(CR) Vinland Saga Season 2 [Netflix]

[grecefar]

A mother will always know.

I'm happy he manage to see them both again, clear things, tell his story, met his nephews and niece. He gets to go now with a blessing from his mother to create vinland.

great ending but... nooooooo!, he shaved and cut his hair. He was perfect with the ponytail and the bear ;A;

[Kanon]

Thorfinn visiting the grave of the slave from episode one (which wasn't in the manga) made me want to check out that scene again... and I realized that the speech Thorfinn gave on Arnheid's grave about Vinland was word for word the same Thors gave to the dying slave. Adding this scene was really damn nice touch, basically the story coming full circle (though it's far from over). The directing for this show has really been stellar, my only complaint was the amount of focus Gardar received at the expense of other things.

I guess they didn't have time to put it in the anime but it was Ylva's idea to cut Thorfinn's hair and she was the one who did it. It was a nice intimate bonding moment between the two siblings, where she told Thorfinn his real age (22). Thorfinn refused to get shaved but she got him while he dozed off. They replaced that with that scene with Thors' sword. I liked the original better personally, it showed the softer, caring side of Ylva. Watching the anime you'd think she hasn't changed a bit but she matured a lot.

They also removed all the set up for the next arc so a third season is probably not planned yet.

Originally Posted by grecefar

great ending but... nooooooo!, he shaved and cut his hair. He was perfect with the ponytail and the bear ;A;

Current haircut with the beard would be the perfect sweet spot.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Kanon

They also removed all the set up for the next arc so a third season is probably not planned yet.

This message from the Chief Animation Director gives me hope.

Emphasis on what is colored in the title in the illustration...Thorfinn's journey will continue.

[Master_Yoma]

Well Thorfinn took 100 punches for that man but can only take one from his sister but that was one hell of an uppercut

8/10 So the 3rd season is nation building

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by grecefar

great ending but... nooooooo!, he shaved and cut his hair. He was perfect with the ponytail and the bear ;A;

I think they were trying to invoke the image of a younger Askeladd. He especially looks like him during that shot in the armory.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Wandering Soul

I think they were trying to invoke the image of a younger Askeladd. He especially looks like him during that shot in the armory.

Especially when we actually saw young Askeladd in the finale .

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for final thoughts:

Overall, another interesting season, but the payoffs were a disappointment.

It was really, really dragged out.
The audience convinced themselves that they were just taking their time to flesh out the characters and all, but it got worse and worse until it peaked at The Man Who Drags It Out and no one could deny they milked his death as much as they could and more

Despite more than one season (24 episodes+) of searching, what was the payoff? Nothing. Their reunion was skipped.
How about Canute spending many episodes talking to his dead father's head? Being ruthless for the sake of his cause? No. No. It just took a pep talk from his old friend to change his mind. He also disbanded his army and all kinds of stuff. And the funny part? Him doing stuff after changing his mind? Heh, yeah, that was one thing they didn't drag out. We just narrated all of that in a minute. Priorities.

I have nothing against the characters of The Man Who Drags It Out and The Woman Who Drags It Out, but holy crap, Thorfinn's reunion after so many episodes were skipped for her.
Yeah, who cares about the main character, right? We all are saddy waddy about this sub-character that just appeared in the 2nd season, who honestly isn't even 100% the victim in her case.

8/10

[magnumcyclonex]

I don't remember Ylva being so strong but I guess it runs in the family, as Thors was a strong person as well. Older sister taking out younger brother was nice to see as a viewer.

Moms always know best. It was a touching reunion and I think even Leif was about to get teary eyed as well. With her approval, and with the support of Leif, Thorfinn will be able to partake in his endeavor and fulfill his vision.

I particularly liked seeing the northern lights and the imaginative flashbacks intertwined with the present time, showing many of the characters. Was nice to see Thors instill his faith in his son.

Thorfinn looks 10 years younger after having that haircut and beard shaved off. Much younger looking than Canute.

This was an eventful season. I'm glad it evoked great imagery and emotion at times. Looking forward to the next season, when it comes.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by magnumcyclonex

I don't remember Ylva being so strong but I guess it runs in the family, as Thors was a strong person as well. Older sister taking out younger brother was nice to see as a viewer.

Not to mention Thorkell is her uncle too. Shame he only showed up for like 5 minutes in the entire season. And remember Thorfinn breaking that guy's face with a single hit? They sure can throw punches in that family.

