#anime tangent

[bish-plz-haha]

Hajime Isayama is a genius. And here's why: a tangent

The fourth season of Attack On Titan (AOT/Shingeki No Kyojin) is the epitome of

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Keep that in mind as you, if anybody, reads this.

Eren's villain arc makes total sense. Don't get me wrong, the ending was fucked. But it made so much sense.

With the entirety of the series being about freedom and him having the Attack Titan's power to "see" the future, Eren—as dumb and idiotic as he can be—realised, I think, that in order for the world to stop seeing Paradis as their foe (for the world to stop seeing Eldian's in general as their foe) and for them to have the freedom he so desperately dreamed about from the day Armin showed him that book, they needed a common enemy. But there wasn't one: there was just hatred and violence towards others who were just a little different. So he realised that, in the end, he had to become that. He had the strength and power, and he knew that. He could be that for the people. He could be the reason that the people of Marley and Paradis unite and fight side by side instead of fighting each other. He honestly even told Armin as much.

ARMIN: It was all to push us away from you... and make us into heroes who save humanity from extinction by taking you down?

EREN: Yeah. You guys will become saviors to all that's left of humanity. You turned your backs on Paradis in spite of being "Island Devils," and sided with humanity to the end.

Eren became what no one else wanted to. What no one thought he'd become. For the sake of the people that meant the world to him: Armin, Mikasa, Connie, Sasha, and even Jean (side note: I loved their rivalry. It made things light and fun even in dark times). He says that in order for things to go the way they needed to, future him sent the titan towards his mother instead of Bertholdt. Eren had to do the hardest things of his life towards the end: one being becoming someone he's not for the sake of the greater good (poor babies. Honestly, he was convincing as the villain: he had all the justifications to be that person. But he wasn't, down to his core, mean and cruel as he so convincingly portrayed himself to be. He even had his best friends fooled. Up until Armin heard about the eradication plan. At that point, Armin called his bullshit—which is fair).

He showed his father memories, fake and real, of what's to come to make him convince Zeke, which was very clever. He controlled Yimr enough—with Zeke's help of course—to make her attack his friends with titans from the past to put on a good show, not knowing whether or not they'd make it out alive (he hoped and his hope and knowledge that his friends—no, family—were skilled enough to stay alive). He definitely knew his death was coming, and he knew he had to continue on, even if that meant causing his loved ones pain; the pain of his death moreso than anything.

Eren made Marley team up with Paradis. To fight an enemy they both had in common instead of each other. To make Marley and the rest of the world see sense (though as Historia said: "The fight will not end even after the Titans have vanished. Eren told me everything about the future he knows. Even if he can't see the future past that point, he was able to see this future vividly. I'm sure this outcome was not just the result of Eren's choices. This world is the result of the choices we all made. We must fight. So we won't have to fight anymore. Even if it means to live a living hell devoid of peace...")

Hense the reason I say that the fourth season is the epitome of "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." He knew that if they had a common enemy, they'd unite and fight together, not against each other. There was no need for senseless killing. He didn't want that.

Oh and don't even get me STARTED on the symbolism. My GOD that struck me like a fucking truck. Like, the shot of the scouts saluting Levi as he sat against that bolder only for the camera to pan to the Wings Of Freedom on Erwins back as he disappears along with them. UGH.

And then the biRD PULLING AT MIKASA'S SCARF ONLY TO FLY AWAY. LIKE, WHY WOULD YOU SHOW ME THAT??? Im CrYiNg!!!!!

Eren is finally free.

[faunandfloraas]

[yoyo-s-coffee]

AY YO WHO THAT GUY

[crowleave]

ok so the thing is, the kiss really was the best way crowley knew to convey his feelings to aziraphale because nina and maggie were right, they do talk but they never say what they mean.

but that doesn’t mean they don’t understand each other, at least to a certain extent.

and crowley knows aziraphale

he knows that he loves books and plays and the stories made by humanity. he watches his angel learn magic the human way and finds out he learned french the human way and knows better than anyone how much he loves human food. he throws a ball to get nina and maggie together because that’s what the humans in jane austen novels would do.

crowley knows that aziraphale romanticizes humanity, loves the drama and the stories and every little thing that makes humans human.

and what could be more human than a desperate kiss asking someone to stay

[coddda]

Hiiiiiii. Episode 25/26 lawlight analysis rant thingy here. I don't know how to write an intro for this so let's just get to it LOL

I think one of the reasons that the rain/foot scenes stick out so much (the. Sheer insanity of a Foot Massage Scene in an anime revolving around two guys trying to kill each other aside 💀) is the fact that the anime specifically suffers a bit in terms of adapting a few of the "emotional" moments in death note.

