Something Worth Your While (In A Nutshell)
Vinland Saga is a Japanese history manga that was drawn and written by Makoto Yukimura, who is also the creator of Planetes. Vinland Saga received an anime adaptation in 2019, the final 24th episode aired on December, 29th. Thorfinn is the son of one of the Viking's greatest warriors, Thors. However, his father is killed by the mercenary leader Askeladd, who is not as powerful as Thorfinn's father, but cruel and smart. Thorfinn joins Askeladd's mercenaries to sharpen his warrior skills and to challenge Askeladd to a man-to-man duel. While trying to retaliate for a wrong done to his father, Thorfinn becomes involved in Askeladd's plot to influence the coronation of the next King of England.

Kojima Is Genius
Yukimura Makoto is a genius, too. His career began as an assistant of Shin Morimura (Hana no Uta, Kangaeru Inu). Since childhood, Yukimura adored manga, especially such genres as shounen and seinen. He was greatly influenced by the works of Katsuhiro Otomo, Polar Star's Fist by Tetsuo Hara and Doctor Slump by Akira Toriyama. After reading the Fist of the Polar Star, Yukimura started to dream about his own manga. His debut work is ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ . It is a science fiction manga that is highly appreciated by many fans around the world.

History Class Is About To Begin
Take your seat, please. Yukimura always does his homework well and this time is not an exception: not only did the mangaka thoroughly study the history of the Vikings, but he also tried to live according to their way of life. According to Yukimura, many people that wanted to shoot a movie that would focus on the Vikings did that simple mistake, they focused on the battles way too much, however, the creator of Vinland Saga studied both the way of life, culture and battles. Not only did he read the history books, Yukimura also wore the Viking armor, lived in their houses, fished and cooked it according to the ancient Scandinavian recipes. He shared his impressions in the manga, too. He did it for a reason. If a scene takes place in a hut, Yukimura found it important to experience the life of the Vikings for him to be able to depict the interior, focusing on every small detail. From the location of chests and chairs to the layout of the chimneys and hearths.

That Is Not A History Book But Quite Close Nevertheless
Yukimura shows many things many people never thought would be needed to display. How did the Vikings cut their nails? Did they cut them at all? How did they clean their ears? What was the situation with personal hygiene, parasites and the toilet? Yukimura noticed that he was interested in such things much more than blunt history. Everything is important, if you want other fans to appreciate your work. Another fact I want to stress is that you need to understand that the time Vinland Saga portrays is close to impossible to portray true-to-fact, many northern peoples back then could neither read nor write: only people from noble families possessed such skills, but many of their notes usually glorified the Gods or great warlords of that time.

Imagination Is The Answer; The Only Answer
That is why the author had lots of room for imagination, which helped make this manga that awesome. But he never exaggerates. The whole story makes perfect sense. And as it has been mentioned already, it was important, because today we know about the Vikings thanks to the Skaldic poetry, simply put: sagas and chronicles, many of which were written centuries after the sunset of the era of the Nordic sailors. More or less reliable information also came from foreign sources and archaeological sites. So many things that we know about the Vikings are an interpretation. Sometimes close to reality, but often - completely fictitious.

More About Vinland Saga
The events of the manga cover the sunset of the Vikings, as well as two important historical lines:
The first is the Vikings raids on England at the end of the 10th century, as well as the history of the King Knut the Great, ruler of England, Denmark and Norway.

The second focuses on the discovery of North America, which the Vikings named Vinland (“wine country”). Here Yukimura refers to the "Saga of Erik the Red" and the "Saga of the Greenlanders." Yes, Vinland is not Iceland, Vinland is the area of coastal North America explored by Norse Vikings, where Leif Erikson first landed around AD 1000, approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. Vinland was the name given to North America as far as it was explored by the Norse, presumably including both Newfoundland and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence as far as northeastern New Brunswick (where the eponymous grapevines are found).

The manga focuses on the hard life of the Icelandic Viking Thorfinn Karlsefni, whose childhood was spent in terrible conditions. His father, Thord Horsehead, was once a Jomsviking (the Jomsvikings were an order of Viking mercenaries or brigands of the 10th century and 11th century), but he became disillusioned with his comrades, deserted, and decided to live the life of an ordinary farmer. However, the past overtook Thors - after seven years he was found and treacherously killed by mercenaries, and the little Torfinn was forced to join the gang of murderers of his parent.

