#i'm also surprised how the story is so different from stampede

[torgawl]

i'm actually obsessed with this line from chapter 6 of trigun maximum. this might be my favourite scene so far!!!

bonus cool vash panel from the same scene because it's so *chef's kiss*:

[tenebrius-excellium]

YOU WATCHED TRIGUN STAMPEDEEEEE??? HOWD U FIND IT WHATRE YOUR THOUGHTS !!

I CONFESS I WAS THE ANON ON YOUR BLOG YOU STUPID (affectionate) FRIEND; I GOT IT FROM YOU!!!

I LOVED IT!!!

Thanks for the accidental recommendation! :P

Ok I know NOTHING about anime, okay? Anything I say was great or not so great might refer to Trigun Stampede specifically, or it might just be an anime thing in general because That's What An Anime Is. I can't tell the difference.

LOVED the intro song (Tombi by Kvi Baba). Constantly listening to it right now. It's hauntingly beautiful yet so easy-going and chill. I looked up the lyrics and they're about being a light in the darkness, I dig that theme!

LOVED Meryl from the start. A level-headed young lady who craves the truth, justice, and knowledge beyond herself because it's the right thing to do. She cares so much. She doesn't steal any spotlight by interfering or by being dramatic. She simply observes, listens to instructions that will save her life, and draws her own conclusions. I'm glad we got to experience the plot through her perspective first! A "journalist investigating a story" may seem like such a dumb start - could be Hallmark. But in this Space Western setting, it's perfect.

VASH MY BELOVED. I hated his intro because it made him seem so dumb and silly. There's a difference between making a character seem naive so that he gets underestimated (bringing in the - surprise! - big guns later), and making him outright ooc to create a false first impression. Idk I knew that his FIRST scene where he needed a bullet was not how his character would remain.

HIS CHARACTER DESIGN IS SO COOOOL!!! Idk from the outfit down to his martial arts skills matched with radical forgiveness and pacifism - DUDE. He's very complex. Idk yeah he lets himself get shot in total surrender but there is the part where one bullet won't immediately kill him and he knows it. There's also the part where Wolfwood challenges him on his beliefs, saying that for all his "peace and love on planet earth" talk he sure does not clean up after the messes he creates. The thing is - it's not so much about taking responsibility for the bounty on his head or something, but rather for the fact that his behavior evokes confused, angry and frightened reactions because it comes unexpected to a human society that is drilled on survival. As much as he CHOOSES not to use violence time and time again, I think he needs to cultivate some awareness that this is unusual behavior and that it triggers people to do crazy things (based on insecurity) around him. On the positive side, he confronts each and everyone with their personal tolerance for violence and tests their hearts that way. Beautiful.

The team is so well balanced! Vash, Wolf, Meryl, and Roberto - Dream Team!

The actions scenes take my breath away. They are so so so so good. I am noticing the attention to detail and the accuracy to skill that everyone is describing. I am also highly enjoying the ingenuity of new moves and awesome use of weapons, physical strength and surroundings. I'm sorry, I can't explain the brilliance of these moves well - but you already know what I mean.

I didn't quite get the in-depth explanation of the conflict I think??? Like, I'm still not quite sure what a Plant is, why Vash and Nai are more intelligent than the rest of them, why they were in space to begin with and what exactly Knives was trying to achieve by traveling to a higher dimension? I really didn't get the angel theme and why Vash suddenly developed a wing and became dark (I like his darker look tho). I also don't quite understand Nai as a character. To ensure the survival of Plant seems like an understandable cause for his actions, but why be so cruel and uncaring about it? It doesn't explain his maniac barbarity. Explanations are more than welcome!

What is your obsession with Livio about?? I mean I know, he was epic in that one scene he appeared in, and his bond with Wolfwood was genuine and deep. But he literally took himself out like a light, so... where's all that additional Livio content coming from? It's also really sad. Like... he never even gave himself one minute after waking up. That was a bit morbid.

Oh my gosh Vashmeryl is the og canon? I'm happy there wasn't any forced romance between anyone in this season. Only platonic connections for once. Amazing. Whatever Vash and Meryl end up as, I'll support both.

If there comes a Season 2, I will watch it!!! I don't know how far I'll take Trigun Stampede in fandom, but believe me, watching this has positively altered me forever. It's so FRESH.

Again, thank you for the unintentional recommendation!

Cheers

Reddie

[hikennosabo]

trimax vol 13 random thoughts (ch 5-9)

part 1 here!

chapter 5:

okay, it took me way longer than it should have to figure out what happened in this scene, lol. razlo gets behind elendira and blocks her nail gun with the nail that's already in his body which jams her gun and pushes the nail further into his torso which takes them both by surprise.

