(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)
[Synopsis]: Vash the Stampede (Onosaka, Masaya) is a legendary gunslinger with a $60,000,000,000 bounty on his head who has attained the additional title of the ‘humanoid typhoon’ due to the way he leaves a path of destruction in his wake wherever he travels. Because of this rampant devastation, the Bernardelli Insurance Society tasks Meryl Stryfe (Tsuru, Hiromi) and Milly Thompson (Yukino, Satsuki) to find Vash in order to evaluate insurance claims and attempt to minimize the damage. The story follows these characters across a desert wasteland as it quickly becomes apparent that Vash is more than
...
a simple outlaw.
[Characters]:
Vash the Stampede, while an absolute ace in every category when concerning marksmanship, is also quite a carefree and kindhearted character. From the get-go it is revealed that the destruction that is attributed to him is actually the fault of the countless bounty hunters chasing after the reward for his head. With this in mind, he is perfectly capable of dealing out major damage with his signature revolver however perhaps his biggest character trait is that he always avoids killing his enemies – opting to disarm or at worst cripple them instead. This mindset, while at first a character quirk, becomes very central to the shows primary story after a turn in what could be described as the conflict of naivety. Vash occupies an odd dichotomy of personalities where he can be both silly and comical but gravely serious the next second. Vash’s past and the reasons for his preservation of life are explored fairly extensively and as the story progresses.
Joining Vash on his journeys in the anime are the two insurance girls Meryl and Milly. While Meryl at first doesn’t believe Vash to be the legitimate ‘Vash the Stampede’ she eventually is convinced wheres Milly is much more certain after their first meeting. The two girls serve primarily as comedic characters throughout the show and their exaggerated reactions (mostly Meryl) are the source of a good deal of the shows comedy along with Vash’s antics. They are fairly flat characters and while they have emotions and serious scenes they feel fairly stunted on the development front. As the show grows more serious in the later episodes and the silliness of things is slightly phased out, they continue to tag along but seem to lack purpose.
Lastly, Vash and company encounter a priest by the name of Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Hayami, Show) on their travels who at first fades in and out of the story intermittently but later becomes a more primary character. I would say that Wolfwood’s appearance is a marked improvement to the show as he is more complex and action-oriented than Meryl or Milly. He shares some qualities with Vash, comedic and otherwise, but is overall of the more serious characters in the cast.
[Art/Animation]:
As Trigun hails from the late 90’s period of anime it’s art and animation leave a decent amount to be desired in comparison to more modern shows. This aside, the character designs, primarily of Vash and his enemies, are very exaggerated however they don’t feel out of place in the world. The animation itself varies from episode to episode and naturally the more important action scenes are shown a little more love than others but overall Trigun is par for the course. The setting for almost all of the story is a desert wasteland and so there isn't too much exciting to work with in that regard.
One of my major issues with the show actually concerns its art and animation as I have a problem with how it presents both guns and bullets in the show. Because dancing around bullets is both a good source of comedy and also a clear way to show somebody’s speed of movement in an action scene – a good deal of bullets end up missing… a lot of them. This is highly apparent in that Vash goes more or less unscathed for a good portion of the early episodes – both a sign of his skill but hardly an episode goes by in Trigun where Vash doesn't dart around screaming comically as a whole troop of enemies looses fire at him. So the problem arises in the over-prevalence of guns and the countless number of scenes where bullets seemingly accomplish nothing. When the show relies greatly on the threat of a gun in someones face (which happens multiple times episodically) it somewhat damages the tension and gravity of things when we are conditioned to think that the guns and bullets ultimately don’t mean much.
[Story]:
The show starts out feeling fairly episodic in nature – Vash travels to a city, he is pursued by bounty hunters or encounters a problem already in the city, action and comedy ensue and he moves on. This formula is used for the first 10 or so episodes and so Trigun can feel a bit slow to get into at first. The show picks up pace more than you would initially think it would and it also gets reasonably dark in comparison to its early far more comedic episodes.
At the end of the day, Trigun is less concerned with with actual progression of a plot and more with the moral dilemmas associated with Vash’s lifestyle. Why does Vash cherish life so – and to what lengths will he go to uphold his near-pacifist ideals? The show attempts to drum up a discussion of morals by presenting us with a heroic figure who will stop at nothing to protect and help those in need but who will not take the life of his enemy. This very quickly becomes problematic for Vash and only becomes more so as the show continues – eventually becoming the main focus of the show within the ‘primary plot’. Trigun claims to harbor a moral message but in my opinion its a bit lost and unfounded amongst the action and comedy of the show – it pays close attention to Vash’s own morality but fails to bring up points for one cause or another with any real conviction; it is a little flaky in this regard.
