Manga 642 Vinland Saga Reviews Filter Check 2

I really wanted to give this Manga a 10.
It starts out very well, with a plot hook that makes you want to know what happens onward. The reason I can't possibly give this manga more than 6 is because of the characters. Almost all the main characters are so incredibly Japanese. It hurts seeing a character that is portrayed as a Norse warrior do things, and think things, that fits for a Japanese peasant.

One comment in particular stuck with me. And this isn't a big spoiler as it comes up very quickly and is often repeated.
"A true warrior don't need a sword".
How do I ... start elaborating on this? What on earth does such a Japanese mentality have to do in a manga about vikings? And the worst of all, is the pacifistic attitude portrayed. It doesn't fit into the setting at all...

I went into this, not expecting it to be historically correct at all. But the blatant disrespect it shows towards the culture of the time, and the force-feeding of Japanese culture into a Manga about Norse people is just too much.
When starting reading this manga the expectations were very high, because it started out very well. The way it develops is frankly an insult to old Norse culture, while it oddly enough glorifies the church? That one really took me off guard.

Really wanted to like this manga, but I can't advice it if you want something that actually represent Viking culture at all. The pacifistic attitude is way over the top stupid.

It was a long trek since I started this manga. There were two attempts. The first, I lasted until 6 chapters, the second, with effort and scrolling, I finished 'till the latest update of chapter.

The manga details the prologue around the first 50 chapters and after that, the real story.

And when it comes to details in the story, well, let me tell you, it equals to describing thick fantasy books.

I don't mind this style. I mean, if done well, it could be a great captivating read. You'd bury yourself to the world the manga enforces.

It's just that, I've seen this kind. Can't tell you ... a specific title of a manga series but it just seems I've read this kind to many series, movies, anime, books , etc. It was predictable. And when you read a lot of pages just to get to that predictable point, it's just no fun.

Though, the only thing that should have keep me on edge was if this or that one's going to die next. Well, let me tell you, almost all women, girls, children gets killed, raped. And so, normally, I couldn't care less to any introduced characters they put in. When so many are whores, killers, murderers.

== Story ==

As said, the first 50 chapters is part of a prologue. It describes the boy in vengeance. He suffered a lot. But when prologue, I'd assume little characters are going to matter. Right I am, many in it got killed. and 50 chapters? Talk about long. He come on this journey and neglect the teachings he was brought up by, with abandon, he becomes stronger as time passes. But along the way, an unexpected event turned this brutal environment we were suppose to head and teach us the value of life and repentance.


== Art ==

Gruesomely detailed. There is a certain ruggedness to the style of drawing. The Main character got a really suitable face for his purpose. Cruel and bitter. Enemies were quite well drawn. From one look, there no chance you could mistake them for good bunch. They reek of malice.

== Character ==

The character is predictable. His actions, his face, reactions are predictable. Being a kid around adults, we could expect this so, but after growing up, he still is. I mean, the story or arc his heading to has been done enough to be as predictable as a kid. Expect him to be brash, hard head and all that is expected from a kid whose been through hard life.

== Enjoyment ==

Me no likey this series. It's brutal expected from a savage time. But more from that, more than 10 times I've said it in this review, the story/arcs were predictable. Though its quite good for a bit of history lesson here and there, assuming they be a bit accurate in their time. So if you like history, since its full of it, and brutal encounters, and life lessons, then this is for you, though I warn you, there is a high chance it is Predictable for your taste.

STATUS: 187 chapters read.

Prologue Arc: 9/10
Slave Arc: 9/10
Eastern Expedition Arc: 4/10
Vinland Arc: (In Progress)
Overall: 6/10
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REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS - DO NOT READ ARC DESCRIPTIONS IF YOU WISH TO AVOID THEM
...
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"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." This quote applies to the writing of Vinland Saga, which became its own villain.

