There's a fair amount of filler episodes that don't really seem to lead anywhere and the real meat on the plot doesn't really start to surface until around the 12th episode but it remains funny & entertaining throughout. The characters are all fleshed out and likeable, the villains are proper characters with depth (in most cases) and towards the end the tone changes to a more tragic, dark, and philosophical shade without ever really losing it's light touch. Perhaps most suprisingly it also manages to be profoundly human at times too.
The main protagonist, Vash, lives strictly as a pacifist but his idealism is constantly tested and questioned. How is it possible to live this way in such a violent world? What happens when you're faced with having to kill an "enemy" to save someone you love? Is it possible to save absolutely everybody? As one of his less idealistic companions comments, "we're nothing like God. Not only do we have limited powers, but sometimes we're driven to become the devil himself". Is sometimes the best choice we have on offer the lesser of two evils? Of course a definitive answer is never given but such questions are dealt with in a mature manner and it's made clear throughout that not only are we able to make our own choices but we must also live with the consequences. The excuse of being forced into abandoning idealism because of circumstance is often a hollow one. At its heart this is what Trigun is all about. The decisions we make and how we cope with the fallout. More often than not there is always another route we can take and our hand is rarely forced.
Trigun is definitely a strange show and one that turns words into ashes in your mouth when attempting to describe it to someone with no prior knowledge of the series. It's definitely not meant to be an accurate depiction of reality yet you can't help but get sucked into it's crazy universe and once you do there's some great storytelling underneath it all. Plus having an ultimate gun toting badass with a catchphrase "love & peace" is always a winner!
