Happy Lief Erikson Day! Hinga dinga durgen!
Every day is Lief Erikson Day when you’ve got a Viking-themed anime like Vinland Saga to watch! In fact, if you only watch thirty seconds to a minute of the show’s second season once a day, I’m sure that you could celebrate Lief Erikson for a whole YEAR while waiting for season 3 to come out! You just gotta pace yourself! Show a little restraint! Have a little self-contr-
You watched it all in one sitting, didn’t you?
I should have known. After all, Vinland Saga is one of the best anime that Wit Studio has ever made, and perhaps one of the best anime dramas ever written. So what other anime can you watch to fill the Lief Erikson-sized hole in your heart? Well … Vinland Saga may have corned the market on Viking-themed anime, but there are plenty of other historical drama anime series to watch. If there’s one thing famed Viking explorer Lief Erikson loved more than anything it was broadening his horizons. What better way to celebrate him than by broadening yours?
Samurai Champloo
Do you like watching aimless young men of a bygone era engaging in bloody sword combat? Of course you do! That’s why you’re here, aren’t you? Shinichiro Watanabe’s Samurai Champloo is the perfect anime to slake your thirst for bloodlust and existentialism. Set in a hip-hop influenced version of Edo-period Japan, the story revolves around two vagrant young warriors who pass their time doing what they do best: killing people. After they are saved from execution by a young girl looking for a “Samurai Who Smells of Sunflowers”, the pair decide to focus their bloodthirsty instincts on helping the girl on her quest.
Claymore
Claymore trades Vinland Saga‘s Dark Ages reality for medieval dark fantasy, with stunning results! The story follows a wandering warrior named Clare, who travels the world as part of a group of monster killers known as “Claymores”. A Claymore is a female warrior who is sent by a mysterious parent organization to rid human settlements of flesh-eating shapeshifters called Yoma. In order to be a Yoma killing machine, however, Claymores have to become part Yoma themselves. It’s a classic “become a monster to kill monsters” story, but no less entertaining.
Berserk (1997 version)
The late, great Kentaro Miura’s Berserk is the gold standard for dark fantasy stories. The 30+ year-running manga has inspired countless other works, including the Dark Souls video game series. The plot centers around a young mercenary named Guts, who ekes out a living fighting in the endless wars that plague his land. After killing a veteran warrior in battle, Guts attracts the attention of Griffith, the charismatic young leader of the Band of the Falcon mercenary group. The pair team up and the Band of the Falcon becomes one of the most sought after mercenary organizations in the land. Things are going great! Until the demons show up … and Guts finds out the hard way where Griffith’s true loyalties lie.
Golden Kamuy
Set during the Russo-Japanese war, Golden Kamuy tells the story of “Sugimoto the Immortal”, a fearless young soldier who helped lead the Japanese army to victory. After the war is over, Sugimoto ventures out to seek the “Golden Kamuy”, a fabulous treasure hidden in the wilderness of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido. In order to better navigate the wilderness, Sugimoto teams up with an indigenous Ainu girl named Asirpa—who is seeking the men who killed her father in pursuit of the same treasure.
Castlevania
Nine times out of ten, anime video game adaptations are mid. Castlevania came along and—forgive the pun—changed the game. The series centers around Trevor Belmont, the last living descendant of the monster hunting Belmont family. While Trevor prefers to spend his time drunk in bars, he is called into action in order to combat the looming threat of Dracula, who has returned to the world in order to fulfill a curse.
Demon Slayer
More vengeance-obsessed young men from days of yore! Demon Slayer‘s Tanjiro Kamado once lived a quiet life selling charcoal in turn of the century Japan to support his family … until the king of demons came along and slaughtered them. Tanjiro vows to eliminate all demons from the world and joins a clandestine order of demon hunters who share in his goals.
Chainsaw Man
While Chainsaw Man might not be rooted in ancient history like Vinland Saga, the two series both feature a lost young protagonist who finds stability through violence. After his deadbeat dad borrowed money from the Japanese mob, the young Denji had to make a living killing devils in order to pay his father’s debts. One day, Denji meets a cute little dog-like devil with a chainsaw for a nose, and the pair become inseparable friends. After Denji is killed by a devil while attempting to pay the last of his debts, his canine companion enters Denji’s body, causing him to become a human/devil hybrid.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Obviously, you’re a fan of angry young men of the past, but what about angry young men of the future? Cyberpunk: Edgerunners tells the story of a young boy named David, who decides to become a criminal for hire to make ends meet in his futuristic cyberpunk world. The series is beautiful, thoughtful, and of course, violent as hell.
Dororo
Thorfinn is mad because a man killed his father, but the plight of Hyakkimaru from Dororo is arguably worse. Hyakkimaru’s old man sold his young son’s body parts to demons in exchange for political power during Japan’s Warring States period. Now the boy has to travel the land killing demons in order to get his missing parts back. If you like your anime protagonists to be riddled with daddy issues, this one is for you.
Drifters
Do you wish that there was an anime that is set in all of the time periods? Then you’re gonna love Drifters! After the Warring States period samurai Shimazu Toyohisa is mortally wounded in battle, he is transported to an alternate plane of existence where warriors throughout history must team up to do battle with supernaturally powerful beings who wish to destroy the human race. If only Thorfinn had been there, he could have ended the conflict in one episode.
(Featured Image: Wit Studio)
