Question about that one guy who explained pacing in Vinland Saga

I was at a local anime meetup about 3 months ago and this dude spent like 20 minutes explaining why Vinland Saga season 2 felt slow. He said it was intentional because the show wanted you to feel the stillness of farm life. I remember him saying "the pacing IS the point" and it stuck with me. Now whenever I watch a show that drags I try to think if it's on purpose or just bad writing. Has anyone else had a random fan totally shift how you see a show?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan9017h ago

Hear him out but I really think that guy was making excuses for bad writing. Vinland Saga season 2 had some great character moments but a lot of those farm scenes could have been cut down. It felt like they were stretching episodes to fill time, not making a deliberate choice about pacing. I get that stillness can work in a story, but there's a difference between making a point and boring your audience.

jenny476h ago

Used to think the farm arc was slow myself, but now I see every scene actually mattered for Thorfinn's growth.

tarabell2h ago

I get where you're coming from, but the farm arc being slow is kind of the whole point. The show was trying to make you feel that heavy, stuck, boring existence that Thorfinn was living through. If they cut it down, you wouldn't really understand why he changed so much or why the smaller moments hit so hard. It's like how a movie about depression can't just skip the boring parts, you have to sit in it with the character. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have a show that trusts me to be patient than one that rushes through everything to get to the action.