption.
You also have the scene with the necklace made of Englishmen's ears. Wonder if that has anything to do with 'warriors' like Thorfinn closing themselves off from (not listening to) those they kill?
I really love throfin’s development throughout his journey BECAUSE of how absurd his resolution is. It’s unrealistic and often times feels pushed, but also at the same it’s a mirror reflecting us and how we strive for perfect ideologies yet those ideologies are in a constant conflict with their counterparts. For example berserk and vagabond.
it felt so human to me, theres always space to grow no matter what and they deliver that in a beautiful way
I'm personally an anime-only fan of the series (currently working on rectifying that, just finished reading Book 1 :D), but I cannot express how much I LOVE season 2 right now! The incredible character development that Thorfinn has undergone in the span of the 15 episodes that are currently out has been soul-crushing to watch and nearly brought me to tears on multiple occasions. But to see him literally dig himself out of the pits of hell in an attempt to atone for the sins he committed is so awe-inspiring that it's difficult to put into words.
Season 2 makes season 1 even better and vice versa. This might be the greatest anime show I’ve ever watched. Exposing the human weakness of greed and power and unforgiving sinful nature and hatred for god. It’s a beautiful story. I love every aspect of it
9:45 you said that warfare is impossible to stop. Maybe. But, if anything, the story shows us that we should never stop trying to strive for that world.
Agree
See, I think Vinland Saga is doing what Berserk occasionally teases its readers with but never commits to (for obvious reasons because Griffith sucks): the protagonist moving on from revenge and giving up on violence. That is much bolder in my opinion than presenting the best sword fights in the world. I also get a sense of actual historical fiction with Vinland Saga that I don't see in a lot of other historical fiction because the attention to detail is there (Canute referring to the Danegeld, Sverkel talking about Lent, all the various details involved in medieval peasant/farm life and of course the presentation of how difficult life was for slaves in Norse societies). As a result, I have a much more rounded vision of what Thorfinn and the world he inhabits might have been like and all the characters (from Einar to Thorfinn to Leif to Canute) feel like real people. The emphasis on pacifism makes Vinland Saga stand out. I REALLY like season 1 but I also know that Thorfinn is deliberately written to be a vicious idiot who refuses to learn and who pretty much ignores everthing his dead father tried to teach him and left his family for 10 years only to become complicit in Askeladd's crimes against innocent people. The way he later reflects on his complicity and guilt in season 2 is part of why the story is so great because everything gets recontextualised, as the story's focus shifts from showing the audience engaging fights to showing them the implications of that kind of violence.
Yknow I didn't really realize until now that the farm arc basically sets up all the experience Thorfinn needs to create Vinland. He learns how to transform the land, but to reach that point the middle of the story requires him to take on the challenge of devoting himself to peace. Once he reaches that mental enlightenment, only then can he actualize the knowledge he has.
I love season 2 because it's really a different experience then what im use to. Most anime feel repetitive but this actually feels different
It’s progressing in unexpected ways :)
This manga is life itself. From the excitement of youth to the traumas from the harshness of reality, and from the depression caused by that to growth and to the realization that there is something worth fighting for. Not with a sword, but with ideals and hope. A true warrior is not one that crushes his enemies, but one that fights adversities, and inspires everyone else to fight alongside them.
The internal strugle of Thorfin is the most amazing thing I have seen in anime ... In years. The depiction of his own personal hell was disturbing.
I haven’t really watched anime much for the last 10years, but if this trash is the best you’ve seen in years then I’m not going to bother getting back in to it 😅
Loved the choice of music in this video, really meshes well with Thorfinns character and his development, as well as the grander themes of Vinland Saga. Also a great and very insightful video 👏
In 2018, everything fell apart for me. I got cheated on, lost my job, had crippling anxiety and felt like a complete failure at life. I got into the final arc of Attack on Titan, and was very drawn to Eren being beaten down by the world and going, "F*** it, I'm destroying this world." I'm glad that instead, I'm finally getting into Vinland Saga 👍🏻 I was speechless at Thorfinn's "Oath", and the story has inspired me to make peace with the past and move forward.
