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Vinland Saga Season 1 Review

Vinland Saga is an epic historical anime series based on the manga of the same name. The first season of 24 episodes was released on Netflix in 2019. It’s a terrific anime season.

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“A true leader does not need a crown to be recognized“

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The series follow the life of a child named Thorfinn who becomes involved with Vikings following his father’s death. The first season follows his exploits as a Viking who would stop at nothing to avenge the death of his father. This is a a very epic series that is perfect for history buffs. Although I personally do not gravitate toward Medieval stories myself, this is such a quality show that is objectively incredibly well made, so I ended up admiring it even if I did not adore it per say.

This is an immensely historically accurate show that certainly has a pedigree in the regard of authenticity and realism. Yes, we do get to see the typically Japanese themes of honor and fair play interspersed with the Viking culture, but for the most part the series does a great job at literally transporting you to 11^th century Europe. The attention to detail in terms of clothing, landscapes and weaponry was evident.

I did not quite care for the opening themes as they had too much of a hard rock sound for me personally, but the overall score on the show is phenomenal and aptly epic in tone. The animation is even stronger as it’s polished, visually arresting in vistas and downright fantastic in action sequences that were so well executed. Every single fight looked and sounded phenomenal. There is also the voice acting, which is among the best in the medium in recent memory as every actor did an incredible job voicing their respective characters, bringing so much nuance and versatility into their roles.

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The show benefits from a plethora of well developed, complex characters that are highly memorable. Thorfinn is the protagonist, though admittedly the first season goes back and forth between three of four different characters, not really putting a firm focus on any single one of them. Thorfinn has a tragic history that shapes him into becoming an animal of sorts as he would stop at nothing to avenge his father, even going so far as to kill hundreds of people in the process. My main issue with this series is that I couldn’t relate to any character, but that is always the flaw in this Viking stories understandably so.

One of the biggest sources of humor was his ongoing duels with Askeladd, his nemesis. This conflict was tragicomic in the best way possible while also being so inherently anime. Speaking of Askeladd, he’s obviously the best-developed and most interesting character of the season. His dual heritage was a fascinating twist in his story while his wisdom and sporadic kindness intriguingly counteracted his ruthlessness and cunning ambition.

Thorkell is too over-the-top, but still a lot of fun. Bjorn is also very well developed and his relationship with Askeladd is quite tragic. Prince Canute is among the best and most interesting characters as his personality due to heavy circumstances changed from timid to firm. He has a great arc and I rooted for him to become a king, which is why the finale was very satisfying for me personally.

The bulk of the first season is devoted to these Vikings killing people ruthlessly and plundering their villages, which was historically accurate to a fault as the violence was nauseating and obnoxious at times. The political intrigue in the second half was to me the weakest part of the show as I personally favor less characters and a more centralized narrative in favor of an overly complicated plot with numerous players in it. This is why the episodes that were concerned with who the next ruler of Denmark will be were the weakest parts of the season for me. Too many characters changed sides or did unreasonable actions in those couple of episodes.

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What I preferred was the more adventurous first half of the season and the later philosophical sections where the prince and the monk talked about the purpose of life, death and humanity or lack thereof. This was the main narrative strength of this season as the show grappled with religion and existentialism so potently. The action was superbly executed, but whenever the show focused more on dialogue, it was more effective.