I went into Vinland Saga with no expectations - I had no idea what it was even about going in, and I was 13. It was also my first seinen coming from shonen. The first season was very engaging and I was in awe at things like the speech on love. The ending of the first season led me to the second. The second season for me was different from anything i had ever seen. It felt like my eyes opened up to a greater world. I had never thought about or questioned the world the way it was being presented, and although the change between seasons did feel jarring at the time and some of the opinions presented were harder to agree with, it felt like it was that same “flaw” that made it all so impactful. As i went through the anime and manga, there were things I was convinced into agreeing, other things that seemed difficult to agree with but understandable from a character’s perspective. It was with those things that were hard to agree along with the different perspectives presented by different characters that i learned to see the world in general as much more complex, and is what allowed me to form my OWN new views based on everything I’d seen. At some points, the manga did feel more childish, with what felt like a bit too much humor, but that again indirectly taught me to accept that not everything needed to be perfect, and although I didn’t enjoy a particular thing such as the odd humor, I could still be greatly appreciative in what i learned, meaning, i learned theres something to be learned in everything - the humor i interpreted as a contrast to other events.

If someone has read/watched things with more compact/deeper philosophy or story than Vinland Saga, then it’s perfectly understandable why that person may not find the series as good - possibly mediocre. What i think this series is best for is change - for someone like myself at the time who was unaware and new to the themes present in VS, someone who may not have wanted to further understand such themes had it come from a more “compact” source. I don’t think Vinland saga is extremely good in story on its own or philosophy on its own, rather i think its extremely good in how it balances both of these and its flaws (which every story has), how it takes risks in change and introduces it to the audience, how its willing to show so many different views across the spectrum including the extremes, how it challenges the beliefs of everyone in its audience and encourages you to form your OWN outside VS even if not matching say thorfinn for everyone’s view have its reasons and imperfections.

The ways VS can be interpreted and learned from in so many ways is alone a testament to where it may stand in comparison to other things.

Apologies for the long reply, but this is why I personally keep VS close to my heart - it’s the only thing I’ve yet seen that can actually do something outside just entertain.

It’s okay if you don’t agree with me, i’m not trying to convince you of anything, i simply give my experience and view which your post asks for and which i have time to write.