Beware the Typhoon!: Trigun
Greetings, ladies and gents! It’s time for another review from yours
truly! This week, I’m taking a look at
an old classic in anime. I discovered
this anime over the summer at MechaCon, and just recently completed the
series. With that much said, let’s take
a trip back to the early 2000’s. The
setting is a desert planet rampant with criminals and bounty hunters. The
only solution, and also the biggest problem, is a spiky-haired blonde man with
a $$60,000,000,000.00 bounty on his head.
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, this week’s review is on sci-fi
western anime Trigun! So enough with the flashback, let’s get to
the review!
So as I said, Trigun takes place in the distant future on a desert planet where
people live in an old western setting.
More often times than none, these people are attack by ruthless
criminals. Among the worst of these
criminals is Vash the Stampede-also known as the “Humanoid Typhoon.” Much of the show follows this Vash who, despite
what is rumored, is actually a pacifistic goofball who has yet to kill a single
person. In fact, many of Vash’s
adventures end with some peaceful resolution without him using his gun. Accompanying Vash on his wayward journey are
two insurance workers named Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, who follow Vash to
limit the damage that he inadvertently causes as he passes through. Also making quite a few appearances
throughout the series is Nicholas D. Wolfwood, a traveling priest who carries a
giant cross with him that actually masks an arsenal of different firearms. Aside the episodic moments in the series,
there is also an underlying conflict with a group of mercenaries called the
Gung-Ho Guns and Vash’s twin brother Knives.
It’s funny, action-packed, and has a good-looking, gun-slinging male
character. So what more can you ask for?
So overall, I give Trigun a four out of five star
rating. Animation and story are both
pretty good. Considering that this anime
was originally released in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, the animation is pretty
fluid and neat, yet still has an old look to it. It’s a standard with animes released within
this time, and Trigun meets these
standards adequately. As for the story,
one word: wow. Good wow, though. The one impressive thing about Trigun is definitely the story. It has just the right amount of detail and
yet leaves just enough out throughout much of the series. And it ties up all the loose ends by the end
of the series. But with story and
animation aside, the most impressive thing I’ve seen in this series thus far is
Vash himself. I have never seen such a
dynamic character in an anime. Why? Because he plays three major roles at the
same time. One of those, of course, is
the serious fighting-skilled protagonist.
The other is the goofy comic-relief character. And the other is the lecher, a bit of a must
find in any anime. Vash’s execution of
all three is nothing short of astonishing, and adds a little spice to the
series.
However, Trigun may have good animation, plot, and one impressive
protagonist, there are some downsides.
One of them is the plot’s flow. I’ve
already said how the plot is pretty good and gets really interesting, but it
takes watching a few episodes to get there.
This isn’t a huge problem, but it may lose your interest that. One other problem that I found that I thought
was pretty big was the fact that the series does
tie up all the loose ends. Again, this
is not a bad thing, but it is a problem for two reasons. One is that this doesn’t leave any room for discussion,
at least on Vash’s past. The other
problem was the timing at which these flashbacks are revealed. At one point, you are well into the current situation
with Vash in facing the Gung-Hoes, and suddenly you get an entire episode going
back to the very beginning of Vash’s past.
But aside from the ending that’s a little too clean and cliché-it ends
happy, but that’s not bad- and poor timing on giving away all the details, Trigun is still an excellent
series. And let’s not forget, it’s made
with “love and peace!” XD
In conclusion, Trigun is an action-packed show that will make you laugh, cry, and
leave you on the edge of your seat-you may also find yourself dribbling a
little over Vash. It certainly goes
without saying that this is a great show.
In fact, I think it’s become one of my favorites. Now as far as watching it, I’ve seen the
episodes on YouTube, but I think that the best place for watching the episodes
is funimation.com, mostly because the company owns the rights to the show
anyway. You can also buy the series
online and in a store that sells anime.
Well, that’s all I have for this week.
So until then, stay tuned for more, and remember, “this world is made
with…LOVE AND PEACE!”
-Hanime
on Anime
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