"some dumbasses"?? do you mean wolfwood and vash?? LOL

come on, come on, come on!!! he's so cute, lol. he's like a dog who wants to play.

i love watching razlo fight!!! it's so fun seeing him fight a different way due to not having his punishers/third arm anymore. he's having so much fun too, it's infectious~

UNTIL ELENDIRA USES A PSYCHIC ATTACK ON HIM. JESUS CHRIST. THAT ONE ALMOST HAD ME.

chapter 6:

ma'am could you please stop serving cunt for a second i'm trying to read manga and you are distracting me

AAAAAGH AND THEN SHE BLASTS HIS LEG OFF. THAT ONE WASN'T FAKE THAT ONE WAS REAL. he'll be okay but :(

CHEKHOV'S VIAL?!

uuuueeee... wolfwood... just seeing the little panel of him... i miss him so much... and the reminder of wolfwood brings livio back out. ueee... waaahhhh...

i'm sitting here trying to articulate my feelings about livio and razlo and i can't, really... :') livio feeling so bad and apologizing that he has to rely on razlo so much, razlo doing his best to encourage livio... they really care about each other a lot. it's very sweet. i care them. :(((

oh this is so very much not how DID works but it's both cool and important to their character arcs so it's FINE!!!! it's fine

huuuhhhmmmmm something something symbolism in livio's guns being reversible and livio and razlo working together, two as one... is this anything? am i connecting any dots here?

they were able to bring elendira to her knees with their teamwork!!!!

chapter 7:

uwaaahhh! young livio flashback!! this is where his twinky stampede self came from i guess. i hope season 2 gives us a beefier version-

...wait. wait, wait, wait, wait, wait wait wait. hold on. speaking of stampede. give me a second.

*returns 30 minutes later* HUH. INTERESTING. so stampede shows us livio working hard in EoM to catch up with wolfwood, but in the manga, it's all but outright stated that he's trying to catch up with razlo.

sorry i'm just fascinated by the tristamp/manga differences and seeing younger livio doing pushups reminded me (stamp!livio does pushups the same way!!)

we're not supposed to know that razlo exists yet in tristamp; i wonder if or how season 2 is going to reframe any of this. it's not like i dislike livio and wolfwood's relationship in stampede!! i think it's really sweet, introducing livio into ww's story earlier is a good move, and livio joining EoM to catch up with ww makes everything in the relevant episodes more emotional. but the relationship between livio and razlo is just as important!!

razlo encouraging livio is SO cute, uwaaaahhh...

WAAAHHHHH!!!! I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH!!!!!

babygirl, please, i am begging. why are you so sad. tell me who hurt you. i am on my hands and knees.

to him... while drinking wolfwood's last vial... i am going to fucking throw up i feel so normal about this

chapter 8:

elendira, killed by her own nail... oh girl... my beloved... i did not expect her to live but i'm still sad she's gone. what a fantastic fight though. might be my favorite fight in this manga.

also livio's gonna have an interesting time trying to get up and get her off of him once his limbs regenerate... uh... if they can regenerate? i'm assuming they can...

i am gonna fucking CRYYYY... calling him by name... wwwaaaaahhhhh...

he would be so proud of you, livio!!!! WAAAAHHH!!!

okay, time to cut back to my other faves having their own battle.

it's so funny that legato thinks this. dude, she hates your guts. if she knew she was gonna see you in the afterlife soon she WOULD worry.

huh? that's her name? like the painting?

also i've been wondering this whole time why she looks like that. like why is she designed to look like a woman. did legato design her himself?? is this his aesthetic sense??

haha ouch! thanks for spelling out the metaphor so plainly!

ahhhh, july flashback... this was uhhh... *checks* ten years ago. supposedly. i'm not sure how much i trust the timeline anymore.

actually i do wonder how measuring time works on this planet. like, everything seems to be measured the same way it is on earth, so does noman's land also have 365 days in a year and 24 hour days?

he's so cute, i am holding him gently in my hands.

knives is so mean... to be just a tiny little bit fair to him, i too would be low on patience if my brother just blasted me with a death beam and someone suddenly started handling my guts that were hanging out. but he's so mean!! i feel bad for legato!!

i AM surprised that knives is still conscious... and that he's still mostly intact. like his guts are hanging out but it looks like his legs and arms (or at least one arm) are still attached, and he's still got. y'know. most of his skin. certainly more intact than his stampede self, lmao.

vash, honey, what on earth makes you think he plans on living through this fight any more than you are. :')

i just like this spread.

chapter 9:

OH BOY, HE'S FERAL!!! truly, he is going out in a blaze of glory just like he wanted. i wouldn't expect anything else from him at this point.

ahhh... stampede!legato talks a lot about discarding emotion in favor of devotion. but emotion and devotion are intrinsically linked. legato is a pretty emotional person, he cries a lot and yells a lot... as long as he can express his devotion to knives, he feels like he's fulfilling his purpose, so he's happy... i'm glad he's having fun at least... :')

WAAAAHHH VASH IS REMEMBERING WOLFWOOD NOW... his face is not quite visible but... vash is remembering wolfwood's words because he's thinking he really is going to have to kill legato to end this fight... killing legato just like in the 98 anime...

i get caught up in the action, but every time they bring wolfwood up i realize how much i miss him...

this panel fucks.

i love watching legato go fucking crazy fighting. i wanna see this fight animated so bad :''')

when i read the top panel, i was like, "because of knives, right?" then i read the bottom panel... ahhh... not just knives... every plant... it's a good thing tristamp established this relatively early because we don't really see vash doing this in the story lol

i'm remembering "do you think we can become friends with them?" "yeah... it might take a lot of effort though..." :'''')

chronica, girl, i know you're very angry with knives, but as far as revenge goes, you need to get in line. you got here like five minutes ago, there are other people with much longer-lasting beef than you who deserve a shot at him before you.

the smallest meryl u can imagine...

