The Vinland Saga Season 2 anime TV series is confirmed to be in production! The announcement included a Vinland Saga Season 2 trailer that teases the new story.

On February 11, 2022, anime news leaker AnimeHype claimed that Vinland Saga Season 2 will have a studio change. Rather than WIT Studio returning to handle the project, the anime TV sequel will reportedly be produced by Studio MAPPA. AnimeHype also claims the main staff will remain the same.

Allegedly, the Vinland Saga Season 2 anime production committee will be comprised of Vinland Saga manga creator Makoto Yukimura, publisher Kodansha, Studio MAPPA, and Studio Kafka.

Keep in mind this information has not been verified by an official source and should be treated as a rumor. However, there is a high possibility of the studio change being true since the employees who previously worked on Vinland Saga Season 1 at WIT Studio have moved over to Studio MAPPA.

Regardless of whether the studio change rumor is true or not, director Shuuhei Yabuta has confirmed that the main staff creating Vinland Saga 2 will mostly be the same as the first season.

“Time goes by really fast. This one year, our team had many problems to solve and we have made difficult decisions,” the director tweeted on July 25, 2021. ” But fortunately, the team composition is almost the same and we are motivated to concentrate on this season.”

Arguably, Studio MAPPA already has enough projects on its full plate. By February 2022, the studio had already announced Chainsaw Man, Jigokuraku, Dance Dance Danseur, Kakegurui Twin, and the Yuri on Ice movie.

Considering that the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie box office in Japan broke the records previously set by Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, it’s very likely that the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 anime will be announced on February 12, 2022. In addition, it’s possible there will be an Attack On Titan: The Rumbling movie, or at least Attack On Titan Season 4 Part 3, announced in late March 2022.

It’s been officially announced that the Vinland Saga Season 2 anime TV series will feature a returning director and character designer. However, the studio producing the second season hasn’t been announced yet.

“I wasted a half year due to illness. But now, I’m happy to be involved in this team again and to be able to concentrate on Vinland Saga,” tweeted director Yabuta. “I’ll give it my all. Thank you!”

“l’m so happy to be able to finally announce that Season 2 is coming,” tweeted Vinland Saga character designer/chief animation director Abiru Takahiko. “I believe that what l should do now is to continue drawing every day with dedication, trying to respond to all the fans’ expectations. Thank you all for your support. I plow fields again today.”

The official announcement of the second season was made during the Vinland Saga anime’s 2nd anniversary on July 7, 2021.

“The second season of the anime Vinland Saga is in production. I am very happy to be able to convey the news that the fans expected,” wrote Vinland Saga creator Makoto Yukimura. “I am also looking forward to the second season. Let’s wait for the follow-up news together.”

As Makoto-sensei mentioned, the official Twitter account is promising that there will be additional follow-up news released in future. The date of this second announcement wasn’t specified.

Celebratory artwork was released by the director, character designer, and the original manga creator.

Anime news leaker claimed early on that the second season would happen. For example, Spytrue tweeted out that “Vinland [Saga] S2 is on the pipeline.” Spytrue was also correct in claiming that “Vinland Saga S2 will not be in 2020, unfortunately.”

Why would the anime sequel be pushed out into 2022 and beyond? Spytrue claimed a giant-sized reason at the time, although it turns out part of his claim was wrong (see the release date section below for more details).

What’s more, Spytrue’s predictions about the Vinland Saga Season 2 release time frame were made before the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic swept the globe.

The good news is that the manga’s story of historical explorer Thorfinn is in the middle of its final story arc and will probably not finish until years from now. That means the anime series could stretch on for multiple seasons as a regularly renewed anime TV show.

Japanese publisher Kodansha has done everything possible to make sure the anime is the next big hit. The reviews and the hype surround the anime have been overwhelmingly positive. An anime exclusive on Amazon Prime, Vinland Saga has been listed next to Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Fire Force (Enen no Shouboutai), and Dr. Stone as the best of the season.

It’s a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of the horrors of the Viking wars set during the turn of the 11th century. The first episode drops audiences in the middle of the year 987 Battle of Hjörungavágr, but the overall story is a slow-burner that puts character-building and philosophy in the forefront.

The Vinland Saga characters are based on historical accounts of the period, with the main protagonist Thorfinn based on real-life explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni. Leif is, of course, based on the historical Leif Erikson, an explorer credited in modern times with discovering the North American continent where Vinland is located. Other characters are based on legends or invented, with Askeladd’s name based on a Norweigan folklore character that was known for being clever.