And I don't mean "emotionally impactful" exactly. For example I think the adaptations of scenes like Raye and Naomi's deaths were very impactful and the atmospheres of their final scenes were great, but I mean more from a characterization standpoint (if that makes sense). Being more focused on mind and logic games, Death Note as a whole isn't as invested in individual characters' deeper feelings as it is in its action (which isn't necessarily a criticism per say, it's simply part of the nature of a mystery thriller series). But just because they're fewer and farther between doesn't mean there are none at all. In the manga we do get to see, for example, how much Light actually cared for his family and especially Sayu, and how he actually felt more conflicted and suffered lack of sleep/appetite when he first used the Death Note.

The anime specifically as an adaptation is pretty good at adapting the main mind fuckery and action of Death Note, but its lacking in properly adapting scenes like the ones I mentioned above is a criticism I see somewhat often, and it's pretty fair imo. Compared to all the other adaptations, it certainly seems to fall short on an emotional level: the musical has entire songs going in depth about the characters feelings and relationships, the 2015 jdrama is. Insane and has its emotional moments in spades (because it's a TV drama, which are more focused on portraying emotional conflict and the like), even the 2006 movies has its emotional beats and L Change the WorLd is. Well. Oh Man.

Anime Light to a lot of people is like. Light but he's "already evil" (which I have my own thoughts on but I digress). Light but after using the Death Note for like 2 minutes he's already like "fuck yeah time to kill criminals". Basically the anime doesn't take as much time to delve into his less cynical sides or really delve into his already vague and harder to decipher feelings in general, he is noticeably colder from the get-go here, etc.

But that's part of why I think episode 25 manages to stand out so much tonally (apart from it being, y'know, the episode L literally Dies). I love the episode so much and could probably rant for hours about how much I love the artistic choices made in it but what I'm trying to get at here is that it's one of the very few moments where the show tries to go deeper into specific character's emotions, and one of the very few moments where the show Attempts (emphasis on "attempts" because, well, you'll see in a bit) to get more in-depth into Light's feelings apart from his cynicism/apathy/justice. ness.

L in these two scenes in episode 25 is, well, pretty damn open about how he feels. It's usually interpreted as him knowing that he's going to die, and you can see it. He visibly looks/sounds lost, somber, etc. He never really had much to hide around Light to begin with (since he doesn't really care about hiding himself the same way Light does) but especially not now and it Shows, and I personally thought it was pretty cool to delve into his thoughts/show how he feels this way. The somberness can be felt throughout the entire scene, even people who don't already know the plot of Death Note from the manga could probably tell that he's about to die.

In the manga, once L starts suspecting Misa again and Rem realizes what Light is trying to do, it goes straight to Watari and L's deaths, but the anime instead gives a distinct and unexpected pause in the middle of this where L contemplates his own death. It's fucking great, and the shift from straight action to slower emotional weight makes these scenes stand out a lot, since, like I said, the show usually focuses more on the former. But it's kind of ironic, too.

Not only does the anime open up L's feelings more in these scenes, but it also tries to dig deeper into Light's feelings as well through L. And it's really funny honestly because while, yes, these are the more "emotionally open" scenes of the anime Light still manages to be Incredibly avoidant and contribute almost nothing to the entire ordeal.

