Vinland Saga (TV series)
is a Japanese anime television series based on Makoto Yukimura's manga of the same name. The first season was produced by Wit Studio in 2019 and the second one by MAPPA in 2023. They 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 revenge-driven Viking, while in the second season, the story shifts to his life as a stoic slave who finds no reason to live.

Despite the two seasons being developed by two different studios, director Shūhei Yabuta and writer Hiroshi Seko worked together in both parts. They aimed to bring the adaptation more original content in order to further develop the characters like Thorfinn's transformation into a Viking, his nightmares that haunt him, and Einar's life before turning into a slave. The series were streamed by Amazon Prime and Netflix for a worldwide release.

Critical response to the series was positive for the handling of the Vikings' violence and fight sequences. The second season earned similar responses but for focusing on slavery and Thorfinn's mental state as he instead does mundane works rather than fights.

Series overview

Season 1 (2019) 
Thorfinn is a young Iceland villager who aims to participate in wars like his retired father, Thors. One day, mercenaries are hired to kill Thors for abandoning the forces and Thorfinn sneaks in his ship to accompany him. During the journey, the group is attacked by Askeladd's forces. Fearing his men and son's deaths, Thors offers his life for them and is killed. Enraged, Thorfinn starts training and working as a mercenary for the Vikings for several jobs during his growth as a teenager in order to get his proper revenge over Askeladd for killing his father.

Season 2 (2023) 
Einar is a farmer whose family is killed by Vikings. Despite surviving, he is taken and bought as a slave in southern Denmark by a man named Ketil. Upon his arrival, Einar meets another slave, Thorfinn, who was exiled after the events of the first season. As time passes, Einar learns of Thorfinn's crimes but ends up befriending him as they work together to earn their freedom.

Production and release

Season 1 
Yabuta had been working as 3D CGI animator with Wit Studio CEO Tetsuya Nakatake several times including in the anime series Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. These works granted him more responsibilities with later works involving directing and scriptwriting. Upon being offered the charge of directing Vinland Saga by a producer, Yabuta started working on the series because the proudcer's ideas resonated with him. Yabuta was a fan of the manga and was honored with this work. He believed that while the first episode primarily focus on Vikings to the point of researching them, the biggest appeal the series has is the handling of characters. Since he found the artwork of the anime too detailed, he noted designer Takahiko Abiru was put through some challenges to replicate. Art director Yūsuke Takeda was requested by Yabuta was giving both backgrounds and designs strong presences. The Viking ships were also found challenging as the team had to 3D CGI animation.

Ever since reading the manga's first chapter, Seko was impressed by Yukimura's storytelling to the point of considering one of his three favorites. Nevertheless, Seko mentioned the anime would make its own take when premiering; Yukimura's take on Thorfinn's growth is different from the one of the anime version as the manga stars as a flashback while the anime's take is direct. Yabuta wanted to focus more on Thorfinn's upbringing in Iceland rather than the Vikings to show more his origins. With the need of animating several fight scenes, the team used 3D CG with the action and camerawork as a set, leaving to the rest animators animate it. Yabuta put a "slight spin" on the methods he had used previously as a 3D director and tried applying them to the action scene. In retrospect, the fight scenes were difficult to animate as Yabuta got tired of making several storyboards. In episode six, the staff revealed the process of how Thorfinn gained the ability to fight as well as his internal feelings in East Anglia. The staff thought the scene showed him truly stepping into the world of battle as part of Askeladd's band, showing his transformation into a warrior. Writer Hiroshi Seko enjoyed the first fight between Thorfinn and Thorkell as a result due to how action packed it was. When the anime finale aired in Japan, director Shuhei Yabuta wrote, "This big incident changed everything for Thorfinn, but his story will continue!".

Season 2 
Director Shūhei Yabuta and writer Hiroshi Seko had a strong impression of Einar when first reading the manga and had no idea where did his strength come from. Upon discussing, they decided to change the way in which Einar becomes Thorfinn's friend. They found it the key factor for the appeal of the anime's second season which led to several hours of planning. Yukimura kept reading the script as a result of their pressure from their work and looked forward to their portrayal. Despite several changes, Yabuta insisted that Einar was the same character featured in the manga. New scenes were added to explore more their friendship. Yabuta described Einar as softspoken, kind and strong but even in the cruel setting of the series, he retains his kindness. Yabuta kept talking with Yukimura about how they should write Einar which led him to find the character realistic. Yukimura was surprised when talking with Yabuta about Einar's character to the point he realized that he might be superhuman-like. Yabuta found this level of strength in Einar upon seeing how he is able to live as a slave and befriend Thorfinn without problems. The anime's second season added more content about Thorfinn's sins in the form of nightmares where his past persona committes murders and as soon as he enters into a house of his victims; He is replaced by his slave persona who is in shock upon seeing it due to the realization of his sins which was praised by Yukimura for how well did Mappa understand Thorfinn's mind.