I'm rubbing my head at this one. This is the longest review I've ever written, and I'm devoting this much time and effort to it because I truly care about Vinland Saga. I want the series to continue be good, because it was good. I've binge-read nearly 190 chapters of manga in a week, and the question left on my mind is:

"What happened?" (I)

Vinland Saga had a strong start. The first two arcs were well-written, and defined what will become the 'Vinland Saga' feel, the theme, tone, characters, etc. The plot is grounded, grand, and constantly moving forwards - there's very few spots of stagnation, where the reader feels like they're crawling along, and you just want to page flip to get past it. The manga has the feel of a legendary epic, or some mythological tale. Then .. that feeling vanishes. Everything I've just mentioned goes up in a puff of smoke. The world, the characters, the politics .. they all become flat, uninteresting tropes.

...What happened?! (II)

The tone of Vinland Saga changes. The characters and how they are written and defined diminishes. The quality of its arcs dips hard. If I were to show you the fist five chapters of this manga, and then provide you a selection of five further chapters in the later half of the Eastern Expedition arc, you would probably think it is some spinoff series. The tonal shift is that drastic. The tone of the manga, its very spirit, flatlines in the third arc - and the Vinland Saga that you started with is not the Vinland Saga you will come to read. The shift is gradual, but too severe to not be noticable. I'll be discussing it in detail below.

---------- SPOILERS BELOW ----------

I'm going to take a step back and explain my gut feelings regarding the arcs, as this will provide insight into my claim, and my lamentations about Vinland Saga falling from grace:

+ + + + + Prologue Arc (War Arc) + + + + +

This is the arc that has been turned into an anime. This arc is VERY solid, it has a solid introduction, a great body, and a iron-clad conclusion. This arc is a fantastic prologue. Perhaps this is funny, because the worst part about this arc is our supposed main character, Thorfinn! All he can do the entire arc is brood over his loss, and his only motivation to do anything is the chance of dueling and defeating Askeladd, the villain of the arc. And what a fantastic villain Askeladd is, so much so that many would consider Askeladd to be the protagonist of the series, or even to think of him as an anti-hero (he is a villain through-and-through, just a very well written one).

If there's one thing that stands out in this arc, it's the constantly moving plot. The plot is well written, well-paced, satisfying, and above all: it sets the mood and tone of Vinland Saga. This will become important later on, as I've already revealed that the series, unfortunately, loses its shine later on. Thorfinn's desire for revenge is contrasted by his former father's peace. His rage and mercilessness as part of Askeladd's band is contrasted by his desire to have an honorable duel with Askeladd. Akeladd practically assumes the role of father, of Thorfinn's dad, who he ordered the death of. Major plot points are established and touched upon throughout this arc, keeping it consistent and not leaving the audience feeling like they have missed out.

The payoff is ... fantastic. Just when the manga starts to slow down, it floors the accelerator, drawing the reader back into the wider plot and context of the world the characters find themselves in. The conclusion of the prologue arc is one of the best I've seen in a manga, and the anime conclusion is fantastic as well. It's a great springboard to launch Thorfinn away from his past, and into his future.

+ + + + + Slave Arc + + + + +

This arc takes place several years after the Prologue arc, with Thorfinn being sold into slavery as punishment for his crimes against the king. We are introduced to Einar, a slave who, along with Thorfinn, shares the main character spotlight. This arc is jokingly refereed to as the 'Minecraft' arc by some fans, and ... well, you'll see why. Like the previous arc, we have a great introduction, a fantastic body of events, and a solid conclusion. Importantly, the tone of Vinland Saga remains, it's just the setting and characters that change. The characters are well written and consistent. Their interactions are genuinely interesting because they do not all get along, and like in the prior arc there is conflict between them, their personalities personalities, their morals .. you name it. I'm not the most adept at defining characters, but the writing here of them is very good.

The subplots in this arc are meaningful, and like the prior arc, contribute to and shape the story in meaningful ways. It still feels like a manga set in the 1000 AD, in the land and era of Vikings. Perhaps most importantly, it still feels like Vinland Saga.

+ + + + + Eastern Expedition Arc + + + + +

You may note that I will be explaining this arc in detail, moreso than the prior two arcs. This arc is the turning point in the series' quality. Understanding this arc, the setup, and the very poor payoff is critical, in my eyes, to understanding why the series has taken a nosedive in quality, and why I've given it an overall 6/10 score.