As previously mentioned, the studio making Vinland Saga Season 2 has not been announced yet. The first season was produced produced by WIT Studio Attack On Titan fame. Studio MAD BOX, a subsidiary of Madhouse, assists with the special effects.

Shuuhei Yabuta is confirmed to be returning to direct the Vinland Saga Season 2 anime. Yabuta also directed the excellent Inuyashiki: Last Hero anime. The director has a background as a CGI artist and a CGI/3D director (Attack On Titan), so it should not be surprising that CGI is used extensively in the battle scenes.

Hunter x Hunter animation director Takahiko Abiru is confirmed to be returning as the character designer.

Banana Fish and Ajin: Demi-Human writer Hiroshi Seko and Saga of Tanya the Evil writer Kenta Ihara wrote the first season’s scripts. Tokyo Ghoul composer Yutaka Yamada was in charge of the music.

The Vinland Saga’s opening theme song music for the first season was “MUKANJYO” by Survive Said The Prophet, while the ending theme song was “Torches” by Aimer.

Beginning with Vinland Saga Episode 13, the opening song (see above video) switched to “Dark Crow” by Man With A Mission. The ending theme song (see below video) changed to “Drown” by milet.

The Vinland Saga Season 2 opening and ending theme song music have not yet been announced.

The first season ended with Vinland Saga Episode 24, which aired on December 29, 2019.

• Updated February 11, 2022: Added Vinland Saga Season 2 MAPPA studio change rumor.

• Updated July 26, 2021: Director confirms that Vinland Saga Season 2 will be produced by mostly the same staff.

• Updated July 7, 2021: Vinland Saga Season 2 production announcement!

• Updated June 21, 2021: June 2021 announcement planned. Added new analysis to manga section.

• Updated October 29, 2020: Vinland Saga 2 teased during WIT Studio livestream.

• Updated September 28, 2020: Director teases Vinland Saga Season 2 anime.

• Updated July 22, 2020: Added Great Pretender news and relevance to Vinland Saga.

• Updated May 29, 2020: Attack On Titan Season 4 studio change confirmed. How that impacts the Vinland Saga Season 2 rumors.

• Updated December 27, 2019: Added a rumor that claims Vinland Saga Season 2 is not in 2020 due to WIT working on Attack On Titan Season 4.

• Updated December 16, 2019: Added Vinland Saga S2 rumor.

• Updated November 25, 2019: Added director’s comments about anime original content.

• Updated November 11, 2019: Added news of Vinland Saga manga’s ending/final arc and EP 18 delay.

This article provides everything that is known about Vinland Saga Season 2 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.

Vinland Saga Season 2 release date predictions

As of the last update, Kodansha, WIT Studio, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the exact Vinland Saga Season 2 release date. The production of a Vinland Saga sequel was announced on July 7, 2021.

Once the news is officially confirmed, this article will be updated with the relevant information.

In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when the Vinland Saga Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.

From a financial perspective, Amazon probably paid a pretty penny to make Vinland Saga one of their exclusives. Considering that streaming revenue is the most significant factor influencing the odds of a Vinland Saga sequel that’s probably a good thing.

Note: The following analysis ignores the 2022 studio change rumor since it hasn’t been confirmed.

The fact WIT Studio was chosen for the initial adaptation is a reason to suspect Vinland Saga Season 2 was already planned out for the future. As previously mentioned, anime news leakers claimed that the second season would be scheduled several years out.

How could this be? As it so happens, the animation studio is just very busy so it makes sense that starting the Vinland Saga S2 production would be scheduled to start in 2021.

For 2020, WIT created an original story called the Great Pretender, and the first episode premiered in Japan in early June 2020 (Netflix’s Great Pretender Season 2 release date was set for late 2020).

In 2021, WIT Studio released the memorable Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song anime. In 2022, WIT was already releasing the Ranking of Kings anime, an adaptation of a manga series, and the the Spy x Family anime release date was also in 2022. As for original stories, they’re planning Netflix’s Vampire in the Garden, the Grimm anime, and the Moonrise anime.

In May 2020, it was confirmed that WIT Studio is not animating Attack On Titan’s final season. Instead, Studio MAPPA is producing Shingeki no Kyojin’s final season with mostly different staff.