L is visibly upset -> "Yeah Ryuzaki, you're not making any sense at all" (Not addressing the obvious conflict from L)

"Tell me, Light. From the moment you were born, has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?" -> "[The most stale, over-explained, avoidant answer to a "yes/no" question that you could ever hear + blatant attempts to reframe the question]"

(L's half-smile here kills me) "I had a feeling you'd say something like that" -> [Nothing]

"I'm sorry" -> [Nothing]

"It'll be lonely won't it? You and I will be parting ways soon" -> [Nothing]

^ From this point Light continues to say literally Nothing for the rest of the scene. I'm not even joking, from then on the rest of Light's voicelines are reduced to nothing but vague noises of confusion.

Everytime L calls Light out as a person ("Has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?" / "I had a feeling you'd say something like that." / "Won't it be lonely?") he doesn't actually acknowledge anything. Out of those three lines, he only answers verbally to if he's ever told the truth, and even then it's the most blatantly people-pleasing answer ever, as it usually is with Light. And I don't think it's because Light just. Doesn't care about any of what L's saying at all, or that he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about (questioning Light's authenticity as a person, saying it would be lonely when they part), instead he's choosing not to acknowledge any of what this means about himself or him and L at all. He's like a fucking wall.

And like, for the truth question in particular, the show makes sure that you know it's not something that Light just. Doesn't care enough about to answer. The hard cuts to silence are a very rare but extremely effective way that the show conveys an extremely important moment (see: Light regaining his memories, Matsuda noticing Light opening the warehouse door before he escapes (not as much of a "direct" cut to silence but still)), and cuts to multiple angles/framings/zooms of the exact same shot are also used for the same purpose (see: Light hugging Misa when she was crying, Matsuda aiming his gun to shoot Light, Light regaining his memories Again). Just like the scene where Light gets his memories back, the moment L's question finishes the show utilizes both. That question cut Deep. There's is a solid Almost 5 seconds of silence before the sound of the rain gradually starts fading back in, and honestly that should be telling enough as is (but of course Light doesn't actually admit that. Or anything at all really, so). Oh also another fun detail! We do not see Light's face At All (except for the shot where you can see his mouth moving but not his eyes), for the Entire time that he's going on his spiel to L. We Will Be Revisiting This Later, by the way. This is not, in fact, the first time you're going to see this detail from Light.

The only sort of reciprocation that we see from Light during Any of these two scenes is when Light dries L's hair while L dries his feet. Biblical meanings/references aside it's interesting because it's the only time he directly does anything "for" L in these scenes, but even then he doesn't try to pass it off as anything meaningful really the same way L does ("You're still soaked", a purely neutral and factual statement. It doesn't Add Anything compared to L's. Sin atonement loneliness grieving stuff. While Light is showing his own reciprocation to this more personal moment he also tries to keep it impersonal enough that it doesn't actually have to mean anything deep). And when L says "I'm sorry" after he once again gets no response from Light. It's also after this that L gets that pained look on his face, like he knows that at this point he's not actually going to get anything meaningful from Light (again, very significant and rare from L in the show. We've seen him in distress (see: when Ukita died, hell, when Watari dies), but even then he mostly manages to keep his usually neutral expression), we never see him "look sad" like he does here):

I just think it's interesting that this is one of the few scenes in this particular adaptation of Death Note where they try to open up the character's thoughts/feeling (especially considering the fact that they. lowkey blunder in adaptations of original scenes from the manga), and L himself is being rather open (not that he ever really tries to hide what he thinks nearly as much as Light), and yet all Light contributes to it in return is like. Actually nothing. Bro fumbled it. There is no resolution to any of this, to any of what L asks at all, to any of the many opportunities for a meaningful conversation, and the only thing even relatively close to an answer that you can get from Light is what you can infer from how he acts in the episode after L dies, where he's just going through the motions, but hardly acting as if he's actually living at all.

(Honestly I think the transition from this scene with the taskforce to the subsequent scene with Misa says enough on its own. Light's expressions and tone says everything:)

(Oh sidenote but. This shit again:

"Light, this is our first date in forever. can't you enjoy yourself a little more?" ('Why don't you seem happy? We can finally be together since L is dead') -> No response, Light instead changing the topic to him wanting to move in with Misa without changing his mannerisms at all

Also there's that one detail again. You pretty much don't see Light's expression when he speaks here at all, except for one shot of his eyes, which is quite literally the exact same shot they used when he "saw" L, just altered for the new setting. You have No idea what he looks like when he's responding to Misa, although it's probably fair to assume that it's the same empty stare he has for the whole Two Shots where you can clearly see his whole expression in the entire scene.

