Vinland Saga Season 2

ヴィンランド・サガ SEASON2

8.82(487K votes)

Ranked #38Popularity #254

episodes

Type

Status

Finished Airing

Aired

Jan 10, 2023 to Jun 20, 2023

Studios:MAPPA

ActionAdventureDrama

Synopsis

After his father's death and the destruction of his village at the hands of English raiders, Einar wishes for a peaceful life with his family on their newly rebuilt farms. However, fate has other plans: his village is invaded once again. Einar watches helplessly as the marauding Danes burn his lands and slaughter his family. The invaders capture Einar and take him back to Denmark as a slave. Einar clings to his mother's final words to survive. He is purchased by Ketil, a kind slave owner and landlord who promises that Einar can regain his freedom in return for working in the fields. Soon, Einar encounters his new partner in farm cultivation—Thorfinn, a dejected and melancholic slave. As Einar and Thorfinn work together toward their freedom, they are haunted by both sins of the past and the ploys of the present. Yet they carry on, grasping for a glimmer of hope, redemption, and peace in a world that is nothing but unjust and unforgiving. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

859,254 Members

Worth Watching? — Global Verdict

4.7/10

Average Review Score

20%

Recommend It

Reviews Worldwide

International Reviews

Antithesis

Not RecommendedFunny

Vinland Saga is the embodiment of anachronism and the self-fulfilment of the mocked utterance "If you kill your enemies, they win." Imagine yourself being sold into slavery in 11th-century Scandinavia after brute-forcing your way to the Viking conquest of England’s conclusion as a mercenary. At this point you’re well acquainted with the brutish nature of the Dark Ages and the horrors of mankind--ceaseless wars and raids, slavery, the razing of entire villages, violent wars of succession--and in particular the ruthless 'might makes right' warrior culture of the Vikings which one of your loved ones died at the hands of. Now imagine one day in that traumaticlife of yours you start preaching 21st-century first-world pacifist ideals as a hollowed-out, depressed slave because of a dream. Then give yourself a pat on the back if you think this is an inherently juvenile and asinine concept that first off could never see ideation in such a context, would never see the light of day even if you could conceptualize it, and would never work even if it did see the light of day; because unlike Vinland Saga, you have at least an iota of a grasp on reality. Vinland Saga Season 2 is not only ugly on the outside as an audiovisual experience but also on the inside as a grossly delusional historical fiction that insists upon itself with pretentious moral righteousness, wanting to have its cake and eat it with its faux philosophising whilst attempting to work within the confines of reality. It is a shounen in seinen’s clothing. What started out as a half-decent historical fiction that read almost like a gritty epic, with clear direction and dynamic characters to match, degenerates into aimless, feeble meandering with sluggish pacing and lethargic characters that reads more like a rant from the author than an actual story in its whiplash of a shift into a slice-of-life. The seeds of failure, however, were already sown from the very beginning of the series when Thorfinn's father spoke the essence of his philosophy on his deathbed "A true warrior has no need for a sword"--like a true 17th century Bushido-ideal samurai based in 11th century Scandinavia who uses "no sword" in the literal sense of the words as opposed to metaphorically. Whilst admirable that he cast aside his penchant for violence and surrendered a prestigious life of fierce warrior-ship in order to settle down with his wife and children and ensure them a peaceful life, the story would immortalise him as an aspirational wise man for orphaning a son and widowing a wife into misery because he surrendered to a death he could've easily avoided by sacrificing his family and himself for his moral code of pacifism. What if Askeladd--who’d already shown not to be trusted--didn’t uphold his promise, or if Bjorn massacred the Icelandic village anyway? Vinland Saga expects you to take Thor’s unconvincing dichotomy in faith as it begins using this fundamentally flawed premise as the foundation of the Slave arc and Thorfinn’s character piece, and the self-defeating polarity of venerating an ideology that just lead to a family’s demise is foreshadowing for the story's downwards spiral from this season onwards. Thorfinn, seeing how well pacifism turned out for his father and reaping its fruits first-hand, suddenly becomes one himself this season. Whilst anachronism is Vinland Saga’s biggest problem--how it’s flawed on a fundamental level because its thematic execution conflicts with its own established world due to the author projecting his modern-day moral standards onto a story about 11th century Vikings--its inoperative veer into a medieval farming simulator means the themes it wants to convey here aren’t even made palatable on an external, structural level. The Slave arc lacks a defined act structure and feels like a tedious detour from the prologue, with no narrative drive and momentum. There are long stretches of uneventful moments mostly accompanied by Thorfinn and Einar babbling in a struggle to come to grasp the basic concept of ‘self-preservation’ as the directing in all its unsophisticated artistry (or lack thereof) displays severed heads in order to depict the mental state of a man. All the philosophical ramblings with obvious implications mean pacing thrice as slow as the previous arc isn’t compelling when it fails to be the psychological character-driven introspective it pretends to be. What other stories resolve in 3 episodes, Vinland Saga takes 24 to do without a convincing conclusion. There is no reason for over a dozen episodes to be dedicated to the (bizarrely portrayed) mundane slice-of-life of slaves on a farm, it’s the most astroturfed way imaginable to advance Thorfinn’s already deficient pacifist epiphany; especially when such an overarching theme is something as basic as “Slavery is… bad!” You are taught this in elementary school. This could have been done in less than 3 episodes under the dynamism of the prologue, and Thorfinn’s pacifism would have at least been somewhat more believable in a plot with proper happenings gravitating him towards an active MC role instead of being a glorified exposition dump in disguise for what he’s thinking. The series’ soft reset completely bottlenecks the natural progression of the once hot-blooded plot and characters that the series laid out, and thus Farmland Saga struggles to justify its existence. It no longer moves forward in sharp incremental episodes but wallows in nigh-episodic bloat. The character who suffers the most from this stifling shift in direction is of course Thorfinn, who’s treated like a messianic figure for some reason that the narrative never challenges the ideals of. You can now break down his character arc as Sasuke Uchiha —> Jesus Christ. Honestly, Canute's way of peace is far more pragmatic and he should've been the main character after Askeladd's death. The plot is also cultivated primarily by poor character drama, unintelligent character decisions, accidental happenings and plot devices, which is why aside from most of the cast being lifeless husks, are also unlikeable. Einar is only angry about no longer being a free man and seeing his family members murdered before his eyes in the immediate moment, and he and the 10 unrestrained slaves being transported by boat by the few Danish raiders never attempt to resist or hijack the vessel. Gardar is introduced to serve merely as a tool for the series to once again unsubtlely preach “Here’s why violence is bad” in a scene that diminishes both his and Arnheid’s character after the two had already received incessant flashbacks that could’ve instead made way for more pivotal moments in the story like a certain reunion not being underwhelming. Even the climax of this arc is an illustration of shallow thematic execution; a culmination of the poor character drama and unintelligent character actions, where Thorfinn displays suicidal levels of restraint that should’ve gotten himself killed if not for the plot armour that the narrative places on his idealism, followed by corny dialogue and an unbelievable resolution that assassinates Canute’s character writing. "I have no enemies." Bravo Uzumaki Thorfinn.

