Trigun Reviews

A diferencia del viaje del héroe normal, el atípico desarrollo de Vash no es aprender a amar ni aprender a trascender la condición humana. Él empieza siendo el equivalente a un iluminado, con absoluta compasión hacia los demás.
Su desarrollo en cambio, es inverso, Vash aprende a aceptar su propia sombra y los defectos propios del mundo de la materia. Quizá no muchos puedan identificarse (o nadie) con su enorme compasión, pero quizá sí con su gran idealismo. En ese sentido es un excelente enfoque.

A pesar de que te pueda parecer tonto su enfoque pacifista lo cierto es que la serie es muy honesta con las consecuencias de llevar una filosofía de ese estilo. Los personajes principales y algunos secundarios son todos carismáticos y agradables, te encariñas con ellos desde el inicio lo cual te engancha para seguir viendo qué es de ellos al pasar de los primeros capítulos mas cómicos, de ahí te van dejando pequeñas "pistas" que revelan que el mundo presentado no es uno conocido y que hay ciertas tecnologías desconocidas que posiblemente tengan algo que ver con el protagonista.
Personalmente me hubiera gustado ver un lado de Vash siendo mas cercano con Meryl pero entiendo por qué esto no era posible, agregando a su "tragedia" como personaje.

I have to admit, I went into Trigun not expecting much from it.
I had only seen bits of pieces, and from the little I had heard about it, it was a silly action comedy. I had always wanted to see it just for the hell of it, thinking that it would be stupid but at least enjoyable.

But man, I had no clue. After the complete tonal shift around episode 12, I knew I had gotten myself into a much bigger show than I was expecting.

But let's start from the basics: how it looks and sounds.

I'm not much of a stickler for the more technical details, so it doesn't ruin a show for me, but there were some technical aspects of the show that got distracting. The animation ranges from being average to choppy. It cuts quite a few corners at times, especially in action scenes and through reusing flashbacks. Also, proportions and backgrounds are sometimes off, as well as unreliable character models. If you're a snob for animation quality, this may bug you more than me. All in all, I guess it is acceptable for a late 90s anime.

However, the sound design (which I am totally snobby about) is wonderful. It has one hell of an amazing rock, bluesy, occasionally avante-garde soundtrack by the always amazing Tsuneo Imahori of Seatbelts fame. The dub is quite good, especially by Johhny Yong Bosch, who in my opinion outshone the original seiyuu. Some of the minor characters are a bit hammy, but all of the major characters do an amazing job, and many of the more dramatic moments are made 10x better by the voice acting alone. (I haven't watched much of the original Japanese yet. What can I say, I'm a sucker for dubs.)

What really shines here are the characters. The characters are among some of the most sympathetic and interesting I have seen. I was surprised at how much I cared for them so early on in the story, and that in itself is a sign of great character development. Vash in particular is an incredibly fascinating and well-rounded individual that definitely does not fit into the typical hero archetypes. Even though he scores a mighty 50-72(!!) on the Mary Sue Litmus test, he somehow works.

The other mains (Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Legato, Knives, Rem) are fascinating, 3 dimensional characters as well. In fact, it has influenced me to go out and buy the manga because I want to know as much about them as I possibly can. To me, characters are the most important aspect of storytelling, and Trigun more than masters the art.

The exploration of different moral philosophies is tastefully done and well thought out. It never feels like its preaching, and thank god for that because it could have gone wrong in many ways. The Biblical references are subtle and well done, however some people may find Wolfwood's gigantic cross-gun offensive. (I personally think it's fucking awesome, but moving on...) But I'm not going to pradle on about that because philosophy and all that jazz isn't really my trade (obviously).

The drama that occurs more in the latter half of the series is especially poignient and tear-jerking. I don't usually like using vague terms, but the show has a lot of heart and spirit to it. Even when mass populations are killed off, it never seemed heartless or without a point to the plot.

Because I want to keep the review relatively spoiler free, I'll stop there. All in all, it has actually become one of my favorite series I have ever watch, and trust me when I say that I was not expecting that.

A classic anime with a highly memorabale protagonist, Trigun looks seriously at passifism and the neccessity of religion for the formation of hope behind the facade of a simple action show. The ultimate conclusion it comes to is that there can be miracles without the help of god, but faith in those around you is essential for the continuation of good cricumstances.

It states that a pasifist does not need to be weak, and does not need to stand by at let others be hurt to uphold his code. Vash endures great hardships for his beliefs, and demonstrates strength that few possess, far beyond the obvious physical profficiencies he shows.