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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:4597#1552] |
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The second series of Vinland Saga follows a farmer named Einar whose rural village is attacked by Vikings and he is forced into slavery at a large Danish farm. At the farm, he encounters an older Thorfinn also forced into slavery as punishment for his attempted murder of Canute following Askeladd’s murder in the prior season. A shell of his former self, Thorfinn finds himself struggling to find purpose as he has settled into his life as a slave. Vinland Saga continues its focus on showing the less glorious side of Viking conquests showing how the vanquished and war-weary are affected by it. This is experienced first hand by Einar whose peaceful farming life is ruined from a Viking takeover of his town and being forced into slavery. He shows understandable anger with his situation before gradually settling into his life being a slave to the Danish farmer, Ketil. While Ketil is seemingly an exception to slave owners of the period in being friendly toward his slaves, more of the man’s true nature and the reality of the times is gradually revealed as the series progresses. The series also continues exploring the developments of Thorfinn and Canute’s characters following the events of the first series. As covered in the plot summary, Thorfinn is mentally broken in his new life as a slave, seemingly having suicidal thoughts, and unsure of what he wants for his life. His interactions with Einar and others around Ketil’s farm help gradually restore Thorfinn’s character to give him renewed purpose and bring forth a significant change in the young man’s personality compared to his angry, vengeful persona from the first series. Canute’s character undergoes significant changes in this season from his meek personality of the first series to a more clever and manipulative character. As the new ruler of the Danes, he is aggressive in expanding his territory and forcing enemy lords under his control. This is problematic in that this risks him becoming corrupted by the power of being a ruler in the same vain as his father, Sweyn, whom actively encourages and mocks Canute’s actions in hallucinations that the young man experiences at points throughout the series. Other characters introduced on Ketil’s farm also get explored with how they are affected by the wars and slavery of their era. Some characters introduced are slaves whose personal circumstances leading to their predicament are explored. Others enjoy or feel pressured to conform to the warrior training and lifestyle of the era to seek glory, self-preservation, or to protect the farm from potential threats. This shows Vinland Saga’s continued commitment to being the antithesis of traditional Viking lore with showing how the lifestyle negatively affects both those among the group and the conquered. In short, the second season of Vinland Saga retains the strong exploration it offers up on the problems with the Viking lifestyle and offering a different direction for its story with Thorfinn’s character developments throughout the anime’s 24-episode run. It’s easily a contender for top anime of the year with the strong focus it provides on its characters and showing how the Viking lifestyle was not as glorious as how the traditional stories play them out. Last updated Tuesday, June 20 2023. Created Tuesday, June 20 2023. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Japanese Series Web Site | https://vinlandsaga.jp/ |
