mamuzzy | Entries tagged with trigun

Trigun really gave me the Breath of Fire IV vibes with Vash and Knives, especially compared to Ryu and Fou-Lu.

Vash and Knives are aliens (Rem believed them as angels), raised among humans, but Knives was radicalized by how one of the crew member treated him and his brother as a monster, and how humanity treated the world around them general. Especially the fact that the humanity were on this mission of seeking a new home after deplepting the resources of Earth which made Knives think about humans nothing more than parasites. While Vash hanged on every words of Rem, their caretaker and the person who saved them, taught them love and respecting life. And I think this is why the ending hits really good, because when he visits Knives, he is like: He enjoyed the human life. And by end how it turned out, he intends to show the kinder side, what it means to be a human.

Fou-lu and Ryu are one soul separated by time and space, and they are destined to unite in one body one day.
And you know... there were points where Fou-Lu actually considered to simply just disappear and live a normal life. Despite being ruthless to his enemies, he was actually forgiving to the mortals, thinking, it's in their nature to be selfish, immature and illogical. But the more they pushed him to the edge, the more he was convinced that humanity don't deserve mercy. While Ryu - not knowing about his destiny - he had companions right from the start who cared about him, cherished him, he experience kindness, loyalty, but also the darker sides of human nature too. Ryu had a chance the experience what it means to be human. I especially love this change in the manga adaption that instead of Ryu make Fou-Lu merging with him, they simply just start travelling together.

I just really like this trope of gods/aliens/otherwordly creatures trying to find the meaning what it means to be human, trying to understand them and how environment and people around them affects them while trying to arrive to their own conclusion about humanity.

|| TRIGUN || 1998 || Anime series || Action, Post-Apocalyptic, Space-western || PG-13 ||

I already started writing about the second DVD once, but it ended up being a whole entry about the sixth episode, which leads me to the conclusion that it would be much more obvious and comfortable choice for me to blog from episode to episode, since I can easily get stuck on the details and invested in lore, and I wouldn't be able to write a normal summary even if they held a gun to my head.

But also I always forget that this website is still not social media. I can take my time to write lengthy posts about things, and I don’t have to write anything under one breath-take. So I think this time I was finaly managed to summarize what happened in the 6-10 episodes.

What I noticed that the structure starts to become less episodic, and rather aiming to pick up smaller arcs that are relating to each other, and even direct continuations from the previous ones.

Episode 5: Hard Puncher

Episode 6: Lost July

The city of Inepril is in danger of decay due to their broken powerplant, so when Vash shows up, the bounty on his head is their only chance for them to make things better: by killing Vash, they use the bounty to call engineers to repair the powerplant and the city can prosper again. They were even willing to hire wanted criminals to catch and kill Vash, which of course backfired on them, because the Nebraska family didn’t spare the city itself, nor its residents, so in the end Vash saved everyone and HE collected the bounty from the Nebraskas. Vash gave the money to city which could finally afford to invite scientists and engeneers to Inepril. And I wrote about episode 6 [in this post].

Episode 7: B. D. N.

Episode 8: “And Between the Wasteland and Sky…”

Episode B.D.N. connects to the previous ones in a way that Vash boards the same steamer that brought the engineers to Inepril and continues on his journey. But the train gets hijacked by the bandits called Bad Lad Gang, and they got help from the inside too from a kid who has personal ties to this particular train too.

Meryl and Milly gets on the train too, because their duty of following Vash around not ended, and due to not being able to pay for the tickets, they start to work there as cashiers. I really loved how we saw them taking initiative and actually having roles of catching the bad guys. They were able to incapacitate a patrol on their own, taking on their guise and in the end, they basically arrested the boss. Not that it really moved the BDN the slightest, but still, it was nice to see them in action.

And regarding Vash? We got closer to him regarding of his truer personality. When he boarded the train and yelled, how he is finally ALONE after everyone was constantly on his back??? DAMNNN Vash, I can relate :D But more and more we see that being a cheerful loser is just a facade. He can’t recall memories about certain things, which explain why he has no idea what’s going on most of the times, and this makes him kind of an airhead from the outside, especially that he usually don’t try to convince nor people, nor the audience from the opposite. Or how he is a perv that desperately wants girls, but not actually want to have sex when the opportunity presents, like with those prostitues.

Speaking of women… Vash has a woman in his life. A someone named Rem. Aside from a song and memories about their conversations, we don’t get to know too much, but we know that she is someone very important to Vash and that she is one who inspires him in this pacifist lifestyle.

Episode 9: Murder Machine

Episode 10: Quick Draw

This is what I call the Wolfwood arc along with episode 11 that is on the third dvd. This is where the show introduced the fourth main, reoccurring character Nicolas D. Wolfwood, a travelling priest with his iconic giant cross, the Punisher on his back. Honestly if something I remember from this anime very clearly by design is THIS GUY.

And the first guy who figures out Vash right from the start. He sees throught him. He comments about the fake smile. And comments about his genuine smile too. When Vash sees him doing something out of his kind heart. Some kind of admiration?

We have this mysterious priest, who hides pistols in his cross, have almost as good abilities as Vash so you can be sure he is not your usual travelling priest who collects donation to his orphanage for kids, but you can be sure that Wolfwood has soft spot for children and for the weak too and this is something that makes him symphatetic in Vash's eyes after the first bad impressions.