WAAAAH this is so sweet, they love him so much :(

i said this already but i LOVE seeing legato go all-out, it's cool!! it gets me pumped up!!! this is just... such a good fight!!!

wait, is the earth ship falling because chronica used up so much energy firing the cannon multiple times?? GIRL...

THIS PAGE FUCKS!!!

THIS SPREAD ALSO FUCKS!! the way that the debris fades out above them, they're only focused on each other...!!!

final thoughts... i'm surprised legato survived this volume?! i really thought he would die in this one... he lasted longer than i thought he would, not that i'm complaining... UUAAAAAGHHH i am gnawing on my arm rn, i can't believe there's only one volume left?! i'll be finished *checks day* TOMORROW?!?!? if i don't procrastinate on reading... which i might do because i don't want it to be over... waaaah...

how will knives be defeated? can humanity survive? will livio's limbs regenerate? and most importantly, HOW WILL VASH GET HIS WILL TO LIVE BACK?!?!

[chibivesicle]

Dunno why you're harping so hard on the "muh mystery" aspect. A feature literally only existent in the 98 anime, because they added a shit ton of filler to make up for so little manga material at the time. The actual source material tells us this is all Knives's fault volume ONE! We know super early on why they're stuck here and who is at fault. The actual mystery the manga and stampede are setting up is not "who did it" but "why did knives do it"

Hello hello,

Yes, I'm one of those people who isn't happy with Stampede revealing a lot of information out from the get go. I 100% admit it. I think that this is going to be an issue for a lot of viewers, especially for people who have a high fondness for Trigun.

I think this comes from a lot of different places and combines in the general feeling of 'meh I don't like this as much'.  I’m surprised how quickly I saw the new series and was like ‘Noooooo!’ but didn’t even know why my immediate reaction was like this. 

1.) What was available at the time you watched the anime. When I watched the anime, it was on a fansub. The DVDs were released between 2000-2001 and the box set at the end of 2001. Therefore, this was all you could go on. If you wanted the manga it wouldn't be out until 2003 via Darkhorse in North America. You could have bought the current tankobons and then found a website where there was a text based translation of the speech bubbles. This was before the common use of fan scan translations. The ability to find a manga before it gets an anime was really freakkin' hard in the 80s and 90s. It was almost the reverse - you'd see the anime and then quest for the manga and hope it got picked up by a publisher who'd then publish it over several years.  They’d only gamble on a title if it already had a strong anime fanbase.

2.) The unique nature of the source material lead to an unusual but clever adaptation of that limited material. Studio Madhouse didn't have enough material for a full 26 episode run. They were brilliant to focus on a new point of view to introduce the viewer to the world. There is nothing wrong with a show that can be episodic, sure, we want stories with a plot driving them forward but episodic shows allow for more character development. The same situation happens, but characters behave differently and Trigun does this well. Having Wolfwood show up and hang out with the group from episodes 9-11 gives him more time to get to know them. The manga has Wolfwood and Vash as close friends, but before the Fifth Moon Incident they only rode on the bus together. Episodes 9-11 gives us more time for them to be dorks together and makes for enjoyable antics. 3.) The air of mystery fits in perfectly with the 'Western' genre. In the classic American Western, you frequently have a drifter who comes into town. He's a skilled gunman who never stays in one place but tries to stand up against injustice against the locals. He might be genuinely good. He may be on a redemption arc. He might be doing this for penance due his past deeds. Hell, he might just be bored.  What he does have is a mysterious past.

Trigun used this concept its advantage for the slow reveal of events. It went for a stronger ‘show, don't tell’ than either the manga or Stampede. Vash looks like a goofball drifter, why isn't he? What type of pain has he been through? How has he survived? This also worked for Wolfwood who won't reveal his full mystery either and the bits here and there in 9-11 add to it.  What is this traveling clergyman doing with a giant 100kg cross that he literally carries? Why would he accept carrying such a cross?  Why would he lie about being able to shoot a gun when he’s excellent at it?

4.) Meryl and Milly vibed with a Western audience more. I'm appalled at how Roberto is currently treating Meryl in the anime. It is setting up a different trope that didn't exist in the original anime or manga. I think a lot of women will not like this as much, the manga didn't have romance since Yasuhiro Nightow said he couldn't write it. But it means that the anime easily passes the Bechdel test which is good for female representation and motivations. I agree with the idea that Meryl and Roberto are written to be a much more culturally Japanese dynamic.  It honestly would make a lot of sense if they are trying to make this more of a domestic success than the original.  We’ll give it the gritty realism of the Japanese office culture!  That will resonate with people!  Maybe this brings in more Japanese women who sympathize exactly with Meryl now? 

I had no idea that Badlands Rumble was released in the States months before Japan.  It seems Trigun is like Escaflowne.  Saw great success outside of Japan but locally was a bit of a flop.  23 year old Meryl is just starting her career, but remember, women over 25 are ‘Christmas Cake’.  Past their best buy date and should be married.  And this is a term that exists in the present, not the past in Japan. 

