Set sometime in the future, the human race has fled from Earth looking for somewhere new to live. Unfortunately for them, they ended up crashing landing on Gunsmoke, a hostile and dried up wasteland of a planet. Years after, we follow Vash the Stampede, who has a $$60,000,000,000 bounty on his head and leaves death and destruction wherever he goes. When two women are sent from an agency to find Vash for all the damage he's caused, we find out more about Vash and who he is exactly. Now I actually wasn't planning on watching this, but I came upon the first episode one day and thought why not, and so I rolled through the entire series in about a week and a half. And while it's not always perfect, Trigun surprised me with just how much simultaneously fun and interesting it was and I can happily say I'm very glad I checked it out.
Unfortunately, Trigun's first impression on you might not be that great. Being released in 1998, the animation is noticeably dated with some rough textures and details. Plus with the setting being a desert wasteland, it's not exactly a series that pops out at you. The character animations, however, are very nice and allow for a lot of emotion and life that might've been missing in lesser hands. The style of Trigun is very cool as well, as it lends to some tense and impressive moments. Another thing that might turn people off at first is the tone of the show, it starts off pretty goofy and lighthearted, using that Japanese humor where people's heads grow twice their size when they get mad or embarrassed. I didn't mind it, it eases you into the show and the first half is very entertaining with likable characters. If you hate the humor though, don't worry, for the second half of the show is an entirely different animal from the first. The second half gets dark, depressing, deep, shocking and very tense. Another noteworthy thing is the music, it has lots of memorable tunes and sets the tone of the show, light or dark, very nicely. The beginning and ending songs are especially awesome.
Now onto the characters. Vash at first seems like a total bada$$, with an intimidating set of clothing and tall stature. However, that image is quickly done away with when he see how Vash deals with these group of merchants trying to kill him in the first episode. For lack of a better word, Vash is more or less a goofball. He loves donuts, love, peace and refuses to kill. Vash is a great character in that without even knowing anything about him he is just such a likable and entertaining guy, and when you learn more about who he truly is he becomes so much more. The two agency girls, Meryl and Milly, are very entertaining in their own right and form a nice relationship with Vash. Then there's Nicholas D. Wolfwood, a trigger happy preacher who runs into Vash and co. along the way. Wolfwood is just as cool and interesting as Vash, having his own personal problems and views on the world. Last but not least, is the gun-ho guns, a large group of unique and psychotic killers out to make Vash's life a living hell. While all these freaks don't really develop a whole lot beyond bloodthirsty baddies they are unique and bring forth a good amount of fun battles. The main gun-ho gun, Legato Bluesummers, is a whole different story. Legato's introduction is a big game changer and instantly he is a chilling and intense presence on the show. His true role ends up being a bit disappointing in my opinion when another threatening force is introduced, but regardless serves as a great foil to Vash. The other threatening force I mentioned, who I will not spoil, is great as well.
Onto issues, there are a few. Like I said before, some may find the beginning of the series to be very goofy and a bit slow to start with an episodic nature. I personally didn't mind this, my big issue is the pacing in the second half. While it has some of the series' best moments and is very interesting, I felt it was a bit repetitive. For a few episodes I kinda felt I was seeing the same things happen but in different locations and with different side characters. This unfortunately hurt the last half a bit and stopped it from being truly amazing in my opinion.
Overall, Trigun is vastly under-appreciated and a damn good series. The animation is a bit dated, it's tone may be too goofy at first and the second half suffers from some pacing issues, but these flaws don't ruin the experience whatsoever. Vash is a great character and his journey and relationships bring up very deep and interesting views on life and how we should live it along with how to let others live. Trigun is a great little series that is bound to impress you as well if you give it a chance
Unfortunately, Trigun's first impression on you might not be that great. Being released in 1998, the animation is noticeably dated with some rough textures and details. Plus with the setting being a desert wasteland, it's not exactly a series that pops out at you. The character animations, however, are very nice and allow for a lot of emotion and life that might've been missing in lesser hands. The style of Trigun is very cool as well, as it lends to some tense and impressive moments. Another thing that might turn people off at first is the tone of the show, it starts off pretty goofy and lighthearted, using that Japanese humor where people's heads grow twice their size when they get mad or embarrassed. I didn't mind it, it eases you into the show and the first half is very entertaining with likable characters. If you hate the humor though, don't worry, for the second half of the show is an entirely different animal from the first. The second half gets dark, depressing, deep, shocking and very tense. Another noteworthy thing is the music, it has lots of memorable tunes and sets the tone of the show, light or dark, very nicely. The beginning and ending songs are especially awesome.
Now onto the characters. Vash at first seems like a total bada$$, with an intimidating set of clothing and tall stature. However, that image is quickly done away with when he see how Vash deals with these group of merchants trying to kill him in the first episode. For lack of a better word, Vash is more or less a goofball. He loves donuts, love, peace and refuses to kill. Vash is a great character in that without even knowing anything about him he is just such a likable and entertaining guy, and when you learn more about who he truly is he becomes so much more. The two agency girls, Meryl and Milly, are very entertaining in their own right and form a nice relationship with Vash. Then there's Nicholas D. Wolfwood, a trigger happy preacher who runs into Vash and co. along the way. Wolfwood is just as cool and interesting as Vash, having his own personal problems and views on the world. Last but not least, is the gun-ho guns, a large group of unique and psychotic killers out to make Vash's life a living hell. While all these freaks don't really develop a whole lot beyond bloodthirsty baddies they are unique and bring forth a good amount of fun battles. The main gun-ho gun, Legato Bluesummers, is a whole different story. Legato's introduction is a big game changer and instantly he is a chilling and intense presence on the show. His true role ends up being a bit disappointing in my opinion when another threatening force is introduced, but regardless serves as a great foil to Vash. The other threatening force I mentioned, who I will not spoil, is great as well.
Onto issues, there are a few. Like I said before, some may find the beginning of the series to be very goofy and a bit slow to start with an episodic nature. I personally didn't mind this, my big issue is the pacing in the second half. While it has some of the series' best moments and is very interesting, I felt it was a bit repetitive. For a few episodes I kinda felt I was seeing the same things happen but in different locations and with different side characters. This unfortunately hurt the last half a bit and stopped it from being truly amazing in my opinion.
Overall, Trigun is vastly under-appreciated and a damn good series. The animation is a bit dated, it's tone may be too goofy at first and the second half suffers from some pacing issues, but these flaws don't ruin the experience whatsoever. Vash is a great character and his journey and relationships bring up very deep and interesting views on life and how we should live it along with how to let others live. Trigun is a great little series that is bound to impress you as well if you give it a chance