#vinland saga episode 1

[lunamond]

Love the parallels between Thorfinn trying to save Arnheid and Thors in episode 1 trying to save the runaway slave.

Both Thors and Thorfinn performed CPR, and both Arnheid and the unnamed slave asked for a better place to go to and see a vision of their already dead family members waiting for them in the beyond.

But my favourite part is how Thorfinn tells Arnheid about Vinland the same way Thors did. Not only does it show him becoming the man his father was, it also shows how he evolved from a young boy not understanding why people would want to abandon their home to flee somewhere safe to the person he is now.

[crystal-the-axolotl]

This has been sitting unfinished in my computer files for like a month now, but i finally finished it today, yay (it's not so bad, i'm actually liking how Canute's coat and eyes turned out)

[originaljiraiyan]

Vinland Saga Season 2, Episode 15: I don't want more burdens

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 15, “Storm”, we see Arnheid, a former slave, trying to tend to her wounded husband Gardar, who is being held captive by Snake and his men. However, Snake refuses to allow Arnheid to see her husband, but his men eventually allow her to tend to Gardar’s wounds. As the night progresses, Gardar breaks free from his restraints and kills one of Snake’s men, who had…

[givemebishies]

Someone said ALL of How It’s Made is on Tubi!!!! My life is about to completely become conveyor belts sorting systems and industrial sized receptacles

[whoishotteranimepolls]

ngl i'm a little disappointed that this is the poll senshi is losing in.

i love me a big lady but the artist in me looks at that screencap and is wondering what's wrong with her proportions? her arms look off bent like that, her head is so tiny, and why does her lower torso look unfinished?

it feels like people are voting for her just because they're tired of senshi winning rather than because they think his competitor is hotter.

noi deserves better.

Art major here. Totally understand what you're saying. Because this is the panel they're trying to replicate

But this is how it looks in animation something's off proportionally, don't quite know what it is it could also be a deliberate stylistic choice and I need to watch the anime to understand.

And this anime is handled by mappa and everyone knows they know how to make beautiful animation despite everything that we now know is happening behind the scenes so I don't know what's going on. My friend thinks it's because it's a Netflix anime. So the studio had all the veteran animators who knew what they were doing working on the last season of Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen season 1. So the studio was already very busy and Dorohedoro the 13 episode Netflix anime was probably very low on the priority list. There is also a chance in the middle of making Dorohedoro the production of Vinland Saga season 2 probably would have started so that pulled even more resources away. That's probably what happened is what I'm guessing. Hopefully everyone now understands why those poor animators are complaining. They're overworked. This was their release schedule for 2020 early 2021 they were busy. It's only gotten worse since then.

And I'm not saying Noi is ugly. She just looks better in that manga panel and I really can't find good photos of her from the anime that are not blurry. Other than that one. Please don't come at me. I am going to watch that anime because of how many times she has been requested for these polls.

[animebw]

I’m gonna be honest, I thought going into Winter 2023 that this was gonna be a bit of a dump season. One of those seasons where anime just kinda sits around farting and we all wait patiently for the actual Good Shit to start coming out again while pretending to catch up on our backlogs.

That... has not been the case.

Bofuri Season 2: Seriously, how does this show get so many incredible action cuts?

Buddy Daddies: Look, it’s probably not gonna be gay, but Spy x Family meets Tiger and Bunny is something we all need in our lives, okay?

Campfire Cooking in Another World: Couldn’t even last a full episode of this one before my eyes glazed over. Dropped.

Endo and Kobayashi Live: Now this is pretty charming! Pity the animation’s such garbage, though.

Giant Beasts of Ars: It’s a damn good season for fantasy anime, y’all.

Handyman Saitou in Another World: Could actually end up a halfway decent isekai SOL if it stops being so goddamn terrible at structure.

High Card: This is exactly my brand of Anime Bullshit(tm) and I am so on board.