Unfortunately for anime news leaker Spytrue, that means his claim about Vinland Saga 2 was proven to be untrue. In the past, Spytrue had claimed that “Vinland Saga Season 2 is not [being scheduled] for 2020 [so] that [Attack On Titan S4 may be done] by WIT”.

This meant that Vinland Saga director Shuuhei Yabuta is now freed up from solely focusing on Attack On Titan since he’s been replaced by Takahiro Uezono. Director Yabuta was the 3D director on all of the Attack On Titan seasons except for Season 3: Part 1.

As previously mentioned, in fall 2020 the director was working with MAPPA for Attack On Titan: The Final Season, but he’s also working on an unnamed project.

Keep in mind that anime studios often work on several projects at the same time. Since most anime creators are freelancers the primary staff for Vinland Saga 2 could be partially different.

Even though Attack On Titan was not on WIT’s schedule for fall 2020 it makes sense that Vinland Saga Season 2 would be pushed out into the future. After all, the 2020 SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic has delayed the entire anime industry.

Assuming that early production work began in 2021, it’s possible that the Vinland Saga Season 2 release date could be in late 2022 or 2023.

Vinland Saga 2 was teased by the main staff for a long time before the official announcement

When Episode 24 was released there were also rumors floating around that a Vinland Saga movie was announced. That’s not true.

It appears the rumors started when the official Vinland Saga Twitter account said, “We have a special movie for all viewers.” That tweet was a reference to a special clip they released on Twitter/Youtube, not a full-length movie.

What is true is that the “special movie” clip definitely contains scenes from future story arcs. In addition, WIT Studio director Shuuhei Yabuta also seemed to be teasing anime fans on Twitter about Vinland Saga 2.

“This big incident changed everything for Thorfinn, but his story will continue!” the director wrote. “I pray that he will meet many people, and his eyes truly open to seeing the vast world. … I hope it was of benefit to [all of you] involved in [making] this work, and [I] hope to get together in another work!”

The Vinland Saga Season 2 announcement was teased even further by the director and the chief animation director for almost a year.

In September 2020, director Shuuhei Yabuta tweeted out three drawings of some of the main Vinland Saga characters. He told his followers that “there is a small easter egg” and asked everyone to figure it out.

On the bottom left of each artwork, there were Nordic runes, and each symbol represents an English character sound. If you spell it out, the runes say “sea son two”.

There is also Japanese text that has the characters grumbling about being made to wait.

Thorfinn says, “How long must we wait?” To which, Askeladd replies, “That’s why I hate kids…” and Canute says, “It’s soon… I guess…”

While the director was definitely teasing Vinland Saga Season 2, he also added a disclaimer by saying, “Whatever it [the easter egg] is, there are no deep meanings…”

In early October 2020, the director announced that he would be joining the CG staff at Studio MAPPA to help them finish Attack On Titan Season 4 (he will be the only returning staff from WIT Studio). But he also announced that he has his “own directing title” so he can’t “focus on AoT only”, which could be a reference to him directing the Vinland Saga Season 2 anime since his involvement in any other project hasn’t been confirmed yet.

On October 27, 2020, WIT Studio held an online livestream talk show where they discussed the Vinland Saga anime production. Notably, the director said, “I think most of the stories will be about the first season, but I would like to touch on as many stories as possible, including our recent situation, so I would be grateful if you could take a look!”

If the stories are about the first season, then are they planning a second season? The director addressed fans’ questions with a follow-up tweet.

“My messages may not satisfying, but that’s all I can tell you now,” Yabuta wrote. “I appreciate your understanding. We believe that this series will continue, and we’ll keep working on it!

On March 19, 2021, Vinland Saga character designer/chief animation director Abiru Takahiko tweeted, “Have continued to involve in the production of Attack on Titan. And I will also participate in The Ancient Magus Bride as one of the Studio KAFKA staff. But there is another work that I have to do the most. My most important work, you know. I plow fields again today.”

Notably, Takahiko is using the visual for the Vinland Saga Season 2 farmland story arc as his Twitter profile background.

It’s possible that the anime production committee had not made up their minds at the time so the director was trying to drum up support for the idea. Or, Vinland Saga Season 2 had already been secretly put into early production but they were not allowed to talk about it quite yet.

While the majority of the talk show was in Japanese, they did make sure to speak in English for a message to international fans. During that section, the director provided an update on Vinland Saga Season 2.

