A Contrast to Berserk: Vinland Saga

In 1989 one of the most influential ongoing manga came to fruition. Berserk by Kentaro Miura is a dark fantasy tale of revenge. Guts, the black swordsman, wields his monstrous dragon slayer in a struggle for revenge against his former friend Griffith. Tearing through demonic apostles, trolls, giant crocodiles, Guts continues his pursuit for vengeance, gradually being consumed by his rage as the narrative progresses. It is the first series that I have invested the time to not only watch every anime adaptation of (even though the 2016-2018 anime was a disaster) but read the manga start to finish. Since catching up on Berserk, I have been on the lookout for something of equal quality, something to fill the void, and I found it recently in an anime/ manga called Vinland Saga. Upon catching up to where the anime was at in its release of episodes, I could not wait for the next to update, and so for the first time since Berserk, I binge-read the manga up to its recent chapter within two weeks. So, Here'ns The Thing, while I was reading the manga, I was hit with a revelation, the reason for why I loved Vinland so much, the parallels between Vinland and Berserk are immense. Even the art presented in the manga felt so similar to Miura's own style. I felt like I was experiencing Berserk again for the first time, but then Vinland Saga did something to set itself apart, it evolved, and instead of being a show that just paralleled Berserk on many levels, it became Berserk's antithesis. 

Now when I say antithesis, I should be a bit more clear. I don't mean that Vinland is the direct opposite of everything Berserk. I got into this show due to its harsh atmosphere that in many ways paralleled Berserk. What I am speaking of is that the core philosophy of the two, in particular, the relationship the main protagonists have with the concepts of rage, and vengeance. During the Golden Age arc of Berserk (which in the manga serves as a prequel of sorts to inform the reader of the events that have led to this point of the story), we see Guts go from a man searching for a purpose to swing his sword, to finding that purpose in the prejudicial hunt of his former comrade Griffith, the godhand, and the demonic apostles that do their bidding. Vengeance is the core foundation of Guts' life by the time of the main story. And it's because of this that it's very easy to compare both him and Thorfin (the protagonist of Vinland) upon the first impressions and to me, I feel that this direction is intentional. 

Where Berserk builds up the events of Griffith's betrayal during the Advent throughout the Golden Age arc, the event that sparks Thorfin's quest of vengeance was the death of Thorfin's father at the hands of a roguish leader of a band of Vikings named Askeladd. Thorfin stays close by to his father's murderer, staying attached to Askelaad's group of mercenaries, all in the eventual hopes to challenge Askelaad to a duel and eventually avenge his father's death. After all, this is what the tradition of the world dictates. Right off the bat, Thorfin is consumed with rage and his quest for vengeance is all he really has, and it's because of this that fans of Berserk like myself are so immediately drawn in because he feels like Guts. During this initial arc, Thorfin is a soldier to a Viking Warband marauding through England. He does a lot of morally questionable things in hopes to finally get his chance to kill the man who killed his father. However, just like the events of the Advent were built up in Berserk to serve as the moment that would define Guts' future character motivations, so too was Vinland Building up to something that would put Thorfin down the true path of this narrative, and the lynchpin to this narrative is the character Askeladd, the focus of Thorfin's rage and vengeance. 

If Thorfinn were to be compared to Guts, then the character that most resembles Griffith would be Askelaad. Askelaad leads a band of Viking mercenaries and is the person who killed Thorfinn's father. As the lens of the narrative is focused on Thorfinn, Askeladd is detestable initially. He's arrogant, he's cruel, and he's constantly sending Thorfin off on suicide missions, dangling the carrot of "if you do this I will consider you worthy to fight." However, as the years progress for Thorfinn, his relationship with Askeladd becomes more blurred. While Thorfin still holds onto that hatred and vengeance, Askeladd is revealed to be a lot more than what he had initially appeared to be. That in fact, his entire persona was an act, that Askeladd is a man of honor looking for a king worth serving to save his true home. And just as you as the reader are getting to the real meat of this character, and are starting to really enjoy the part he plays in this tale, he dies, and not by the hands of Thorfin either. Just like that, the person who was the focus of Thorfinn's entire existence for the past decade was gone. Thorfinn has nothing to live for and this breaks him. The next few arcs are about Thorfin discovering new purpose, and discarding the things that held such sway in his old life: vengeance, violence, rage, and hatred. He finds a new purpose in creating a new world free from the cycle of war that plagues the old world in a land of plenty, a land he only heard stories of as a kid, a land called Vinland. 

Berserk is a story about how one man's rage and hatred power him through unworldly struggles. It's a testament to the power of human will and it's absolutely breathtaking in both design and narrative. Vinland Saga is a story about the broken cycle of the world and that the true path of a warrior should be to put an end to that cycle. Guts is a character constantly surrounded by enemies, Thorfinn is a character that sees enemies in no one. While it may be parallel to Berserk in its atmosphere and design, it very much stands opposite in its message. Because of that, Vinland has become a story that stands equal to Miura's seminal work.