‘Vinland Saga’ Season 2 Anime Review- "Slavery Arc"
This show aired in 2023.
Vinland Saga season 2 adapts the “Slave Arc” of the historical fiction manga by Makoto Yukimura. Produced by MAPPA, Shūhei Yabuta returns as the director.
The English peasant Einar (Ian Sinclair) witnesses his entire family get murdered at the hands of the Vikings. After being captured, he is sold into slavery to the Nordic farmer Ketil (Doug Jackson), who promises to free him if he builds up a portion of his land with the help of the mysterious slave known as Thorfinn (Mike Haimoto). As they work the farm, Thorfinn struggles with nightmares of Askeladd (David Wald) haunting him with the guilt of the lives he took. Einar finds himself falling for Ketil’s mistress Arnheid (Natalie Van Sistine), knowing this is forbidden. Meanwhile, Prince Canute (Josh Grelle) finds himself lacking funds to continue his conquest of England and hatches a plan to steal the wealth of powerful families, including Ketil’s farm.
As stated above, the Japanese animation studio took over the production of Vinland Saga after Wit Studios completed season one, but decided not to do the second season. While most characters maintained their unique character styles, they still put their unique look on it. It is slightly different, and they do that sequence where, when a character is angry, black lines appear over their face. It is not enough to derail anything, but I noticed they did that with Attack On Titan when they took that anime over as well. Odd. Either way, they did a decent job with it. I do think Wit Studios did better, but MAPPA’s team did a good job of picking it up.
With the story, I do feel that it dragged a bit at times, thanks to the interpersonal drama subplots, particularly with Ketil’s younger son. I could not have cared less about this character.
Outside of that, I enjoyed it. Watching how Thorfinn has evolved from a child to a vengeful teen to a shattered adult has been harrowing. These sorts of stories are why I watch anime, as it is dynamic both in the quality of plot and animation. You will not be sorry that you added this to your playlist.
Thorfinn and Prince Canute are mirror images of one another, but the former lost his father by betrayal, and the young royal by conspiracy. Thorfinn is consumed by guilt over the countless lives he took in his quest for revenge, while struggling with his revenge being stolen from him. Canute wants to create a paradise by force and will destroy anyone who gets in his way. Both are haunted by the past, but while one is a slave, the other is a king.
Those themes made for a great telling set within the era of the Vikings. It is an animated series based on a Japanese comic book, so do not look for historical perfection, but as historical fiction, it is a cut above. I applaud the attention to detail and hope that we get a third season.
Check out the trailer below:
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Strong foul language, Bloody violence, Some sexual content
This review is based on the dub from Crunchyroll.
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