Vinland Saga manga ending by 2024 with final story arc?

The story of the anime is based on the Vinland manga series by writer and illustrator Makoto Yukimura. The manga started serialization in 2005 as a weekly shonen manga but eventually switched to a monthly seinen format by the end of the year.

As of June 26, 2021, the series was up to Vinland Saga Chapter 184. As of July 21, 2021, the tankobon books were up to Vinland Saga Volume 25.

Starting in October 2013, the official English translation of the Vinland Saga manga series began being released in North America by Kodansha USA. But the release is being handled very differently from most Japanese-to-English manga releases. The English volume numbering is different since every two Japanese volumes are combined as one omnibus book.

That unique release format means the English Vinland Saga release is not too far behind the Japanese version even though the numbers are lower. As of November 2019, Japanese Volumes 21 and 22 released as the English Volume 11. The Japanese Volumes 23 and 24 will be released as the English Volume 12 on October 5, 2021.

In July 2021, production company Twin Engine noted in its press release about the second season that the Vinland Saga mang has exceeded 5.5 million copies in circulation.

Many years ago, the creator claimed he was targeting Volume 25 for the Vinland Saga manga’s ending. Manga creators are notoriously bad at estimating the length of their stories and it seems very likely Makoto will exceed his earlier plans.

So far, the manga’s story takes place before the stories told in the actual real-world Icelandic Vinland saga. In November 2019, Makoto stated that he plans on creating four major story arcs: War, Slave, Eastern Expedition, and the final Vinland arc.

The Eastern Expedition arc ended with Chapter 166 and beginning with Vinland Saga Chapter 167 the manga creator began drawing the “last arc”. Although Makoto did not set an exact target for the Vinland Saga manga’s ending, he expects the final arc to take “several years” to create. The arc will exceed 50 chapters with over 1,000 pages.

Since the manga is released monthly that means Makoto could reach the ending by 2024 at the earliest barring any hiatus or delays. Since each manga volume has either 8 or 9 chapters the final volume could be Volume 28 or 29 and the book would likely release in 2024 or 2025.

Vinland Saga manga compared to the anime

WIT Studio has managed to take the beauty of the Vinland Saga story and enhance it with the brutality of animated warfare. Although anime fandoms often deride the usage of CGI in animation, WIT Studio pulled it off in a way that hardly distracting. Plus, can you imagine the budget if the whirling camera of the sea battles was all hand-animated?

Overall, the anime presented the story of the manga linearly with careful pacing that allowed the characters to develop fully. The story has been expanded upon in various ways, with some events reordered.

In fact, the epic opening scene showing Thors waging war in the Battle of Hjörungavágr was an original scene in the anime. The scene provided action showcasing Thors’ prowess as a warrior while also depicting Thors’ motivation for deserting the Jomvikings during battle. The anime then jumped ahead several years in time.

Instead, the manga did the reverse. The manga opened the first two chapters by showing an older Thorfinn assaulting a fortress and taking a commander’s head so he could win a chance at a duel with Askeladd. The story posed the question of why Thorfinn would seek vengeance against the man he was working for. By the ending of Chapter 2, the manga then flashed back 10 years to when Leif was regaling the children with tales of his sea voyages to the west.

The anime also introduced more original content in Episodes 5 and 6 by showing more of Thorfinn’s childhood, but then finally adapted Chapters 1 and 2 with Episodes 7 and 8.

The anime even fleshed out the characterization of Thorfinn by showing how his desire for a one-on-one duel started with him attempting to attack Askeladd in his sleep. In the manga, Askeladd said he didn’t fear ambush in his sleep. He knew Thorfinn was a prideful warrior who “would rather die than do something like that.”

From there the anime started to follow the manga in a more straight-forward fashion. The most significant change was expanded characterization for Asgeir and original content for Thorkell. The anime also had Thorfinn waking up in the barn because of loud music whereas the manga had Askeladd’s men raping an English girl.

But Vinland Saga Episode 20 and beyond is promising to be different from the manga based on comments from WIT Studio director Shuuhei Yabuta. On November 25, 2019, he noted on Twitter that since “there is no guarantee that there will be a continuation [Vinland Saga Season 2], it [the first season] must be made satisfying by itself. It’s a mistake to think that you can enjoy it simply by making it formless, so you must do everything you feel is necessary.”

