Reviews

I'll be open: I'm heavily biased to this anime/manga due to the themes it explores hitting very close to home; I was sexually assaulted at a young age, and when asked by the police if I felt any murderous animosity towards my attacker, I said no. I said no because of how the morals in this anime helped me escape a seemingly never ending cycle of depression. So take what I say with a grain of salt. This is also my first review on this site so expect sloppy prose.

Story: 7.
For any aficionado of the sci-fi genre, Trign's story is a tried and true one: (minor spoilers ahead) humans escape a dying Earth to colonize another planet, and another alien presence is trying to finish off humanity. Trigun breaks the mold a bit though by pacing the revelations of the story with the personalities and morals of the characters with comedy being the focus in the beginning and getting much more serious in the end. This is what makes this show a little niche, as the tonal shift from comedy to heavy character drama can turn people who liked the comedy away, or people who don't like the way the story progressed from there as a show of convoluted morality away.

Art: 9
The character designs in this show are extremely iconic, Vash the Stampede is an immediately recognizable character for many anime fans. The backgrounds are often static images of grayed out desert, but it fits the world nicely. the dub is also one of few anime dubs to rival (though not quite beat) that of Cowboy Bebop's.

Sound: 10
Tseuno Imahori's music he provided to this series pulls you in much better than the artwork does. It has a very wide range of tracks and is quite brave in what it decides to implement: glitch tracks, noise music, and heavy emphasis on percussive impact.

Character: 10
This is where a lot of people can lose interest in this show quite quickly; the characters are dichotomous. Vash hides his depression with a smile and goofy behavior, Milly hides her desire for love with an innocent, almost childlike demeanor, and Meryl is a tsundere who develops into a motherly character towards Vash near the end of the series.
If this style of character appeals to you, you should watch this show right now, if it sounds trite and lazy, I'd recommend something else.

Enjoyment: 9
I enjoyed this anime through and through, even when the frames of animation ground to a halt, or when the series shifted in tone. The action is fast paced and creative, the jokes are great, the characters are unforgettable.

Overall: 9
This is often heralded as a classic, and deserves the title, but is not without its flaws. If you like its style, then this anime might easily become one of your favorites.