Ippon Again: An actually great female-led sports anime? With major A Place Further Than the Universe vibes? Do not sleep on this one, y’all.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Damn. Good. Season. For. Fantasy. Anime.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible: As far as Takagi-san knock-offs go, this one is pleasant enough.

The Magical Revolution of the Oh Fuck It These LN Titles are Impossible to Remember Just Call it “MagiRevo”: Buckle up, folks, we might just have another Actually Good Isekai on our hands.

Malevolent Spirits Mononogatari: It’s Noragami but shit. Dropped at 1 episode.

Nagatoro-san Season 2: Yeah, turns out I’m still not above the occasional well made trash.

Nier Automata: Genuine question, is this gonna be an acceptable substitute for the game or will I just be spoiling the experience for myself?

Onimai: I fucking hate the Mushoku Tensei studio so much and I hate myself even more for deciding to stick with this one.

Reborn to Master the Blade: This one might be soon for the chopping block, but I’m holding out hope that its story can overcome its middling production values. We’ll have to wait and see.

Revenger: GEN UROBUCHI’S BACK BABY YEEEEEEHAW

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale: Take notes, Every Isekai: this is how you explore slavery in a fantasy setting.

The Tale of Outcasts: Feels like a 13-year-old’sedgy  Ancient Magus Bride fanfiction. Honestly, though? I kind of really dig it.

Tomo-Chan is a Girl: LET. TOMBOYS. BE. TOMBOYS. WITHOUT. SHAMING. THEM. FOR. IT. Dropped at episode 2.

Tokyo Revengers Season 2: At this point, I’m just watching out of morbid curiosity of how bad the manga’s ending supposedly was.

Trails of Cold Steel: The Northern War: Easily the weakest fantasy anime of the lot. Giving it one more episode to impress me, otherwise it gets the drop.

Trigun Stampede: Y’all are buggin, the CG here is incredible.

Tsurune Season 2: Good god, the glow-up from season one is nuts. KyoAni just does not miss.

Vinland Saga Season 2: Okay, manga readers, let’s see if watching a bunch of sad men farm is as incredible as you say.

[kiarou]

Season 2 of Vinland Saga has been everything I could have wished for. I’ve written before about my thoughts of season 1, and everything still stands but more so. Every frame of the show has been so beautiful and cinematic in a way that anime just doesn't get the chance to be now days. I really get the sense that each episode’s directors are really enjoying the opportunity to be artistic and cinematic. It's hard to put into words all the ways the show has touched me, so I tried to convey it in this painting

[i-have-no-enemies]

I really realize something new every time I rewatch or reread Vinland saga.

In season 1 episode 10, when Thorfinn is making it up to the Roman ruins, he starts thinking about Iceland, and when he thinks about Iceland he thinks about his father, and when he thinks about his father he thinks about the day he was killed, and his face is hidden by shadows but he’s clearly in pain when he thinks of that, of course he is.

I think that’s why he never talks about Iceland or his mother or Ylva, or thinks about making plans to return there once Askeladd is dead, because just thinking about home makes him think of his father, and that just hurts too much.

[haveyouseenthisanime-poll]

[neonscandal]

Thanks for answering my ask from a few weeks ago @neonscandal ..... If you don't mind me asking (again), what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before....

Thank you for asking in the first place! ❤️

Not at all unique is the fact that, as soon as I get asked a question about my top faves, I immediately draw a blank on everything I've ever enjoyed or watched, ever. 😅 I'm sure that's not the first time you've heard that. No need to apologize, as you can probably tell from other asks, my answers change regularly. This is my anime/manga blog so without any regard for order:

Life Lessons with Uramichii-Oniisan (anime) - depending on how old you are, there's a cognitive dissonance that occurs when you're no longer younger than nor the same age as your favorite protagonists in the stories you grew up with. This is the anime that eases the blow of that like the ibuprofen you now keep at home, at work and in your purse. And it's hysterical.