Episodes (24)

Filler Recap

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Community Discussion

Marinate1016

Recommended

Transcendent. Sublime. Ethereal. I’ve run out of words to describe Vinland Saga season 2. This series has gone far past the normal bounds of anime and has become cinema in the purest sense of the word. When Vinland saga s2 was announced I was initially skeptical about how it’d be received in the west given its slower paced nature as well as how I personally would like it. Keep in mind everything we saw in 24 episodes this season took place over the course of years in the manga. So it was a much slower process and at times I felt it dragged on. My worriescouldn’t have been further misplaced. MAPPA stepped in for WIT and gave an absolute masterclass in direction, tension, adding anime original content which enhanced and perfected many scenes and storylines from the manga, etc. There were several episodes during this season which were literally just characters talking, yet I was so absorbed in them that the 25 minute runtime felt like 5. There may not be as much of the transitional action scenes from season 1, but there’s no shortage of engaging content in this season. At its core, this season is philosophical struggle. A juxtaposition of two characters. Thorfinn and Canute. While Thorfinn has gone from a violent and angry young man to a peaceful and kind one who wants a world without war, Canute has had the opposite journey. He believes war is the only way to bring peace. As the neutral outside observer, we of course know that neither side is 100 percent correct and that real life is more grey than black and white. But seeing their character arcs develop independently and then ultimately come to a head in that penultimate episode.. just no words for the job MAPPA did bringing the character drama and emotion to life in this season. The buildup and foundational groundwork that went into everything just to have a perfect sendoff in the final two episodes is something we do not get much in this medium and it needs to be appreciated. Speaking of the penultimate episode, it’s been years since a TV anime has made me cry. Even longer since a work of fiction has made me cry not out of sadness, but out of appreciation for its sheer beauty. Episode 23 of this season was exactly that and is, as of right now, the best episode of an anime I have ever seen in my 20+ years of watching this medium. So the story’s great, what about the animation and art? Well, as we’ve come to expect from MAPPA as of late, it’s amazing. So many episodes of this season are full of screenshottable moments and art that makes you want to pause the episode just to appreciate it. During the few key fights we have this season, the animation and choreography are stellar. I could really go on and on for pages about how great this season is, but I’ll sum it up this way. This is the anime of the year, and I don’t see anything surpassing it. What it lacks in physical action, this season makes up for in character drama and emotional moments. A must watch for any historical drama fan or fan of the medium in general. This is the best this medium has to offer. Vinland Saga S2 gets the easiest 10 of the year.

