You know some shows are immediate classics and immediate favourites. Season one was one such show for me. I loved everything about it, the asinine action, brutal violence, conflict in Thorfinn, one of the absolute GOATs of anime villains in Askeladd, my favourite VA Ōtsuka Akio delivering an incredible performance and so on and so forth.

And...Vinland Season 2 wasn't one of those immediate favourites. It took me three attempts to get past episode 4. I'm not against slow starts at all, but I need to be a certain... State of mind. I've been quite pensive recently, and I thought to myself, "let's give it another shot", what with the slower pacing and increased focus on character drama.

Well, in my last attempt, I binged 20 episodes in two days.
It just... Clicked this time. I restarted from Ep. four where I left off a year ago yesterday and finished it today, on my 32nd birthday. And boy OH BOY what a present this show turned out to be. It soared past my expectations, shattered them and firmly cemented itself as one of the easiest 10/10 I've given since I've started watching anime.

But why?

Careful - this contains spoilers!

Never have I experienced a show or narrative before that dared to flip itself on the head as much as Vinland Saga does. Going from a brutal, war-driven epic to a solemn (still brutal and war-driven) story of redemption, atonement, hatred, forgiveness, and drama takes guts, and it's been carried out perfectly. While Season 1 was engrossing because of the violemnce and Askeladd's sheer sigma energy, Season 2 is captivating because of its wide scope, writing and interweaving of two completely different stories - Canute's rise to power and Thorfinn's live as a slave - that collide a few times and come together in an oh so satisfying conclusion. Yes, the story does have some predictable bits - especially around Arnheid's role -, but even with them it's a stellar story with so many nuances, bits and pieces and just the perfect amount of characters and events to keep its slow pace from being boring. Season two starting with Einar who just had a shit sandwich dealt to him and arriving at Ketil's farm to meeting a broken Thorfinn and them getting used to their new relatively quiet lives as slaves was a bold move coming from the high octane action of S1 and it turned a lot of people off, but honestly, the way the story went was the only way it COULD have gone. For crying out loud, Thorfinn attacked King Canute at the end of S1, of course, he was gonna get punished for it. And the next worst thing to death was slavery. Similarly predictable was that Thorfinn's wanton violence would have had a severe impact on his mentality and break him. It all makes sense. So even though it's a hard cut between narrative styles, it was a masterful switch in genres, and I applaud Yukimura-sensei for it.

We don't have a lot of Askeladd. We don't have a lot of Thorkell. We do have a lot of characters, though, chief among whom are Einar, Arnheid, Ketil, Canute the Great and of course Thorfinn.

Starting with Arnheid, I felt that she was a very well-realised example of the "beautiful slave with a tragic backstory" concept. The thing that sets her apart from her fellow sufferers of this character archetype is that she's a realised character instead of a trope. She's a strong, diligent woman who wants nothing more than to live her days out in peace, if need be, as the side chick of her master. She's had everything taken from her and is just fed up with the violence, war and general shit around her, but when her husband, whom she presumed dead, shows up and wants to run away with her, shit hits the fan and things spiral out of control for her. We learn about her traumatic backstory and that she loves her husband, but is also afraid of what he's become. She's torn between her wish for safety and to be with the one she loves, and had a son before. Her death as a result of Ketil's abuse was, while sad, done well, and it kind of reminded me of the end to one of my favourite movies of all time, Gladiator.

Continuing with Ketil himself, the man poses an interesting dilemma and deconstruction of the "sympathetic slave owner" - at first he comes across as a decent, noble and fair man (for his time) with great ambitions and truth to his words. And he is all that for most of the show. But his facade cracks when he and his boys visit Canute, and they become the victims of a plot to take away their lands. By the time he gets home, all he can do is pitifully beg and look for Arnheid and a quick relief to the shitty situation he's in. When he learns of her circumstances, he flips and we see him as what he can be - an abusive, callous bastard only interested in keeping his property and remaining honour as a Horseman intact. He throws his slaves and retainers away as cannon fodder while he tries to play the big badass boss they can rally behind. It's honestly kinda sad to see how such an initially likeable guy gets reduced to a base caricature of his former self. Ketil's character can also be boiled down to the core question, "Can you ever be a good person and still own other humans?"

Now, Canute. How this king went from shy, demure and passive to an eloquent, brutal and ruthless warmonger was as fascinating to see as it was scary. The way he beat down the Eadric of Mercia by flexing what it'd be like to go to war against him was a sight to behold. And yet he sold it and convinced the Earl to give up and betray his liege in a very "oooh you smooth bastard" manner, you know? That he then turned around and had the guy killed after becoming the king of England is another matter entirely. Not to mention that he had his brother poisoned with the aim of inheriting the Kingdom of Denmark from him. Or how he played Olmar and Ketil like a fiddle to have a reason to take away their lands.
How the might and influence of the crown corrupts him and drives him down a dark path was beautifully illustrated by his (hopefully only imaginary) conversations with the severed head of his father, Sweyn Forkbeard. But at the same time, we also see that, similar to his pops, he might be, he still has his wits and idealism around him. His utopian concept of uniting the Vikings of the world and establishing a realm where they wouldn't need to go to war and pillage by conquering the different Viking nations of the northern sea was so impressive that it made the actual pacifist Thorfinn go "alright, let him cook". And he still seems to have some humanity left in him, as merely talking to Thorfinn made him abandon his plans of requisitioning the various big farms around his kingdoms, thereby sparing thousands of people their death and loss of their livelihood. Canute is a very well-rounded character, in my opinion.

