Kenshin on one hand has a weapon capable of not killing people, but is still powerful enough to cause some permanent damage. But because he still can’t kill people and can still cause damage to his opponent, he doesn’t have to really hesitate too much in confrontations. While with Vash, he’s not really confrontational, and he’s willing to take an ass kicking and his principles are so strong that he doesn’t want to break them even in self-defense. But moving on, the character development is really tremendous and comes out at a pace that is appropriate in relation to the length of the series. So there’s really not too much to complain about with character usage and development. However, I do think the pacing of the story is a bit jumpy. It can be fast, and it can be slow, and sometimes certain aspects can be a bit forced. I think the proper use of suspense in relation to this flaw is what really defines it in both pros and cons I do wish to explore more, but I would have to reveal spoilers. But for the ending, this anime came out during the prime of the manga, and the manga ended not too long ago in Japan. The ending was appropriate for the tone of the anime, but felt more general and out of convenience, and didn’t really feel grand to the extent Cowboy Bebop’s was. Then again, there’s the movie to look forward to.
I felt the designs of the planet and the clothing were very appropriate to the context of the story, so I think its style in this approach isn’t much to really complain about. I think the western setting is very universal despite being of course a Japanese product. Living in what used to be called the wild west, the setting is very much appealing to me. And I think appropriately, the lack of technology except for guns and transportation is still appropriate to that it’s both desolate, but yet futuristic and sci-fi. I would point out the flaws, but I can’t really be too hard on it because it is relatively an older series, but Cowboy Bebop came out around the same time which is amazing, so what the hell. I felt at times, the eyes looked a little too sketchy, and not really deep with the eye color. The contrast is kind of plain and grainy, but what the hell. Who cares, huh? I felt I needed to say that to bring up a con.
Vash’s design is pretty cool itself. Granted his hair is generic in the world of anime and manga, but at least you can see him with different hairstyles. Though you will mostly see his hair up, it will be down at times and it kind of makes you think of Benimaru from King of Fighters who has a similar hairstyle. And his red trench coat of course will stand out since most of the colors you will see will tend to be on the lines of black, white, or blue with some of the other clothing and really brings a unique presence to him, and compliments his build.
But moving on, the action is pretty much fast paced. It’s appropriately stiff and with the smaller and insignificant fights, they will add comedy elements to it with Vash’s non-confrontational antics. But with the more serious fights, they are more intense, have a unique novelty and gimmick, which makes them more distinctive, though at less often times there will be comedic moments, but you will see Vash get to shine in these moments.
I’ll have to say that I really like the dub of this anime. Granted, it’s no where near the league of Cowboy Bebop’s dub, but it is top notch and tolerable. Every other episode I alternated between Japanese and English. Johnny Yong Bosch as Vash as his breakthrough I thought was excellent in bringing out Vash’s serious and childish characteristics in my native language. And the dub actor I had the worst expectations of was Jeff Nimoy as Wolfwood, who is also popular amongst the fan base. I thought he sucked hard as Miyata in Hajime no Ippo, but he was great as Wolfwood, but doesn’t make him that distinctive like in the Japanese version with his mannerisms. In the Japanese version, they really made him interesting by speaking in an Osaka dialect.
And I felt it was an awkward, but yet fresh role for his seiyuu, Hayami Sho who tends to play more serious and formal characters. I’m not used to him in comedy, but he did great. But because the character spoke in an Osaka dialect, so I think that Masaya, the voice of Vash himself, I think would have been better for Wolfwood since he’s natively from Osaka, and brought out the badassness of Sendo in Hajime no Ippo, in which that respective character from that anime is an Osaka native. But there’s really no official explanation why Wolfwood speaks in Osaka dialect, but I think in that sense, it makes his character more unique rather than being a gun slinging and smoking priest.
The music itself is very appropriate to the context and tone of the anime. Lots of guitars whether acoustic or electric are well used to set the atmosphere of the moment. The guitars can be intense in context to either futuristic action, or its laid back frontier setting. So I got nothing much to complain about except it’s nothing really as well emphasized on like in Cowboy Bebop with the jazz and the eurobeat in Initial D, but still pretty fun. The opening and ending themes are also top notch and somewhat distinctively inticing. For Hajime no Ippo fans watching this review who have yet to watch Trigun, the opening theme is pretty much a lot like the 3rd opening theme of that respective series with its techno-rock approach. I guess it is appropriate to bring up the similarities both animes share the same composer for the music.
What can I say? I believe Trigun deserves every bit of praise it has received over the years, and I can’t say that about 75-80% of super popular animes out there. I first watched this anime fansubbed way back in 1999, and enjoyed it. Now 10 years later with the manga finally ended, a game by SEGA that fell into obscurity and with the movie sometime in 2009, I figure I take a trip back memory lane and watch this series again and also give the dub a try. The series still impresses me and I think it will please all anime fans, especially the fans who prefer dubs. I think the anime has a well-rounded and somewhat family friendly atmosphere that is true to its themes, and characters that stand out and all have their use and contributions, which really means a lot to me when I watch anime. And like many others, maybe their scores are in my range in which I give Trigun an overall score of a 9/10.