Attack on Titan (anime/manga) - There is something to be said for the eloquence of the exposition in this story which, when you know Isayama spent years shopping his art around to no avail because of the roughness of his style, makes perfect sense. While refining his art, he had all this time to pore over the story, hide little easter eggs so there'd be one string that gathered up all seeming loose ends. Just an incredibly interesting story to unfold. It's the kind of thing you wish you could read again for the first time but that's laughable because, every time you read it, you notice something you hadn't the last time.

To Your Eternity (anime) - This is the Grey's Anatomy equivalent in anime. Like, oh. You're emotionally constipated and need a good cry? Pick an episode at random. Watch a whole season if you're really about that life.

Sasaki to Miyano (manga/anime) - TBH I tied between this or Horimiya. They are not the same story but hold similar places in my heart. What I love about Sasaki to Miyano is how delicate it is. Yea, slow burn, whatever. But no, it just kind of gives Miyano space to come to terms with himself and Sasaki is the safety net that accepts him in all forms. Can love be this sweet?

Goodbye, Eri (manga) - Fujimoto is off the wall. Chainsaw Man is an excellent representation of that. Seemingly unfocused and always good for some sort of shock factor. I've been wanting to write, for some time, about how Fujimoto is like a trickster of a genie but I'll shelve that for the time being. Goodbye, Eri's disjointed narrative as if told in photographs and the art style which shows movement despite its static medium. It's a really elegant piece with a plot twist you don't see coming because, of course you don't. That, in fact, is part of the whole message of the story, isn't it?

Ranma 1/2 (anime) - Nostalgia. This was the first anime I ever watched that I locked into. It started me on a path of drawing, it encouraged me to seek out other shows.. this series is what started it all wayyy back then (okay, not that far back then, this was in the 00's). Tsundere x tsundere, yes but also just the immediate identification with characters who couldn't authentically be themselves because they kept bending and breaking under external pressures. I could very much relate and empathize even if the chaos of their universe was too fanciful for my own. Also, pretty sure Rumiko Takahashi is the longest running mangaka with consistent chapters in Shonen Jump for the last 40+ years is wild.

Vinland Saga (anime) - I honestly don't even know what to say about this story. But I think my favorite observation is a post I saw someone make where they wrote "No one will know the violence it took to become this gentle" with a picture of Thorfinn. And they were so poignantly right. Phenomenally twisted revenge story that is not at all satisfying. 10/10.

Link Clink (donghua) - This show is a vibe. If it hasn't been on a recommendation list yet, it's coming. The music, the art, the unfurling back story of the main characters as they untangle the lives of others? It manages to be both gutting and cerebral at the same time. Like every time I watch I'm like... I need to read the source material because the complexity of the concurrent storylines makes it such a head scratcher as to the larger plot.

Jujutsu Kaisen (anime/manga) - *Gestures vaguely to the rest of my blog.* We're still in the throes of how this story is going to play out which is nerve wracking and exciting for all its possibilities. I hold out a lot of hope that we'll see some stunning exposition in future chapters that we won't see coming.

Belle (anime) - It's just beautiful. 😘👌🏾 I talk a lot about my niece and nephew because I've turned them into my dorky little mini-me's. Also, being an aunt is like the best job. Belle is a movie that had them both gagged with the animation. If a show or series can get both of them to put their ipads, books, art supplies, etc. down, then I know I put them onto something special. Honestly, anything I enjoy with them makes it that much more special to me, personally.

This was lovely. I'll get back to posting lists soon, feel free to check out other recommendations!

[animefeminist]

Chatty AF 188: 2023 Spring Wrap-Up

Vrai, Alex, and Peter (with a guest appearance by Toni) try to cover the wealth of excellent titles in the 2023 Spring season!

Note: During this episode Vrai mistakenly attributes Yurikuma Arashi (2015) as having been partly inspired by the 1995 sarin gas attacks; the series that pulled inspiration from that event was Penguindrum (2011). We regret the error.

