LOVE and Peace!!!
Another constant in the American West is the lone gun man. A
man who wanders the vast plains in solitude, going from town to town trying to
escape some tortured past.
Vash the Stampede is just such a guy, going from town to
town, righting wrongs and helping people to atone for past misgivings.
Trigun began as a manga created by Yasuhiro Nightow, a
relative newcomer to the manga scene at that time when it was released. He used to be a regular dime a dozen office worker until one day while in a train questioning himself "Why am I doing
this?", and the rest is as they say history.
Interestingly, his last name
was originally Naito, but due to his penchant for western stuff; he changed to
the cooler Nightow.
Trigun begins with one of the staples of western folklore,
the tall tale. Two people in a saloon were talking about the legendary Vash the
Stampede, a gunman so dangerous, he leveled an entire town and everyone was
killed.
He's dressed in red, is 12 feet tall and has a Mohawk haircut, along
with a gang of outlaws, all this while the real Vash was at the bar sipping
some gin.
Those two folks have obviously heard too many rumors and Vash the
Stampede is now large than life.
Along with Vash, we meet insurance ladies, Meryl Stryfe and
Millie Thompson, who were sent by the Bernardelli insurance Agency to keep an
eye on Vash the Stampede since he is causing them lots of money in property
damage.
The two ladies then track down each wild rumor and it leads them to
Vash the Stampede, a seemingly goofball who really enjoys scarfing down doughnuts.
Vash then travels from town to town with the insurance
ladies always keeping an eye on him, not wanting to believe that this happy-go-lucky person could be the rumored ruthless Vash the Stampede.
They slowly find
that Vash is a caring person, one who readily defends the poor and oppressed,
spreading his gospel of LOVE AND PEACE!
Along with Nicolas D. Wolfwood, a gunman who loves children, together they set about on spreading love and peace on this sun-scorched world.
But the Vash's terrible past catches up to him.
Long ago, a
ship with the mission to populate other worlds carried two very unique
children. One of the crew members raised the boys and taught them to respect
all living things and to live in peace with them.
One of the boys learned what
the woman said but the other didn't, for he was often bullied by the other crew
members because they were different. The woman's name was Rem Saverem and the boy who learned of love and peace was none other than Vash and the kid who got
picked on was his brother, Millions Knives.
Knives then caused the ship to crash and murdered all of the
crew, including Rem. When it came down to just him and Vash, he shot of Vash's
right arm and attempted to control his mind. Vash's arm then transformed into a
huge bazooka and under Knives’ control, blew up the town of July behind them.
Since then a bounty of $$60,000,000,000 was attached to Vash's head and he was
known as the "Humanoid Typhoon".
Trigun's message of love and peace is reiterated in each
episode as Vash helps people and defeats the bad guys without killing anyone,
which brings this anime's strongest feature, it is downright hilarious to watch
how he manages to do it.
Vash's antics and the situations that he gets himself
into are simply classic, Wolfwood is as much of a comedian as Vash, oftentimes
pairing up with Vash for more loads of laughter.
And for anyone who enjoys a
great gunfight, Trigun has guns, lots and lots of guns. In the first episode,
we are treated to a saloon being leveled to nothing by a rain of bullets and
that's just for starters.
There's very little that Trigun does not include, you have
comedy, action, gunfights, kick-ass scenes that make you go wow, love
triangles, big bad guys, shocking revelations, you name it, Trigun has it, we’ll
save maybe for horror, but then again most of Knives’ lackeys look like they
came from a freak show.
For pure comic relief and hard-hitting action, Trigun
is a recommended watch. And about the title, Vash has three guns, the one he
has in his holster, his right arm which is really a bazooka and the big bad
organic-looking canon which he used to blow away the town.
The Characters of Trigun
Vash the Stampede aka The Humanoid Typhoon
The hero of our series. Vash does not attempt to lead the life of an ordinary person because he knows that he cannot.
