Further interrogating agency in life through the lens of slavery, this maintains a much more compelling arc. The fights, though far fewer, have much more weight and still look great. And there is something new that the others didn’t really have: emotional investment from building out a solid character.

What does still bother me are the tonal shifts that manga is annoyingly seemingly always for. Cartoonish “funny” beats just feel out of place and juvenile. Either commit to the tone fostered or learn how to insert humour organically. It is jarring and feels entirely unnecessary.

It also distressingly is on a path where Thorfinn is radicalized all the way to naivety, believing there’s such a thing as no war and only peace. It’s confronted slightly when he has no choice but to fight. He sure takes a long time to figure stuff out, though. Hello! Your dad was a warrior too and thought fighting was worthwhile toward a different purpose. Having a come to heathen Jesus moment feels a bit trite. I just hope it’s there to have him navigate to something more nuanced and mature.