Onwards to Einar, one of the pillars of season 2's amazing characters. Here's a man who's had everything taken from him twice, and yet he didn't break or give up, yet he came close to it a couple of times. A man who always had some sort of "I want to live" idealism around him, yet wasn't afraid to get dangerous and put things in jeopardy cause of his at times nasty temper. He never gets angry unjustifiably but when he does it's HARD to stop this hulking beast of a man (goddamn he's shredded). But he's also a knowledgeable guy on things such as farming and how to work the land. A strong and kind soul with a strong sense of duty and desire for family and overarchingly dominant want for some godsdamn fucking peace and quiet. His love for Arnheid was, predictably, doomed, but it still ached, especially as he wanted his beloved to be happy and put his own neck out for her in an attempt to enable her and Gardr to vanish. It's also been very interesting to watch him slowly adopt Thorfinn's growing... I don't wanna say optimistic, but a "life can be good if we work for it" mindset. How he went from a guy ready to choke Thorfinn to death in his sleep to calling him brother and deciding to sail west for Vinland was a sight to behold. He's set up as a foil to Thorfinn, but eventually they become a very symbiotic pair with a bond that goes far beyond friendship and sworn brotherhood. They are, in a sense, platonic soulmates, and it was beautiful to watch.

Well, now for the big one. Thorfinn Karlsefni. What's there to say... Thorfinn may or may not have been the best case of character development I've hitherto seen. From a constantly angry, ill-guided, abused, abusing and murderous kid in S1 to a broken, empty shell of a man in the first half to an actually insanely good character, Thorfinn's become a masterclass of character writing. As this is a review for S2, I won't say much about S1, but even "only" S2 does offer so much in terms of what makes him so compelling. When we start the show, he's, like I said, an empty shell void of perspective, hope, wants, and desires or a will to even live if the beatdown he receives by Fox without any backfighting is any indication - bro got his ear mutilated and didn't even flinch. He takes punishment without fighting back, not because he doesn't know how to, but because he sees no point in it. He doesn't actively seek death, he just doesn't care if he DOES die, as all he knew and wanted to do - take revenge for Thors' murder - has been taken from him. That changes when he gets to know and work with Einar, who shows him that, yes, there are things worth living for, and be it just growing crops. Not to mention, Snake almost murking him makes him realise that, hm, maybe living isn't that bad after all. This gives him a spark of purpose and the capacity to finally start battling his demons, his regret and his self-loathing, which are beautifully and terrifyingly visualised in undead bodies clinging to him and dragging him down into an abyss. Not to mention his imaginary conversations with Thors and Askeladd, who try to direct him back on the path of what it means to be a true warrior. The culmination of this is, to my understanding, the now iconic "I have no enemies" quote that perfectly encapsulates his newly adopted pacifistic mindset. I understand the quote as "though I may need to fight, I consider no one an enemy - if someone fights me, I fight back, not out of hatred but a drive to live and spread my message of peace". Thorfinn still has the same capabilities to harm, but he refuses to do so unless it's for his ideals, and he would rather break opponents with his sheer resolve and determination. He fights when he must, but not as the aggressor, and it was absolutely beautiful to see him do a 180 and swear off violence. God, what a fantastic character.

And that's only the standout characters to me. Every character in this show had a role that served a specific purpose and was executed really well, but never overstayed their welcome. Even Olmar, a character initially introduced as an archetype I usually despise - loud, obnoxious, full of himself - was shown to be layered and useful to the story. I could write long about most characters that have been in the show, but I'm pretty sure no one would want to read that.

It's Mappa, and Vinland Saga is one of their best-received shows ever. Yes the CGI in the Backgrounds is still kinda shit and sometimes the CGI elements - say boats or carts - are obviously CGI, so I dock a point off here, but the overall aesthetic and fluidity of the animation is amazing. The fight scenes that are there are fantastically done, as are the micro expressions of the characters, and the overall attention to detail and intensity are, as usual, very good. But what really impressed me was the usage of light and shadow, and the way they played with colours just made the whole look of the show very holistic. And don't get me started on how good the weapons, armour, clothing, houses, fields, just everyday objects, look. You see a helmet with dents in it and you know the wearer's seen some shit. You see onions hanging in the Old Master's house and have that smell of overripe, sprouting onions in your nose. The peaceful farm scenes are well, vibes. On the other hand, you can smell the fear and dread and the metallic stench of blood lingering on the battlefield scenes just as well. The whole show just looks... right. I studied history at Uni and saw a lot of old farmers' houses in a nearby local open-air museum, and immediately saw the effort Mappa and Yukimura-sensei put into getting the aesthetics and vibes just right.

This show has Incredible voice actors and sound design, both in the original audio as well as in the English dub. Hell, I even managed an entire episode in the German dub without throwing up. Same with the visuals, the audio design is just very well executed. Swords clashing sound like you expect them as does the scratching of a wooden spoon on the bottom of a kettle. Nothing stands out negatively, and that's honestly all I can say about that. HOWEVER, it's not full scores cause I didn't jive with either opening or ending, but that's just my taste in music (or lack thereof) talking.

It was amazing. I hardly ever felt such raw emotions from both the show and myself as I did over these ten and a bit hours. I chuckled a few times, got majorly pissed with and for the characters, went "ooooh you sly son of a gun", and most often was just hit like a freight truck at the sheer power and strength of the narration and especially Thorfinn. He was a good character in S1, but here he's just phenomenal.

So yeah. I'm glad to have picked it up again and will finally start catching up to the manga as well, so that I'll be ready when Yukimura-Sensei drops the last ever chapter of this iconic series on July 25th.