The expectations for Vinland Saga Season 2 are ramping up as it's only a few weeks away from the premiere. The first episode will release on January 9, 2023, and all episodes will be simulcast outside of Japan on Netflix and Crunchyroll.The previous season streamed on Amazon Prime Video and then Netflix, where you can currently find it. The anime’s first season premiered back in July 2019. After a long wait, Vinland Saga’s community can now count the days until the beloved show based on Makoto Yukimura’s story returns.
Changes in the Animation
Earlier this year it was announced that the second season of Vinland Saga will be animated by MAPPA (Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen) instead of WIT Studio, the ones that did the first season three years ago. This move generated some controversy at first as it's not precisely often that a series changes the animation studio along the way, even more when it's a popular show like Vinland Saga that didn't have any criticism about that department.
Shuhei Yabuta, the director of the adaptation wanted to clear the air on why did they choose to do this sudden change. According to the director's Twitter it came to a desire of keeping all the creative team together, something that wasn't possible with WIT Studio. In some sense, MAPPA came to the rescue since the whole had already started working in Season 2 when the news about releasing the team hit. Securing Season 2 while also keeping the creative team was a big move for MAPPA, not only for adding one more big show to their catalog, but also offering reassurance to the fans about keeping the core that make the first season successful and in doing so placing themselves as the "good guy" of the story. It also marks the second time MAPPA has "stolen" a major show from WIT Studio, Attack on Titan being the first.
They have published a couple of trailers, the latest about a month ago, that give the fans a chance to see a little more of the transition from WIT Studio to MAPPA. Apart from the creative team the main cast will return, as well, with Yuto Uemura reprising his role as Thorfinn. Kensho Ono continues as Canute (now King) and Akio Ohtsuka as Thorkell. But as we can see in the trailer, new characters will come into play. They also presented the show’s new opening theme song, called “River” and performed by Anonymouz, who was previously featured in Boruto Naruto Next Generations with her ending theme song “Ladder”.
What Happens in the Manga
In Season 1 we witnessed a story that pretty much works as an Epilogue for Thorfinn's character development. The cruent death of his father by the hand of Askeladd set him a purpose in life, to avenge his death by fair combat. However, now the protagonist seems like he has lost his will to live after being denied his long-time goal of ending Askeladd’s life, who he had even grown fond of before his death.
The events of Season 2 are set a year after the end of Season 1, and they will kick off with Thorfinn working as a slave for a farmer in Denmark, a punishment for attacking Canute. This is known as the Slave Arc, one where things will start to turn complicated for Thorfinn as he tries to find a new reason, a new path to pursue. A great help for that will be Einar, a fellow slave that he befriends at Ketil's Farm, where they both work. This new character, that will be played by Shunsuke Takeuchi, will encourage Thorfinn to find a new path while they try to break free from slavery.
Meanwhile, King Canute will begin his plan to create Paradise on Earth trying to build a peaceful world, something that might not end exactly well. This arc will display a much different Thorfinn, in contraposition to the action-packed Season 1, now the focus will be on character development and how people change under certain circumstances. Of course, they will have some fight scenes, but it will only be secondary to the evolution Thorfinn will go through, essentially by realizing how meaningless violence is.
The Vinland Saga manga is currently on its final arc, and is expected to end in 2024, given the monthly rate at which it’s being published. Yukimura himself said in an interview back in August that we are not that far away from the final installment. For a story based on actual history, there’s not much wiggle room to stretch the events that are closing in on the finale. The manga started in April 2005 in the Weekly ShÅnen Magazine. In December of that same year, it was moved to Monthly Afternoon, where it has stayed ever since. The change was motivated by the adult content of the series. The violence and complexity within the plot propelled the jump from a youth-targeted magazine to one aimed for adults.
The anime adaptation will slowly try to catch up with Thorfinn’s adventures in what seems a long road ahead, especially considering the 3-year hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2. More and more anime fans will have to get used to waiting for their favorite shows to come out, while the anime industry is moving towards a regular TV show experience.