Vinland Saga starts off fairly cool as a Japanese anime take on the era of the Vikings. It does nothing that special storywise, yet manages to engage with good characters in its beginning, and a nice sense of both honour and humor.
As deeper drama starts to unfold, the story also becomes better and thankfully, more original. The central premise revolves around family ties and the meaning of being a warrior, which I won't spoil for you here. The action is great, the twists sharp and the characters grow on you. In between the hardship, it also shows a good and very welcome sense of humour. Vikings are formidable warriors, which also makes them excellent subjects to poke fun at.
However, it is often far too slow. And that's coming from a reviewer who advocates pacing all the time. A good anime knows how to milk things of course, with long shots and animated slow-mo's, and us fans don't shy away from a little melodrama either, knowing it's part of the appeal. And that's alp here too. Yet the tempo is even more timid then in comparable anime, so consider yourself warned. It also doesn't suit the Viking era that well, and begs for quicker action at times.
The visuals themselves though, while maybe not reaching the heights of for instance the recent Castlevania series, are still very, very well made. And yes, your patience does pay off. The story keeps growing more interesting, the changes to our characters are very believable, and it builds up to satisfying finales.
All in all a great watch and one of the better anime out there. Just keep your patience in check, and you'll have a great time.
As deeper drama starts to unfold, the story also becomes better and thankfully, more original. The central premise revolves around family ties and the meaning of being a warrior, which I won't spoil for you here. The action is great, the twists sharp and the characters grow on you. In between the hardship, it also shows a good and very welcome sense of humour. Vikings are formidable warriors, which also makes them excellent subjects to poke fun at.
However, it is often far too slow. And that's coming from a reviewer who advocates pacing all the time. A good anime knows how to milk things of course, with long shots and animated slow-mo's, and us fans don't shy away from a little melodrama either, knowing it's part of the appeal. And that's alp here too. Yet the tempo is even more timid then in comparable anime, so consider yourself warned. It also doesn't suit the Viking era that well, and begs for quicker action at times.
The visuals themselves though, while maybe not reaching the heights of for instance the recent Castlevania series, are still very, very well made. And yes, your patience does pay off. The story keeps growing more interesting, the changes to our characters are very believable, and it builds up to satisfying finales.
All in all a great watch and one of the better anime out there. Just keep your patience in check, and you'll have a great time.