[Music]:
The music of the show fits the setting well enough but isn't anything I would go listen to again after the show ended. As the setting of the show features primarily sand and frontier towns the music is evocative of a wild west environment but there is some sci-fi influence as well.
[Final Thoughts and Rating]:
I think that ones enjoyment of the show will rely heavily on whether or not one thinks that the show explored Vash’s moral dilemma adequately or not. The show has decent comedy in the beginning and reasonably interesting plot developments later in the show however because the show’s main focus becomes a moral one I think it should be held to that standard first and foremost. I would say without that moral intrigue, the show’s comedy and action would rarely outstrip anything else in those respective genres and so additionally so, Trigun relies importantly on its messages.
Rating: 5
I will preface that my rating of this show is bias in that I am no great lover of the Sci-Fi western setting and that a more avid fan of that genre would be quick to give it a 6 or even as high as an 8 if they could overlook some of my more nit-picky qualms listed. The show falls short for me because as I have stated above, because it does not do anything exceptionally well and because its animation (by nature of its time period) is not actively beneficial to it, it appears overly reliant on what I would consider an ill-conceived or half-baked moral question.
[Recommendations]:
I think that anyone that jumps at the premise of a Sci-Fi western should certainly investigate this show as its setting and characters support the genre well. I would also recommend this show to anyone wanting to explore the more ‘classic’ anime as Trigun is very much one of the more storied shows in medium and is the point of many a conversation. To action fans looking for good gun-slinging fight scenes I would recommend this however admit that other shows probably hold greater potential in this aspect. Lastly, to those interested in the shows comedy – it has decent gag comedy at the beginning but because the show eventually discards many of these gags in favor of a more serious tone I would recommend a different show unless your willing to stick around after the tonal shift.
Alternative Titles
Japanese: トライガン
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
26
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Apr 1, 1998 to Sep 30, 1998
Premiered:
Spring 1998
Broadcast:
Thursdays at 01:15 (JST)
Producers:
Victor Entertainment
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
Madhouse
Source:
Manga
Theme:
Adult Cast
Demographic:
Shounen
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#3712
2
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Popularity:
#260
Members:
803,420
Favorites:
16,869
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 13 / 178
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Your Feelings Categories May 17, 2015
(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)
[Synopsis]: Vash the Stampede (Onosaka, Masaya) is a legendary gunslinger with a $60,000,000,000 bounty on his head who has attained the additional title of the ‘humanoid typhoon’ due to the way he leaves a path of destruction in his wake wherever he travels. Because of this rampant devastation, the Bernardelli Insurance Society tasks Meryl Stryfe (Tsuru, Hiromi) and Milly Thompson (Yukino, Satsuki) to find Vash in order to evaluate insurance claims and attempt to minimize the damage. The story follows these characters across a desert wasteland as it quickly becomes apparent that Vash is more than ... Oct 16, 2015
Trigun トライガン Review
Story (5/10) Average Alright I'm not going to talk about the countless uninteresting and irrelevant sidestories that the anime had to other through out it's 26 episode run but the main plot which I also found uninteresting and generic anyway. Now I was going to give this anime the benefit of the doubt because of the time it came out when using the word generic but i can't I would be lying to myself if i said "If I say this back when it aired I would have probably enjoyed it more" I HIGHLY fucking doubt that. The story of Vash the Stampede ... Mar 13, 2023
I feel so sorry for saying this but Trigun is yet another old classic that didn't live up to my expectation...
It isn't bad, objectively, as we have a solid story, with good character development, and good animation as well. But the pacing, oh my, it just felt horrible. I couldn't tell where they went wrong, but I can tell they did for sure! The real story only starts once you've watched about half of the show, in order for you to know the characters better I suppose, but I hate watching a show without any direction to follow so it felt kinda boring. Then the story ... Jun 3, 2013
Check out that animation when Vash fights that samurai guy. HA HA HA HA! Budget issues much?
First some good things. The environment feels very fleshed out and realized. You could sum it up perfectly with "sci-fi plus western," but it feels like its own world, which I really feel is a huge boon in fiction. Flaws, though? Inconsistent, often very poor animation. Two one-dimensional characters crammed together (an idiot savant joker and a dark, troubled guy) instead of a truly fleshed out protagonist. A sudden tone swing in the middle of the series from comedy to drama that is very, very ham-fistedly "dark". (It's really ... Feb 9, 2018
Trigun is an anime adaptation of the manga by the same name. This western/sci-fi anime was produced by studio Madhouse, and aired from Apr 1 1998 to Sep 30 1998. It was directed by Satoshi Nishimura (Hajime no Ippo.)
