Quick & Dirty
Language: Japanese
Initial Interest: Medium
Favorite Character: Vash
Opinion: Good
Likely to Finish: Already have
Synopsis
Vash the Stampede is a gunman on the run with a 60 billion double dollar bounty on his head which has made it difficult for him to go anywhere without being chased and shot at. Every town he ever visits ends up being destroyed because of his pursuers, but miraculously no one ever gets killed. Meryl and Milly are two insurance agents that have been sent to find Vash the Stampede and keep him under surveillance so no more damage is caused. Meryl, who leads the pair, refuses to believe that the man they have met can possibly be the legendary gunman. This spikey haired, gangly, young man is extremely friendly, a pacifist, hates blood and suicide, absolutely loves donuts, and is a dork and a crybaby (far from a notorious outlaw). But there is more to Vash and his past than meets the eye. (Source: AnimeNewsNetwork)
Pre-Viewing Thoughts
I watched Trigun on its original run on Cartoon Network. I like it well enough then so I don't mind watching it again at all. It's been years so I probably won't even remember most of it. The only thing that makes me not so keen on watching it is that I remember it being one of those series that is kind of slow to start. The first...well half of the series is mostly just silly episodes that would only mildly affect the good story bit that falls into place later. I know they had to do the throw away episodes first so that we got an idea of who Vash is and started to like him and stuff, but it doesn't make for a great 5 episode review. Oh well, here goes.
Favorite Character
I picked Vash because it's pretty hard to like this series and not like Vash. In the first 5 episodes there are basically 3 characters to choose from, Vash, Meryl, and Milly. Later on we'll pick up Wolfwood and I remember liking Wolfwood well enough. But for the first 5 it's got to be Vash. He's a complete idiot 90% of the time he's onscreen and yet he still manages to be cool.
Overall Opinion
So I said that I liked the series but that I wasn't completely looking forward to watching the first 5 because Trigun is a series that takes its time getting to the real story. This is true. But I think I was remembering the beginning from the perspective of someone who had recently seen it. The first time I ever watched Trigun I had to stay up till around 1 or 2 in the morning and I'm sure that made me tired, and the second time I watched it I had just recently seen it... Now, watching it again at a reasonable hour having not seen it for nearly 8 years, I realize it doesn't matter how long it takes to begin.
Trigun is fun. As I said, Vash is a complete idiot...but at the same time he's not. In every episode it looks as if he's just lucking into a nice resolution to the episode's dilemma but in fact he is solving it with a razor intellect and insane timing - while pretending to be a complete idiot lucking into a nice resolution. It's just fun to watch. I was worried about trudging through these episodes because they lack a whole lot of plot and instead I found myself at the fifth episode in no time and wanting to watch more.
This series does action characters very well. I remember learning enought about Vash and Wolfwood later on to feel like they had rich character backgrounds and strong motivations. At the same time the two non-action characters Meryl and Milly, I don't recal ever getting any background at all. The animation also stands up to time pretty well. I won't say it looks new but it doesn't look old either. There are plenty of series that are as old as Trigun that look older and that makes some fans steer away from them, so being able to avoid looking old can be really important for an anime.
There isn't a lot Trigun lacks. If you don't like it, it's a matter of taste more than anything. Maybe westernish shooter anime with a flare for the ridiculous just doesn't appeal to you, so you don't like Trigun but there isn't really much you could point to and say I'd like it if they'd done that better. However I remember that once they get into the plot they don't quite play it out all the way and Kaze (my husband) says he remembers the ending being rushed and leaving you hanging. These are things you buy the manga to rectify as I understand it, though I've never read it myself.
One thing that you might look out for in the future is a Trigun reboot. Nowadays it has become somewhat popular to go back and fix it. They redid Hellsing (Ultimate), they redid Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood), they're sort of redoing Dragonball Z (Kai), and I saw recently that they may even be redoing Berserk. So any title that isn't up to manga standards is a reasonable candidate for reboot and considering how well liked Trigun was/is, it wouldn't surprise me to see a Trigun reboot in the near future.
I give Trigun my full recomendation. It's a good show and I don't think I've ever met anyone who said they saw it and didn't like it.
Next Official Review: Blassrieter
Open to suggestion.
As an additional note, I found out last week that I cannot directly reply to any comments. I'm not sure what to do about this since it kinda defeats part of the purpose of a blog. I can comment after people but as far as I can tell it won't tell you that I commented so you'd have to look through backposts to see it. I could just not respond to anything...but I really would like to discuss things whenever possible so that really isn't an option. The only other thing I can think of is moving the blog to WordPress or Livejournal or some other blog site that I know will allow me to reply directly. Any thoughts?
