After watching Nightow’s masterpiece come to life in Gungrave, I must say I am really underwhelmed by Trigun though that maybe a problem with adaptation. Set in a desert planet remunscent of Mad Max’s post-apocalyptic world, Trigun depicts the adventures of a team of insurance agents Milly and Meryl trying to prevent the notorious gunslinger Vash the Stampede from causing more destruction.
As opposed to the ferocious monster that they expect, they find Vash to be a rather lazy if a bit lecherous hoodlum with excellent gun-fighting skills. After a few memorable misunderstandings, they set off to traverse the barren landscape running into various predicaments (as one should expect in the second iteration of the Wild West) towards Vash’s troubled past
SPOILERS AHEAD
While the anime does have an interesting premise and some interesting characters including Wolfwood the machine-gun priest, it falls apart in its plot as well as narrative. The plot falls apart in the anime-only arcs which is admittedly expected, but the narrative loses its sheen around the 8th episode. The world building is shaky and the vaillans are cringey making for a jarring ride.
Finally, it must be admitted that Rem’s philosophy of “not killing” which Vash repeats ad naseum doesn’t is rather inane. Add the poor voice acting and the poorly sung melody and you have a tragedy. Ultimately, it is the height of irony that the most narratively impressive arc was a filler in such an alleged masterpiece. Not worth a watch
Reason and The Passions 