Other people have hypothesized that Milly was eliminated due to her rare role as a canonically large girl who could take you on.  Other than the fact that she uses a non-lethal weapon, is the youngest child of 10, and the sweetest person ever.  I always loved her dress shirt, tie and suspenders look but it isn’t very ‘cute’ in a moe sense.

5.) Having a fresh comparison of the anime and manga.  With the Stampede hype, I watched the anime.  And then binged the manga.  Overall, I like the anime better.  It is more character driven, the pacing is right and the twists and turns work well.  The only weakness is the manga background lore is lacking but they more than compensated for it for the most part. 

I don’t generalize that I like a series based on a manga that the manga is inherently better than the anime.  Golden Kamuy was an anime that would have benefited from more of the manga chapters included for the first three seasons.  Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood was better with the full background from the manga.  Gintama messed around with content all the time deciding to move plot vs comedy.  Honestly, it always just depends on which one you ultimately prefer.  And I make this on a series by series basis.

6.) The power of nostalgia and a less saturated anime environment of the past. Now, you can essentially watch anime every day or read current manga for an entire year and not overlap with series other people are reading.  The 80s, 90s and very early 2000s were a sparse anime/manga ecosystem.  The internet wasn’t quite at your fingertips.  This then resulted in a more cohesive fanbase.  You all saw the same things due to limited titles to choose from.  Distributors in the States leaned hard into releasing more obscure OVAs since they were cost effective.  OVAs had more adult content than conventional titles so a bunch of us were exposed to some rather mature things likely before we should have.  A lot of 90s anime had that gritty feeling which I don’t think was an accurate representation for it across the board in the 90s but what made it internationally.  The first con I went to was full of Deedlit cosplayers. Why?  You could rent Record of Lodoss War at Blockbuster and it was a well known fantasy anime with a hot elf chick.  The hardcore people were the Inuyasha and Utena cosplayers since they’d not had a domestic release yet and were fansub/text only translation at the time.

With less titles to choose from, you spent more time on the limited series and really dug into them.  Thus, to the western fanbase, Trigun has risen to an important point on a lot of people’s lists.  Or it was the introduction to anime for a lot of people when my introduction had been series like Macross/Voltron/Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2.  Were these ‘pure’ versions - nope but it was what slowly sucked me into more series. 

This also means that in this supersaturated environment, there is more competition for eyeballs.  Do you want to reboot a series that had modest niche success in Japan that was a blockbuster hit in the States?  You have the advantage of the series being complete now; you can draw from all the source material.  But it is a product of its time and the look can be easily dated to the mid-late 90s. 

There are two ways you go with this.  1.) The CLAMP approach - who cares about current styles and trends, we are gonna keep our chara design pretty standard for the original and that will give us our visual advantage.  2.) Adapt it to the current look - which I think is a gamble.  You lose your visual pop factor by making it look more current but it would appear how current series look so people might be willing to give it a shot not knowing the source material. 

With such high saturation, you end up with so many series with characters that all look similar.  I find this to make it hard to distinguish the isekai/fantasy/school set series and they just keep coming out.  I’ll watch a new anime and be like, ‘It was fine.’  but it will quickly blur into the next series that was just as ‘fine’ as that last one. 

In conclusion, I think all of these factors and likely more are why many fans who watched the original anime (and may have even read and enjoyed the manga as well) are so bummed out by this choice to put so many things up front.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that they will have time to fit in more characters and they may instead be swapping out characters for manga specific ones that weren’t written yet and dropping other manga and anime ones.  I have a gut feeling Midvalley will not appear.  If he does, I will be pleasantly surprised.

I think the reason why so many people love the slow reveal is that it rewards you for your time getting to know Vash.  And with other characters meeting him and wondering why he’s so weird it helps you to focus on it as well before the reveal of his origin.  From a narrative perspective it worked well and I think that contributed to why so many people love the anime and are fine with it if it was the only Trigun media they knew.

[floof-ghostie]

Gimme the rundown on your trisona!!

I'm glad you asked! Solaris has a lot of lore to them, which includes their backstory, what they do for a living, and meeting Vash!

Okay so:

Solaris Peverett grew up in a town that was very very closed off and not exactly a welcoming place for those who are "different". They weren't treated well at home, didn't have any friends, AND they realised they were agender in a town that was very conservative (highly unusual, as most of Gunsmoke is pretty accepting of that sort of thing). This all culminates in them running away at the age of 13, which in hindsight was a very stupid idea, as the town was a good week's walk away from the nearest Plant, and Solaris packed like. three days' worth of provisions. Plus, they had no plans on what to do when actually getting to the Plant. To top it all off, they lost all of their food on the second day after nearly getting attacked by a sandworm.

A group of bandits ended up finding them on the fourth day, and after much deliberation on what to do about them (options ranged from killing, to robbing then killing, to holding them for ransom), and after Sola begged them to not take them back to their town, their leader (a very old lady, and mother to 5 of them) opted to just take Solaris in, and treat them like a member of the family to avoid trouble. So for 6 years, Sola travelled with the family, and learned from Granny to crochet and knit. They discovered many old crashed ships, and abandoned towns and villages. They also ended up making a name for themself, and earned a lot of respect from other scavengers and bandits for their skills (slipping into small spaces, being patient enough to cut big pieces free from fallen ships).