Language: Japanese
Initial Interest: Medium
Favorite Character: Vash
Opinion: Good
Likely to Finish: Already have
Synopsis
Vash the Stampede is a gunman on the run with a 60 billion double dollar bounty on his head which has made it difficult for him to go anywhere without being chased and shot at. Every town he ever visits ends up being destroyed because of his pursuers, but miraculously no one ever gets killed. Meryl and Milly are two insurance agents that have been sent to find Vash the Stampede and keep him under surveillance so no more damage is caused. Meryl, who leads the pair, refuses to believe that the man they have met can possibly be the legendary gunman. This spikey haired, gangly, young man is extremely friendly, a pacifist, hates blood and suicide, absolutely loves donuts, and is a dork and a crybaby (far from a notorious outlaw). But there is more to Vash and his past than meets the eye. (Source: AnimeNewsNetwork)
Pre-Viewing Thoughts
I watched Trigun on its original run on Cartoon Network. I like it well enough then so I don't mind watching it again at all. It's been years so I probably won't even remember most of it. The only thing that makes me not so keen on watching it is that I remember it being one of those series that is kind of slow to start. The first...well half of the series is mostly just silly episodes that would only mildly affect the good story bit that falls into place later. I know they had to do the throw away episodes first so that we got an idea of who Vash is and started to like him and stuff, but it doesn't make for a great 5 episode review. Oh well, here goes.
Favorite Character
I picked Vash because it's pretty hard to like this series and not like Vash. In the first 5 episodes there are basically 3 characters to choose from, Vash, Meryl, and Milly. Later on we'll pick up Wolfwood and I remember liking Wolfwood well enough. But for the first 5 it's got to be Vash. He's a complete idiot 90% of the time he's onscreen and yet he still manages to be cool.
Overall Opinion
So I said that I liked the series but that I wasn't completely looking forward to watching the first 5 because Trigun is a series that takes its time getting to the real story. This is true. But I think I was remembering the beginning from the perspective of someone who had recently seen it. The first time I ever watched Trigun I had to stay up till around 1 or 2 in the morning and I'm sure that made me tired, and the second time I watched it I had just recently seen it... Now, watching it again at a reasonable hour having not seen it for nearly 8 years, I realize it doesn't matter how long it takes to begin.
Trigun is fun. As I said, Vash is a complete idiot...but at the same time he's not. In every episode it looks as if he's just lucking into a nice resolution to the episode's dilemma but in fact he is solving it with a razor intellect and insane timing - while pretending to be a complete idiot lucking into a nice resolution. It's just fun to watch. I was worried about trudging through these episodes because they lack a whole lot of plot and instead I found myself at the fifth episode in no time and wanting to watch more.
This series does action characters very well. I remember learning enought about Vash and Wolfwood later on to feel like they had rich character backgrounds and strong motivations. At the same time the two non-action characters Meryl and Milly, I don't recal ever getting any background at all. The animation also stands up to time pretty well. I won't say it looks new but it doesn't look old either. There are plenty of series that are as old as Trigun that look older and that makes some fans steer away from them, so being able to avoid looking old can be really important for an anime.
There isn't a lot Trigun lacks. If you don't like it, it's a matter of taste more than anything. Maybe westernish shooter anime with a flare for the ridiculous just doesn't appeal to you, so you don't like Trigun but there isn't really much you could point to and say I'd like it if they'd done that better. However I remember that once they get into the plot they don't quite play it out all the way and Kaze (my husband) says he remembers the ending being rushed and leaving you hanging. These are things you buy the manga to rectify as I understand it, though I've never read it myself.
One thing that you might look out for in the future is a Trigun reboot. Nowadays it has become somewhat popular to go back and fix it. They redid Hellsing (Ultimate), they redid Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood), they're sort of redoing Dragonball Z (Kai), and I saw recently that they may even be redoing Berserk. So any title that isn't up to manga standards is a reasonable candidate for reboot and considering how well liked Trigun was/is, it wouldn't surprise me to see a Trigun reboot in the near future.
I give Trigun my full recomendation. It's a good show and I don't think I've ever met anyone who said they saw it and didn't like it.
Next Official Review: Blassrieter
Open to suggestion.
As an additional note, I found out last week that I cannot directly reply to any comments. I'm not sure what to do about this since it kinda defeats part of the purpose of a blog. I can comment after people but as far as I can tell it won't tell you that I commented so you'd have to look through backposts to see it. I could just not respond to anything...but I really would like to discuss things whenever possible so that really isn't an option. The only other thing I can think of is moving the blog to WordPress or Livejournal or some other blog site that I know will allow me to reply directly. Any thoughts?