Something something Light Yagami bad at feelings I think you get the point though)

I guess Light's Kind of showing what he's feeling now? He'll admit to himself that it's boring without L, but no more than that. Light never actually admits to anything "significant", and L's dead already anyway, so what would that even do?

And then we get, uh. Basically nothing from Light. For the next 5 Years. Except that he joined the NPA, so, uh, yay? Good job, Light you totally nailed it! Thank you for allowing us as an audience to delve deeper into your inner thoughts and feelings as a character so we can find out more about you as a person! Very helpful! Thank you for not sabotaging one of your few dedicated opportunities to look into yourself as a person and reflect on your relationships with others and being 100% honest with yourself! We stay winning guys.

Anyway, this got way too long for a scene that's over a decade old, and I've probably just said everything that everyone else has already said in this fandom before. But unfortunately this has been living in my head for way too long and I must scream. I just think this episode's neat is all :)

tl;dr Part of the reason why the rain/foot scene (tbh episode 25 in General) stands out so much is because the Death Note anime specifically was a bit robbed in terms of its more emotional character moments compared to the other medias, which makes more somber/introspective scenes like the ones in episode 25 stand out a Lot in comparison. But it's also incredibly ironic because it's one of the few moments where the show (or specifically L) tries to look deeper into Light's character, but because he is so avoidant for the entire duration of these two scenes he adds basically nothing at all. It's almost funny. Mostly sad. It's also very gay. Aand post

Okay actually nevermind one more thing I talked about how the jdrama is supposed to be more emotionally in-depth because it is a TV Drama and just for the record, same thing happens there! I could probably do an entire analysis of the Blue Scene in this context like I did with episode 25 but I'd literally be here forever, so uh, just take this iconic line as my main example:

Same Thing. L's statement "I wish we could have met some other way" is personal. It's his own wish, his own regret that he is expressing to Light. While Light's reply obviously has that same regret implied it's also phrased in a specifically impersonal way. It's closed off. "This is the only way we could have met" it closes off the topic and simply renders L's wish as ultimately futile. Light does not say that he Also wishes he could have met L a different way even if it was likely impossible, instead it's a cold statement of cynical fact.

Idk just. Something something L being able and Willing to be more openly sentimental/emotionally open towards Light/about Light vs. Light's inability to be honest with anyone including himself and his own nature preventing any form of meaningful reciprocation. Something something self-sabotage, y'know the drill. God don't even get me Started on how sincere L's tone is when he says "It'll be lonely won't it?"(at least in the eng dub) in the anime I could talk about his tone in that scene for ages. Also yes all of this relates to L Change the WorLd too by the way. Don't ask how it just does okay.

I do think that scenes like these (rain/foot scene, The Blue Scene. Uh. L Change the WorLd The Novel Adaptation) show, at least in those adaptations, that L does genuinely care for Light, and show that he values him as a friend not just in the mindgame-equal sense but also just like, a more sincere sense you know. Idk if that made any sense and that's a whole other topic for another day but you guys just have to believe me on this one alright please please believe me buries head in hands. Okay post over finally thanks for coming to my tedtalk hope you enjoyed my very-unnecessarily long analysis of the week

[prolibytherium]

Would kill to read animal POV fiction that has the animal POV’s interaction with humans be like, semi realistic to the level of caution most predators take with large prey and/or competitors (including humans).

Like instead of the usual - “the human is such a weak, pathetic creature... so slow, no claws, blunt teeth… completely helpless without its 'Fire Sticks'. how is it the master of the earth?” type crap it’s like, the bear protagonist or whatever approaches some dude who spreads their arms and yells and the bear is like “FUUUUUUUUCK THAT THING JUST GOT HUGE. IT'S LARGE AND MAKING NOISES. HOLY FUCK.”

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

I can't believe I never posted this, here's a whale shark villager I drew in 2020!!

