Studio MAPPA director Vinland Saga takes full responsibility for Snake’s lack of plot.
Shuhei Yabuta, the director of the Viking anime, apologized on Twitter for not delivering on the Snake character’s promised history. As Anime Dork reported, the director intends to include an entire episode dedicated to the fan-favorite character’s past. Unfortunately, they ended up cutting Snake’s background story from the show. Yabuta attributed his inexperience and desire to focus on the main story of the show as the reason why this content ended up on the cutting room floor.
Snake’s plot will be an anime exclusive
The plot of Snake, not explored in the manga, was provided to Yabuta by the creator of the Vinland Saga, Makoto Yukimura. Mangaka has promised fans that this new story will appear in Season 2 and added in his apology along with Yabuta that this didn’t come true. He also supported Yabuta and asked him and the production staff to avoid stress. This plea is particularly notable because Studio MAPPA has an unfortunate history of its employees being overworked.
Although Snake doesn’t receive a complete history in the anime, there are traces of his unique past that are incorporated into the series. For example, in Episode 17, he calls himself “The Warrior of Miklagard”, a reference to the Viking name for the country Istanbul, which translates to Great City. This implies a history outside of the show’s Scandinavian setting, further visible in the unique non-Danish weapon, a curved sword. Yukimura has promised fans that he will explore the character’s past in the future.
How is Vinland Saga’s Anime different from Manga
While the latest installment doesn’t include the promised discovery of Snake’s past life, it still has additional content not found in the source material. One notable deviation is the addition of a lengthy scene in Episode 17 that explores Gardar’s life and his relationship with his son. This anime-only content gave longtime fans a new experience and helped the episode earn critical acclaim.
Season 2 of Vinland Saga saw the film change tempo, as action-heavy sequences were replaced mostly by character development and drama. It follows Thorfinn as he is put to work on a farm as a slave, where he meets Einar, a slave friend. The pair were quickly forced into a conflict despite Thorfinn’s attempts to leave his dark and violent past behind. This season has seen many highlights, with Episode 9, “The Oath”, considered by fans to be one of the best parts of the show.
The latest episode of Vinland Saga, “The Road Home”, premiered on Crunchyroll on May 1. The next episode has a scheduled release date of May 8.
Source: Twitter, via Anime Dork