[TRIGUN]: LOVE & PEACE on No Man's Land
Oct. 19th, 2025 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamuzzy
So I have this personal project of mine, that I will slowly make myself stop using streaming services and go back watching physical media, starting with my own DVD collection I still own, because I have a lot movies that I bought in the past but still in its unopened package.
I chose Trigun (1998) for my current saturday morning cartoon (translation: 22 minutes of something I can eat breakfast with), and probably one of the first anime dvd I’ve ever bought from my own pocket money when the local anime culture thrived, but only recently finished collecting all volumes for the series. I remember even watching this on TV back in the days with localization, but I never actually finished so I’m looking forward to following through the adventures of Vash the Stampede this time!
This entry will be about the first DVD which contains the first 5 episodes of the series, and contains spoilers!
The story is set on fictional planet featuring sci-fi/western elements, called No Man’s Land, and focused on man called “Vash the Stampede” with a bounty of sixty billion double dollar and he earned this bounty (and the nickname “Humanoid Typhoon”) by accidentaly destroying an entire city with his supernatural powers. And when you have a big bounty on your head this big, it is inevitable that eventually bounty hunters will be after you.
(gif: schwarzfeesecond.tumblr.com)
Well, bounty hunters and insurance agents.
Because in addition, we get to know another two characters who accompanies the protagonist, and that is Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, employees of the Bernardelly Insurance Society (Meryl tell this to everyone in every episode :D) who are tasked to seek out Vash the Stampede, assess the damage the guy causes, and preferably try to prevent him do anymore.
(gif: schwarzfeesecond.tumblr.com)
Well, bounty hunters and insurance agents.
Because in addition, we get to know another two characters who accompanies the protagonist, and that is Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, employees of the Bernardelly Insurance Society (Meryl tell this to everyone in every episode :D) who are tasked to seek out Vash the Stampede, assess the damage the guy causes, and preferably try to prevent him do anymore.
The problem is, that… nobody really knows who is this Vash. Nobody saw him, nobody knows what he looks like, how he destroyed the city, what he is capable of, there are rumors of having red coat, mohican hair, maybe blonde, maybe a sharpshooter, maybe a pervert, maybe 3 meters tall, the point is, that there are only rumors about him, nothing else.
So who is this guy really?
...
A LOSER.
(gif: schwarzfeesecond.tumblr.com)
A big fucking loser.
...
A LOSER.
(gif: schwarzfeesecond.tumblr.com)
A big fucking loser.
From the first… okay, SECOND scene he is such a lovable, adorable loser, your stomach won’t be able to handle all that laugh, because every moment this guy spends on the screen is just PRIME, mostly thanks to the very expressive style of the anime and the brilliant voice acting of Onosaka Masaya (France from Hetalia, Azazel from Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san!, just to mention some of the roles I really enjoyed listening him). The guy is such an überloser, Meryl just can’t believe he is the infamous criminal Vash the Stampede, the Humanoid Typhoon.
But as we progress through episodes we actually realize that it’s not that Vash is a dumbass…
(gif: gearbit.tumblr.com)
…
…
Ok scratch that.
Vash simply doesn’t kill.
Which is quite strange contrast to the fact that he is a BIG BOUNTY on his head for genocide. But if you pay attention to the episodes, you never actually see him using lethal methods to put down bounty hunters or villains, and the bomb that caused landfall in the first episode also wasn’t his deed. He doesn’t confirm that he is the criminal everyone claims he is, but also doesn’t deny it. He has his shenanigans which creates the absolute dissonance in everyone he meets, sometimes he straight-out freaks out the hunters with his chill and playful demeanor, thinking that every of his pacifist attempt to disarm them is just an interlude to their ultimate painful death. But most of the time, you have the feeling that he absolutely doesn’t really have any idea what is going on around him.