When they were 18, Solaris ended up returning to their hometown with the group, only to find the place deserted. Upon further investigation, they found out that the plant was long gone, and that there were several old corpses lying around. While they didn't really care about what happened to the townspeople, Sola was still surprised and uneasy. Swallowing their shock, they assisted in pillaging the town, and they never went back. They couldn't sleep that night.

At 19, Solaris decided that they wanted to settle down and have a more stable living situation, so they found a small house, complete with a small ranch on the outskirts of a small town called Midmay. They arrange frequent trips to scavenging locations, and generally keep to themself, and don't talk much. The villagers don't like or trust Solaris; they don't like newcomers, as most of the people living there have been there for generations (with some families being directly descended from the crew from Project SEEDS), whereas Sola has only just moved in. Sola is often referred to by the townspeople as "Sola the Bandit".

When Sola is not scavenging, or doing chores around the house, they can be found knitting or crocheting out on their front porch. They have an entire savings for yarn and other crafting supplies.

How they met Vash under the cut:

The story of how Vash and Sola met is a really funny one. At 22, Sola was examining the wreckage of a ship one day, when they heard a loud commotion on the other side. They walked in on a group of bandits and bounty hunters that they knew, tying Vash up, and bragging that they were going to be rich (Vash's bounty is 60 billion double dollars, so it's not like they were lying). Vash wasn't doing much to fight back, and was failing miserably in defusing the situation.

Solaris took pity on Vash (and would later say that he looked so pathetic, that they had to step in), and lied to the bandits, saying that they had made a mistake, and that the man that they captured was not actually Vash the Stampede.

Solaris: I can tell you right now that that's not Vash the Stampede

Bandit #1: What do you mean "That's not Vash", he's got the red coat and everything!

Solaris: That's exactly the problem *points at Vash* That coat is mauve, not red.

The Bandits:

Surprisingly it works, and the bandits end up leaving.

Anyways, after that, Sola invites Vash to stay at their house for a while, and warns him that the people living in Midmay aren't very welcoming to strangers. The inn is very overpriced, and Sola is willing to let Vash room with them for free until he gets back on his feet.

They also end up saving the town later on from some bandits, but that's a story for another day.

Hope you enjoyed!!

[cimeret]

I'm super late for this buuut I'm going to continue writing down some thoughts about Stampede. Haven't watched ep 9 yet, this will only be about 4 - 8.

So, I'm 8 episodes into Trigun Stampede, and my initial opinion of the series hasn't changed much. I'm still very much in love with the gorgeous visuals—there's more than one moment in every episode where I have to pick my jaw up off the floor! It's not just the action scenes with their creative camera movements, but also the pretty landscapes in the few quieter moments, or the way the series manages to portray horror and gore in a way that makes me physically cringe without going overboard. On the other hand, both pacing and characterization, while improving with each episode, are still a bit of a weak point for me in the new series.

The most beautiful thing about Stampede, though, is all the genuine enthusiasm and love I've seen for this series and the characters. I just love how positive the fanbase is. Reading the reactions or seeing people get creative after each new episode is almost the best part of watching! My dash is overflowing with love for these characters and their stories and I'm totally here for it! So I'm going to go along with that and will mostly just gush without restraint about all the things I love so far.

Obvious spoilers for Trigun Stampede (up to ep 8) under the cut (and also for the older series and the manga)

Is it just me or do the visuals get better every week? This series makes me want to run all the beautiful gifs and videos on an endless loop so I can just stare at them forever. I mean ... just look!

I go weak at all these long, long takes with their beautiful camera movements and Trigun Stampede definitely spoils me in that regard. And yet when the show's visuals most surprised me, it was in a totally different way. I wasn't prepared for the calm, contemplative scenes in the flashback with Livio and Wolfwood. Not only is their story itself heartbreaking and tragic—the soft 2D animation style, the silent film vibes, and music give these flashbacks a bittersweet yet eerie feel. They stand out from the rest of the series as if their story is part of a different, older universe. And how well that fits thematically with Wolfwood and Livio, whose entire lives have been revamped by the Eye of Michael. They have literally been forced into a new, more cruel story. Setting the flashbacks to the soft, lonely tones of a flute is ingenious; for me, this music captures the spirit and feel of the old series so well and triggers feelings of wistfulness and nostalgia, which made the flashback that much more emotionally effective. The soundtrack of the old series is iconic and I've tried not to make comparisons so far, because I feel like it sets up an impossible standard for any new adaptation. But again, this is where I'm starting to grow more and more fond of Stampede. I never skip the opening and I'm totally obsessed with the music video by Kvi Baba, which just bombards your brain with effects and colors and quick cuts until you become addicted. Studio Orange knows how to hook you with the visuals and they have proven that they can do not only loud and flashy scenes, but also quiet and soulful ones.