This arc starts strong. Thorfinn is now no longer burdened by a corrosive sense of revenge, and is free from slavery. He has reunited with his family and village, and the stage is set for him to prepare to undertake the journey to Vinland. But, before this vast undertaking can occur, Thorfinn has a set of goals that he knows, and that the reader knows:

1. He must obtain money to fund his venture.
2. He must obtain manpower to assist in the journey & country-building in Vinland.
3. He must prove he has the motivation and capacity to do steps 1 & 2, and the ability to deliver.

This is some strong stuff, great groundwork for what should've been a great third arc.

If this isn't the climax of the entire series, with Vinland being the conclusion, this is surely the direct rise to the story's climax.

So, how will Thorfinn accomplish the 3 goals above? First and foremost, we're introduced to our first new crewmember: Gudrid. She's not a fantastically interesting character, but a pretty decent side character. Most of her background revolves around her wanting to explore and see the world, but being locked in her place on account of Gudrid being a female character. Realistic, given that the series is set in the 1000 AD.

In addition to gaining a new crewmate, Thorfinn's team gains a commodity that they must sell: narwhal horns, which can be passed off as horns belonging to unicorns in the south. By south they mean Miklagrad, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. They will get there by traveling through the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, then down through the rivers of Russia, into the Black Sea, and back. At this point, we've now established the journey of the arc, the goals, and that it will probably take them two years to complete the journey there and back (this is stated by a character). The setup is golden, makes sense, and will be interesting to tag along in. The scope is a natural expansion in the lead-up to the titular journey to Vinland.

The group journeys out with their commodity and their destination, coming along two new crewmembers. A dog, and Karli, the lone survivor of a village destroyed by warfare. Neither of these characters are of particular note, and Karli is an infant, though thankfully, a decently comical one. His role is small, like he is, and thankfully - he does not get in the way too much and is just along for the ride.

Next up, the group, now with a four-legged friend and an infant, arrives in Norway. We're making pretty good progress on this journey. Here we run into Hild, who I will declare: is the last decently-written, interesting character that will join Thorfinn. Hild has history with Thorfinn, and her life was changed because of his past atrocities he committed when a member of Askeladd's Army. Her backstory is interesting, well written, and meaningful, and she'll make a great addition to the team as a skilled hunter and creative inventor. She wields a crossbow with a built-in goat's foot lever, which while fictional is at least grounded somewhat in reality for the time period.

Unfortunately, her backstory and value as a character are diminished by the fact that she's ... well, she's Thorfinn from the first arc. Though she's far less pissed, her entire personality largely revolves around her being emotionally dead inside once she confirms Thorfinn's identity and relation to her past, and her primary character trait is following Thorfinn around. Why? Because she wants to be the cause of his death if Thorfinn slips up. If you were getting major deja vu vibes here, you weren't the only one. This sure sounds a fair bit like Askeladd and Thorfinn's relationship. It's a shame too, Hild could be a significantly better character if she was given the time of day to actually develop, as opposed to remaining some sort of always-watching-you, permanent-grudge-holding character ... like Thorfinn was in the first arc. Unfortunately, for the entire duration of this arc, she receives ZERO development, despite having such an interesting premise and important set of skills.

Alright, we've picked up a useful, if vengeful character! Time to head further east, and then south to Miklagrad, meeting other useful characters along the way, and running into sub arcs!

BZZT! WRONG! Here, have a THIRTY SIX (!!!) CHAPTER ARC about the Jomsvikings! It is WAY too long, FAR too drawn out, and at the end: it's totally worthless to the main cast.

(To the readers who kept up with this when it was releasing in live time, you have my sympathy. This SUB-ARC lasted for THIRTY EIGHT (38!!!) MONTHS! I would have absolutely quit this series if I was keeping up with it in real time at this sub-arc.)

