Review of Vinland Saga Season 2

Vinland Season 2 has finally ended, and it's been a long journey. Firstly, it's hard to suggest the 3/4 episode test because this season is slow and clearly divided. Nonetheless, despite its flaws, I enjoyed Season 2, but I think it could have been better. The animation is solid but sometimes inconsistent, and the music is great. The story is compelling, and some amazing characters make it a satisfying watch. I don't know if Season 3 is being worked on yet, but it doesn't matter. The ending of this season was pretty damn good. If you can survive the middle arc of the show, you'llenjoy the others.

Animation: Mappa once again snagged another popular pre-existing show that WIT was making. Personally, over the years, they've both made shows I'm a big fan of, but it's undeniable that WIT has more consistency and quality in animation. They give away many IPs to other studios for whatever reason. Regardless, the animation is still good but inconsistent and flat in enough scenes to make an impression.

Sound: The music is pretty good and always great. Things sounded as they were supposed to when they mattered, which can leave you immersed.

Characters are a difficult one. I think 90% of all characters are done well until the last half. In the latter half, Einar feels pointless and tiresome in many of the scenes. There's also a "new" character, another troupe that is very annoying right at the end, which ruins the first part of the last episode. Thorfinn's development also falls flat at the end as well. The motivations are good, but the wording and actions are ridiculous, just like the other two, throwing the immersion out the window. There's a fourth one, but I'll discuss that in the story portion. The rest of the cast is outstanding, and it's hard to find another anime with so many characters that aren't troupes or cliches. Most of the time, they're more of a joy to watch than Thorfinn (Snake and Canute). They're the major portion of the show that kept it engaging.

The story is absurdly slow, but the writing and characters keep you invested. I'll break it down into three arcs. The first arc is the slowest by far but also my favorite. It's a good return to the world and seeing the new faces. The second is the worst part and feels thrown out of nowhere to create some artificial conflict and kill some characters (that really weren't important). The third arc should've been the best but is pushed down by Einar's and Thorfinn's actions and not enough emphasis on the action that had good meaning to it. The last episode is great, except for the character mentioned above.

So, there does seem to be a direction for Season 3. However, I don't see how they'll do anything else without being exceedingly boring or breaking the characters' rules (especially if they follow history at all). We'll have to see.