*This isn't a diss on AoT. It's an exceptional story. I was just in a really bad headspace and got into the story for the wrong reasons.
The Author flexes his writing skills and philisophy in season 2.
I absolutely love this show, I loved the action in the first season but the peacefulness with the small bits of fighting with an awesome sense of moral questioning during every fight, and the moral dilemmas that thorfinn is facing himself, and how he’s changing over time, it’s really amazing.
Hot damn, Farmland saga is so freakin good. Im excited to see Baltic Sea arc some day as well. Vinland is easily in my top 3.
I'm loving it so far. I've almost cried at like 4 different episodes. It's absolutely beautiful
Great video!
At first I was surprised by the direction season 2 took. Then I understood.
I love how characters just grow together. I love both seasons because they have their own side, direction. And they share the same basis: warfare, revenge, acceptance.. Basically how to continue to live after trauma.
ive only watched the anime and honestly i really like it. i dig the mental shift of the character. he has to learn to live now, to be a man instead of simply a sword. his vengeance never had a chance to become real. now what? thorfinn has to find something to belong to or with. something to protect. it makes sense. he's growing.
Thorfinn and Canute went in opposite directions into the things they were the furthest from the most.
I have never read the manga . But I’ve watched this anime and I love it .. I love how he went from a little kid with hatred and revenge in his heart . To a lost young man trying to find himself after realizing what it meant to be a true warrior . Someone tell me there’s more than a 3 season
Bro season 3 gonna be 🔥🔥🔥
funny how the anime actually showd that, the young kids joining thors and the village was excited about war but thors, the only person who experienced it is digusted
Mmm quite interesting plot point to include it’s almost thematic.. interesting yes
Bro, awesome video. I admittedly took a pause on season 2 because it was so different from season 1 and didn't meet up with my expectations of a fast paced action series. After watching this I continued season 2 with an open mind AND MAN AM I GLAD I DID. I totally didn't understand it at first but the depth in character development is so compelling I am more hooked than season 1. Thanks man, cheers
Glad you've seen the light bro 🤝
I think it's a wonderful adaptation with some welcome additions. The scene of Sverkel telling his story to Arnheid, and the expanded back story to her and Gardar are really powerful and emotional, and I love them.
As a veteran and a father, this season is absolutely top notch in my opinion. Its definitely different than the first season but i honestly prefer the approach to this season.
The thumbnail is outstandingly beautiful
cheers sir :)
The Ketil Farm arc has got to be my favorite arc in the series. Because it is so crucial as the turning point of the series as it breaks all boundaries, stereotypes, and archetypes in an action-themed manga, it gives full dimension and brings a character depth and development only masterfully achieved by a few manga to date. If you appreciate good writing, I'm pretty sure you understand what I'm saying.
I just got watching season 2. I was constantly bored throughout the season and I think it came down to the pacing. So much time of nothing really happening. And the show it felt like was constantly hitting me over the head with the “war is bad” trope. We get it. I feel like the story could be told in a much more streamlined way.
Vinland saga has the most compelling characters a series can have with mappa glorious visual, every Tuesday morning becomes special for when I watch Vinland saga new episode.
👏🏼👏🏼
I think what a lot of people don't talk about is what the whole story is setting up. Not having read the manga, it seems to me like this is a story of a character like his father, Thors. Somebody who was a warrior and has learned to strive for peace, "a true warrior doesn't need a sword". This is the story of his son, who grows up to be just like him. But in order for you to truly appreciate the strength of his convictions and to support him or feel for him if he does return to war, you need to have seen what he went through and what it took for him to reach this peace.
We see a lot of characters like Thors, for example let's say somebody like Uncle Iroh of Last Airbender. We are very rarely shown a character like Uncle Iroh as evil or flawed, we only see them as the lovable mature wise figure. This is a show that helps you understand that character better, this is the equivalent of a show that tells Uncle Iroh's full story.
there are still plenty of awesome battles and viking fights to come, and thorfinn still fights to protect.
