#yukimura makoto

[kurrusu]

[midnight-in-town]

There's never any winning side in war (aka Vinland Saga does it again)

The new VS chapter

is

heart-wrenching.

"No one has any enemies"

"That's my life's work : how to deal with men who love war and murder, who are utterly indifferent to the pain of others"

PS : amidst such a bleak chapter, bless these two T_T

(with the war and Thorfinn asking everyone to leave I don't know, I don't know if they'll go anywhere, but it's the thought that matters)

[vitos-ordination-song]

[manga-and-stuff]

Source: Vinland Saga ヴィンランド･サガ

by Makoto Yukimura

[arbitrarygreay]

According to Yukimura Makoto, in the year 2075, we will have people permanently living and working on the moon and in orbit, but no one will have internet, wireless, mobile phones, tablet computing, cloud data storage, or even flash drives.

Also, televisions will still use RCA cables.

[cathianemelian]

You have no enemies.

[midnight-in-town]

This arc parallels the Ketil Farm’s arc so badly it’s hurting my feelings because Einar eventually didn’t understand what caused Arnheid to die so miserably. The whole purpose behind Arnheid’s village is lost if they end up fighting the Lnu people.

Everything Yvar and Einar said just highlights that Thorfinn was right. In front of violence, Thorfinn once said he’d always choose to run : It may seem cowardly, but each time he brought in more people who came to believe his ideology had some value. His dedication to non-violence even allowed him to build an entire village that lasted peacefully for a while and to gain Hild’s forgiveness.

Thorfinn is constantly moving forward, even now trying to find a way for himself and his family to live free from war and violence, thinking about what this will mean for his children, even if it’s not in Vinland.

Meanwhile Einar is regressing, launching a similar catastrophe scenario to the one that once got Arnheid childless and enslaved. Einar speaks of his pain and the villagers’ pain after they spent so much time and many resources building their home, not once trying to understand the other side’s pain and fear of losing their own.

It’s easy to see who Yukimura-Sensei is rooting for between the two brothers and obviously Thorfinn’s vow of non-violence is the right answer. And it will always be the right answer, because violence, in all shapes or forms, is always the easiest answer.

einar literally carrying arnheid’s symbol and saying he will fight which is completely going against what arnheid would have wanted and what he and thorfinn agreed to on the farm is literally insane. at the same time, einar’s feelings about not wanting to abandon vinland is justified but using it as an excuse to continue to colonize the land and bring violence to vinland is making it reallyyy hard to support his side, especially since ivar and his cronies agree with einar. yukimura has done such an amazing job at showing how this ideology of violence can persist in so many different ways, “it’s just for defense!”, “they’re gonna attack us if we don’t attack first!”, which just shows how thorfinn’s dedication to non-violence is even more impressive and that he’s deserving of being redeemed by hild

[blackcat-brazil]

Vagabond / Berserk

Vinland Saga / Origin

[kaidenchii]

I love Thorfinn he's my pal

[midnight-in-town]

Leaving Vinland...? (spoilers for ch205!)

After reading the chapter, I actually think we had it coming, even if they went through all that trouble to reach Vinland and create a peaceful village of settlers there. :D

I mean, remember Ketil's Farm arc?

Like I said before, I think the last arc parallels it a lot (like the War on the Baltic Sea arc mirrored some parts of the Prologue).

Back then, when confronting Canute's violent ways, Thorfinn was asked whether or not he would kill Canute to stop him (illustrating that "righteous violence" Einar talked about in a previous chapter) and he answered...

...that in front of violence, he'll always choose to run (and he did so against first Sigurd and then Garm as well, when they first met, during the War on the Baltic Sea arc).

Now in the last arc, faced with a devastating epidemic in both Europe and Vinland, Canute chose his usual approach of "killing a few to save the many" (ch202)...

whereas Thorfinn once again chose to run in the latest chapter:

Don't get me wrong, it's understandable why some readers might side with Einar and Hild after reading ch205, because in the past, whenever Thorfinn would choose to run, it was always in order to make it to Vinland and to create there "a country of peace".

Now that they're driven out of Vinland though (or, more accurately, that Thorfinn intends to leave in order to avoid war), it makes sense that many would wonder "but to go where?!":

However, I think wondering about "where" is missing the point Yukimura-sensei is trying to make.

Obviously, we were always led to think that reaching Vinland was the end goal of Thorfinn's journey, because it was also Thors' dream to go live there in peace. That being said if, even after reaching Vinland, Thorfinn and the settlers trigger a never-ending conflict that many generations after them will inherit and recreate, then how are they doing any better than all the violence they fled from all the countries at war in Europe?

Peace is not just about "where", but also about "how" and "with who".

In my opinion, Hild forgiving Thorfinn was the conclusion of Thorfinn's journey to reach Vinland: this success is why he can forgive himself and start living free from guilt.

But Yukimura-sensei just chose to illustrate that Thorfinn's road pursuing pacifism and living his life without guilt doesn't just end by reaching Vinland: it is also about his family's survival and about what he passes onto his children.

Like Thors did with him, despite Thors never reaching Vinland.

Well done, Yukimura-sensei, that's an excellent lesson for this series' final arc. Can't wait to see how it continues!

(PS: Gudrid is giving birth next month :D and I love that the birth of Thorfinn's second child happens precisely as he says he doesn't want his kids to inherit war in Vinland :D)

[captura-salvaje]

[moriivei]

Fighting artblock with Canute sketches (I can’t he looks funky when I draw him)

[starline-art]

I did these to be used as stickers with the Expression Meme by MagicalPouch. You can freely use them! Just dont repaint or modify the drawings.

[manga-and-stuff]

Source: Vinland Saga ヴィンランド･サガ

by Makoto Yukimura

[animefeminist]

“Every Inch of My Imagination”: Mangaka Yukimura Makoto on writing women and slavery in Vinland Saga

Spoilers for part one of Vinland Saga

Yukimura Makoto came recently to NYC for Kodansha House to discuss his landmark series Vinland Saga. A work that has been running for nearly twenty years, Vinland Saga could best be described as the greatest anti-war epic of our times—sprawling in scope, it charts the rise and fall of Norse empires and the first European exploration of the American continent through the eyes of Thorfinn, an Icelandic young man who dreams of creating a world without war or slavery. His path getting there is brutal, however: first leaving a trail of bodies in his wake before he is enslaved and loses everything, out of emptiness he is then able to find renewed purpose. 

AniFem had the privilege of being able to attend a Q and A with Yukimura-sensei, hosted by Joe Pascullo of the New York Public Library. The Q and A was wide in scope, spanning from Yukimura’s inspirations for creating Thorfinn to his plans after finishing Vinland Saga in the near future. (Answer: he’s very tired! Even mangaka need breaks.)

Thorfinn’s story was very personal to Yukimura. “He is like me,” Yukimura said. “When I was little, I was just an up-to-no-good, terrible kid. Angry all the time, and thank goodness I didn’t have a knife in my hands!” (At this, the entire audience laughed.) He continued: “Thorfinn reflects myself, and also the kind of person I aspire to be.” 

Anime Feminist also had the remarkable opportunity to interview Yukimura about Vinland Saga, writing female characters, portraying slavery and the role of Buddhist Philosophy in his work. Our interview with him, which was one of the great honors of my time in anime journalism, is below.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[cathianemelian]