Vinland Saga depicts a mythology in the most realistic from. You’ll be disgusted seeing the horrors of war yet before you throw down the manga you’ll realize it has established a tight grip on you. In the most basic form the manga deals with war and slavery. But the allure of the manga lies in its depiction of revenge and forgiveness. The story follows the adventures and misadventures of Thorfinn who after witnessing the murder of his father swears revenge. Revenge can drive a man insane and its effect on 6 year old boy is incomprehensible.

Manga depicts gore scenes with grotesque beauty. True nature of war is shown without holding anything back i.e. Pillaging villages, raping and selling the victims into slavery. It also takes us into the psych of a warrior’s mindset showing how a warrior justifies killing in the promise of Valhalla. The first half deals with warfare and is successful in reeling in the readers with lucid action scenes and Viking fantasy world. It focuses on the warrior's perspective and readers can’t help falling into the disgusting notion of glorifying war. The geographical explanations are both accurate and educating; it is significant in contributing towards the reader's understanding of the Viking world.


As we go deeper the manga offers a lot more than bloodshed, it shatters the war glory illusion and tells the story from the point of view of the victims, the slaves. It’s a mature and bold thing to do because a lot of mangas focus on glorifying violence which becomes their selling point. The character development of the Protagonist, Thorfinn is marvelous. But this is also a negative point, the series focuses substantially on the protagonist that I felt that no justice was done to secondary characters. If more time was invested in other characters the development would have been immaculate.


The manga gives us a lovely message. Thorfinn who was an assassin takes up a plough in his hand instead of knife and realizes the horrors he has caused. War causes withering while agriculture brings out growth in people. Understanding the consequences of the atrocities causes by power-hungry warmongers, Thorfinn vows never to fight and turns the other cheek towards is attacker. This reflection of Gandhian philosophy is powerful and sends a strong message to the readers. Not only Gandhi but George Orwell’s “1984” WAR IS PEACE can be seen in the actions of King Canute who uses brutal force to establish utopia.


Vinland Saga is an ongoing manga and there is a lot of potential for character exploration; I hope they start focusing on other characters, till then it remains one short of masterpiece rating.