I recently finished watching a portion of the anime called Vinland Saga, which I started at the suggestion of my son who loves this genre, with the warning "mom, it's not a shonen, it's a seinen" which left me speechless, as I didn't understand anything.
I, in the midst of my ignorance on the subject, asked him: Is there a tatakae? and he just laughed and said, "sure, you are going to like this one."
This story comes from Japanese realities, and in fact, although in the others I have seen they do not say they are in that country, it is noticeable by the clothes and the cultural elements characteristic at a general level. But in this case, everything unfolds in Europe, and takes us to know the history of conquests, deaths, and betrayals that happened between the monarchs of England and Denmark.
The barbarism represented by the Vikings (Danes) and their determination to conquer territories, lead them to seek Thors, a dissident warrior, who fakes his death to go with his little family to other lands and live a peaceful life.
But when tensions are high, there is no way to make others understand that violence is not the only way to conquer. And even though Thors attends the meeting, his answer would be the same: they would not collaborate with the war.
Only an unexpected twist in the story changes everything and generates the general plot of this anime, and that is that Thorfinn, his 6-year-old son follows him and is taken as a hostage to make him change his mind. Faced with this scenario, Thors acts not as a warrior, but as a father, and in order to save his son, succumbs to his opponents.
Sorry for the spoil, but it was necessary to fully enter the story of this saga.
Thorfinn, at just 6 years old, decides to avenge his father's death, being driven by hatred to commit acts unsuitable for a child of his age, but which shaped him along the way, to turn him into an agile and deadly warrior. At 17 years old, he was a full-fledged machine of hatred and violence, typical of those children who have had to adapt to a hostile environment to survive.
But at a point in life, he needs to think, what is his reason for staying alive, and after so much time just reacting to his surroundings, he is left empty inside, and his attitude changes completely.
In the path, wars and conquests were left behind, to focus on starting to build and not destroy as he did for a long time. And this construction was in two ways: external, by clearing an entire forest to be able to sow in those lands, and internal: understanding the words his father had told him as a child, which by then, he had not fully understood.
A child who, after becoming an adult, and having committed atrocities in the name of hatred and a war that was not his own, managed to conquer himself, when he understood that "no one has enemies."
Recientemente terminé lo que va del ánime llamado Vinland Saga, que empecé por sugerencia de mi hijo amante de este género, con la advertencia "mamá, no es un shonen, es un seinen" lo cual me dejó sin palabras, pues no entendía nada.
Yo, en medio de mi ignorancia al respecto, le pregunté: Hay tatakae? y él solo se rió y me dijo: "seguro este te va a gustar"
Esta historia sale de las realidades japonesas, y de hecho, aunque en las otras que he visto no dicen que están en ese país, se nota por las ropas y los elementos culturales característicos a nivel general. Pero en este caso, todo se desarrolla en Europa, y nos lleva a conocer la historia de conquistas, muertes y traiciones que sucedieron entre los monarcas de Inglaterra y Dinamarca.
La barbarie representada por los vikingos (daneses) y su empeño de conquistar territorios, hace que manden a buscar a Thors, un guerrero disidente, que finge su muerte para irse con su pequeña familia a otras tierras y vivir una vida tranquila.
Pero cuando los ánimos están caldeados, no hay forma de hacer entender a los otros, de que la violencia no es la única vía para lograr conquistar. Y aunque Thors se presenta a la reunión, su respuesta sería la misma: ellos no colaborarían con la guerra.
Solo que un giro inesperado en la historia cambia todo y genera la trama general de este anime, y es que Thorfinn, su hijo de 6 años lo sigue y es tomado como reen para hacerlo cambiar de opinión. Ante este panorama, Thors actúa no como guerrero, sino como padre, y en pro de salvar a su hijo, sucumbe ante sus oponentes.
Me perdonan el spoil, pero era necesario para poder entrar de lleno en la historia de esta saga.
Thorfinn, con sus apenas 6 años, decide vengar la muerte de su padre, siendo llevado por el odio a cometer actos impropios de un niño de su edad, pero que lo fueron formando en el camino, para convertirlo en un guerrero ágil y mortal. A sus 17 años, era toda una máquina de odio y violencia, típico de aquellos niños que se han tenido que adaptar a un ambiente hostil para sobrevivir.
Solo que en un punto de la vida, necesita pensar, cuál es su razón para mantenerse con vida, y ante tanto tiempo solo reaccionando al entorno, se queda vacío por dentro, y su actitud cambia por completo.
En el camino, guerras y conquistas quedaron atrás, para abstraerse en empezar a construir y no destruir como hizo durante mucho tiempo. Y esta construcción fue en dos sentidos: externa, al talar todo un bosque para poder sembrar en esas tierras, como interna: entender las palabras que su padre le había dicho siendo niño, y que para entonces, no había comprendido del todo.
Un niño que luego de adulto, y de haber cometido atrocidades en nombre del odio y de una guerra que no era suya, logró conquistarse a si mismo, cuando entendió que "nadie tiene enemigos"
Foto/Photo by: Imdb pictures gallery
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