[leahdrawsstuff]

bury me in your memory

[ddlcbrainrot]

Hear me out, what if.. transmasc MC

when the character is so gender you can headcanon them as both transfem AND transmasc

[harmonysanreads]

Is it just me or is failure and depression making Sunday sound hotter?

[sawtrappedirl]

Do you guys know how embarrassing it was telling my English professor about Re-Animator. This is why I should never get asked what I like unless you are prepared for a conversation as long as the Fitness Gram Pacer Test Audio. I was literally jumping up and down and waving my arms. This is fr why no one takes me seriously. Bro acting like a kid who just got ice cream. I was giggling so much too. Embarrassing. At least she’s a fan now!!

[silna-pdf]

Rk900 likes cats. Specifically Gavin’s cat. They aren’t too unpredictable, not too overwhelming. He likes cats.

[happyheidi]

i think that discussion about if social media are toxic isn't about tumblr because on snapchat or tiktok or Instagramie all you care about is "if no one likes my face then i'm a loser" but tumblr is a different thing because you can't even see how many followers people here have and all we do here is post photos of nature, animals and poetry. tumblr is the healthy social media. all we care here is pretty nature and wise poetry

𝖱𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍?? 𝖨 𝖽𝗈𝗇’𝗍 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝗋𝖾𝖿𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗍𝗈/𝗐𝗁𝗒 𝗎 𝗌𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖾, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝖨’𝗆 𝗀𝗅𝖺𝖽 𝗎 𝖽𝗂𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖨 𝗍𝗈𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖺𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖾!! 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖲𝗈𝖬𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗍𝖾𝗌 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗉𝖾𝗍𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇. 𝖯𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 “”𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖿𝖾𝖼𝗍””. 𝖧𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗈𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖾𝗍𝖼. 𝖠𝗇𝖽 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝟤𝟦/𝟩, 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝖺𝗍 𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗋𝗍𝗂𝗉𝗌. 𝖲𝗈 𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝗈𝗆𝖻𝖺𝗋𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍. 𝖶𝗁𝗂𝖼𝗁 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖻𝖾 𝗌𝗈 𝖽𝖺𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝗇𝗀! 𝖲𝗈 𝗂𝗍’𝗌 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝖺 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 - 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝗎𝗋 𝖽𝗈𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍, 𝗍𝗎𝗆𝖻𝗅𝗋 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗈𝗉𝖾𝗇 𝖺𝗋𝗆𝗌!

“𝖳𝗎𝗆𝖻𝗅𝗋 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗍𝗁𝗒 𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅 𝗆𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖺”

𝖯𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 𝗌𝗂𝗌! 👏👏👏

𝖧𝗈𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗅𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝗎𝗌 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗋𝗍, 𝗉𝗈𝖾𝗍𝗋𝗒, 𝗇𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾, 𝖺𝗇𝗂𝗆𝖺𝗅𝗌, 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖻𝖾𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗒 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍 𝖻𝖾𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍’𝗌 𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗈𝗋𝗍𝖺𝗇𝗍! 𝖨 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗎𝗆𝖻𝗅𝗋! 𝖧𝗈𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗎𝗆𝖻𝗅𝗋! 🍃🥳🎉💛✨

pic source

𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝗈𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺𝖽𝗈𝗋𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗁𝗈𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗌𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋. 𝗐𝗁𝗒 𝗇𝗈𝗍? 𝖨𝗍’𝗌 𝗍𝗎𝗆𝖻𝗅𝗋! 😄

[mossymandibles]

I get using references is considered well and good but my god is it distracting. I’m like wow so many different animals and I’m 6 again sitting on the floor of my room looking at my giant cardboard book of animals for two hours instead of making my own damn images. Sometimes I can pull myself out of it and do studies at least.

[pcktknife]

garfield poll????

would the touden party eat garfield the regular normal ass housecat

[huginsmemory]

Trigun and Christianity

In lieu of trigun Stampedes choice to make Wolfwood an undertaker instead of a priest (to, well, my disappointment), I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the Christian themes in Trigun, and then also look at why they might have decided to choose for Wolfwood to be a undertaker then a preist, and a potential reason to why Trigun has these Christian themes. Also, btw, this is chock full of manga spoilers so, beware!