But I think the show starts to build up something with Wolfwood x Milly.

Speaking of the main heroes and romance…

Now because we are still at the end of the 90’s we can’t really talk about the official existence of the named tsundere archetype just yet, but I think Meryl fits into the trope (just not the skull-bashing type). Hot headed, short, she becomes very flustered around the protagonist quite often due to her complicated feelings which is more than just not being able to reconcile with the fact that sometimes things are NOT what she thinks they supposed to be. Not to mention that Vash is intimidated by her. :D So yeah, Meryl is not the skullbashing type of aggressive with superhuman powers, this is why I love when the show actually presents her and Milly the opportunity to shine as important part of the story. Because as mortals, they have their limits, especially compared to Vash who is introduced more and more as some otherworldly being.

But what I enjoy that this affection Meryl starts to feel toward Vash is subtle, and you can’t describe it as love, not on the physical level. I don’t think Meryl can describe what she loves about this man. But ooohhh I have lot of thoughts about her, especially regarding the third dvd.

Finished with the second DVD of Trigun as well, was at DVD 3 when I realized that HOPPA, I need to write an entry before I binge-watch the whole thing, BECAUSE IT JUST BECAME GOOD???

In Episode 5, Hard Puncher, by Vash defeating the Nebraskas, he was able to collect the bounty after them and he gave it to Inepril city to cover all it's costs to hire engineers and repair the power plant (the same city that organized an mob to hunt Vash down for his own bounty :DDD). The duel between Vash and the Nebraskas was also the final proof for Meryl too to finaly accept the truth which was right under their nose all along: This is the guy they were looking for.

And this is how we arrived at Episode 6, Lost July.

(gif: therosecrest.tumblr.com)

My absolute favorite thing in Meryl and Vash dynamic, that Meryl is still so fucking pissed of that HE IS Vash the Stampede and so annoyed when Vash doesn't behave Vash the Stampede-y XDD Vash is terrified from this smol angy munchkin. :D I love her so much. The Insurance Agency duo is still on duty to prevent Vash from causing any financial trouble.

Also this is the first episode that is actually progressing in the plot regarding Vash the Stampede's past and also showing more about the worldbuilding. We have cities scattered across No Man's Land, and most of them possess these powerplants (big-ass cool looking light-bulbs in the scenery), which prevents the deserification, and with it, people abandoning their homes. Inepril was on the verge of ruination, when Vash's arrival presented the opportunity to get money to fix the power plant. We don't know too much about these buildings, we don't know who built them, what exactly this technology is, but it has a collective name: Lost Technology.

(gif: misakarose.tumblr.com)

Now the first interesting thing I noticed that Vash has some kind of connection for this Lost Technology. There was this scene, in which he spills the booze into the air, saying loud: "You are just tired."
It can be interpreted as if he talked to himself, but I think... I think he talked to the power plant itself.
(I really really have faint memories about this show and the later episodes. So you are watching me speculating here :D)
He talked to the powerplant before Elisabeth, chief engineer approached him, and Vash went back into his whimsical self, trying to get attention and affection of a woman :D I think at this point we can assume that this is really a facade of somekind.

But this is another instance where we learn things about Vash:
- Age Unknown
- Origin Unknown
- Wanted for a murder of Count Revenant Vasquez (who dis???)
- He has sixty-billion double dollar bounty on his head, but we already knew this

Elisabeth hires Vash to be her bodyguard, because she expects assassins to attack her due to her being one of the few people who have knowledge of operating these power plants. Vash instantly goes along with it, no questions asks. Boy has something for dominant women who treats her like trash that's for sure, I'm sensing issues here. :DDD Anyway. It turns out this woman is someone from the past. Elisabeth is survivor from July City: A city which Vash the Stampede single handedly destroyed with a mysterious unearthly powers, and yet everyone stayed alive, and this earned him the sixty billion double dollar bounty on his head.

Elisabeth arranged a malfunction in the powerplant to lure Vash inside and get a vengance on him for destroying July city, but with it also doomed to kill everyone else here in Inepril. For her, this was an acceptable price. One teeny-tiny problem occured: Vash doesn't remembers any of this. Vash can recall that he was in the middle of a destroyed city. And before? Just faint memories of childhood.

Vash has amnesia? That makes sense why he is look like all the time like he has absolutely no idea what is going on. I wonder that what we see in these episodes that Vash is on the path to regain his memories? He is very much aware that he lacks something but he can't show this kind of vulnerability in such forgiving place?

(gif: misakarose.tumblr.com)

Now back to that scene where Vash talked to the powerplant? It makes sense in the end. Because while we don't know how exactly he does it, or what he does, he prevents the building from exploding. We have no idea what is going on, but he just comes out unharmed, ever mysterious. Vash at this points really starts to give out some otherworldy vibes, someone who is maybe more than human?

In the end this episode earned his own post, due to its richness of character lore I am very much invested in at this point. :3 I really loved the conclusion with Elisabeth too, who in the end couldn't fulfill her revenge, because she just didn't have proof that Vash was the one who did the destruction. She needed someone to blame for her parents death. She needed to hurt someone for her own survival guilt. And now she needs something else to hang on to.

Current Mood: geeky

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!