Friday, August 23, 2013

TRIGUN ANIME REVIEW: OLD, IMPRESSIVE...

I have to say i am surprised by how much i loved this series. I was skeptical at first because of how OLD Trigun is. I was drawn to it because it is the first anime i have ever seen take place in an old western setting. Plus i rarely watch anime about action heroes that use guns to execute impressive feats.



I was surprised by the quality of this show, certainly i can see why many that watched in its time rate it so highly. Someone should reanimate this show.




THE PLOT:>



The story takes place on a deserted planet in the far future with the human population scattered through out the dry globe. Two girls, insurance agents have been tasked with what could be the most dangerous assignment of their lives, to locate and trail the legendary villain Vash the stampede.



A miscreant so vile that he has accumulated an awe striking bounty of $$60,000,000,000, Vash the stamped has been nicknamed the humanoid typhoon for this legendary destructive tendencies, believed to possess so much skill and power in his two revolvers as to have leveled several a city in his time, similarly responsible for the deaths of countless innocents.



Vash's actions have as of late cost the insurance company a considerable amount of money in compensation, so much so that they have taken it upon themselves to have two of their best agents tail Vash around and make certain that he keeps his destructive tendencies to a minimum.



But with a target as volatile as Vash, an individual for whom several towns will issue evacuation orders at the mere mention of his approach, what chance do two field inexperienced insurance girls stand...



MY REVIEW:>



I was surprised by Trigun. A few episodes in i was suspicious as to whether i would be able to progress further in the story considering just how old this anime was. One episode in i couldn't get over just how old the animation looked.



Considering how many times i have attempted to convince myself that my tastes revolve around story

and character quality and take little interest in the animation quality, i couldn't avoid considering how old and aged this anime looked.



It wasn't just the animation though; everything just seemed way too old, the sorts of the characters' names used, back stories displayed- the overall structure of arcs and plots, even the finales of certain story lines and messages put across seemed dated and over used.



Which makes sense, after all this anime ended in 1998. That doesn't mean that this wasn't quality story telling. I can see why so many older anime fans would gush over this anime; chances are Trigun could be accurately described as the naruto, one piece or even bleach of the old days.



I struggled to get into it however, especially in the beginning. I wrapped up the first ten episodes of Trigun last year and i didn't make a move to start the second part of the series until two weeks ago.



So in case i am not making my point clear, THIS IS A REALLY OLD ANIME, or at least it felt like it to me.



Now that i have finished the series though, i am glad i stuck to it. There was a point during the story where i stopped and realized that for a while now, i had been enjoying rather than tolerating the told series. The story is told in a basic linear manner; Vash goes around from town to town making a fool of himself, eventually running into trouble and doing his best to bring the chaos to a peaceful end

whilst ensuring that all involved, including the bad guys, come out safe and sound.



Vash the stamped makes up a large part of the charm of this anime. Whenever a crisis is resolved, you usually gain a deeper understanding of why he is called the humanoid typhoon. Sure he doesn't mean for it to happen, but rarely does an crisis resolve without some sort of catastrophic occurrence taking place.



In some cases entire towns have been wiped off the map during one of Vash's escapades. None the less the series allows you a glimpse into the mind and heart of a man blamed for so much evil but who could inherently be the most innocent man on the planet.



It is an intriguing story told through the eyes of the insurance agents, Milly and Meryl. They, through each adventure they follow him through, begin to peel away Vash's layers, revealing the inner gooey core and the demons that haunt him.



Actually Trigun could be viewed as a rather sad story. Well, i was more inclined to view the story as rather foolish and illogical, because it follows the life of a man who will not kill no matter the situation, even when it means that others will suffer. But as time goes by, as we learn of who Vash is and what he has gone through, it doesn't seem so foolish that he would wish to save every life he comes across.



The first time we along with Milly and Meryl, finally realize the true impact of Vash's altruistic intentions on his physical being, it is quite shocking. I think that was when i first began paying attention to the show, when Vash took his shirt off.



After this episode and a couple of more, Vash started coming off as less of a stubborn niave soul and more ofa human (sort of) determined to follow through with the teachings of the only fmaily he ever

knew.



Last week when i did the Karas review, i compared Karas to batman. Vash can be compared to superman. If their is one thing that many in the comics have said about Clark, it is that he may be an alien, but he represents the best of humanity.



This is what Vash becomes by the end. He doesn't refuse to see humanity's flaws. But no matter how much abuse they aim at him, he will not stop protecting them, with his life and well being if it requires it.



Looking at it that way, the story takes on a more complex structure. Because even the most basic shonen type episodes and arcs had some lesson to teach about the intrinsic human spirit, its flaws and strengths and further revealed to us who Vash was.



I think Vash and Woolfwood are my favorite team of anime characters, secondly only to Kilua and Gon from Hunter x Hunter. Wolfwood is the very opposite of Vash. A traveling priest with a massive cross shaped gun, he is the anti Vash in a way.



Sure he isn't cold blooded, but he believes in the 'kill or be killed' creed. He will kill without a shred of guilt but each time he takes a life, he does so to safe guard an innocent life back home. I enjoyed watching this two squabble about the right thing in battle and vash's attempt to change Wolf wood's ways.



I for one blame Vash for what happened to Wolfwood, or maybe i should blame wolfwood for allowing Vash's teachings to creep past his armor. He was an awesome Trigun character along with Milly, the super strong girl who, though coming off as thick headed, was actually smarter than them all combined.



It was fun watching her drop hints about secrets and give sage advice camouflaged as some light remark of little importance.



Trigun is a surprisingly deep story with a lot to say about its characters. There are a surprising number of

twists in the story, especially about who Vash actually is, his arch nemesis Knives and the truth about how humanity came to live on that planet.



As one would expect for a series this old, the action is...actually okay. I can see how some people would have been blown away 10 years ago, but for anime this old, the action is actually not bad. At the very least it gets the point across about how bad assa gunslinger is.



I Surprisingly loved the music, it was so subtle as to not be noticeably, but did a lot to accentuate the old western feel of the series.



RATING:> 4/5, it had its flaws, but trigun is a must watch for any anime fans. It is funny, especially Vash and his silly antics, with a deep story and decent action for an anime decades old.



Trigun is the 26 episode anime production of Madhouse, running from April 1998 to September of the same year. The anime was adapted from the manga by Yasuhiro Nightow that premiered in the shonen captain magazine in 1996, jumping to the magazine Young King Ours after the closure of its previous home in 1997, and continuing its run under the title "Trigun Maximum" until 2008.



Yasuhiro is responsible for creating the story and characters of the third person shooter video game Gungrave (not a fan of the anime series). The Trigun manga's 44 chapters have been published by the western comics company, Dark horse.
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