It’s quite funny to see Thorfinn basically become his dad in the beginning
Vinland saga is amazing, people just put a huge emphasis on the "revenge" part and I'm having more excitement as new chapters go out
great video to bookmark for new comers to the seris, ty :D
One day when it finishes, it will be a one unique story everyone can learn from.
Also in farm arc we are introduced to Einar the bringer of change
but i cant wait when they introduce my personal favorite Hild ♥
The song of berserk in the final of the video granted you another subscriber.
Im loving this season because it is helping me overcoming one of my worst depressive phases so far. I cried in almost every single episode, especially episode 8.
11:09 OMFG EVERYTHING I FELT WHEN TALKING TO PEOPLE ABOUT SEASON 2. Especially in the later chapters about how Thorfinn then decides how to use his strength to navigate through the world after farm arc.
Such a great story, about Erik the Red too judging from history the manga isn't even halfway through the full story yet so much more to tell!! Loved this video
Vinland Saga's Ketil Farm arc and Vagabond's Iori's Farm arc is for me the best written arcs in all of manga. It just transcends all archetypes of writing and warps the reader's perception as if they were made to understand the conundrum and the eventual enlightenment of the main characters.
At first I was also like, "so we just farming now?", but as I kept watching, it really started to click and I should've never doubted this season. Vinland Saga remains a true masterpiece.
I personally love the contrast between season 1 and 2. I like both but it really feels like a realistic story. Life is not all action, some times you need to take time to find yourself.
6:57 this, this exactly, almost everyone I knew that didn't like vinland season 2 are the same people who didn't like AOT after the basement arc, after the story taking a more moral side. I don't like being mean but in some way it gives me a picture about how those people brains work or think which is not usually good lol.
It's simply if you watch animes only for the action,s fight scenes, animation etc, don't watch Vinland Saga.
that is pretty simply
Great video! i love when ppl say no one understands X then proceed to explain what literally anyone with an a quarter of a fonctioning brain would be able understands by watching the show on mute without subtitles
I love season 2! The character development is much better than I expected.
The topic's been handled very well, you stayed respectful and didn't breed more division and it needs to be encouraged ! Good job c:
thanks man glad you enjoyed :)
At first I was disappointed (or shocked even) with season 2 but the incredible music kept me coming back and then when you realize how Thorfinn is growing and reconciling the sins of his past you start to adore him and the anime as a whole.
Excellent video on an an excellent manga. I read it all this last few months and it has been quite the journey in the best way
I love Thorfinn, he goes through a wild journey, and it is a joy to watch him grow. I'm a manga reader and cannot wait for the next chapter!
Great video bro! Love the way you talk and analyze
Thanks man I just can’t stop talking, really appreciate that. Especially from such a famous saiyan
Vinland saga is a masterpiece, very philosophical and beautifully written and shot. Showing the brutality of war and the violence that can live inside of men, yet also showing the life of merciless killing leads to that of an empty one, and what revenge can turn you into. Especially loved the scene in the show where the farm master iron first ketil where he says he's afraid of his son and how hard it is to kill and harm and live that life and be a man (in a nutshell). Shit made me cry, speaks very true of feelings that all men will go through
Imagine watching a video about Vinland Saga and being spoiled on attack on titan...
I have waited every Monday to get home to watch this second season. What a beautiful story and evolution of character for more than just Thorfinn. It is obvious that the anime is not going to stay as slow paced or docile as it is now. The only people complaining are those who are entertained by transformations and meaningless violence. There of nothing wrong with that but there are still those of us who love a god story.
What is the song that starts playing at 11:20? It sounds really good and I don’t see a track list in the description
I don’t think that people misunderstand or don’t understand the point of Season 2 of Vinland Sage. Instead, I believe people are more upset at how slow it seems to be. For an anime with multiple time skips, to really stretch out the 2nd season of Vinland Sage seems unnecessary. By the time we’re introduced to Thirfinn, he’s already changed, so any excitement we wouldn’t gotten from seeing him change to such a mild mannered person is lost, and we’re left to watch him chop trees and have nightmares.