Let me summarize it:

There's a power struggle between two sub-factions of the Jomsvikings, each following a different leader.
Thorfinn wants no part of it. Thorfinn gets dragged into it.
One of the Jomsvikings sides has its leader killed.
Thorfinn still wants no part of it. Thorfinn & crew get dragged into it.
Siege is then laid to the other side of the Jomsvikings.
Thorfinn still wants no part of it. Thorfinn & crew get dragged into it.
The conflict comes to a conclusion after an excruciating THIRTY SIX chapters.
Thorfinn is appointed leader of the Jomsvikings, despite his insistence he didn't want to be a part of it since the start.
Thorfinn, now leader, disbands the Jomsvikings, refuses to explain, and leaves.

Wow, that was an awful sub-arc. It's made even worse by the fact that FUCKING BIG FOOT SHOWS UP. OUT OF NOWHERE. If you think I'm joking, I'm not. Look up Ymir. You can't make this shit up people.

Thank God. It's finally over. We're past it, we can finally get back to Thorfinn's epic adventure to Miklagrad, securing both crewmates and gold to launch his journey to Vinland...

BZZT! WRONG! Yeah that's right, FUCK YOU READER!

We. Get. None. Of. That. The manga completely timeskips. We go straight from the War in the Baltic Sea sub-arc straight back to Iceland. A year and then some of character development and growth, gone. A grand adventure, gone. Potential to recruit interesting new additions to the cast, gone. The whole setup of the arc, gone with the snap of the fingers.

My breath was taken away from me. After the absolutely awful War in the Baltic Sea sub-arc, the LITERAL TITLE OF THE ARC, "EASTERN EXPEDITION ARC," is ripped out from beneath us. It's boiled down to they got to Miklagrad, sold the horns, made gold, the end. Nothing else happened.

What. A. Waste.

From here on out the story nose-dives. The War in the Baltic Sea was the turning point, but the remainder of this arc only solidified that what had happened in sub-arc we had just escaped from, was going to continue to happen. Like the arc we just got out of, chapters drag on. Gone are the days of interesting, well-developed discussions and interactions in meaningful chapters from the first two main arcs, and the start of the third arc. The tonal shift we saw in that 36-chapter long arc is here to stay.

Vinland Saga no longer feels like Vinland Saga.

+ + + Vinland Arc + + +
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IMPORTANT NOTE: This is the final arc, and is not complete.
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What should've taken part during the travel to Miklagrad instead happens in some crammed chapters leading up to their departure to Vinland. Ontop of being significantly less interesting than discovery on the way to Miklagrad, it's poorly written and still missing the 'Vinland Saga' feel.

We're introduced to the son of Thorkell, who is either inserted to be the de-facto gender confused character found in many comedic mangas, or as some sort of cruel comedic gag. Thorkell was never stated to have any children in any of his chapters prior, and this character is literally dropped on our heads out of the blue, in a fashion that reminds me of the Bigfoot from the previous arc. There's no context or reason behind it, and the quality of this character makes Hild (our last named crew addition from 58 CHAPTERS AGO!) look like Askeladd in terms of writing quality. Not a great addition to the cast, and the character design is ... well, I think it missed the mark big time. I struggle not to see this character as some sort of cruel comedic gag with how ridiculously they are presented. What could've been an interesting character is tarnished by poor writing, and a character design that does not mesh with the series.

Thorfinn goes from using a knife purely for defense, as his own father instructed him immediately prior to his death, to wanting Vinland to be totally without weapons. He will not let people join his expedition with swords, spears, etc. Yes, this brave venture to uncharted lands with the hopes of building a country will go totally unarmed. Oh, but weapons that are used for hunting? Or building? Yeah, those are fine. You can keep your crossbow Hild. You definitely have not used it against people in multiple prior instances. Axes? No problem. Knives are fine too, fuck it! Seems like the only things that are banned are swords and spears!

{EDIT: Later on we see farmers in Vinland with spears, I guess swords are the only banned weapon?!}

...Inconsistencies aside, they finally depart. Okay, we've had a terrible 36-chapter arc, we totally missed out on the Eastern Expedition, the titular arc, SURELY we'll have some development and drama on the high seas, on their journey to Vinland.

