Vinland Saga

BTW, should we get an anime-only thread up? Keeping manga-readers and anime-watchers in the same place is a great way to spoiling people, but OTOH Vinland Saga is far from being the most talked about series out there.

I've been keeping manga spoilers spoilered. That's what a lot of the other anime/manga threads have been doing - just being careful.

Plus the manga is so far along the anime that the problems and characters involved are nearly completely different.

Yeah, it's basically a different type of story at current manga, it's so far removed from the opening arc that this season will no doubt cover.

Actually, it's quite interesting to read the ANN account of the first three episodes, from two people who apparently haven't read the manga. The anime's approach of starting directly at Thorfinn's childhood instead of adapting the prologue in his teenage years gives a pretty different perspective, like wondering if Askeladd is gonna stick around and such.

Edited by Lyendith on Jul 18th 2019 at 1:04:55 PM

Episode 4's out (why they released 3 episodes at once only to do a two-week break afterwards is beyond me). A true warrior doesn't need a sword − quite literally.

And Jesus, Thorfinn was terrifying at the end there…

Episode 5 is (I think) entirely anime-original and goes into the details of how Thorfinn was picked up by Askeladd in the first place… and how Thorfinn learned how to kill. That's a useful addition since we were just kinda left to fill in the blanks in the manga.

Thorfinn scenes was anime original, but the Ylva scenes were from a bonus chapter.

I didn't know Episode 5 was anime-original, it was pretty great.

I might be misremembering, but wasn't the scene with Thorfinn deciding not to kill Askeladd in his sleep (but he was actually awake the whole time) also in the manga?

Hmm, I'm not sure how I feel about how they've shuffled around the order of events shown and information exposited. Learning that Thors is the grandson of the Jom chief was kind of a big deal that happened later. That and finding out that Floki hired Askeladd to kill Thors.

The Floki thing was also exposed early on in the manga…

Was it? I haven't reread the first hundred or so chapters recently, so I don't remember that happening. I thought we first found out around the time Thorfinn does.

Yeah, early in volume 2. The scene is the same as the anime, with Björn impaling the hidden guard and all.

Oh, I do remember the talk between them, I guess I just forgot what it was that they discussed.

Aaand now we're back to chapter 1. I must say, starting with the flashbacks made the "scouting" in episode 6 that much more heartbreaking.

On the other hand, I had forgotten just how ridiculous Askeladd's strategies could get.

I think dragging a boat through land was a tactic employed by the real vikings.

Yup, that's how they moved to new river systems. Amongst other things.

Good thing their boats were light enough for that…

They were built to be light enough iirc.

Akio Otsuka as Thorkell, no wonder his voice reminds me of Blackbeard

Heh, the dialogue between Horðaland and Thorfinn sounded like a dialogue between Historia and Eren. A bit surprised that they put the part about Vinland in Thorfinn's mouth in that scene (in the manga it was Horðaland who wondered if such a place existed). It felt almost out of character in his current state.

That last scene though. Thorkell gonna Thorkell. Seriously, imagine a real life army with a soldier like that. He'd basically be a walking nuclear deterrent.

Freakin' awesome fan cover of the opening song.

Will probably be better than the official PT-BR version, too, assuming that ever happens.

I prefer the Metal Scream part in the original, but this is pretty good other wise.

And in this month's chapter, more character development for Sigurd. Go on and be happy.