Episode Information

Date Recorded: July 22nd 2023 Hosts: Vrai, Alex, Peter

Episode Breakdown

0:00:00 Intros/Content warning Yellow Flags 0:03:25 Tengoku Daimakyou (Heavenly Delusion) 0:11:32 My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lvl999 0:14:33 Dead Mount Death Play 0:17:38 The Dangers in My Heart Neutral Zone 0:20:58 Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion 0:24:19 Otaku Elf 0:29:11 Hell’s Paradise It’s Complicated 0:36:32 Oshi no Ko 0:48:08 Insomniacs After School Feminist Potential 0:52:34 Yuri is My Job! 0:55:44 Skip and Loafer Sequels & Carryovers 1:00:53 The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 1:04:34 Birdie Wing: Girls’ Golf Story 1:08:27 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury 1:11:50 Tokyo Mew Mew New 1:15:15 VINLAND SAGA Season 2 1:20:45 Outro

Further Reading

2023 Spring Premiere Digest

2023 Spring Three-Episode Check-In

2023 Spring Mid-Season Check-In

Yuri is My Job! Retrospective

[lunamond]

I adored the entire 2nd season of Vinland saga (despite some minor gripes), and this final episode was great. Thorfinn's homecoming was absolutely beautiful, and his reunion with his mother was heartwrenching. I also loved the addition of the montage shot at the end, showing Thors, Askeladd, and Leif all the parental figures who had a major impact on his life.

However, I am genuinely upset that they cut out Thorfinn and Ylva's actual reunion. Obviously, they meet, and Ylva initially doesn't recognise him until their mother acknowledges him. But both these scenes (in both anime & manga) get played in a very comedic way. This works in the source material because this is almost immediately followed up by a very genuine scene where Thorfinn and Ylva have a very sweet interaction in which she cuts his hair.

Not only do they actually talk about him having been gone for more than half his life, but this is also the moment in which both of them go from treating each other as strangers to acting like siblings again. And while on the grand scale of things, losing this moment won't hurt the plot of the show in the long run, I do think it diminishes the characters and their relationships.

[originaljiraiyan]

Vinland Saga Season 2, Episode 6: The most important man on the farm

[aquariusdeanw]

The thing that I hate the most about this new weave of anime fans is that they’ve generalized anime like other people do with other types of media.

For example, now people only watch “S tier seinen” because they’re the best, they’re peak fiction, the only thing worth watching.

You can bet your ass that they limit their watching/reading to berserk, vagabond, vinland saga, oyasumi pun pun, monster, etc.

Now, there is nothing wrong with liking seinen, I love seinen. It’s just that “weebs” discard every other genre of anime because for them dark seinens are superior.

Otakus weren’t like that. The thing I liked about our fandom, was that there was no shame in enjoying other genre of anime.

Film bros would hate to watch romcoms, romance movies; for them there is a certain embarrassment around watching “girl movies”. But otakus? They didn’t care about that. Your lie in April? Good. Ano Hana? Good. Clannad? They’d call you and say that was the best and saddest thing they’ve ever watched.

The whole “the big three aren’t that good, these seinen should be called that”. Completely disregard the impact that those shonen had on the manga/anime of the time. Not to talk about the complete obsession over proving that your favorite shonen is better than another. I swear to you IT WASN’T LIKE THIS BEFORE. Yeah there may have been some rivalry between like one piece fans and naruto fans, but it was never this toxic.

The complete abandonment of “slice of life” anime because for them the episodes feel like filler, expecting shonen to act like seinen and getting mad when notorious shonen trope is used, and the absolute lack of patience when it comes to slightly slow pacing. I could go on and on, and I just wish that things could go back to the way they were before. We were all fucking bullied for liking cartoons at “our big age” and the fandom made us feel not alone.

There was no “You like demon slayer? MID. it’s just the animation that carries the story. My hero academia? BORING, it follows the same shonen tropes that all the other shonen have, just read aot at this point.”

