5 out of 5

250 pages of solid drama, action, comedy, character development, and world building; it never flags or adds filler – it never manipulates without reason; there’s never a wasted panel. As Yoshimura writes in some of the bonus material at the end, Vinland Saga is an attempt to refigure the usual shonen hero, and Thorfinn, indeed, spends all of these pages trying to avoid fights as much as he can, but not without an acceptance of the reality of his decisions, old and new. He is therefore obviously not the out-and-out violence all-star of some protags – Yoshimura cleverly made that, essentially, the prologue to the story – but he is also absolutely not the naive do-gooder that’s also a general template; Thorfinn’s journey is threaded constantly with grief, and regret, and legitimately impossible choices – happenstance pushing you as hard as it can in a direction you don’t wish to go. And even with some of these narrative devices laid bare in the extras, it’s no less stunning seeing it executed so cleanly on the page: visual metaphors (the dead stalking Thorfinn) are not forced; themes – comparing and contrasting how different characters react to the same input – feel like natural inclusions in the story.

Volume 9 collects an amazing set of ordeals, both dealing with the detritus of the past: first in Hild, daughter of someone slain by Thorfinn’s former clan, interestingly repurposing some “advice” given to her then for her own path of vengeance; and later via former foes and associates from Jomsvikings times. With Hild, Yoshimura weaves in brilliantly affecting blips from her own past, informing us of her motivations; with the latter, because of the series patient pacing, these are interactions that all carry immense weight.

And yet: there’s time for humor, via some downbeats inbetween these stories, shopping for supplies, and further fleshing out the band of followers that ride with Thorfinn, making them more and more human.