Which is quite strange contrast to the fact that he is a BIG BOUNTY on his head for genocide. But if you pay attention to the episodes, you never actually see him using lethal methods to put down bounty hunters or villains, and the bomb that caused landfall in the first episode also wasn’t his deed. He doesn’t confirm that he is the criminal everyone claims he is, but also doesn’t deny it. He has his shenanigans which creates the absolute dissonance in everyone he meets, sometimes he straight-out freaks out the hunters with his chill and playful demeanor, thinking that every of his pacifist attempt to disarm them is just an interlude to their ultimate painful death. But most of the time, you have the feeling that he absolutely doesn’t really have any idea what is going on around him.
We don’t get to know too much about him aside that he wants to find someone. And he cannot be caught and thrown into jail until he finds that someone. And I have this feeling that no matter how pacifist this guy can be, Vash keeps a bullet just for this person.
As for the other characters, I enjoyed every moment where Vash made the existence a living hell for Meryl with simply just breathing. :D Because Meryl took it into her head that she will find Vash the Stampede and fulfill her duty to the company, she just can’t handle the dissonance that comes with her job because the guy they constantly bump into from town to town is just doesn’t seem to be the same the rumors are about. A compassionate but fiery woman with little to no patience to Vash’s shenanigans. And while at the end of 5th episode she have finaly confirmed herself that YES, THIS IS THE PERSON they were looking for… she still can’t accept it.
Milly? She just roll with everything that is happening around them, she is total chill. For now she is the archetype of the bit naive girl with inhuman strength, and bit of an airhead, but nevertheless unseparable colleague and best friend of Meryl.
As for the other characters, I enjoyed every moment where Vash made the existence a living hell for Meryl with simply just breathing. :D Because Meryl took it into her head that she will find Vash the Stampede and fulfill her duty to the company, she just can’t handle the dissonance that comes with her job because the guy they constantly bump into from town to town is just doesn’t seem to be the same the rumors are about. A compassionate but fiery woman with little to no patience to Vash’s shenanigans. And while at the end of 5th episode she have finaly confirmed herself that YES, THIS IS THE PERSON they were looking for… she still can’t accept it.
Milly? She just roll with everything that is happening around them, she is total chill. For now she is the archetype of the bit naive girl with inhuman strength, and bit of an airhead, but nevertheless unseparable colleague and best friend of Meryl.
But hey. Look who’s talking about being weirdo! It’s not look like the Insurance Agency girls' intro were much tamer regarding unhingedness. :D
Meryl and Milly just went into this shady saloon filled with ugly faces and a gloomy bartender, so confident and like it’s natural, Meryl slammed the table with the “I would like to have a banana sundae” and Milly wanting tea and mille-feuille, and the whole pub lost their shit. Lost their shit so much, they started to verbally harass the girls and things could have gone pretty physical too when the belt under Milly’s coat gave away and giant gun of 100 kg fell onto the table, accidentaly smacking one of the guy in the face while at it. And when Milly just so casually dropped the gun on her shoulder, like it’s made of feather, the guys decided these women can have their icecream or whatever and not to be thrifled with.
I think this intro settled the mood for a world building too regarding how women are treated. No Man’s Land is a violent place with violent people and women also needed to learn to protect themselves with any means and be proficient in self-defence at least if they want to travel ALONE without men’s company. Milly has a stun-gun, and Meryl hides 50 derringer gun under her coat.
Perhaps my only problem with this portrayal that while Meryl and Milly were established as someone who can take care of themselves, and yet they spend most of the screentime in damsel-in-distress situations so they have rarely any occassions where we see those weapons actually in usage, unless the plot demands it.
Perhaps my only problem with this portrayal that while Meryl and Milly were established as someone who can take care of themselves, and yet they spend most of the screentime in damsel-in-distress situations so they have rarely any occassions where we see those weapons actually in usage, unless the plot demands it.
Overall I enjoyed the first five episodes and looking forward to continue their adventures and see how the plot will unfold, how the characters will develop overtime!