I find it disrespectful when people says those who want Vinland saga to be more action in season 2 don’t understand their purpose
Season 3 is going to be wild, especially for the action-enjoyers. I don't know what to expect of Season 4's reception, though!
(I am assuming u have read the manga and u still like it.)
I personally did not like the direction where Vinland saga went:
1. The author could have easily gone in detail with canutes wars to contrast it with thorfinns farming. But we never get much of canute,i.e the wars he won and the politics around that.
A. His brother is already dead and was never a challenge for canute .
B. There's not much conflict between Canute and thorkell,floki or anyone tbh.. the only conflict canute has is with the imaginary head of his father.
2. Let's go to thorfinn and his farming. His motivation that he will devote himself to prevent wars and violence is decent ...but the way they go about it is lazy. Thorfinn decides to never hurt ANY guy ever again. But before he makes that decision..he never gets questioned by himself or einar about the logic or how he is gonna even achieve this.
(I have caught up with the manga and there are even more things i disagree with in that)
Do you dislike the pacifist nature of Thorfinn?
@@mugenbop [spoilers]i am fine with him being a pacifist (i.e him favouring peace). The problem is his naive nature(he commits that he will never hurt anyone ever) and no major consequences.
We see later that he can't keep that commitment forever and has to knock people out in some situations.
But the story never challenges him enough:
Almost all his friends are alive and well- Einar, Hild,his family,Leif and others(ofc arenheid doesn't count)
So essentially it's the lack of conflict (external+ internal) in the story and not his pacifist nature.
Conflict and pacifist characters can exist together. Like thorfinn hasn't been put into a situation like Thors ,where he basically had to go to war to prevent killing in his village. (I am excluding the new Vinland -forest arc cause it's still in progression and maybe it will get better)
What about when he came face to face with Floki?
@@mugenbop There was definitely some conflict there.
It's good,But its not enough,it starts and ends in a span of
fair enough thanks for explaining :)
i've recently started vinland saga after hearing so many good things and the "i have no enemies" arc of tikitok, and the start was a normal revenge story, however there was something i can't put my finger on what was so compelling. the first season was so cool compared to others, even though it was so similar when it comes to action. i am halfways through s2 and it is just a beatiful story, and i like it way more than s1. i haven't seen such great growth from any character and it just makes me feel like i, myself, gained a positive mindset from it. i think this is one of, if not the greatest story from anywhere, the feeling that the only way to love the world and others, is to love yourself first. something beatiful came from this anime and i think something better will come in the next few seasons. def my fav anime already
Vinland saga season 2 divides the anime watchers into 2 parts ,one who watched it for story and the other who watched it for action. Those who understood the story knows this show isn't about viking or farming it's about the lesson of forgetting your past life and becoming a better person for the future.
Flipping tables at how much I appreciate this video 👏👏👏
It seems like everyone understood vinland saga. You just think you are better than others
Obviously a man who did not watch the video of course
@@mugenbop i cba to watch a clickbait title
But you can be bothered commenting haha cmon dude 😂
Very unique perspective to look at it, i like it
Vinland saga season 2, makes Joe dirt 2 look like a cinematic masterpiece. I guess it's my fault for not reading the manga and knowing what was coming up, an entire season of thorfinn just being a slave and having nightmares. I was okay with the slowdown of pace, but 8 entire episodes of thorfinn just being a shell of his former self is so depressing. Season one might have been in my top 10 anime, season 2 I had to fast forward through the last episode because I couldn't watch more s***. I thought he would have fought his way out of slavery once he found his will to live after episode 2 but absolutely not.
It’s fair if your not liking it, but I think you’ll find when you remember how he was in season 1 and who he is now as he meets people who only want to engage with violence you’ll find moments of him struggling with his ability to keep anger and hatred away as he engages in violence to prevent further death
Agreed 100%. After awhile thought he’d fight his way out too. And episode 8 in the Valhalla scene was just so drawn out and unnecessary. It didn’t need to be that long for us to get the point. I just don’t think the plot and way they’re going about the story is good enough. Even with no fighting and watching him change they could’ve done it so much better.