And I still wish we could have more of the latter. In my last review I said that I wanted this series to turn me into an emotional mess, and damn if Stampede didn't manage that more than once. It's the contrast between the quiet, sad and somber moments and the colorful, fast-paced, often gruesome action that draws me in the most. When Stampede finds that balance, the series is brilliant. And I could wax poetic again about Vash and how I think he's really the heart of this series because he embodies that contrast perfectly. I still miss his crazy antics from the old series and his funny and goofy personality, but I think there's also something to be said for this more repressed, softer Vash, for a much more open and direct portrayal of his issues like his depression, his eating disorder, his guilt and suicidal thoughts. Those things existed in the older series as well, but they were much more hidden under Vash's mask, often so well that they could even fool the viewer. And I don't mean to say that one approach is better than the other. Both have a lot to offer, and the more I think about it, the more I like that we now have two Vashs with similar problems and backgrounds, but with different personalities and ways of dealing with their struggles. I love haunted characters who are tortured by the narrative in increasingly cruel ways, beyond what any human should ever have to endure, and I love watching them getting back up and doing their best and smiling and fighting on and refusing to break down despite everything. Heroes are empowering. But there have to be moments when the mask comes off. There have to be moments when they're vulnerable and doubtful, moments when they lose their bravery and hope and either have to accept outside help or slowly pull themselves back together, because that's what ultimately makes them seem real and relatable and inspiring. I think this was done particularly well with ep 8. This is the lowest we've seen of Vash so far, and I hope that the flashback at this point wasn't just inserted to give viewers background on Vash and Knives and clear up some of the mysteries that have been building up over previous episodes. I hope that the issues raised by the flashback are also carried into the present timeline of the story, and that we get some strong character moments where Vash, for example, has to confront his past. A lot of things have been building up—Wolfwood and Livio and all the people trailing Vash, we have the tension between Wolfwood and Vash and their brief talks about ethics and morality, Meryl has the photo and so many questions, hints to Vash's identity as a plant have been revealed, Legato is hot on Vash's heels—at best, all of this should not merely serve as a setup for more brilliant action, but make for tense conversations between characters, drama and difficult decisions. I am more than curious where Stampede will take us! (And I really can't imagine how all this is going to be resolved in four episodes, so let's hope the rumors are true and we do indeed get more than 12 episodes.)

I could say so much more —about how the plants are portrayed in this series, about the atmosphere on the sand steamer, the awesome animation of the heavy machinery, the brief appearance of the Bad Lads Gang, about Brad and Luida.... But I want to talk very quickly about Meryl. I still think Stampede should take more time to develop her personality and her relationship with Roberto. By now I understand a little better the direction the show wants to go with the juxtaposition of the two: Roberto, the jaded superior who is trying to maintain a professional approach and would understandably rather stay out of trouble, and newbie Meryl, who is suddenly developing a personal interest in Vash and the events, and is tired of being a helpless and clueless bystander. So yes, I understand why they put her with Roberto instead of Milly. Roberto also gets a few moments where his character is more than a mere archetype or tool for exposition. And I hope they continue in that direction, because I think these two have a lot of potential.

The scene where Meryl stays in the control room of the sand steamer to trigger the cannon, and her speech to Roberto (and yay for the callback to Jeneora Rock and Tonis' injury!)—that scene had me crying and cheering for her. It was such an important moment. With all these superhuman men who are constantly getting riddled with bullets and losing so much blood that I feel sorry for their poor overworked kidneys and bone marrow that have to replace that amount ... yeah, it's easy to forget that Meryl is just a small human lady who has probably led a pretty sheltered life. (Not that life on Gunsmoke is easy for anyone, but it's different from the horrors that Vash, Wolfwood, Livio and co. have been through.) She doesn't have the physical strength of the other characters, and that makes her courage all the more remarkable and inspiring. The same goes for Roberto. In a way, these two are the characters that viewers can relate to the most, and I would love if Stampede didn't just use this fact to portray them as more or less passive agents who just uncover information and voice aloud all the questions that viewers are also wondering. Instead, I hope the series continues to show us what it does to ordinary human characters to witness these events, how it changes them psychologically, and how they begin to question themselves, their lives, and their values.

Because for me that's what Trigun is all about: what does it mean to be human, and how can we maintain our humanity despite this seemingly cruel and unjust life we're thrust into?

Anyway, I've been writing on this for so long that ep 9 should have dropped by now. So I'll dive right back in. It's actually quite nice to write these little reviews before watching the new episode, so that all the ideas and speculations are still fresh in the back of my mind. Since I'm expecting the new episode to be quite tense and heavy, with young Vash and Knives finally meeting each other, I'll probably be an emotional wreck for the rest of the day.

What a truly wonderful way to spend your Saturday!

[littleapocalypsekitten]

More Trigun: Stampede. I do really like this series so far. It is providing an interesting take on the Trigun story. It definitely has its differences from the other incarnations, but it does have its own merits. I really love what Studio Orange has done with the action-sequences. They feel "truer to the manga" than the first anime because the manga had a lot of FRENTIC action that circa '90s anime with a limited budget couldn't quite convey. The modern CGI work really has a LOT OF FUN with the motion and having characters be way over the top with their movements and it's glorious. However, (as of 4 episodes aired - how long was it set to be?) my heart still belongs to the original anime. Here is why: I love some good blood and gore, I do, and this series, much like the manga, does that in spades, where the first anime was limited. There's also a lot of drama, the serious drama elements of the story are brought in EARLY in this iteration, even earlier than in the manga... but here's the thing: I feel like some of the levity of the first series is lost. Even the notorious "darker, bloodier, more serious" manga, yes, even the second / seinen-magazine transfer run, Trigun Maximum, had a lot more humor prior to and in between the serious stuff. In other words, it felt more balanced to me. Back in the day, during the height of my Trigun fandom, I used to get into big, rip-roaring arguments online with fans who were "manga-only" fans or who "preferred the manga because it was so much deeper and so much darker!" and who acted like they were superior fans to those of us who primarily, or even enjoyed equally, the original anime. I liked the manga, too, and I enjoyed some of the darker elements (particularly the Tesla-storyline, which makes Knives' genocidal rage make more sense than the general bullying in the first anime, I think). But, these "oh so superior!" fans... they sucked. I thought they sucked for how they'd look down on the anime and those of us who enjoyed it. My constant argument: "Just because something is darker doesn't mean that it's deeper." The storylines of Trigun? Basically amounted to the same kind of themes and meaning. Nightow just put more blood in Trigun Maximum manga because it was running in a seinen magazine rather than the shounen magazine the property had started out in and he could show more blood and go crazy with it. (He was like me when I write horror fanfiction for Y-7 cartoons). It doesn't mean that the overall themes were any different. Some of us actually absorbed them better with the original anime's treatment. The original anime had, and has - the advantage of "breather" and of having the bright moments that I think make the dark moments more meaningful. It's well-balanced and, well, fun. Trigun: Stampede, so far, does have the fun of the action-sequences, but I miss the levity of Milly's strangely-insightful ditziness, the goofy random black cats running around, having the Nebraska father-son duo as less of a drama point and more the guy is as tall as a building and has a train in his head... Gosef, I miss your train-steam-stack. I don't think Brilliant Dynamites Neon is going to show up. I'll be surprised if Frank Marlon makes an appearance (although Roberto De Niro seems to be filling in for his alcoholism). Vash... has yet to put a tie on his head, and while very kind to a kid in the new anime, has yet to be actually wrestled to the ground by a gang of them. He hasn't driven Meryl insane by shouting "Love and Peace!" on repeat yet. It's more like - "Hey, the genocide begins right away! And so does the depression!" I'm not badmouthing it. As said, I am enjoying it. I am engrossed in how they are handling the story anew. I'm just saying that, thus far, my heart still belongs to the original because I find the slower unfolding mystery and the humor against the darkness instead of almost-all-darkness personally more enjoyable.

[terras-diary]

manga review - trigun + trigun maximum

some context: i read scans on my teeny tiny iphone se

the story: americans love westerns. i love westerns. need i say more? i will. i think the story flows a lot better in the manga compared to the 90s anime. it doesn't feel as episodic in the manga, and the transition from each town and story arc feels natural with no real gaps between them. i loved the expansion of the world's setting and lore (when i found out there were people on earth still and there were more independents i went insane i think)

i also enjoyed the ending as well, i'm glad it ended on a funny note, as if to keep the funny spirit of the early chapters alive.

the characters: okay i need to say it - milly and meryl were like side characters in the manga! so surprising :o they definitely didn't feel like main characters and all the romance in the anime was non-existent in the manga. that part didn't bother me much tbh, but like they should have appeared more. just saying.

also still loved knives - i liked his reasonings for what he does in the manga. a lot more understandable than just being an evil maniac like in the anime. and when he made the selfless act of making a fruit tree so vash doesn't burden the family he leaves him with? and when he turns to dust? insanity. i loved that, his ending was really good.

my unexpected favorite character though? livio. my buff cowboy. he fit so well with vash after wolfwood dies. i thought he was going to be a forced new buddy to vash but with all the funny little jokes i think it played out really well.

the art: the art at the start of the manga was a little rough. it was giving 90s yaoi proportions if we are being honest with yourselves. it gradually improved but (and i'm not sure if this is because i read shitty scans on a tiny cracked phone) but like his action scenes never improved. even while reading the final battle, i could not tell you what was going on in the panels. i find that most mangaka have trouble paneling and getting their action sequences across to viewers. so it is a negative, but it's not uncommon.

i'm also just surprised by his art style in general? like it doesn't really look like 90s manga, especially the faces? something about it is different.

other odds and ends: vash's angel arm looks almost exactly like allen's first iteration of his clown crown in d.gray-man... like so much like it....

and now that i've seen trigun stampede, looking back, why does livio look like that !!!!!!!! he looks like he works in silicon valley, he needs to don the cowboy hat and start lifting or im going to be mad asf

conclusion: well i read this entire series in one week, so take a guess on how i feel about it. i liked it. a lot. haha

[chibivesicle]

Hey!

I know I’ve already left a few asks here(I just love your meta okay?) and I had an idea- I saw a comment on the r/Trigun subreddit that Stampede should have picked up where the 98 anime left off, and after reading your thoughts on how you would fix Stampede, here’s my idea; Trigun Stampede but instead of a “reimagining” it’s a direct sequel to the 98 series but pulls from Maximum and instead of just picking and choosing stuff it keeps MOSTLY faithful but reworks and maybe streamlines different parts so it fits in with the timeline of the 98 anime and where it ended, picking up where the last episode of the anime left off.

I just wanted to know your thoughts and how you would make it work?

Hello there,

Thanks for another question! I honestly, would have preferred a full redo of the manga, but maybe keeping the first 5 episodes of the '98 with world building "filler" episodes and then dove into a more manga accurate story. The beauty of those first 5 were it takes him until that 5th episode to draw his gun and fire. The build up and tension was perfect and matched the side story in the manga where Vash uses a target to perfectly hit people so they don't die. I however, would add in more non-canon plot points with Meryl and Milly to keep the magic sauce that was Vash, Wolfwood, Meryl and Milly. These are easy tweaks that could have been added into a refreshed version. Honestly, the quartet character dynamics was great.

The '98 anime did the best with what it could do, but a more streamlined less wandering version of Trigun Maximum would likely have resonated well with older fans. For example there were some random chapters that were action packed but really didn't serve the plot (especially around the Eye of Michael) and Wolfwood got some side chapters which did flesh out his character more but lead to further wandering. I think a major problem with this was the fact they either had to make a 12 episode series or 24 to match current broadcasting 'standards' which was not the case with the '98 anime operating on the considerably older model of the 26 episode season. Though in that case they were animating with cels and Studio Orange is 3D CG. I have no idea how the time/effort per episode compares.

With how long the manga was, I think Stampede needed at least 2 or 3 seasons (say minimum of the 12 episodes per season) or 2 seasons with the (12 + 12 combo like for Spy x Family etc. giving a total of 48 which, damn would likely get the job done).

It got the 'Cliff Notes' version of events and the weird pacing shows. The major problem is that the story never had time to breathe and it just needed to be longer so it could have a more natural progression. Too many things were blink and miss it or sure you totally got X b/c if you squint you'll understand a complex concept.

It is clear that the predominantly (American) English language fandom was expecting the FMA Brotherhood treatment. That was not this and I can honestly see how disappointing it was. For me, I rewatched it back in December and was pleasantly surprised at how well it held up and fun it was. Reading the manga filled in some gaps a but also left me confused and finding a more manga accurate anime would have made my happy. We all know this is not what happened. They went in a sci fi direction (confirmed by more than one interview of staff on the project) created a whole new world and concept. I have also really noticed but will have no stats to back this up; but there is a clear demographic divide on how Stampede was received. I hate to generalize, but it seems dudes who are mainly straight cis-het men, who watched the anime a long time ago (and are super anime watchers consuming way more than I do in short periods) seem to give it the most positive reviews. They say it seems the same, sure it looks different and they kinda sorta miss Milly but its fine otherwise. Maybe I'm wrong since those are also the people who - not surprisingly - have the loudest voices on the internet be it Youtube channels and general prominence. However, as soon as you shift to other viewers there is a lot more concern. Many women are upset at the poor female characterization across the board in Trigun where all of the women were made shadows of their former selves. None of my female friends who watched the original enjoyed what happened to the women in Stampede. Queer fans also seem to have a more negative view with so many of the gay, trans, non-binary aspects of the original cast now gone. [Legato, Elendira, Zazie] 'Cause Legato barely appeared and his huge crush on Knives is not the same as in the manga. Elendira - gone and Zazie hasn't gotten good characterization as well. I'm not saying all people of one demographic can be correlated with their feelings towards it, but it does seem to have general vibes. And it is hard to tell something like this without a statistically robust analysis but it is what I've noticed. Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm toodling around in my small patch of the web but that's what I've observed. Not many straight cis het men are like, "Oh yeah, I really noticed how the female characters are either dead mother figures or cute uwu waifus or literal children. I wonder how other viewers who miss strong female representation now feel?"

I'm not here to stoke a culture war and virtue signal or anything like that. Nor am I falling into the woke SJW whatever you call it. I've sat through enough actual [and incredibly depressing] seminars about studies on the role of diversity and representation in fields (mine specifically being STEM) and when I learned that for women to have proper representation in biology textbooks, it would take another 100 years, I cringed. When you learned at the current rate it would take 500 years for black scientists to be properly represented - it - just - well, fuck. Feel free to think about this for any group that are not cis-het white men. And then feel icky and sad.

Now, is this fair to place such high standards on a product made in a specific cultural context for entertainment? I mean, likely not, the whole point is to have fun and make money through merch.

Buuuuuuuttttt . . . .

I know that diversity in media has a long way to go and it was sad to see a diverse manga lose that diversity in the more recent version. Until media companies and production studios and teams 'get it' they won't realize that there is a market for it. Which is hilarious since the original was way more diverse and interesting than Stampede. Seriously, why are there no black people in Stampede? This leaves me scratching my head in confusion since Kekkai Sensen has an even more diverse cast! Nightow clearly writes these types of characters on purpose. It didn't get lost when Bones did the first two seasons of Kekkai Sensen. Hell, the inherent diversity of Kekkai Sensen is literally written into actual dialogue in the chapter/OVA King of the King of the Restaurants.

I didn't mean to fall into a rabbit hole, but I'm really thinking there are going to be very different responses and 'fix-it' solutions for what fans had wanted to see or hoped they'd see with this. Okay, I'm going to shut up now. But yeah, I'd do a early '98 anime with manga hybrid as my reboot for Trigun.