Time Heals
Years passed. Thorfinn turned into a ruthless warrior, driven only by a thirst for revenge. All this time, all he did was trying to have revenge upon the murderer of his father. To have a chance to kill the murderer, Thorfinn attacked settlements and killed people, but this was not his goal in life, all he needed was strength to kill. He never gave a single thought that killing was a sin. No one cared about it back then, killing was normal as long as you did not kill the nobles. Anyways, Thorfinn went through some terrible childhood and his character always changes during the events of the manga; he changes, his views on the world change as well. During his wanderings, he will meet worthy people (including the great navigator Leif Eriksson) who will become his best friend, as well as many other prominent historical figures. Thorfinn will assemble a faithful team and decide to go to a mysterious country called Vinland - an ideal world in which there is no cruelty and bloodshed.

Columbus Did Not Discover America
The Vikings did. The fact that the Vikings discovered America before Columbus and even lived there for a short time is a confirmed historical fact. Torfinn Karselfni did exist and indeed went to Vinland. At the same time, the story knows almost nothing about his past, or any ties with Leif Eriksson, the person who discovered North America. In the manga, Leif is Torfinn's mentor and a close friend of his family. Yukimura skillfully mixes imagination, history and real people. And the fiction here is quite justified, for reasons I have already stated before. On top of that, there are many legends about the same King Sven (for example, he allegedly knew how to command waves), but all we know about his real life is a handful of disparate historical facts; there is almost no information about what kind of person he was and what he looked like. Yukimura wrote his biography from scratch; the genius. On the one hand, Vinland Saga also focuses on people that never existed. Lucius Artorius Castus, or King Arthur, for example, the history has failed to prove his existence so far. The author of the mangaka took the inspiration from the 2004 movie King Arthur. Sometimes the mangaka confuses the dates and adds anachronisms. In one of the chapters, the author depicts high mountains in Denmark, something you will hardly find in this country. But the author apologized and also promised that the fans would never see this mistake in the anime.

Vinland Saga Cannot Be Historical Manga
True. Yet, it still has fewer mistakes in comparison, for example, with the Vikings from the History Channel. Many people who know a thing, or two about the history of the Vikings highly appreciate the work of Mr. Yukimura. As a Japanese, he did something many Europeans could not, Yukimura shows a strange, yet unknown culture for him. Of course, it was not without some imagination, but it never harmed the overall work.

Advantages And Disadvantages
The plot of The Vinland Saga is a frequent subject of controversy and criticism. On the internet, you can find the opinion that the manga has completely deteriorated and “it used to be better”. Readers can be divided into two categories. The former love manga and look forward to every new release. The second - quit reading about 70th chapter. Vinland Saga is somewhat similar to the Berserk manga from Kentaro Miura, which is still criticized for moving away from the gloomy atmosphere. Some readers are satisfied with the author’s vision, while others hate such drastic changes in the plot and the overall atmosphere of the work. The first 54 chapters of The Vinland Saga are a prologue. A giant eight-volume prologue in which readers are introduced to the main characters and gradually introduced into the cruel world of the Vikings. This part of the manga can be considered as a separate and complete work with its own ending. Everything further is a completely different story.

It Does Not Feel Dark Anymore
After that, more humor appears in the story, and the manga becomes something you would call a slice of life than anything else. The manga is called Vinland Saga for a very obvious reason, this is not Thorfinn Revenge, the manga is called Vinland Saga. Which makes the main theme of the manga quite obvious. The whole manga has three parts: prologue about the youth of Thorfinn, his way of a warrior and the new life in Vinland. Watching the same thing over and over again is boring, so it is only natural the creator of the manga decides to change its vector that greatly. However, no matter what changes might take place; it is always interesting to follow the characters of Yukimura. But do not forget that this is a manga, not a historical reconstruction. Realistic fights are generally very rare for Japanese comics.

Vinland Saga Is Beautiful
A separate praise deserves the art of Yukimura. The author paints landscapes in detail, and the battle scenes are so dynamic and consistent that during reading you regularly want to go back and re-experience all the battle scenes. It is very difficult to think through and draw a battle in such details, which will be easy to “read” and will not turn into a mess. The “fighting” manga often has mediocre dynamics and sloppy detailing, Yukimura thought about everything. He paid special attention to the hands of the characters. He believes that hands are the most expressive part in a person. You can always fake a face, but your hands will never lie. You need to spend a lot of time in order to convey the true personality of the hero through gestures and movements. The art is so charming and breathtaking that you might imagine yourself a Viking, or an adventurer, when reading this masterpiece. This is something that you will find quite never, a mangaka that tried to make the readers’ experience something they will never forget. I do not know about you, but Vinland Saga is something I will never forget, it is not one of the most epic, it is the most epic manga and anime adventures I have ever seen and experienced.

But I Am Too Busy And Do Not Have Time For It
Then go and find the time, silly. This is something you must read, if you are after some kickass adventure manga with a historical twist, read this series NOW. There is also the anime if that is what you prefer.