There was a need to properly animate Thorfinn's facial expressions in his life as a slave. The setting was animated based on Yabuta imput who had become more experienced ever since animating the first season and improve the animation. Producer Naokado Fujiyama said the main theme involves the handling of psychology most notably in Thorfinn's, Einar's and Ketil. In contrast to Thorfinn and Einar who become friendlier and active across the story, Ketil displays instead a darker tone in the last episodes of the season due to the themes of violence. Thorfinn's growth when becoming wiser was one of the season's highlights when animating it.

Release 
The anime television series adaptation of Vinland Saga was announced in March 2018. Produced by Twin Engine, Production I.G, Wit Studio and Kodansha, the series is animated by Wit Studio and directed by Shūhei Yabuta, with Hiroshi Seko handling series composition, Takahiko Abiru designing the characters, and Yutaka Yamada composing the music. The series ran for 24 episodes on NHK General TV. The series premiered on July 7, 2019 with the first three episodes. Due to the pending arrival of Typhoon Faxai on September 8, 2019, episode 10 was delayed due to broadcasting news, and instead premiered the following week. Due to the airing of the World Para Athletics Championships sports tournament on NHK, episode 18 was delayed and resumed on November 17 of the same year. The series finished on December 29, 2019. 

Amazon streams the series worldwide on their Prime Video service. Sentai Filmworks released the series on home video on August 31, 2021, with both a new translation and English dub. A different English dub, produced by VSI Los Angeles, previously launched on Netflix in Japan. MVM Entertainment licensed the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It began streaming on Netflix globally on July 7, 2022, as well as Crunchyroll and HiDive on select territories on the same day.

On July 7, 2021, Twin Engine announced that a second season was in production. Shūhei Yabuta returned as director, and Takahiko Abiru returned as character designer. The second season is animated by MAPPA, and premiered on Tokyo MX, BS11, and GBS on January 10, 2023, running for 24 episodes. The second season was simulcast globally on both Netflix, and Crunchyroll, excluding China, South Korea and Japan.

Music 

The soundtrack of the series was composed by Yutaka Yamada while Sound Effect Director was Shoji Hata. Inspired after reading the manga, Yamada wanted the music to represent the psychological states of Thorfinn and other characters. Yabuta and Hata often had discussion in regards to what kind of music should they use. In testing, Yamada got back to Yabuta with a demo of 26 songs. Each of these themes were made in order to represent what type of emotion a character was displaying and amplify the emotional weight. Yabuta was impressed with Yamada's works, giving for example the first season finale where the audio demostrates the mental breakdown Thorfinn suffers after Askeladd dies. While Hata helped Yamada in the first season, for the second season he worked all alone. Yamada's favorite theme was the piano theme he put in the first episode due to how it fit with the story and visuals. This led to the next season having more piano tracks with this time the aim being to fit dialogues. The original soundtrack album contains 43 tracks and was released on February 19, 2020. The second original soundtrack album contains 20 tracks and was released on July 14, 2023.

The first opening theme is "Mukanjyo" by Survive Said the Prophet, while the first ending theme is "Torches" by Aimer. Yosh from Survive Said the Prophet said he the band found the theme comfortable to play thanks to their relationship with Yabuta while Aimer instead wanted to portray the emotions Thorfinn and Thors share in the early episodes in a attempt to "pass the torch". The second opening theme is "Dark Crow" by Man with a Mission, and the second ending theme is "Drown" by Milet. "Dark Crow" is meant to fit into the theme of the Viking themes while Milet said that "Torch" is meant to immerse into Thorfinn's new world as a Viking with the music overlapping with the traits within herself and throw several emotions.