What should they have done differently to showcase the plot better?
Great video man you nailed it
Personally i prefer third arc most. The newer 4th arc seems super intriguing too. But all four are top tier imo, and i am sure that those that stick around for the animes season 2's slowburn will come to love them all too.
In the third arc, there is a moment which involves an anonymous dying Viking that is the most empathetic and darkest moment in the entire story imo. Manga readers will know what scene I'm talking about.
@@Regenmacher175 yep. That part still haunts me in a sense, albeit makes me glad i am actually alive.
That scene.. bruh was dark
the central conflict of vinland saga season 2 is the struggle for thorfinn’s soul and i am here for it
i think s4 of AOT or the moment time travel is introduced in the story the story went straight to downhill leading to one of the worst ending in anime
yeah so i actually really enjoyed seasons 1-3 since it combined a great story with great spectacle, season 4 however seems to value epic spectacle while shafting the great writing to the side. it feels like season 4 is focused on “how can we make the most WTF moment?” rather than “how can we continue a compelling a story while incorporating cool moments.
the entire introduction of marley just fell completely flat for me. the reason we sympathized with the eldians in season 1 was because they were on the losing side of a terrible battle, so we rooted for the underdog character to fight and win. but then they introduce marley and show them horrifically killing mass groups of people - this isn’t inherently bad, but i can’t sympathize with a group that is introduced like that.
seasons 1-3 took a medium sized sandbox and filled it to the top, but season 4 after widening the scope of the story now has an overly large sandbox with just a little more sand. having the story stretch so far in so many different directions made a lot of the marley characters feel shallow and two dimensional with a lot of them eventually repeating the same character arc in realizing neither side was right. the marley characters never clicked with me since a lot of them are shallow and those who aren’t just repeat the same arc, there’s no depth or interesting philosophies to explore since it becomes too predictable and stale.
the time skip, in my eyes, was also a massive shot to the foot since it created a massive disconnect between the audience and characters. putting a 4 year time skip this late into the story was not a good idea since it completely ignores the aftermath of the basement reveal. as a result of this, we watch characters we know completely teleport into different mindsets and become different people off screen.
for example, the show asks you to car about the relationship between sasha and niccolo when the entirety of it is shown off screen, we never see it develop or grow and as such we can’t grow invested. we see one or two flashbacks after the fact but that just seems like a lazy response and shallow writing. if he didn’t intend to put emphasis on this plot point then why add it in the first place?
i’ll admit that this next bit is more so my opinion on the type of story being told, but i think making the show take place in a predetermined timeline is incredibly stupid and stops any and all tension dead in its tracks. eren seeing into the future means that the timelines already been decided which means i can’t get invested in any of the characters decisions anymore. i can’t get mad at levi for choosing armin over erwin because that decision was already decided before the fight even began. i can’t say “why don’t they do this or that” because they are strictly bound to doing what the timeline says. again, this is more opinion and preference based but i think predetermined timelines are majorly flawed in stories since i can’t invest myself in anything. everything’s already been decided so the characters actions are nothing but meaningless movements to push a story forward as opposed to the driving force behind altering the narrative in their own individual vision.
the largest offense in my eyes is what the story did to eren. after seeing the memories of the future, eren essentially teleports into a different character. we never see eren develop from a kid into his new form - we see him develop throughout seasons 1-3 and then completely develop offscreen into someone else, but because we don’t see how or why he changed, i can’t sympathize or even care about him anymore since it’s not the same eren. also, being influenced by future memories completely eradicated any personal character motivation. eren has already seen that he fights in marley and starts the rumbling and dies all the way back before season 4 even starts. and because the timeline is predetermined, he knows he can’t change anything he sees. this leads to eren knowing stuff he shouldn’t know simply because the plot literally tells him, not because of his own experience learning and growing, but becuase the script literally tells him what to do. throughout season 4 he’s basically just reading off a script that he’s already read which to me is just completely unappealing since there’s no driving motivation or passion behind him actions, he’s just carrying out what he’s already seen.
