Konnichiwa mina-san, this is my first post on the anime community and I hope I am welcome to do so. I will be participating in this month's question and this is the first entry for item 1. Stumbling on an anime that tends to mix realism along with truly philosophical themes feels like searching for a needle in a hay sack but Vinland saga does it soo well it becomes almost impossible to tell if it is not actually a historical event . Having just 2 seasons and 48 episodes, Vinland saga is based on the manga of Makoto Yukimura. It is a historical seinen anime set in the viking age that revolves around the themes of revenge, pacifism and the true definition of strength.
Vinland saga follows the story of a young boy named Thorfinn, the son of Thors- who is a jom warrior but a abandons that life to live a peaceful one with his family. The first two episodes of the first season start off slowly revolving around the life of people living in Iceland.
After Thorfinn stole away on the ship his father was on without permission, the ship is ambushed by a man named Askeladd and his gang of mercenaries as they were paid by a former ally of Thors named Floki( who is a commander of the jomvikings) to kill him. Thors demanded a 1v1 between him and Askeladd which he eventually won but was told that he would still be killed regardless. Thors demanded that his son and the rest of the crew be spared which Askeladd agreed to before he was shot to death with several arrows thus begins the journey of Thorfinn
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The 4th episode of the first season happens to be my favorite episode because of the last scene where Thorfinn promises to kill Askeladd . The tension, the scream, the rage everything about that scene is the had me glued to my seat, I could feel the pain, loss and every emotions oozing from Thorfinn and till this day I haven't been able to feel that way ever since.
For the rest of the season Thorfinn refuses to go back home. He follows Askeladd and his mercenaries around challenging him to a duel which he always loses. Askeladd does not hesitate to manipulate Thorfinn into doing his dirty work instilling the idea that Thorfinn has to earn the duel by proving himself to be a true warrior on the battlefield and thus Thorfinn's life becomes one of consistent pursuit for revenge.
However this drive for revenge only lasts till the end of the first season. As time passes the complexity of Askeladd character was put on display. Askeladd who was previously introduced as a villain earlier on becomes the heart of the show.
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It is revealed that Askeladd was the son of a Welsh slave and a Danish noble adding more depth to the character with dreams becoming the king. However this dream did not last long as Askeladd was eventually killed by Prince Canute ( the prince he was protecting) after he murdered the King, a ruse to get prince Canute on the Throne.
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With Askeladd killed, Thorfinn loses his purpose and eventually ended up a slave.
The second season is extremely slow paced, focusing on an empty Thorfinn who is now a slave on Ketil's farm (his owner). The second season took a drastic shift from that of bloodshed, rage and violence to that of working on the farm. On this farm Thorfinn befriends Einar, a young man who lost everything to war. Thorfinn searches for forgiveness, redemption and life outside of violence which was the only life he knew prior to slavery. After many introspection Thorfinn accepts his father ideals which evolves around a true warrior being one who protects and creates life and not one who takes it tying it all with the sentence :" I have no enemies".
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Vinland saga transcends the generic seinin anime style. It is a masterpiece that deserves to be among the top 20 anime list around the globe. Everything about it speaks perfection, the voice acting, character development, storytelling , historical accuracy, beautiful visuals, intense battle scenes and emotional depths makes it stand out as one of the best historical anime ever made and I hope the rest of the community enjoyed it as much as I did.
