Which stories will Kobayashi oversee in Season Two?

YABUTA

The depiction of characters’ psyches becomes an important element in Season Two. We needed Kobayashi’s expertise in interpreting the story and character emotions, so we asked him to draw even more storyboards than last season. That being the case, I would say he will be spending more time on storyboarding than on the production side this time. While that means more work for the episode directors, I believe the production side can learn a lot from Kobayashi’s storyboards. Production also has my support, as well.

KOBAYASHI

As you may already be able to tell, Yukimura and Yabuta praise me a lot, but luckily, I’m the type of person who is encouraged by praise, so they both provide me with a supportive environment. Yukimura is even kind enough to send me his feedback on all of my storyboards.

YABUTA

Until more information on Season Two is released, we’re just quietly working on the project. The constant pats on the back from Yukimura and the editorial staff has been really encouraging, especially given the temporary absence of reactions from our audiences.

KOBAYASHI

I know what you mean. When you cook something, it can be torture to wait to hear how the food is. In that sense, there is no one who can give more precise feedback than the original story author. Season One can be classified more or less as entertainment, so we had some idea of how our audiences would react. Season Two, on the other hand, is a bit heavier, so Yukimura’s feedback was a big support for my mental health. In drawing the farm life scenes, Yabuta’s policy was to start with a solid portrayal of Einar’s character, which was quite a challenge for me.

YABUTA

Season Two marks a big turning point in the story, and Kobayashi worked on all the storyboards for episodes in which a resolution or conclusion is reached. It was also an important goal for me in directing Season Two to show how Thorfinn processes the effects of external stimuli within himself. Einar, for example, has a huge influence on Thorfinn in the sense that their meeting and the bond they’ve grown to share gives birth to other feelings within Thorfinn. It is then these feelings that influence Thorfinn’s dreams, but it would not be convincing if there is no depiction of character development along the way. As in the original story, there are many scenes in the anime where characters are confronted with imaginary beings in their dreams and psychological landscapes, and it was necessary to categorize each of these scenes and depict them in a way that felt realistic for each character. In order to do that without overextending the sense of realism, we sometimes had to alter the tone and the way these scenes were directed.

KOBAYASHI

In the first few episodes, Thorfinn is like an empty shell and doesn’t talk much, but he is still meeting and interacting with people at this point. Depicting what was going on in his head at the time was difficult for us to depict.

YUKIMURA

I know what you mean. That constant listless and spaced-out face of his is hard to work with.

YABUTA

I think the hardest part was when the range of Thorfinn’s subtle expressions increased ever so slightly. I had to really think deeply about how intentional that was. I was also careful about how to depict and direct the level of Einar’s anger towards violent people.

YUKIMURA

That was really the peak of the season’s first half.

KOBAYASHI

In the first half of Season Two, it was extremely important for us to focus on how Einar comes to terms with the violence he has been subjected to. That part alone could be an entire anime on its own, so it was a colossal task. One of the highlights of Season One was the depiction of Thorfinn’s “blank decade,” but I can already tell that Yabuta’s depiction of Einar will be the highpoint of Season Two.

YABUTA

All I wanted was for the anime’s version of Einar to be on par with his persona in the original manga. I mulled over what I needed to do to make this a reality and that became the first episode. After that, I considered how to direct the important scenes between Thorfinn and Einar. If you want to talk about a challenge, that was it!

KOBAYASHI

That’s exactly why we had to put so much energy in giving Einar life in the anime. I think that part of him just turns out to be a regular nice guy in the original story, if not almost omitted completely.

YUKIMURA

Yeah, I drew Einar as a man with an open-book personality, since he’s what Yabuta calls a “superhero.” In the anime, however, I noticed you really dug deep into who he truly is with the breadth of his experiences and thoughts as a regular person.

KOBAYASHI

I think the audience will find his portrayal in the anime shocking because it puts into image what was simply spoken as simple dialogue in the original story. Once that has been done once, we must go through with that method all the way to the conclusion.

YABUTA

It’s in this way that Thorfinn realizes that Einar is clearly having more painful experiences than he is himself. Einar serves the purpose of constantly moving Thorfinn forward, so they complement each other perfectly. Einar is essentially Thorfinn’s source of support and guidance. I wanted to emphasize this attractive side of Einar, just as the original story did.

KOBAYASHI

As I read and re-read the original story in the process of putting it into visual form, it became more and more extreme and difficult to interpret. I kept wondering about the meaning behind a specific scene, a specific frame, or even a specific character expression. Precisely because we are creating a medium that consists of a flow of images, it leaves a strong impression, which must be settled with more powerful images.

YABUTA

Exactly. As long as we’re dealing with a flow of images, the production side’s subjectivity can step in and set another interpretation on the table. A lone reader can enjoy the original story without having to worry about things like this, but, as a director, I sometimes find myself unable to create the same effects in the anime that were possible in Yukimura’s manga. At times like this, I have to stop and think about how I need the characters to move.

KOBAYASHI

Not to sound like a broken record with the food metaphor, but we have to carefully consider how to chew the things we eat and present them to others.

YABUTA

Exactly.

YUKIMURA

I’m an amateur when it comes to anime production, but I do realize that it isn’t possible for a director and his staff to create something new simply by transferring manga as-is to a completely different medium. That’s why I completely entrusted my original work to Yabuta’s crew from the very beginning and let them call the shots. After I saw the storyboards and script, I knew I had made the right decision.

KOBAYASHI

Your work has really moved us, so we have been doing everything we can to figure out how to put images to time and make the whole thing taste good. As a storyboard artist, my efforts are first directed toward you and Yabuta. After that, I have the fans who love this story as much as I do in mind, as well as all of those who have yet to read the original work. Please be assured that what we’re making here is by no means my own original VINLAND SAGA.

YABUTA

In Season Two, there will be even more depictions of Thorfinn’s inner psyche. The events that take place around him and his connections to people will become more important than ever. In fact, the inner workings of all the characters will be depicted even more intensely than their physical battles. There are a few more weeks until the season begins to air and stream, but I hope you are all looking forward to it.