There is an outlaw with a huge bounty of $$60,000,000,000 on him. His name is Vash the Stampede, also known as The Humanoid Typhoon. Legend say that everywhere he goes he destroys entire cities just for fun, and lays waste to everyone who oppose him. However, legend is often overexaggerated. Vash is actually a huge softie who easily cries, hates blood, and refuse to kill someone. He's ... Jan 24, 2023
Some interesting concepts on pacifism as an ideal, but poorly executed, the animation is dated, a lot of the humour doesn't hit (and can cause issues with tone), and there's a bunch of filler episodes before the story even really does anything. I'd give it maybe a 7/10 for the good episodes, and a 5-6/10 for the bad ones. Not the worst show but people calling it a masterpiece or a 'must-watch' are viewing it through rose tinted glasses.
The world was at least interesting, I do enjoy some space western vibes... but I can't give it points for that alone, especially when a lot of ... Jan 17, 2023
Mixed feelings are an excellent way to describe this roller coaster of a series.
On the one hand, there is a profoundly philosophical nature to Trigun, especially regarding the wonderfully written characters of Vash the Stampede and Nicholas D. Wolfwood. But on the other hand, there are a bunch of filler, inconsistent logic and unnecessary situations that don't benefit the plot. Let's first observe the positives of this series. The biggest positive is that this series will put you in uncomfortable situations, thus forcing you to think about how you'd handle the problems that arise. It does this by placing Vash, his friends and even outsiders ... Nov 1, 2020
Quick Thoughts:
Underwhelming. Story: Trigun is fairly episodic in the beginning. The main group of Vash, Meryl, Milly and, later on, Wolfwood visit a new city, Vash gets into comedic shenanigans, some kind of conflict occurs, they settle it and move onto a new city. This is the formula for about the first 10 episodes, after that each episodes delves bit by bit into Vash's past and internal conflict. I think it took a bit too long for the plot to get going, but the pacing was fine otherwise. I thought the ending was bit predictable, but it was fitting overall. Art: The art and animation shows its age, and ... Oct 6, 2020
Trigun is one of those shows that has me really conflicted on a score to give. I can see its positives and negatives but having to compare it with the rest on my list that have similar scores, I can help but to question my choice.
Story: I never like to go into detail as to not spoil anything, plus I doubt I can do a better job than the summary already on the site. In my opinion, it had some really good parts, most notably in the setting. The theme is less well constructed, but still has a little bit of weight to it, mostly ... Feb 19, 2019
Trigun is an iconic shounen anime that sets precedence to the shounen genre as a whole, almost. For this review, I will be talking about what makes Trigun such a classic, and then discuss some of its “anime sins,” plot or narrative devices that don’t quite work and I find personally unforgivable.
Trigun aired in 1998 (started being published as a manga in 1995) which is well after some of the major shounen anime like Dragon Ball and Rurouni Kenshin. The formula for a shounen had already been pretty well established. However, Trigun does not only use this formula correctly, but it also goes above ... Mar 28, 2017
I watched this show many, many years ago, and will simply tell you my impressions of it from many, many years ago. This is because I don't want to watch it again, ever.
It's basically Rurouni Kenshin with robo-cowboys and much, much worse animation. I guess I wouldn't have minded so much if I hadn't seen RRK beforehand, possibly because Kenshin came out first. Well, okay, the plots aren't entirely the same but the main characters are rather similar and then I was constantly irritated by how low budget the animation was. Kenshin was stylish. Trigun's animation is just...blergh. That's the word, blergh. If you haven't ... Jun 24, 2016
Trigun is considered a classic, and I could certainly see why. The characters are presented well and the story runs smoothly. It really achieves the steampunk western feel it is shooting for.
And for what it is worth, Trigun is a good show. It is only brought down by my tastes in that I don't really enjoy westerns and it was a bit too episodic in the beginning for me. It is also brought down for the art, as a reboot would make this at least a 7 for me. But if you enjoy the theme than I have no doubt you would enjoy the ... Feb 9, 2021
Trigun
I am quite capable of being inspired by a classic, especially one that I had never seen before. And that was definitely not the case with Trigun. Whether this was due to the anime adaptation or the content was actually so meager is difficult to judge as I don't know the manga. In any case, Trigun offers a very pleasant and initially interesting setting. And indeed towards the end a satisfactory resolution of events. The main problem with the work was the implementation and the characters. Story The basic idea with the desert planet and with the background of the events, which turns out at the end, ... |