The director also revealed that “there will be some adjustments from the manga in future episodes.” He explained that WIT Studio thinks the changes “necessary” in order to “enjoy this series as an independent content. I hope you enjoy our attempt!”

At the same time, the director promised that the overall “outline will not change”. That probably means that the anime’s final scene will remain the same as the manga, which isn’t too surprising since the ending of the War prologue arc sets up the conditions for the next story arc. After all, WIT Studio doesn’t want the anime to diverge so badly from the manga source material that Vinland Saga Season 2 became impossible.

One significant change to the manga’s depiction of events was to show a montage of characters in the dagger’s reflection rather than simply focus on Thorfinn’s broken visage during the ending of Episode 24. The odd part is that the montage wasn’t simply the past leading up to this critical juncture, it was also the future.

WIT went out of its way to tease the future crew since the montage shows Einar on a boat, which sort of makes sense because he’ll play a role in Vinland Saga Season 2. But the montage even dipped down into the Eastern Expedition arc by showing Hild in the mountains and Gudrid on the beach, which is odd since those characters don’t even show up until after Chapter 100, the ending of the Slave arc.

Due to all the original content, the anime had only adapted 20 chapters by the ending of Episode 10. By Episode 18 the anime had reached Chapter 36, which featured a fight between Thorfinn and Captain Thorkell.

Based on this pacing, WIT Studio targeted Chapter 54 of Volume 8 (English Volume 4) for the ending of Vinland Saga Episode 24. That offers the best stopping point with the story arc focused on Askeladd (the first story arc called War is considered a mere prologue!).

The good news is that the next manga story arc provides the perfect number of chapters for Vinland Season 2 to be a two-cour season yet again. It’s possible WIT won’t have to use any original content for the second season as padding since the 2nd arc is shorter (46 chapters compared to the first arc’s 54 chapters).

Since the third story arc, the Eastern Expedition arc, finished in November 2019 there are even enough chapters currently published for Vinland Saga Season 3 to be produced. However, the third major story arc is long enough (65 chapters) that it might need to be split up into separate anime seasons (or, the third season could be three cours).

Better yet, English-only anime fans who desire to read ahead of the anime can dive right in by picking up the English Volumes 5 through 7. Start by reading Chapter 55. The manga is available digitally via Apple Books, comiXology (currently on sale half off), Google Play, Kindle, Kobo, MyAnimeList, and nook.

Vinland Saga Season 2 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)

Note: This article was initially published before Vinland Saga Episode 24 aired in Japan. Complete spoilers for Vinland Saga Season 2 were added after the 1st Season finale had aired.

The last time we watched Vinland Saga, King Sweyn was assassinated, and Prince Canute executed Askeladd and seized control over the military. With vengeance and thus his sense of purpose taken away, Thorfinn lashed out at the Prince.

As punishment, Thorfinn was sold into slavery and he now he works to clear a forest for a slave master’s farm. Thorfriends befriends fellow slave Einar, who has tried escaping from slavery multiple times over the years.

The farm owner, Ketil, believes that even slaves are deserving of fair treatment. Thorfinn was promised he could buy back his freedom if he could succeed at farming.

Now that Thorfinn has a chance to focus on living, he can discover who he is and who he wants to be now that Askeladd is gone. As such, he gains a new respect for life similar to his father and now pursues pacifism as a way of life.

Meanwhile, King Canute of both Denmark and England desires to build a paradise for the Vikings, and he won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way. The problem is that Canute is running low on funds and resources.

It turns out Canute wants to seize the very farmland that Thorfinn is tilling to earn his freedom. Canute concocts an incident to force the wealthy Ketil family into becoming outlaw so he can seize their property.

After learning of Canute’s treachery, Ketil and his family become fugitives, and Canute pursues them after everyone escapes aboard Leif Erikson’s ship. Worse, Ketil is betrayed on all sides, including by someone he holds dear.

Canute invades the farmland with his top warriors and the fearsome Viking mercenaries. Ketil rallies forces by recruiting veteran fighters and farmers who owe him money, but Ketil’s forces are no match for Canute’s military.

Thorfinn finally gains his freedom, but he feels honor-bound to stay in Denmark and finish his business with Prince Canute. But how can a pacifist resolve such a tense situation peacefully? Can Thorfinn forge his path by finding the way of a true warrior?

Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Vinland Saga Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!