As you can tell from the score, Trigun is pretty damn solid. It's far from a masterpiece, however if you told me that Trigun was your favourite anime of all time I will give you my approval. It's extremely charming, and its cult classic status despite it being more than 2 decades old now is still perfectly warranted.
THE GOOD:
1) Vash the Stampede. While I was slightly let down by some of the series' aspects, Vash was definitely not one of them. I'll admit I was slightly put off by his overwhelmingly goofy nature in the first few episodes; it wasn't that he was insufferable or particularly unfunny, sure, but he seemed nothing other than a goofball. Donut-loving, raucous and loud, horny and very very whimsical, it was a tonal whiplash from a lot of what you would expect from a wanted criminal with a literal 60 billion bounty on his head. Once the whiplash settles in however, and once the more serious and compelling aspects of Vash arises, he quickly became everything I wanted from and so much more. There is something very genuine about Vash that helps him stand out from the cesspool of edgy brooding protagonists with a tragic past anime has an obsession for. He has all the angst you would want from a protagonist like him, and yet all the heart and laughter to help balance it out. And the way his ideals get tested throughout the series, while not particularly legendary or outstanding, is still plenty compelling stuff to watch unfold.
All in all, definitely one of anime's coolest characters period.
2) THE SUPPORTING CAST
The cast is very solid, despite this being Vash's story.
Meryl and Milly are very enjoyable female characters. They don't get hyper-sexualised as waifu characters, in fact Milly has broad shoulders and a larger frame than most of the male characters in the entire series, which is extremely refreshing to see some good representation without being preachy. Both provides good comic relief roles, though they are nothing to write home about. They're an audience surrogate to witness Vash's journey first and foremost, though I would say Milly later on in the series has one genuinely bittersweet moment that I did not see coming.
Wolfwood is obviously where all the praise gets, however. Immediately upon his first introduction he is insanely likable. He's kindhearted, good with children, goofy and lighthearted and yet extremely badass. My only issue is that he overlaps a lot with Vash's personality at first, though he does feel more down-to-earth than Vash. Thankfully, throughout Trigun, Wolfwood sets himself apart from Vash, with his philosophy being a natural counter to Vash's pacifist ideals and them butting heads frequently due to their conflict of interests. Also, he uses a fucking cross as a gun. How metal is that?!
3) ANTAGONIST
Not much to say here, other than the fact that I thought Legato was a great antagonist. A non-existent character, that's for sure, but as an antagonistic force? Straight up chills. His presence was very much felt throughout the anime, and the way he challenged Vash by playing a sort of pseudo-Joker was something I very much enjoyed. He reminds me of Vicious in that regard, except I will argue that he's actually better than Vicious imo.
4) (SOME OF THE) CHARACTER DESIGN
Vash has the coolest design in all of anime. Or at least, he's up there with the best. I will not entertain any opposing points.
Wolfwood looks sick too, spotting a Spike Spiegel esque attire, with a very rugged and weathered look.
Legato is pretty over the top, but it fits his character perfectly.
5) SOUNDTRACK
A banger. Vash's theme is one of my favourite character themes of all time. There's a sense of melancholy and sorrow in its main motif, which fits Vash so much. Other soundtracks are good too.
I'm not the biggest fan of the OP, though I'm sure it's a source of nostalgia for old fans. It does set the mood quite well, I guess.
The ED on the other hand, is great. It's not something I would listen to as enjoyment or anything, but it certainly fits Trigun's world extremely well. Also seeing Vash goof off is always good fun, and the opening shot of the ED is some great wallpaper material.
6) (SOME OF THE) ART
Some of the emotional moments have just extremely good shots that oozes with so much emotion. The ones that come to mind are the climax of both the Diablo and the final encounter with Legato which name eludes me right now, and it does sort of show why 90s anime fans always say that old animation looks better than modern.
7) MESSAGE
The message of Trigun, at least from my interpretation of it, is the importance of a life. It's also a message about how to struggle on with life even if we might have make a mistake, and how to carry our sins onwards. I'm not gonna try and claim it's anything revolutionary; MANY anime have tackled such a message already, and even tackled it better. I do want to give brownie points to Trigun for actually testing Vash's ideals and not be too unrealistic with his ideals. I don't want to spoil, but there's a moment in the series where I think the writers made quite the bold choice to have Vash do something, well, not very nice, and it messes Vash up internally really badly. Seeing Vash carry on, acknowledging the sins he bears is nice to see. Also, Vash is just a genuinely good person. It's nice to see someone be good while also being morally grey. His nature is good, however he isn't a saint.
8) THE VOICE ACTING
It's decent for the most part, but Vash's voice actor is really good at being extremely silly yet tragic, a good range of acting
THE MEH:
1) THE FINAL ANTAGONIST
Not sure if this is a spoiler but I won't go into much detail if it is. The main antagonist, is fine. He's a fine villain. He isn't as chilling as Legato, but he's not entirely bad either. I think Legato just filled his role for too long for him to truly usurp Legato as the scary final boss of the series.
2) THE HUMOUR
It's quite funny at times, but let's be real, it's a very anime-style, slapstick kind of humour. If you don't like it, grit your teeth and bear with it, because it does become less frequent as the episodes go by.
3) THE EPISODIC NATURE
I've always had a somewhat mixed reaction towards episodic structure in anime for the most part, and Trigun is basically that. Some episodes/arcs are great in their episodic nature, feeling self contained and satisfying to watch in one sitting, while other episodes are just...whatever. It's good that the series shifts gears into a more serial structure once we reach the halfway point, since the episodic nature serves to introduce and get you to like Vash.
4) THE GUNG HO GUNS
Firstly, they have a really weird group name. Secondly, they're very gimmicky, almost like a roster for the knockoff Sinister Six or something. But they aren't that bad I guess, just that they're...alright.
5) THE ENDING
It's fine. It adheres to the themes and message of the story, but it's not the most satisfying. It's no Bebop episode 26, that's for sure.
THE BAD:
1) THE START
The start of Trigun kinda..sucks. You get hooked on the premise of a man with a 60 billion bounty and his misadventures, and you get a first episode of silliness and unappealingness. There's no hook or anything whatsoever. It might work as a kids cartoon's beginning, but for an anime airing on Adult Swim it was quite an unconvincing start. Luckily, it doesn't take like 12 episodes for it to get good, rather it takes like 4 episodes ish(?) but it doesn't change the fact that the start is not the best.
2) THE ANIMATION
There, I said it! Trigun's animation is not very good. Yes, some shots and scenes were done wonderfully, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. For the most part, "action" revolves around bullets miraculously missing Vash, very cell-animated style fighting which is just still images moving, certain shots looking not very polished etc. It gets better as the series progresses, but it's still not good.
People will say that it's because of the 90s, but that's no excuse at all. Cowboy Bebop aired at the same time, and Bebop looks fucking amazing. Look at a Bebop fight and compare it with Trigun's; it's incomparable.
It's charming, I'll give you that, but cmon. It's not very good.
3) THE MINOR VILLAINS
Cartoon villains, that's what they are. Zero personality nor charm, just ugly brutes who get their asses kicked. Character designs look way too goofy as well.
TL;DR: A classic sci-fi with a superb protagonist, great soundtrack, good villains, alright pacing and not very good animation.
Here's hoping Studio Orange does Trigun justice!
