Fans of the historical anime Vinland Saga cannot wait for the second season’s premiere in January next year. The wait has been long, with the 24-episode-long Season 1 having aired in 2019. In fact, at one point, there was no guarantee that a Season 2 would ever come to be. But now fans can rest assured that it is on the way, and while they wait, there are some relevant news for those who would like to relive the exciting first season of this epic story. It seems like there are now two distinct dubbed versions of Wit Studio’s TV adaptation.
The story created by Makoto Yukimura centers around a young Viking named Thorfinn, son of a great but retired Viking commander, Thors. When Thors gets murdered, Thorfinn becomes determined to avenge him. With vengeance in mind, the young Viking joins the band of mercenaries led by his father’s killer, Askeladd. However, far more than a revenge plot, this is a coming-of-age story of self-discovery. The first Season corresponds to what can be understood as the prologue of the story, with its second Season kicking off the story in a completely new direction, as one is able to tell from the trailer released in June.
The two English dubs were done by Houston-based Sentai Filmworks and by Los Angeles’ Voice & Script International (VSI). Both versions have their own separate English voice cast. You can check out the differences in a video released by a fan account on Twitter.
Vinland Saga was first released in North America on Prime Video, but this version was the Japanese dub with English subtitles. The main voice cast for this version is Yūto Uemura as teenage Thorfinn, Naoya Uchida as Askeladd, Kenichiro Matsuda as Thors, Akio Ōtsuka as Thorkell, and Kenshō Ono as prince Canute. This past Friday, however, the series left Prime Video.
In May 2021, nearly two years after the anime’s original release, Sentai Filmworks acquired home video rights and later released a new translation as well as a new English dub. This version can be currently streamed on the anime streaming platform HDive, which is priced at $4.99 a month. Sentai Filmworks’ dub includes as a voice cast of Mike Haimoto as Thorfinn, David Wald as Askeladd, Jason Douglas as Thors, Joe Daniels as Thorkell, and Josh Grelle as Canute. Also in 2021, VSI produced their own English dubbed version of Season 1. This second dub can be streamed on Netflix. It includes Aleks Le as Thorfinn, Kirk Thornton as Askeladd, Greg Chun as Thors, Patrick Seitz as Thorkell, and Griffin Burns as Canute.
Vinland Saga Season 2 is currently in production by Studio MAPPA and will premiere in January 2023.