[Ghostfriendly]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

I have nothing against the characters of The Man Who Drags It Out and The Woman Who Drags It Out, but holy crap, Thorfinn's reunion after so many episodes were skipped for her.
Yeah, who cares about the main character, right? We all are saddy waddy about this sub-character that just appeared in the 2nd season, who honestly isn't even 100% the victim in her case.

Lone Wolf and Cub and Golgo 13 spent far more time developing side characters than main characters than main characters because you can't create a world with only main characters. A lot more could have been done with Canute, but it can still be done because he's still alive. As an enslaved person, Arnheid is 110% s victim.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Ghostfriendly

because you can't create a world with only main characters

The only thing those two were worth was give Thorfinn a motive to search for his ideal nice world. We knew slavery exists and that some men can be berserkers from many of the past episodes, didn't need these two to develop anything.
And if they could resolve Canute doing a 180 and dissolving his army in a couple of minutes, they could have done the same for these two in a shorter time than all they took

Originally Posted by Ghostfriendly

As an enslaved person, Arnheid is 110% s victim.

Lol, why? Because slavery in the Vikings era was evil? I'd say those poor men doing their job guarding her husband and getting killed because she released him were more victims. No one's crying for them?

[Mad Pierrot]

Epic ending to epic season. The escape from violence was pretty well handled. I wanted them to at least have a cameo of Gudrid like season 1 but we gotta wait. Still, what was that cameo of Askeladd without his beard?

[Ghostfriendly]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

The only thing those two were worth was give Thorfinn a motive to search for his ideal nice world. We knew slavery exists and that some men can be berserkers from many of the past episodes, didn't need these two to develop anything.
And if they could resolve Canute doing a 180 and dissolving his army in a couple of minutes, they could have done the same for these two in a shorter time than all they took

Canute's actions were based on the collision of an idea with his experience and resolutions developed extensively in earlier episodes, while Arnheid and Gardar's fate resulted from a chain of events as significant in themselves as anything that happened to Thorfinn. Canute could have had more screen time and Arnheid less, but Gardar could have had more, or used his screentime better. Brian Wood could have made Gardar and Arnheid the tragic leads of an excellent Northlanders story arc, much like The Cross and the Hammer. He could have written a stronger record of suffering and despair, without Thorfinn's hopeful ideals.

Lol, why? Because slavery in the Vikings era was evil? I'd say those poor men doing their job guarding her husband and getting killed because she released him were more victims. No one's crying for them?

Slavery is always evil. Arnheid wasn't free to safely refuse Ketil, so she was a rape victim, who would have been killed with her husband if she hadn't freed him, as he said. The dead guards were the same kind of people as their friends who threatened to rape Arnheid, so I'm certainly not sorry about them. Ketil, the good man who owns slaves, represents the idea that there are no good men in an evil world, probably, and no good men who own slaves, to an absolute certainty.

[grecefar]

My problem was arnheid choices. She even told einar to not jump to the storm but she did exactly that. She knew well what she was doing even when she said before that she was planning just to live pacefully in the farm and raise her child.

She took a gamble and lost everything and that how it works in that world. As soon she left the old man house I knew too well it was going to end badly. Now if her plan was to die with her hunsband all along well that's other story but I doubt it.

[Alchemist007]

It was a pretty great season overall. I think Arnheid made emotional choices but it's hard for me to blame her for them. I think Olmar's growth was interesting to see, even cowards can make right decisions in the end. I didn't care much for Thorfinn's sister's attitude, I guess it was supposed to be funny but it fell flat for me.

9/10

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

It was a pretty great season overall. I think Arnheid made emotional choices but it's hard for me to blame her for them. I think Olmar's growth was interesting to see, even cowards can make right decisions in the end. I didn't care much for Thorfinn's sister's attitude, I guess it was supposed to be funny but it fell flat for me.

9/10

Yeah, I didn't align with the comedy of her beating up her brother...twice. Thank goodness the mother's response saved the episode .

Olmar's growth was at least something. Chance for that guy to grow into a decent person and make lives around him better as a result. At least more likely than if his father or brother were still running things.

[Guardian Enzo]

That whole Ylva thing was a rare whiff for Vinland Saga for me, too. Just not funny but pretty much everything about the episode was on-point.

[Frontier]

It just felt on-point from what I remembered of her in season 1. I just loved hearing Hitomi Nabatame again .

[Mad Pierrot]

The manga used to exploit Ylva a bit more in the early chapters for comic relief but the anime removed it. In fact, most of the series' comedy was toned down for the manga. At this point I think we will never see Gudrid blush similar to Einar who only got happy the first time he talked to Arnheid rather than blush