"Trigun" (Anime)

[pkristen]

26 Episode TV Series. Originally reviewed July 10, 2001.

Summary
Vash the Stampede is considered to be the most dangerous man alive, notorious for destroying towns overnight, and yet he does it all without ever firing a shot.

Review
This series starts off like a space western slapstick with insurance women Meryl and Milly are assigned to follow Vash to see if the insurance claims surrounding his exploits are valid. As the story progresses, the tone becomes considerably darker as you find out that Vash is a man with a very tormented past and the weight of his ideals on his shoulders, especially around the issue that no one has the right to kill another person.

Even after its change into a darker story about halfway through, I personally liked the entire series since it approached its story with some depth and awareness that’s not usually found in ‘action’ type series. The characters and concepts are interesting and fairly well executed and there were some twists and surprises along the way that kept me intellectually on my toes. Still, there was still some lingering questions around who Vash and his brother Knives really are but perhaps those are meant to be answered in other stories.

I admit I only watched the dub version since I didn’t consider it material that required further depth to explore subtitled dialogue. I don’t know if I would ever watch it again, especially given my huge backlog, but I would definitely look forward towards sequels.

Lesbian Analysis
I admit I’m hesitant about writing these comments because I didn’t want people to get their hopes up, but I do think there’s a couple of valid points here for discussion, such as how finding out a characters orientation may affect my interest in them.

I admit my gaydar was kind of triggered by the appearance of the “Insurance Girls”, especially since they seemed to have almost a domestic air whenever they were pictured in hotel rooms together on their Vash-hunt. However, since I knew this was a Guy series, I maintained my skepticism until the end, and I guess I was right to do so.

Meryl, the leader and more “femme” of the two, develops an (at first) unwilling infatuation with Vash. I think the unfortunate part about this is that she starts off the series as a very strong, independent character and is reduced to the pining supportive female at the end. To be fair, if I were in love with someone going through a lot of trauma and I felt helpless about it, I would probably be just as passive in a story that focused on my significant other. However, for the purposes of this series, Meryl becomes a very two-dimensional character who doesn’t really offer a unique contribution in a cast of very strong, unique characters, and therefore she became the least interesting to me, not just because she proved to be a straight girl after all.

Milly, the “sidekick” and seemingly simple but sweet farm girl, is the one who maintains my interest throughout the entire series. She’s tall, strapping and dresses very butch, especially towards the end. She’s a lot more intelligent than she lets on and is quite capable of taking care of herself, and others. She doesn’t compromise her uniqueness as a character when she goes through her brief but intense romance with wandering Priest Nicholas Wolfwood. At the end, she is still the same, solid character yet with some personal growth for her own traumatic experiences that makes me still enjoy watching her. And so yes, I consider her to be a butch, straight woman.

And then just a final note on Rem, the woman who serves as Vash’s ultimate inspiration and guiding spirit in his quest to live up to her (and eventually his) ideals. I don’t recall any mention of a significant other for her, and Vash and Knives don’t count. She obviously views herself as a mother/older sister to them and therefore romantic interest was not there.