For the second season, the first opening theme is "River" by Anonymouz, while the first ending theme is "Without Love" by LMYK. Anonymouz wanted to portray through her songs the weakened Thorfinn and what new emotions the protagonist could obtain as a slave. LYMK expressed similar desires but in a more tragic nature as the song is meant to show the hopelesness and regrets the character suffered. The second opening theme is ""Paradox." by Survive Said the Prophet, and the second ending theme is "Ember" by haju:harmonics. Yosh was inspired to write more sytlish lyrics with far more hopes. haju:harmonics meanwhile wanted to portray courage and hope with her song.

Reception

Critical response
The anime of Vinland Saga was popular. IGN listed Vinland Saga among the best anime series of the 2010s. In a poll conducted by Kadokawa Game Linkage of the most satisfying series of 2019, Vinland Saga ranked in ninth place. Several writers from Anime News Network also listed the series as one of the best ones from 2019; with James Beckett listing Askeladd as best character. "MUKANJYO" was also listed as one of the best songs of 2019 by Anime News Network not only due to the musics but also with how lyrics focusing on Thorfinn's quest for revenge and its failure. Makoto Yukimura was surprised by the quality of the animation and feared it would be stressful for the staff members.

Rafael Motamayor of Polygon praised the anime series and compared it to Vikings. Motamayor commended the character development shown in its first three episodes and ultimately called it an epic story that shows "the horrors of being a Viking at the turn of the 11th century, while also serving as a coming-of-age tale set against the background of a bloody and thrilling war". Gerald Rathkolb of Otaku USA called Vinland Saga a "story of a long, brilliantly written slow-burn revenge story" and named it one of the best anime series of 2019. Rathkolb wrote: "[It] is one of those rare anime that could have appeal outside of the anime sphere because of its setting and focus on complex characters and the excellent political intrigue ever-present in the show. It comes with my highest recommendation". Nick Creamer from Anime News Network also delivered a positive review, praising the themes, action scenes and characters, stating "No one has any enemies, is one of Vinland Saga'''s principal lessons, a prayer of social goodwill that Thors complements with his dream of a distant, shimmering Vinland, a land free of strife and suffering. But Vinland Saga is not a sentimental work, and its conflicts stay mired in the blood and dirt of a country at war. Thors' idealistic prayer is quickly supplemented by a new moral, courtesy of the raider and mercenary lord Askeladd: "everyone is a slave, even if they can't see the chains." It's a story suffused with a thematic ambition and sharpness of perspective that raises it high above its genre peers. Populated with rich, sympathetic characters and adorned by breathtaking action highlights, it is a rich and rewarding adventure that might just inspire you to challenge the conditions of your own life. Beautiful, brutal, and fiercely intelligent. Succeeds effortlessly as a propulsive action vehicle, while also offering sharp commentary on human nature, remarkably characters, and a harsh yet beautifully realized world. Vinland Saga is one of the best anime of 2019". Yukimura praised the adaptation, believing that it smoothed out pacing issues present in the original manga, and that anime's staff understood the story better than he did. He further recommended that people watch the anime before picking up the manga. Hajime Isayama, the creator of Attack on Titan, was surprised by Askeladd's death, most specifically by how Wit Studio animated it in the season finale. 

The second season's premiere earned praise by several writers from Anime News Network for focusing on the violence in Einar's backstory, fitting in with the elements of violence displayed in the first season. According to Escapist Magazine, Einar is part of the cycle of violence and revenge the series portrays as a theme due to how the anime further shows the downfall of his family at the hands of Vikings and starts hating warriors. While this initially causes his anger towards Thorfinn for being a former warriors, his avoidance from attacking him marks a departure of the theme in the series and, most notably, in Thorfinn. Both Anime News Network and Fandom Post acclaimed the episode where Thorfinn realizes mistakes of his life as a Viking and makes an oath to never use violence again with the former site calling it the "defining episode of the entire series" due to the impact it has on the protagonist. The Daily Star'' agreed and found that Thorfinn's mundane life as a slave brings intriguing stories about "redemption and self-discovery" even if it was imperfect. Anime News Network found the early depiction of Einar as relatable due to his desire to earn freedom which causes him to contrast Thorfinn who barely expresses care about his status as a slave.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links 
  
  
 

Adventure anime and manga
Anime series based on manga
Coming-of-age anime and manga
Crunchyroll Anime Awards winners
Epic anime and manga
Historical anime and manga
MAPPA
NHK original programming
Sentai Filmworks
Television series set in the 11th century
Television series set in the Viking Age
Television shows set in Denmark
Television shows set in England
Television shows set in Norway
Tokyo MX original programming
Vinland
Wit Studio