However much he tries to stay out of trouble, it follows him in huge waves—especially with a bounty of 60 billion double dollars on his head. Many people will go to any length to capture him for the reward.
This is only a fraction of the problems he faces. Much more serious are the Gung-ho-Guns and his "brother" Millions Knives.
He is haunted by the memories of the woman he loved and was not able to save. The weight of all of the souls lost when the SEEDS Project failed to land safely shadows his every step.
It is because of her, and for the sake of all the people who managed to live, that Vash swears not only to do good but also not to kill.
Meryll Strife aka Derringer Meryll
She, along with Millie Thompson, are employees of the "Berunaruderi" insurance organization. She has been assigned to keep Vash out of trouble.
Early on in the series Meryll and Millie attach themselves to Vash. They follow him wherever he goes in an attempt to prevent disaster before it strikes, hoping that their insurance company does not have to keep paying out settlements.
She is extremely strong-willed and persistent. Her nickname comes from hiding dozens of derringer pistols in her outer cloak which she can draw and fire very quickly and very accurately.
Millie Thompson aka Stun-gun Millie
Millie is extremely large and strong but also extremely nice, naive, happy, and trusting.
She grew up in a large family with many other siblings and she constantly writes huge missives to them.
She looks up to Meryll-senpai. Her nickname comes from the "stun gun" that she wields; it shoots large stunning (via impact) rods that snap out when shot from the gun.
Nicholas D. Wolfwood
A somewhat mysterious person who seems to be a preacher. He carries a large cross wrapped in cloth and tied up with belts.In reality, this cross is a miniature arsenal that opens up nicely when unwrapped: the arms being laden with pistols that fold out on need, the long end is a rather powerful machine gun, and the short end is a grenade launcher.
He ends up traveling with Vash. As time goes on, we realize that he has a hidden agenda.
Although he attempts to do good as Vash does—helping people out in situations that no one else will volunteer for—he is unlike Vash in that he will kill if he feels that he has to. This becomes an important element of their relationship.
Millions Knives
Like Vash, he is related more to the Plants that people use for power than to humans. Also like Vash he was raised by Rem.Unlike Vash, however, his love for Rem did not shield him from his nature and his belief that he was just a tool, a machine, a weapon created by the humans to protect the colony.
He resented the implication that he was to be a servant of these inferior humans. Shabby treatment by some of the SEEDS crew further fueled his resentment.
Rem's efforts to treat Knives with love so that he would love the people and protect them of his own free will ended up in failure, as Knives sabotaged the SEEDS as they neared the planet.
Knives is still after Vash because they are of the same blood, so to speak. His efforts with the Gung-ho-Guns to turn Vash is reminiscent of the Emperor's attempts in STAR WARS to turn Luke to the Dark Side.
Legato Bluesummers
The most powerful of the Gung-ho-Guns. Not only can he control people with thought, but he cares nothing for them.His spirit is twisted and capricious. He keeps the other Gung-ho-Guns in line as viciously as he kills innocent bystanders.
However, this is all done with an extremely casual regard, as if all life were inconsequential, even his own.
However, this is all done with an extremely casual regard, as if all life were inconsequential, even his own.
His one goal is to drive Vash to the edge of despair and beyond, and thus turn him bit by bit to Knives.
Rem Saverem
If there is one person who has defined Vash's life, it is Rem. She pretty much raised Vash and Knives from when they were born.This was despite some of the SEEDS crew thinking that they did not deserve to be treated like humans with so much care and understanding.
Vash fell in love with her very early on, and her loss is what shaped his present character.
Vash fell in love with her very early on, and her loss is what shaped his present character.
Vash learned the value of life when witnessing Rem sacrifice herself: Rem refused to abandon the SEEDS ships so that she could save some of the colonists.
The Black Cat
This is not really a character in the story. It seems more to be Nightow-sensei's pet mascot.It shows up in any number of odd situations and places and basically helps provide some humor to the story.
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