THEY CROSS THE OCEAN AND REACH VINLAND ... IN ONE CHAPTER.

I'm cutting my review off here, as the next sub-arc of the series has not concluded. I don't want to judge an incomplete sub-arc. At this point, I think you can imagine my level of enthusiasm whenever a new chapter is released.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

I'm remorseful that the series I fell in love with for the first and second arcs, and some of the third arc, has flatlined. Vinland Saga has now entered its fourth and final arc, and I truly hope that it ends well. However, given the current downward trend of the manga's quality, I, solemnly, have my doubts that a quality ending will be achieved.

Don't get it twisted.
This manga is good.
For the first half, at least.

I first read this manga a few years back, watched the anime that just aired, and caught up to the manga again just now. And honestly, Vinland saga's story gets worse and worse once you get to the part where the anime drops off. It's a whole completely different story.
Is it a bad thing? Well, yes. The entire genre of the story is basically changed, and so is the pacing. And if I'm being blunt here, I don't quite like the direction the story goes. The story goes from a hardcore blood and ... iron cutthroat battlefield to a sort of coming of age story that's frankly, kind of mediocre.
I get that Thorfinn had to come to his own conclusion about his father's lessons, so to speak. That was clear very early in the story. However, such a conclusion could be realized without changing the entire genre of the story. Anyways, I can't really agree with how the story came out to be. But, if you like a kind of cheesy coming of age story, you will surely love Vinland Saga's second half. Maybe I'm sulking that the story isn't what I anticipated. Maybe I'm not "cultured" enough to get think that the second part of the story was interesting. Or maybe the second part of the story is just not that good. Hey, I can recognize something as good even if I personally dislike it. And sorry, it's just kind of boring.

In my opinion, the manga is very overrated. With a pretense for realism, there is nothing realistic in it at all. The manga is full of convenient developments, plot armor, unbelievable personality changes. Many characters look interesting at first, but eventually degrade into typical stereotypes from a shonen manga, losing any believability. Strategy and politics look realistic only until the main characters are getting involved, then things just start to bend conveniently to make the heroes shine.

The manga is not bad, by any means, compared to other similar works out there, but one shouldn't expect anything more than a viking-themed time-killer, and imho it ... certainly does not deserve its place in the top 50.

To people wanting to get into it would recommend but only the first part after the farmland arc there is a big dip in the story imo. Here are the reason


Art gets worse imo the dark and griddy vibe is gone entirely gone mc gets such a wierd face especially compared to other characters it's like a jojo character replaced him


Immature topics sometimes characters used to be so multidimensional but it's like they are given one trait and that's the only thing that matters.

Mc becomes increasingly naive it's so frustrating to me i can understand avoiding violence you can make a brilliant story ... about that like ruroni kenshin (admittedly haven't finished it yet but it had a much more mature way of than violence is bad for being bad) and the male female division is so poorly done sadly even the women at that time were supporting when men used to go to war as it was a very important part of life to manhood and it was a quick and easy way to fame and fortune like today's YouTube. All in all mc becomes worse with time imo hild lowkey becomes the best character imo she is the best character in story rn.

FL is trash is gudrid a character I knew I would hate from the start I touched on this earlier but the men women division is so stupid it's like every men is a war loving moron who does everything in the name of family instead of realising he's doing it for himself which is wrong as most families HAD to fight to survive.

And the inequality factor of not having women hunter or sailors is simple they woulf not provide enough value. I think people forget that it is set in 1000' so the problem about stuff like period is way bigger than people realise since it makes you way more vulnerable to infection and that was one of the biggest causes of death back in that time. Second women are not as strong as men you can get more work done at a faster pace by replacing one women with men. THIRD pregnancy of a women is on board with several men a entanglement is bound to occur which can cause pregnancy and a child is one of the biggest problem on board and it's handles it so stupidly like men don't allow women cause man bad and women morally good.🤦‍♂️


It's forgot the virus plot line but it's still a bit new so I think it will take time to grow so I will allow that.