I’m not claiming there should be the death of personal opinions, quite the opposite in fact. Lately it seems that everybody’s taste is the same. if you ask 5 people their top 5 anime, 3 of those anime will be the same for these 5 people.

We used to share our different interests, now it’s like everyone is locked in the same echo chamber.

Go watch your slice of life anime! Talk about that shōjo! Watch that weird horror with only 4 episodes and 1 OVA! Recommend the super predictable shonen that makes you laugh! Drop that seinen that you’re not enjoying even if everyone says it’s peak fiction! Read that sport manga with impossible moves to replicate in real life!

BRING DIVERSE GENRE OF ANIME AND MANGA BACK

[isekai-crow]

Cherry Magic / 30-sai made Doutei dato Mahoutsukai ni nareru rashii Episode 1

Overall Score so far: 8/10

Mainly because Kiyoshi Adachi knows he is in a BL, and is very aware of what might happen to him, and the short hand title is fucking hilarious. Cherry Magic. Cherri Maho. Man I love Japanese.

Also GOOD CROWS ABOVE THIS ANIME IS GENRE-SAVVY. It knows exactly what it's doing, and feels like it's going to deliver what it promises. A wholesome lovey dovey little story.

The whole 1st episode almost feels self contained in a way that will definitely let you know if this show is for you or not. Capybara pointed out that this seems to be a common recent trend with anime for their first episodes. We saw it in Dr. Elise, Frieren, and Dungeon Meshi kind of felt that way too.

My first impression that might not make sense to some people is that this is a toned down Doppo and Hifumi from Matenrou/Hypnosis Mic.

Also, WE'VE GOT TWO POWERHOUSE VOICE ACTORS HERE!!

Adachi is being voiced by the lovely deadpan of Kobayashi, Chiaki - His other roles I know being Langa from SK∞, Gabimaru!! (my beloved) from Jigokuraku/Hell's Paradise, and Mash!! from MASHLE, also this season! I haven't seen Vinland Saga yet, but other might know him as Askeladd! Kobayashi-san has a very particular voice that doesn't fluctuate much, but he knows when to show emotion that gives a good impact. Quote from Capybara - "They picked this guy for his dead pan, but can he emote? Oh, he's Langa from sk8, oh yeah, he can emote."

Kurosawa is voiced by Suzuki, Ryouta a super memorable voice! - Ryusui from Dr. Stone, Yuu ishikami from Kaguya Sama, BISCO!!! FROM SABIKU BISCO!!! That is some RANGE right there! Loud and Prideful, Quiet and Dark, and then a Screamy Boy. This is a younger VA who has had some great starting roles, and has already become a memorable and impactful voice, making this a very good match up!

Anyways, nerding out about voice actors aside, Episode 1 spoilers below!

At first it seems like we're going to get the standard tropes that come with the BL(Boys Love)/Yaoi Genre...

Adachi is ON HIS GUARD and KNOWS THE TROPES.

But the show immediately spins those very same tropes on their head! It's great!! It's been so long since I watched a BL, and despite knowing that the genre in manga form has mostly moved away from a lot of the dub-con tropes (unless you're looking for it of course), it's lovely to see something that actually feels like a proper and semi-realistic romance.

Kurosawa seems like a super sweet dude who's ALSO aware this is a BL, but also that gay guys don't just exist everywhere and that the chance of his crush returning his affection is low.

But. There is no way Adachi is straight. He's absolutely either bi, and/or gay + somewhere on the ace-spec (demi?) depending on how things play out from here.

I bet Adachi stumbled into reading a BL manga (or two or three or) at some point in his younger years, and it had more of an impact on his psyche than he remembers, lmao.

His fascination with knowing Kurosawa has a crush on him is adorable, and he's absolute confusion at stumbling across the other man's fantasies is hilarious.