To start it off... trigun is actually... pretty heavy on Christian themes. Fuck man, the main character is basically an angel, and in one of the first volumes they literally describe the plants as something divine (although they are later declared to be something humans made... But nevertheless the very clear imagery is there). Also what features very strongly is pacifism and the themes of unconditional love; Vash's refusal to kill coming from believing that going forward, anyone can change, even when he is literally being harmed or attempted to be killed by others. These themes of pacifism and unconditional love are very Christian, and Vash's actions very much centre him as a Jesus-like character. In fact, even the way that he (and knives) was born, a virgin birth, also could be seen as an allusion, as well as the way that he holds a physical form as a human while being more than human- Jesus being considered a 'son of man' while also being the son of God; ie, something in-between, something both divine and human. Knives as well is written in that angelic and divine light, although he is done so in a dark opposite of Vash, with an emphasis on his 'divinity' for imagery as he is obsessed with it. Interestingly, contrast to Knives, Vash, who goes around as a human, is multiple times called a Devil for his reputation, although he is the one that actually is virtuous... This in a way also alludes to him as a Jesus-like figure, as that Jesus was ultimately sought after by the authorities and in some places hated and even driven away by people.

12 disciples

As well, Nightow is pretty blatant that the gung ho guns, of which there are 12, is a allusion to the 12 disciples; hell, Wolfwood calls them straight up disciples when he is at Jeneora Rock. One might argue that then whether that posits Knives as a Jesus figure as that they follow Knives directions, or if one would consider Vash to be the Jesus figure, as the 12 literally seek out, and 'follow' Vash, and of which one of them literally betrays (although, technically, Wolfwoods betrayal goes both ways). However, I don't think that argument is really one that matters, as it's more of the aesthetic of Christianity that Nightow likes in this matter, not the philosophical implications.

As well, as mentioned above, Wolfwood is very Judas-coded; he gets close to Vash, only to inevitably betray him and deliver him up to his fate, while clearly being torn up about it. Vash is not surprised at all when Wolfwood tells him that he was one of the gung ho guns, and you get the sense that he knew about it all along, and knew exactly what he was walking into. Yet he still loves and forgives Wolfwood for all of it. Which... is exactly the same thing that occurs between Judas and Jesus, Jesus willingly going with Judas even though he knew what lay before him.

Wolfwood

As well, quite obviously adding to the heavy Christian themes of trigun, is that Wolfwood calls himself a priest. Although indeed it's part of his front, it's clear Wolfwood in the manga is religious, challenging and calling upon God in response to seeing the Knives born, and his response to the fifth moon incidence where he questions if it was the hand of God (which, actually, is caused by Vash's hand... again alluding to the 'divinity' of Vash and Knives). This clear religious affiliation continues through the series, such as when he is rescuing Vash from Knives, and even praying while he is on the ship with the people that helped vash.

Wolfwood also throughout the series is very clearly is morally wraught with guilt over his choices and sins... Something that's very Catholic/Christian. Hell, the fact that the punisher, the insignia of his murderous profession, is a literal heavy cross that Wolfwood carries with him, is poetic irony; he's literally carrying around the embodiment of his sins and his guilt from his profession and choices, which weighs both heavily on his physical body but also him emotionally. Wolfwood's guilt over his sins and choices comes to its climax when he's about to die when rescuing Vash from Knives, after betraying him; where he questions whether he can be forgiven for what he has done and whether he was wrong, and in response Vash saves him, declaring that he is not wrong; not wrong to go against orders, leaving his vocation of being a murderer behind, in trying to save Vash and moving forward. In declaring Wolfwood that he was not wrong, what Vash (heavily implied divine, Jesus-like character) is declaring is that Wolfwood can be forgiven for his sins, is already forgiven for his betrayal (unconditional love, anyone?), and that Wolfwood can change, that his past doesn't define him, because his future is also a blank ticket.

As well, this is followed up later by Wolfwoods confession to Vash that he hates killing:

The confession and the way he phrases it- seeing all humans as his brethren (although, in this sense he may be speaking tangentially about Livio) is something that also has Christian overtones. (Also, the way that they mention Vash sees the whole of humans as his relatives, also ties into that; except personally I'd argue that's more of a Indigenous view then a Christian, but theres plenty of things that overlap with other theologies and philosophies within the manga that aren't just characteristics of Christianity).

