Vinland Saga 'Review'

Well it's been a decent enough Christmas so far, except that my parents - who in my absence have joined some sort of leather-clad biker gang complete with the mentality of sixteen year olds - have 'new best friends' who came along to Christmas Day with the dad that only speaks Italian and a Filipino bike mechanic... So yeah, as a good friend of mine would put it, I'd have been a lot happier with steel in my hands today but poor Sympathy is sitting in my bed the axe I have recently inherited is at home.Partially hiding behind yesterday's food colouring, I've taken my laptop and been reading a manga called Vinland Saga all day instead of being particularly sociable. Which isn't to say I'm not grateful for things... My brother got me this adorable plushie of L from Death Note, and I'm getting my first driving lessons sometime before I go back to Manila. The house is just too busy. But I've decided - since I'd only actually read a chapter of Vinland Saga before today - that I love the manga, and it deserves some free advertisement, because I can only find them on Amazon in French and, well, they're better than their acclaim.

Vinland is, essentially, Canada, and the manga is set (I think) between about the year 995 and 1013. Or at least so far. Not that it's actually yet set in Vinland, of course. With the exception of flashbacks, it's set in a Dane-occupied England, around 1013. As far as I'm aware - although I'm no expert - it's been historically accurate so far, and it centres around a lad from Greenland (Thorfinn) who wants to avenge his murdered father (Thors). It's written by Makoto Yukimura and it is - bar .Hack// - the only manga I've ever been able to get this deeply 'into'. I've advanced 26 chapters in one afternoon... Warning, possibility of spoilers/language to follow.

This chap is Thorfinn himself; he was much cuter as a little kid in the flashbacks, trust me, and kicked some serious ass at one point with a wooden sword - reminding me of a little kid I once saw running around in an airport waving a toy lightsaber around like a pro... Yeah, that kid was awesome. Anyway. Thorfinn is hit and miss. He's a good guy but his head is not screwed on. He's the son of Thors, and he was raised on the stories by Leif Erikkson. Yep, the Leif, who in Vinland Saga, is somewhat of a crazy sleaze until he starts to focus. Thorfinn's main lot in life is a desperate urge to avenge his murdered father by - and I actually loved this plotline once I worked it out - working for his father's murderer in order to earn the chance to slaughter him in a fair duel.

This is Thors, who is Thorfinn's father. He is epic, and there is no other way to explain it. He's a brilliant warrior and all in all, a good man. And he genuinely cares about his family even if he did sort of hold his daughter's head like a ragdoll a second or so after she was born and refuse to name her. That's when he became a good man, ironically. Anyway! His ending is amazing, and I won't spoil it, but even if you know it's coming, you'll gasp.

This is Askellad (and you have no idea how many times it took me to spell that right...), Thorfinn's boss and Thors' murderer. He's actually pretty cool too, from the first few panels before you realise how much of a bastard he is. And a smug one, at that. But he's got a pretty clever back story which hits so many bells in my head it's uncanny. I can't wait to read on and see where this goes, as well as if Thorfinn gets to kill him or not, so we'll see, we'll see.

And finally, this is Ylfa, Thofinn's sister. She starts off wanting to be slapped, and then goes on to do something amazing and run out to sea with the men to stab a whale so that her family gets first cut of the meat. There's an extra at the end of volume 3 (chapter 21 or so) dedicated to making her seem a little less like a bitch.

Positive Notes:

1. Doesn't butter over the bad things. There is blood, there is backstabbing, there are allegations of rape, and it does nothing to deny that they happened, or to pretend that the vikings were a bunch of lovely, lovely people.
2. It's consistent in it's art. There's no real change over time, which is one thing that bugs me about the excessive number of webcomics I read?
3. Any people who can carry a viking longboat over a hill and convince the locals that they're about to be attacked by a dragon is automatically fantastic, no?
4. I love the clothing so very much. Ditto the art, the weapons, and the one-liners. And being a horrible horrible person, watching someone spin Thorfinn around my one arm as easily as he would a ragdoll cracked me right up.
5. The geographical/political intrigue is usually something that would bore me, but here, it's fascinating. And balanced out with romance, humour and battle so... yey.
6. Gratuitous violence <3

Negative Notes:

1. There's the occasional character who is drawn with a head that defies all rules of actually being able to live and breathe. Like a guy in the first battle, and one aptly nicknamed 'Conehead' later on.
2. Thorfinn, although a good character, delves into the realms of emo from time to time...
3. I wish there were more flashbacks, but I wouldn't see how it would be possible. Mind you, I have another 30 or so chapters to go, so I might strike gold!

All in all? I'm going to be childish, and give it a 9/10.