for example, eren goes to marley and fights in order to obtain the war hammer titan so that he can be victorious later in shiganshina, but how did he know the war hammer would even be there openly, how did he know he would need extra support in shiganshina, how did he know when to attack? the answer to these is that the plot tells him because he already saw it which is just a stupid idea in my eyes since it eliminates any and all personal motivation and stakes.
i will say that some of these ideas aren’t necessarily bad on paper, but with a story like attack on titan, some of them just don’t fit well in the established narrative, and this leads to the show giving off the impression that it thinks it’s smarter than it actually is which comes across as overly edgy and dark.
these ideas could have potential resolutions and expansions later in the story, but as we see with the ending they just don’t and a lot of the themes and ideas introduced in s4 p1 just fall flat on their face by the end without any real introspection.
obviously this is all my opinion and i’m not just a blind hater of the show. i thoroughly enjoyed seasons 1-3 but it seems that s4 just really dropped the ball narratively speaking in order to make the flashiest and most “WTF!” moments it could think of.
so yeah that was long lol but those are some of my opinions on the show
Ok
I guess I have to make an attack on Titan video
Touch grass dunce
That's exactly the problems i had with post time skip in aot, the story just falls apart narratively with the introduction of elements that undermines the Essence of the themes explored before. The theme of freedom which is arguably the most important in the story falls completely appart with the predetermined time line, and what pisses me off is it's never been questionned by the story and especially eren who became a slave to the script. Aot after s3 instead of giving more insight into the characters after the big reveal of the basement and more exploration of the themes decided to go for the time travel trope without giving it the time and the depth that it deserves because it's such a complexe theme (steins gate spent 10 episodes just building it up and here it's done in one chapter) the story just kept holding itself because of the hype of the action scenes and the overuse of fantasy elements that appeal to a lot of people without digging into the most important things which made it feel pretty pretentious for most parts after s3.
Nah s4 is the best by far its where all the themes and ideas come together
As an anime only fan, this anime touched me dearly, didn't expect it was like that. I had to applaud it watching alone.
Vinland saga changed me. Thor Finn is a hero to me and watching season 2 made me cry so many times. Watching him become compassionate and loving and even when it’s impossible, Thorfinn try’s to remain strong in his goals to stop violence and takes a hundred punches just to restrain and stay strong. He’s a beautiful character
If you think Vinland saga got boring, it only means you haven’t grew up with the story yet. If you are someone more reflective, you would see it as relatable.
Wow, I subscribed right after the video ended. 👍
Awesome! Thank you!
Gotta love the comparison between Thorfinn and Canute's progression, with Canute starting the story as a sheltered prince that progressively gets darker and more cruel as the world around him continues to affect him, while Thorfinn goes through most of his violent bloodthirsty phase in his youth and beginning to reject violence and make amends for his past as we continue his life story. Hope these two get to meet again soon as their paths are greatly opposed to one another
They're funny enought two sides of the exact same coin and both seek the same exact thing but done in totally different ways.
Okay you got my subscription. Good job.
Thanks King :)
Thank you for making this video bro cause a lot of people don’t understand the actual story
Great video! I would love to see an in depth character analysis on thorfinn and eren yeager just a couple video ideas i would love to watch you talk about that.
as an icelantic and dont watch alot of anime loved the vinland saga and i would do everything for this show to continue. No- one has made such a good saga as this one
To me this more peaceful and mature thorfin was setup well in the 1st season. From canooks talks with the monk to thorfin also kind of losing his only reason to live. So as soon as season 2 started and it was clear he was a shell of himself it made perfect sense to me and I was excited to see where his character went
You have a great point of the story, excelent video
Season 2 and the future events of adult Thorfinn are what made me fall in love with Vinland saga, before this arc it was a pretty okay (if not overly standard) series that was mostly carried by Askeladd. Watching Thorfinn grow as a person and face down his mistakes with dignity made him into one of my favorite characters and got me to read the manga, making Vinland Saga one of my favorite series ever.
great vid!! definitely would put it in my top 5 maybe 3, and am SO tempted to read even though I'm a dub watcher ;(
Read, the text is dub ;)