Vash the Stampede. The Humanoid Typhoon. The man with a $$60 billion dollar bounty on his head. Just his name strikes fear in the hearts of innocents. Any town he sets foot in suffers untold catastrophe. But with that sort of money on his head, all sorts of lowlifes are out to get him.
The problem is, the sandy wastelands littered with small towns makes information interchange difficult. So no one is really a hundred percent sure just what Vash the Stampede looks like. Some say he is a blonde-haired giant. Others say he has short legs. Rumours have it that he wears a red coat, has earrings in his ears and carries a big gun. But no one knows for sure.
Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson are from the Bernadelli Insurance Group. They’ve been appointed as disaster investigators, charged with keeping an eye on Vash 24 hours a day. But first, they have to find out just who is the real Vash. And that is not going to be such a simple matter.
Just what makes this legendary gunman tick? What is he after? And why does he act like such a bumbling idiot most of the time!?!
Trigun is a superbly written space/cowboy comedy drama, much in the vein of Cowboy Bebop. The writing of the legendary gunman who seems more like an idiot to the untrained eye is brilliantly done and the series can’t help but grab you. The plot shifts seamlessly from the comedic to the dramatic, as an epic story of pain and disaster unfolds.
The main characters, namely Vash, Meryl, Milly and Wolfwood are well-rounded and well-designed. You can’t help but feel for these characters as the series progresses.
The animation is top notch, blending realistic scenes with super-deformed events perfectly. The humour is especially well portrayed, particularly in terms of character expressions.
The music soundtrack and voice acting are of high quality. The only annoying bit that I can think of is the end track. At least they could have changed it halfway during the series, couldn’t they?
Overall, Trigun is one of my favourite series. It is always capable of pulling a lot of laughs, but it packs in the drama as well, and before you know it, you have wasted away the day watching the entire series. A very enjoyable watch, the western feel to the show makes for a nice change of scenery. Many people compare Trigun to Cowboy Bebop, but I must be honest in that I place Trigun above it. Trigun tells a heartfelt story about a man who struggles to uphold his principles in a world where he shouldn’t be able to. And that is something I believe everyone should strive for.
Enjoy the show. (And watch out for that wide-eyed cat. It just never seems to go away)
(Historical Note: This review was written way back in December 2003. Pleasingly, my writing has improved greatly since then.)
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigun