5 reasons to watch Vinland Saga, the anime now on Netflix

5 reasons to watch Vinland Saga

From January 10, Netflix made a welcome surprise to all those who wanted to watch Vinland Saga, starting to distribute for its subscribers the second season of the anime based on the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Makoto Yukimura and distributed in Italy from Star Comics. His work earned Yukimura the Grand Prize in the manga category at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2009. The first season of the anime was made by Wit Studio , while the second was entrusted to the MAPPA studio , a bit like occurred for Attack on Titan. Initially published on a weekly basis in the Weekly Shōnen Magazine , Vinland Saga was later transferred to the seinen Afternoon magazine , on a monthly basis, as the weekly issue had too tight deadlines for the author, who also created a crossover manga with Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, in which his Thorfinn meets Eivor. The attention to detail, both visual and historiographical, makes this work fascinating and compelling. But why start watching Vinland Saga ? In this article, we will give you 5 good reasons not to miss the mind-blowing Viking epic of Thorfinn.

5 reasons to watch Vinland Saga, the anime now on Netflix

The discovery of America before Christopher Columbus The accurate historiographical research Breathtaking, bloody and ruthless battles A careful analysis psychology of the characters The quality of the animated version

The discovery of America before Christopher Columbus

The title of the work explicitly refers to the ancient name given by the Icelandic Vikings to the Canadian island they landed on, now known like Newfoundland. The name was chosen by the Icelandic explorer Leif Ericson, the first European to touch American soil, and means "Land of Wine" or "Land of Pastures". Due to the temperature, on average about 1 degree higher than the current one, it was in fact possible to cultivate vines even at higher latitudes.



The Vikings arrived there around 1000, almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus . And it is precisely the search for a hospitable land in which to live in peace that drives several Viking warriors from a small village in Iceland, tired of their violent lifestyle, to embark on a long and perilous journey…

Accurate historiographical research

Makoto Yukimura is a mangaka that we could define as "obsessive". His pursuit of perfection is obsessive, which is why he couldn't produce a new chapter of Vinland Saga every week. Every aspect of Yukimura's manga is studied down to the smallest detail, starting from the historiographical research and ending with the incredibly realistic graphic style. To give greater realism to the events told, Yukimura has carried out careful research, and has even undertaken a trip to Europe to be able to do research directly in the field. An immense work, which gives this work a unique and inimitable charm .

The protagonist himself, Thorfinn, is inspired by Thorfinn Karselfni, a real-life Icelandic explorer. As far as the events told may be fictionalized, the basis on which they rest has its roots in history, to the point of transcending its manga nature. Vinland Saga is in fact considered not only a seinen manga, therefore mainly intended for a mature male audience, but also a historical drama and a bildungsroman.



Precisely because of its historical accuracy, watching Vinland Saga means witnessing scenes of daily life and incredibly realistic battles because they are based on real customs and traditions. Even the clothing, weapons, fighting and survival techniques and even the cultivation of the fields perfectly reflect the habits of the different peoples who are protagonists of the story, from the Vikings to the inhabitants of the villages they besieged and plundered. The second season of the anime, then, shows us a realistic cross-section of life in the fields, where both slaves and free men paid by the landowner worked.

Furthermore, many of the protagonists of the events actually existed, such as the aforementioned Throfinn and Canute, based on the historical figure of the Norse king of Denmark, England and Norway who went down in history with the name of Canute the Great.

Breathtaking, bloody and ruthless battles

Makoto Yukimura said he didn't like violence, so he had to shed his beliefs to show realistic battles in his work. There is no room for feelings, as demonstrated by the always cold and lucid Thorfinn, a boy who, after seeing his father Thors die under a shower of arrows, decides to sneak into the ship of the man who killed him, Askeladd, to be able to take revenge one day. Ironically, Thorfinn's terrifying and violent adventure begins with a search for a peaceful life… But a proud Viking warrior like Thors who decides to abandon Viking raids to become a farmer was too great an affront. An affront that he had to pay with his life.



In the first season of Vinland Saga we can see several battlefields that realistically transpose real historical battles, waiting to reach the much coveted Vinlandia. The choreographies of the fights are ultra-dynamic and galvanizing. Seeing Thorfinn fight with that cold, empty look in his eyes is wonderful and disturbing at the same time, if we think that he is just a little boy: when his father is killed, Thorfinn is only six years old. But this trauma immediately made him a ruthless and unstoppable war machine, perfect to send ahead before an attack.

A careful psychological analysis of the characters

Vinland Saga is he dwells in various parts of the narrative on the psychological investigation especially of the protagonist, without however neglecting key characters such as Askeladd. The relationship between the two is at least conflicting: on the one hand, Thorfinn would simply like to kill him, but he is still too young and inexperienced to be able to succeed, as demonstrated by his first clumsy attempts. On the other hand, however, Akeladd is somehow attracted by that child's ardor and thirst for blood, so he decides to welcome him into his ranks.

Naturally, it is not a matter of guilt towards of Thorfinn for killing his father. Akeladd senses that he can use Thorfinn's fury to his advantage on the battlefield. However, he also knows perfectly well that the more battles Thorfinn faces, the better his fighting techniques will become, which is certainly an advantage when it comes to taking down enemies, but, sooner or later, he knows that it will backfire.



For his part, Thorfinn also uses Akeladd : he would never have been able to survive alone, and probably would never really have learned to fight, even more so if he had migrated to mild Vinlandia. For this reason, he decides to use Askeladd to learn fighting techniques which, sooner or later, will allow him to kill him.

The second season of the anime, however, begins as a sort of bucolic interlude: Thorfinn is now a simple farmer who has now resigned himself to a quiet but monotonous life. And in the first fight in which we see him as the protagonist, we also understand why Thorfinn takes blows after blows without batting an eye. Still, cold. The reason is that he doesn't fear death. Here are his words, so incisive as to require no explanation:

Why should I be afraid of dying? Do you live because you don't want to die? Is there anything good about being alive? It doesn't come to my mind. Of all the years I've lived, I've never been happy to be alive.

The quality of the animated version

As already mentioned, the first season of the Vinland Saga animated series was entrusted to Wit Studio, while the second to MAPPA. According to director Shuhei Yabuta's statements, the change of studio took place because Wit had decided to dissolve the team that had worked on the first season of the anime. Also, Yabuta himself had recently started working for MAPPA. Since the director and his staff had already started working on the second season of Vinland Saga, when the project was abandoned by Wit the director looked for a new studio. MAPPA answered the call , not only because the director of the series was already working for them by now, but also because the first season of Vinland Saga has achieved excellent results , receiving praise from both critics and audiences.



So, at least until now, there hasn't been a drastic change, between the first and second season, in the graphic and animation style, comparable to that found in Shingeki no Kyojin, in which there are major differences between the styles of the two studies. This is explained by the fact that a large part of the staff who worked on the first season of Vinland Saga is also working on the second .

You can watch Vinland Saga on Netflix, where you can find both the first and second seasons still in course of this extraordinary animated epic. To watch this and other content, purchase the Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote