scananga
[23][86] Upon its official release, the first volume was reviewed by Rebecca Silverman for Anime News Network. She described it as a "deeply engrossing book" and praised it for its attention to detail and "excellent period detail" in its depiction of medieval times, though expressed disappointment at the lack of interesting female characters. [87] Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading described the action in the first volume as "fast-paced, well-illustrated, and detailed" but "didn't transcend its premise"; she was instead more impressed by the scenes depicting family life, saying "that's where the insightful character work I expected from Yukimura came through. "[88] Carlson
also praised the scenes depicting domestic life as providing grounding context for the story, as well as weaving in religion and politics, finding Vinland Saga "a fascinating read on multiple levels". [89] In The European Middle Ages through the prism of Contemporary Japanese Literature, Maximen Denise from University of Tours noted how the lack of proper knowledge about the real life of Thorfinn in The Greenlanders and Eric the Red made Yukimura come across with a more original background for how the main character becomes a Viking during his youth, giving him a realistic characterization which contrasts with Thorkell's supernatural strength. According to the writer, while Thorfinn is originally driven by revenge, the manga also explores his desire for power, similar to "those who desperately struggle to find their homelands in the 21st century 'medieval' Japan". [90] Following the end of the first story arc, critics were surprised by Thorfinn's quieter personality and noted that despite his life as a slave, the plot manages to make his life with other slaves interesting. [91][92] The romantic relationship between Thorfinn and Gugrid surprised Manga News, though they still appreciated the handling of their wedding ceremony, which gave the narrative a lighter tone for a famously dark series. [93] Manga Sanctuary agreed, finding Thorfinn to live up to his father's legacy during his quest while finding his newfound family appealing, not only including his wife Gudrid, but also his adopted son who often defends him. [94][95] In regards to the art, Silverman initially felt it was "a bit generic shounen",[87] but praised the improvement of the art during the Slave arc. [96] The panel composition,
realistically barbaric violence, and attention to detail in constructing the setting were highlighted and compared with those found in Kentaro Miura's long-running series Berserk.
Retrieved
February 8, 2017. ^ Trumbore, Dave (August 25, 2015). "Super Violent 'Castlevania' Animated Series Coming from Producer Adi Shankar". Collider. com. Archived from the
original on August 26, 2015.
The
plot basically has morphed into MC training to defeat a unique monster who killed him for the first time in the game. It's left MC with a mark and he's begun encountering special story specific content no one in the game has seen yet, making him a target. The show does it's best to take itself seriously and be fun, but as I watch I can't help but think "what's the point?". This anime is basically a YouTube let's play but heavily scripted. The MC won't die if he loses in game, he's not being forced to play the game because of some outside condition. This is just a kid enjoying summer playing a game with us all along for the ride which makes the anime feel pointless. He will never be harmed or have to worry about any of the threats in game affecting him because he can just respawn and have nothing bad happen to his personage Irl like in comparison to SAO where you die for real if you die in the game or log horizon where you slowly forget the outside world everytime you die. I can't quite commit to taking this show seriously or giving it a positive review
when I don't feel it's even worth watching because it feels like it lacks a point. The other thing I take issue the most with is the dialogue about the perfect bug free AAA game gets pretty grating because our reality is far from this anime's premise. I can't help but roll my eyes everytime they gush about how perfect the game is.
TLDR The main reason why I have mixed feelings about this anime is it just feels like "what's the point"? It's just a guy leveling up his character and playing a video game, at least in SAO there were stakes and a reason to follow the plot.