The tension between them is beautiful when Adachi is pretending to sleep, and we all KNOW Kurosawa is thinking of his sleeping face and then playing it off as just grabbing his phone. I repeat, there is NO WAY Adachi is straight, lmao.

In response to this rhetorical question, No and Yes. If Adachi was the woman, saying yes would imply that she was aware she was being asked to have sex and giving consent (at least by Japanese standards I ASSUME? I've never been in this situation). And if Kurosawa was the woman, that is one very forward and direct lady who is absolutely Down To Fuck (Again, by Japanese standards afaik).

God, then they go out for yakiniku/Korean bbq the next day, and he finds himself enjoying the other man's company and wishing they could be friends, only to brush up again him and remember this man is in love with him. Adachi, you precious child, this is why you're so lovable. The immediate regret for taking the other man's feelings so lightly and not knowing what to do as he runs away is heart wrenching and OF COURSE THE EPISODE ENDS THERE.

It's a running theme that Adachi is worried about other's opinions and doesn't know how to rely on other, which tends to be a negative, but in this case, he's so conscientious of hurting Kurosawa by taking his feelings lightly. Even though he ends up hurting him anyways, I see this as a favorable take on the typical people-pleaser type character.

I'm not really looking to the implied trope of "Best Friend who also has a crush and claims to know him best" in the next episode, but since everything else has been subverted, I'm hoping that will get subverted too? Especially knowing that Best Friend-kun is in the secondary pairing from the PVs.

I WANT TO BINGE THIS. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO DAMN CUTE.

The HypMic Reference:

Adachi is a Toned Down Doppo, who is an over worked businessman at a black company who might as well be Canadian for how often he says sorry, but goes into Berserker mode and absolutely destroys his opponents when pushed too far or his partners are hurt, and is Hifumi's emotion support human.

Kurosawa is a super Toned Down Hifumi, who is the #1 host at a club in Shinjuku and has a split personality of the perfect princely boyfriend, and a charai/flashy and "it'll be fine lol" personality, who is basically a housewife for Doppo and is also Doppo's emotional support human.

There aren't THAT many connection points between the two, but still, I like the comparison, aha.

Anyways, My Hopes For This Anime, having NOT read the manga and not wanting spoilers, are that these two get together by half way through the season and then we get the "newly dating" stages of their relationship, and various mishaps that only serve to strengthen their relationship. They seem like a very good couple and it would be a waste for them to not get together.

If they don't get together until episode 12, I will be so blue balled that I will have to drop it if only to get the circulation in my brain back.

Hype for more!

ep2 ep3 ep4 ep5 ep6 <- these will eventually become links

[alethiometry]

Get To Know Me!

I was tagged by the lovely @findusinaweek!

Last Song: sk8er boi by avril lavigne LOL

Favourite Colour: eggplant purple

Currently Watching: the brothers sun, the sopranos, and vinland saga! i'm watching the brothers sun with a friend so i have to wait until they come over again this weekend to continue watching and the wait is killing meeeeeee

Last Movie/TV show: last movie i watched was the sound of music, last tv show was the brothers sun episode 3

Spicy/Savoury/Sweet: savory > spicy > sweet

Relationship Status: single! trying to grow out of my commitmentphobe era 😭

Current Obsession: lol does reading books count? lmao i'm really trying to read more this year and hopefully make more of a dent in both my to-read list and in books i have impulsively bought over the years and not yet read. it's fun! currently working through into thin air and the sun also rises 😎 (but also rereading the book of dust vol 1 as well because my attention span does not exist). mutuals feel free to add me on storygraph btw (but also tell me if you do so i know who you are and can add you back lol)

Last Google search: "is miata toyota or mazda" turns out it's mazda. my whole life has been a lie. i don't know why i even thought this, i neither own nor do i know anyone who owns nor do i think i've ever even seen a miata irl and if i did i definitely did not recognize it as such

idk who all has been tagged in this already but i'm tagging @aeide @winedark @basimishaq @seance @doomcountry if you want to do this!