All in all imo the first part is a 9-10/10 but the later part after farmland is like a 6 so disappointed with where it went and how it's going wish something big happen push the mc in a mature direction to make him understand not all violence is bad cause according to that logic even police are bad.

*Non-spoiler*

While the story contained some of the greatest highpoints included in the first season of the anime the manga continues with a very blurry end point that contains zero knowledge of the path to.

The art of the manga in my opinion contains the same qualities as a cold glass of water; each panel is perfectly scaled, consistently clean and the action is sharp consistently.

The characters are enjoyable are the only driving force for me in the story as the plot is incredibly mediocre. The character development of Thors, Askeladd, and Thorfinn is exceptional, and Thorfinns development is the only saving grace of the later ... sections of the story aside from the mindless action expertly drawn.

This is not a bad story just incredibly disappointing after the first two arcs.

Vinland Saga tries to be thoughtful and reach for the stars. But it does so in such a boring manner that can't be excused when many other stories, despite how much wish-fulfillment they use, do a much better job at executing the same themes.

The prologue makes it clear this will be a manga where the themes are prioritized, as it dedicates itself to defying that notion that being a badass means being a bloodthirsty psychopath. And I applaud that. But it's not entertaining to watch, hell, even before Thorfinn becomes a better person the story was lackluster.

We're introduced to Thors, Thorfinn's dad, who is meant ... to represent what a "true warrior" should be. Unfortunately, Thors comes across as a dumbass and unsympathetic parent because he decides to risk his family's well-being for a complete stranger who's LITERALLY minutes away from dying regardless if he intervenes or not. Which makes the theme sorta fall flat when the guy who embodies the story's ideals is a complete fool, making me not take it seriously.

Then there's the actual plot. Well there isn't really one for much of the entire prologue, or rather it takes a while for it get good. Really, the saving grace of the prologue is Askeladd, even though he's essentially your standard "charismatic, intelligent, and visionary" villain, though it's still executed pretty well. The story seems to be lining up a war of sorts and a huge climatic battle, but then it subverts that to go in an entirely different direction, leading to the Farmland Saga.

Personally, I liked the Farmland arc for the most part, it's only issues where idiotic choices made by the cast and an immensely unsatisfying conclusion. But it's without a doubt Vinland Saga's best arc. From then on the story becomes rather hard to get invested in. The goal is to essentially colonize Vinland, which is essentially the promised land, to create a utopia. Along the way we're supposed to see the growth and maturity of the characters and how they overcome the conflicts they face.

This is where it gets ugly.

Vinland Saga doesn't know how to develop its cast.

Let me preface this by saying there are many ways to develop characters; whether that be through flashbacks, hidden depths, being dynamic/slowly changing, changing abruptly due to a catalyst, a static character being played for drama, and so on. Vinland Saga only uses specific events to have its characters change instantaneously.

Allow me to explain using Thorfinn as an example.

Thorfinn is introduced as an cheerful child and then an incident happens and he becomes a straight-up sociopath with no moral compass at all, driven only by revenge, and is annoyingly angry. Now the reason he becomes like this make sense, mostly. But it's a starting point so I'll let it slide no matter how jarring it is. Then for the majority until the Farmland arc, he never changes. At most he learns to be more thoughtful in fighting, but that's about it. Then another important event happens, and he immediately does a 180, turning into a completely different person. Does it make sense? Sure, but it's jarring nonetheless. Then in the Farmland arc he's a spineless doormat and completely empty inside. This is the only arc where he actually changes gradually, rather than suddenly out of nowhere. But even then it's still a major event that causes him to shift dramatically, going from spineless to becoming a messiah and a pacifist (for the most part). Do you see the problem? The dude went from a fucking psycho murdering innocents just for revenge, only to now preach about peace and love within a single arc. It's not believable at all, especially because there was little build-up to him becoming a hero that loves everyone who'll never kill. There are many ways for him to change gradually while still working up that end point. Maybe he becomes more pragmatic but still ruthless, or extremely pessimistic/cynical/rude despite being heroic. There are many ways to build him up and not just change immediately. I wouldn't mind it once, but when it happens for every part of his development it gets annoying. It also doesn't help that he doesn't really have a personality outside of those archetypes above. When he was a sociopath that's pretty much all he was except for one chapter that genuinely interesting (showing regret towards getting an innocent family killed). When he was a weakling that's all that he was. Now that he's a paragon of virtue, that's all that he is. Essentially Thorfinn demonstrates that simply changing doesn't necessarily mean your character is being rounded out or fleshed out.