520 found helpfulJun 19, 2023

tragedyhero

Not RecommendedFunny

The audience’s reception of Vinland Saga S2 has been pretty bipolar. On one hand, we have the fans saying Thorfinn has had fantastic character development and is now a very wise and mature figure, while on the other hand, critics say this season was slow and boring like a farming simulator. However, very few people seem to share my main issue with the show. Thorfinn is a hardcore pacifist, which is alright, but the show tries to present him and his philosophy as *THE* right way to live your life, and that anyone who uses violence has yet to come to the “enlightenment” that Thorfinn hasarrived at. I think a great example to illustrate this would be Thorfinn’s iconic “I’ll run away” line, which is basically his response to Canute’s violent expansionism. I’ll reiterate that there is nothing wrong with Thorfinn’s ideology, but at the same time, there’s also nothing wrong with standing your ground and fighting back. Vinland Saga fails to realize this. Ketil is portrayed as this insane, bloodthirsty man who beats up pregnant women simply because he chose to fight for what is rightfully his. Yes, Ketil’s paltry farm guards had no chance against Canute’s Vikings, but what matters here is the intention, and Ketil has every right in the world to try to defend his homeland, even in a losing cause. Meanwhile, Thorfinn pulls up at Canute’s camp to show off his masochism in the most obnoxious way imaginable. The 100 punches deal was dumb for a variety of reasons. First, there is no way an ordinary person can bear a 100 punches. Thorfinn was only able to do it because he used to be a Viking, aka the antithesis of his present ideology. Second, 100 punches was just an arbitrary deal made without the knowledge of Thorfinn’s past. What if the deal was a 100 punches by a 100 different people? Even Thorfinn wouldn’t be able to bear that. The point I’m trying to make is, there’s absolutely no need to subject yourself to such suffering simply because someone tells you to. If you want to do something and someone is trying to stop you, you either defeat the guy by force or give up on your objective. The whole idea that you’ll prove his violence wrong with your silent suffering is so embarrassingly childish. But for whatever reason, Canute, who went from being a devout Christian to an unholy, immoral aggressor in the span of 10 minutes in S1, again did a 180 and decided to shrink his fleet in England after Thorfinn told him to do so. And guess what happened next. The people whom Canute had so brutally oppressed suddenly realized his goodwill and were all too happy to let themselves be ruled over. The amount of plot contrivance Yukimura adds just to justify his puerile pacifism is honestly hilarious, and it’s baffling to me how so few see the show for what it truly is. As for the production, MAPPA did a fairly decent job, but I guess the manga is the superior version. Despite finding his ideology disagreeable, I do think Yukimura is a great mangaka, and his panels, at least from what I’ve seen here and there on the internet, are absolutely gorgeous. Either way, the experience isn’t going to be much different if you agree with the points I’ve made. Thank you for reading.

204 found helpfulNov 24, 2023

potato_critic

Not RecommendedFunny

The concept of a Mangaka, encompassing both exceptional artistic talent and exceptional writing, has always been a challenging feat to achieve. To possess one can already be considered lucky, but to excel at both is truly rare. While there have been exceptional Mangakas, Makoto Yukimura's Vinland Saga Season 2 unfortunately falls short of this mark. Part 1: A Mockery of the Norse Culture Vinland Saga Season 2 can only be described as a direct mockery of the source material that served as its inspiration. In contemporary Manga adaptations, one would expect a deeper exploration of the chosen setting. However, Vinland Saga neglects to incorporate any elements ofNorse mythology and culture. The omission of such crucial aspects is a glaring flaw, especially considering the story's focus on pacifism. This deliberate exclusion undermines the depth of the narrative and showcases the shortcomings of Yukimura, who can merely copy the aesthetics at a superfiscial level but not the substance. In contrast, even mainstream series like Vikings (2013) contrasted the Old Norse religion with Christianity, sparking engaging debates on life, death, and the Viking way of life. Part 2: Pretentious Defenses and One-Dimensional Redemption The zealous defenders of Vinland Saga dismiss any criticism, hailing the show as "profound and insightful," while labeling dissenters as individuals who merely revel in mindless violence, incapable of grasping the show's depth. Such claims come across as pretentious and fail to acknowledge the audience's own preferences. Let's not forget that Season 1 primarily focused on action and violence. Moreover, the redemption aspect of the show proves disappointingly one-dimensional. The main character, Thorfinn, undergoes an abrupt transformation from an Uchiha Sasuke archetype to a Jesus Christ-like figure, leaving no room for nuanced character development. While it is common for shounen anime to embody a specific idea through the protagonist, Yukimura positions himself on the moral high ground by advocating 21st-century pacifism in the Viking era, all the while eliminating any other ideologies that could challenge his narrative. Conclusion: In my preliminary review, I maintained a rather comedic tone, but the praise bestowed upon Vinland Saga Season 2 seems excessive considering its actual merits. The talented artists who brought the animation to life deserve better material to showcase their skills. Ultimately, Vinland Saga Season 2 fails to meet expectations, leaving viewers longing for either a more thought-provoking plot or more action. Peace.

130 found helpfulJun 20, 2023