“That’s the only concern I have”: Makoto Yukimura Believes the Entirety of Vinland Saga Can be Summed Up into One Iconic Phrase
Vinland Saga‘s Season 2 ended on a perfect note, bringing Thorfinn’s remarkable journey to an end in the most profound way. The second season ended on June 20, 2023, and fans have been showering praises on the way the series handled the protagonist’s character development.
Thorfinn went from a revenge-obsessed boy to a wisened man who only seeks peace. The rejection of violence as a solution shows how markedly different Vinland Saga is from other shonen animes. Numerous shonen and seinen animes revolve around the theme of vengeance and revenge as personal goals. However, Thorfinn breaks the mold when it comes to anime protagonists.
The Vinland Saga Quote That Went Viral
Vinland Saga follows the story of a boy, Thorfinn, who vows to avenge his father’s death after being killed by Askeladd, the leader of a mercenary group of Vikings. By a twist of fate, Thorfinn ends up in Askeladd’s crew, growing up to be a fearsome warrior.
Also Read: Every Iconic Anime Character Voiced By Billy Kametz
However, when Askeladd is killed by someone else, Thorfinn is left feeling hollow since for the longest time his goal was to kill Askeladd with his own hands. After being taken as a slave, he reevaluates his life choices and decides to renounce violence. Once he fully understands the depth of his father’s words, he utters the famous quote: “I have no enemies.”
The farm where Thorfinn was enslaved under the ownership of Ketil was invaded by Canute’s army. Despite being beaten mercilessly, he utters: “I have no enemies” so the people don’t engage in another war.
What Does The Quote “I Have No Enemies” Embody?
The act of non-violence from Thorfinn’s end led to the quote “I have no enemies” becoming viral on social media platforms. Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to share memes of the now-famous quote.
Tanjiro is the definition of I have no enemies pic.twitter.com/vn1zftnGJT
— Don🇯🇲 (@ily_don_) May 3, 2023
The interviewer asked Makoto Yukimura, the creator of Vinland Saga, what it meant for him to see the fans applying Vinland Saga to their own conflicts and dilemmas in life. Yukimura replied:
“I always reflect how I truly feel in my stories, so the fact that people resonate with my expressions, I really appreciate that.
As a matter of fact, the quote “I have no enemies” is everything that I wanted to say through the story of Vinland Saga, summarized into this one phrase. Every time I see someone changing their profile name to something like, “I have no enemies,” it kind of makes me feel really happy because I think this phrase reflects a stubborn attitude. I think in our lives, we encounter somebody whom we avoid and call an enemy, and when we say “I have no enemies,” that is the stubborn attitude to hold onto. I hope we’re not asking too much of those people who believe in those words. That’s the only concern that I have.
However, just by the fact that I believe “I have no enemies,” I think that encompasses all the fights that we don’t have to fight as well.“
The quote from Vinland Saga has triggered endless memes and posts from fans while they compare Thorfinn to revenge-obsessed Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan. The quote is certainly thought-provoking and attempts to break away from the tropes set for popular shounen animes.
Vinland Saga anime adaptation is available to stream on Crunchyroll and the manga can be purchased from Kodansha.