Redemption via acts

There's also a theme of redemption via acts, which both Wolfwood and Vash lean into heavily as a result of guilt from their 'sins', something that is very... Well, again, Christian, especially Catholic. Vash, from being unable to stop Knives and having obliterated July and just his and knives general existence, and Wolfwood from his profession, and so they both struggle with immense feelings of guilt. As a result both are very self-sacrificing; Vash very obviously so throughout the series, and Wolfwood in a quieter way, in choosing to continue to work to protect the orphanage, even though he desperately wants to escape the life he leads and hates killing people. They both don't believe they deserve to be loved because of the weight of their sins, and so they redeem themselves the only way they know how by self-sacrifice; this literally causing Wolfwoods death as he didn't reach our to Vash for help, and is evident in the way Legato looks at Vash at the end and realizes he sees a man that only sees himself as a tool and hates himself. This belief of Vash's that he doesn't deserve love/nice things is something that is also interesting, because he so aggressively pushes the 'blank ticket of the future', ie, unconditional love, while clearly being unable to apply it to himself.

Tldr: the point is, Trigun is very heavily Christian themed, both in aesthetic and philosophy, and the characterization of both Vash and Wolfwood reflect that. The show is rampant with such Christian philosophical themes as unconditional love, sin and guilt, confessions, forgiveness and redemption through self-sacrifice; for aesthetic ones, well, literal 'angels' as main characters, Wolfwood being a priest and carrying a cross, the 12 gung ho guns as 12 disciples.

Wolfwood as an Undertaker

Since Trigun is so heavily Christian themed, it makes it... well, a bit of a strange choice to pull the fact that Wolfwood is a preist out, since him as a preist further emphasizes the moral quandries within the story and the themes of sins/guilt/forgiveness and unconditional love. However, as one other post here on tumblr mentioned, stampede as an iteration of trigun is more directed towards a more modern and Japanese audience, some of which can be seen with the revamp of the character designs to make them more relatable, and I think they mentioned some specific character traits with Meryl. This re-vamping, especially one specifically for a Japanese audience might explain why Wolfwood becomes a undertaker instead of being a Christian priest. Nightow in the back panels in the manga is clearly is very enthralled with American culture- and his knowledge and love of the American genres shows pretty strongly in the themes and the setting for Trigun. In fact, the 1998 anime was better recieved in the west then in Japan, and a possible likelihood for it's higher popularity within the Americas is going to be directly because of the western audience being more familiar with the Western genre, as well as specifically, the Christian themes within the show (since western countries cultures are Christian based, even if one wasn't raised religious). As well, compared to the other typical gunslinging space western anime, Cowboy bebop, Trigun contains more Christian themes, which would make it less relatable, and less popular to the Japanese audience (of course there are many other differences in the shows, so I would be reluctant to chalk it up to just the religious themes in trigun- hell, Cowboy Bebop makes some great criticisms of capitalism that is not present in Trigun). Circling back to them revamping the show, if they are trying to make it more relatable to a Japanese audience, then removing more overly American influences, such as one of the characters literally being a Christian priest, would fit that bill quite well.

Trigun and Christianity... Why?

Also, I personally think that Nightow didn't exactly mean to make a story that is really heavily Christian themed. My sneaking suspicion from reading chapter 0, is the Nightow thought that writing a western with a main character gunslinger that is a pacifist would be a fun and interesting prospect, and then when he began to elaborate on it, he began to pull in more western (both cultural and genre wise) themes and aesthetics into the story, resulting in something that is very heavily Christian themed in the end.

EDIT: it's been raised to my attention by the lovely @trigum, that it says in the wikipedia on Nightow that he was raised buddhist and converted to Catholicism, although there is no source for that information. If so, this would, well, very obviously explain why Trigun is so heavy on Christian themes and negates the paragraph above. I'm not giving him enough credit then, my apologies Nightow!

EDIT 2:

Edit 3 (Feb 3): made a somewhat part 2, specifically looking at the phrase the 'bride of Christ'.