Review of Vinland Saga Season 2

Very conflicted. There are some truly inspiring things about this season, but I doubt I'll rewatch it in the foreseeable future. If you didn't get the news, Vinland went full Stardew Valley. I was open to the change in pace, since the slower, more meditative moments of the first season were great, and I was realistically never not watching season 2 after a season 1 as good as that. What I found wasn't just a change in pace, but a dilution of content, and often cheesier-feeling direction. This season isn't just slower in terms of less action and bloodshed. Much of the runtime is dedicated to characterstalking in abstract terms about their philosophies on war and violence, with frequent pauses between lines to stare over fields to the tune of serene fluttering piano. I just don't find the actual themes it's exploring very interesting, nor do I feel the show makes it feel like these words have major or believable impacts on the characters' lives. After the first few times war and revenge are mentioned, I feel like I've heard it all and it doesn't need repeating, but the show feels differently.

The pace doesn't slow down just for the talking scenes, though. Everything, including (crucially) low-brow humor that you might normally just brush past in manga form, gets extra time. The first several episodes were a struggle for me to watch largely because of how much time is spent on one of the characters being down bad. It's the kind of thing that season 1 would just fold into a more important and interesting scene. That more fluid style of direction is sorely missed here.

This pacing has its benefits, though, letting a lot of the emotional pain work its way out of the characters slowly, until the climactic moments come, and you feel like you're trapped there and forced to stare at whatever devastating thing just happened longer than you want to. The high points of this season are gut-wrenchingly hard for me to watch, in part because of how long it feels like so much anger or sadness has been bubbling inside these characters unchecked.

Even with the payoff, the pacing is often truly egregious. Half an episode may be dedicated to one plot point at its slowest.

The biggest highlight of this season is Canute. Without spoiling anything, he is very much not Princess Peach anymore. Scenes with him are almost all standouts.

I don't think I can talk about the big resolution without spoilers, but apparently contrary to what most fans think, I was very disappointed with it in a way that Naruto is often memed on for, and I felt it contradicted the well-established personification of one of the characters.

I think you'll broadly know how much you'll like this season after 5 episodes. Just know that despite how it looks, it's still Vinland.