Canute is another prime example. He's introduced as a shy and spineless prince, and within a single chapter, becomes super edgy, determined, and motivated to create a better world despite not giving a shit earlier. Why does he change this way? No explanation other than "God's lazy, so I'll make the world better." Even worse, after a time skip he's suddenly starting to become like his corrupt father. Why is this the case? No explanation is given other than he's drunk on power. Then he goes and meets Thorfinn who gives him a lecture on peace and love. Which instantly makes Canute become a more benevolent ruler and removes his edginess. Are you starting to see the pattern here?

This ties in with the frequent time-skips. They suck. Why? Because it's the author's way of avoiding having to write a proper character arc with a beginning, middle, and end that flows together. Even worse, every time skip focuses on a new supporting cast, each one being worse than the last. No longer are they as morally complex, sympathetic, nor relatable. Now they're just plot devices or straight-up clowns that you can't take seriously. It doesn't help that the time skips cause the story to fall back to a snail's pace for the start of every arc. In fact, every time the story seems to be getting into a groove, it shoots itself in the foot by having a time skip. Rinse and repeat.

As for the art, well I'm not an artist so I'm no going to sit here a spout some jargon trying to seem like I'm an expert, because I'm not. So I'll just say I like it.

Lastly, my enjoyment went up and down constantly. During the prologue it was down in the dumps until the end and started rising during the farmland arc before plummeting once again. And from then on it's been going up and down, but mostly down. There's just not anything here to keep my interest besides the claims of "mature storytelling." Whatever the fuck that means.

So, with boring and poorly developed main characters, a deteriorating supporting cast, and story beats that are making it harder and harder to take the manga seriously, Vinland Saga has taken a nosedive in terms of quality.

UPDATE 30/10/2021

After 114 chapters, I can say for sure, the only GOOD thing in this story is its prologue arc. Everything after that goes downhill, it's incredible, it's sucks and even more, people like it. I don't know WHAT people on this site have in their minds but Vinland Saga does not deserve a 8/10 rate, it truly deserve a fucking 5, maybe 7 in some points. The Farmland arc does NOTHING other than keeping Thorfinn STUCK as the story moves outside the farm. Canute's development is way more interesting than shitty thorffin. Canute HAS a reason and a good one, if you ask ... me, for doing what he believes it's right, nothing to complain here. Thorffin doesn't do a shit on the farmland. This arc, it really resembled a slice of life story but Thorfinn cutting trees doesn't give you anything. He's not plotting to escape, he's not reflecting on anything or anyone. One thing this arc does right is to make you HATE thorffin or at least his actions. This dude really makes you believe he's a just another slave and that's that. He don't react or interact with the situations in a right way. He's simply empty inside, during this whole slave arc. At the end, the story gives you something, after a thousand BORING chapters, they show you a true moment, that gives you "when Vinland saga was good" feelings. And how they do that? A simple funeral scene. After Thorfinn being beat up, humiliated, all of that for NOTHING, they managed to display Thorfinn as a NORMAL person again. I've read the whole Farmland, waiting for thorffin do something, not matter what, simply something. And at the end he does. This Arc ain't good, it have nothing special, precious or anything to brag about. It just sucks. The last chapter that I read (114) Thorffin simply BEGS for a BEAR to not attack him. I'm done with this. If my curiosity doesn't give up on this, I'm dropping it pretty soon. There's no interesting characters anymore. The author just kills anything Thorffin has left and introduces FLAT new and old ones. There's no hype anymore, this series is dead, take it from me.