Trigun
Inspiration
for the Trigun anime series was drawn from the original manga, which was both
written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow in 1996. During an interview with
Dark Horse Comics, Nightow expressed a certain sense of fondness towards
Trigun’s man protagonist, Vash the Stampede. Nightow reported that he identified
on a personal level with the character and even went as far as incorporating his
own life experiences into Vash’s character background in order to make the
character more relatable to the reader/viewer (Gombos). The series is based on a
fictional, old west themed, planet known as Gunsmoke, wherein the population
seems to be perpetually stuck in the 1800’s American Frontier. The origin of
the planet and it’s human and alien, Plant, inhabitants is uncovered throughout
the course of the first season. An added twist it brought about by the time
shifts between past, present, and future that allow the viewer to experience
the character development on multiple playing fields. The pilot episode takes
place in the middle of the Trigun timeline, nearly one hundred years after the
origin of the planet’s new inhabitant’s arrival, and at this point Vash has
already established a name for himself.
(trigun.wikia.com)
Trigun’s
plot focuses on the epic battle between opposing forces of good and evil as
represented by dueling twin brothers Vash and Knives. The series depicts both
brothers as very human with respect to their looks, yet they are considered an
alien species known as Plants, and as such they are able to live exceeding long
lives and possess magical superpowers. The brothers have varying views towards
the human race, as Vash continues to embrace their presence and respects them
as fellow beings. His brother Knives has developed a harsh hatred of humanity,
and thereby seeks out opportunities to destroy every last human on planet
Gunsmoke.
The
early lives of Knives and Vash were shown during a flashback episode aired
towards the middle of the first season. Which the viewer is exposed to during
the tragic backstory that lead to the feuding brother’s difficult relationship.
As children, the brothers were cared for by a human, Rem Saverem, one of
several scientists manning the Project SEEDS spacecraft, whose mission it was
to locate a suitable planet on which to rebuild the human race. Following a
series of misfortunate events, including the murder of two crewmembers, Mary
and Steve, Knives begins to see the humans as an inferior race and wishes to
destroy them. Knives tampers with the navigational controls of the spacecraft,
causing the ship to take on a crash course, which then forced Rem to evacuate
Knives and Vash to safety, while remaining behind in an attempt to rescue as
many human passengers as possible and evacuate them to a nearby planet, which
would eventually be known as Gunsmoke. The locations of the crashed
escape-shuttles would then develop into towns, cities, and villages on the
planets surface.
(trigun.wikia.com)
Following
their decent onto the planet a local village captures Vash, causing Knives to
lash out and murder the entire community. Upon realizing what his brother had done,
Vash attacked Knives, causing Knives to revolt and slice off Vash’s left arm,
and in doing so the two brothers went their separate ways. Vash was left to
wonder the desert, No-man’s Land, until he discovered some surviving humans and
their settlement. The humans help Vash by providing him with a cybernetic arm
and allowing him to take up residence in their settlement. As Vash grew into
adulthood he ventured to the city of July, wherein the epic July Incident would
ensue. As Vash attempted to track down the well-known Dr. William Conrad, who
had conducted studies on other Plants to learn about their abilities, he was
confronted and captured by Knives, who by this time had grown utterly corrupt
and sought to destroy humanity. Knives forced Dr. Conrad to study himself and
his brother in order to uncover their hidden powers, known as Angel Arms.
During an attempt to activate Vash’s Angel Arm, the entire city of July was
destroyed in an almighty blast of energy from the gun-like appendage that
sprung out of Vash’s arm. Nearly two hundred thousand casualties resulted and
the feud between the brothers hit an all time high. Unfortunately for Vash, as a result of the
July Incident he fell victim to retrograde amnesia, causing him to partially
forget his past and therefore have no recollection of what had occurred during
the July Incident.
(animevice.com)
Fast
forward a few years into the future, and the viewers are introduced to the
pilot episode of the series, wherein Vash has earned himself the title of ‘Vash
the Stampede’, a notorious western outlaw with a $$60,000,000,000 (double
dollar) bounty on his head. His nickname is a result of the colossal damage
left behind following numerous capture attempts on Vash, all carried out by
various bounty hunters. During the pilot episode, the ‘insurance girls’, Meryl
Stryfe and Milly Thompson, hunt Vash down, and inform him that he has been
classified as a natural disaster and therefore the bounty on his head has been
lifted. Following this pleasant news, Vash learns that Meryl and Milly are to
become his travel companions, in order to minimize the destruction left in his
wake.
(zerochan.net)
From
the viewer’s perspective the first episode of Trigun is very intent on
capturing attention, as represented by the bold colors, the exciting background
music, and the overall tone of humor and anticipation. It goes without saying
that the targeted audience probably consisted of children and teens, both male
and female, within the age bracket of eight to sixteen. My specifications with
respect to age are a result of my observation that this series is composed of
multiple elements, each drawing in a different type of audience. For instance
the bright colors, the humorous looking bounty hunters, and the action/fight
scenes will enthrall a younger male viewer. Whereas a female viewer will find
interest in the romance between the characters, the emotional and passionate
battle depicted between the feuding brothers, Vash and Knives, and the overall
tone of discovery and adventure shared by two female sidekicks and one male
lead.
As
the main characters are introduced, the viewer notices that Vash is a sly
individual with a personality composed of both sarcastic outbursts and childish
behaviors along with a down to earth, peace loving overtone that utterly
confuses the viewer throughout most of the first episode, as they attempt to decide
whether or not he is genuine in character (Gombos). For this reason, I found he was
difficult to relate to, aside from Nightow’s attempts at making him a
realistic, relatable character, and struggled to identifying him as the hero
that he would eventually be unveiled to be. Unlike most anime series, he was
not entirely made up of good intentions, he seemed to have a self-righteous
sense about him that made him come off as arrogant, and therefore more
villain-like. Perhaps this was an intentional trait, as to set him apart from
the humans that he and his fellow alien brother, would constantly be
encountering and interacting with. In so saying he may not entirely understand
how to act properly with respect to social norms as constructed by the human
race, one of the many concepts his brother truly struggles with.
Throughout
the first episode the viewer is scarcely introduced to an intelligent ‘human’
character, and it feels implied that Vash is to be treated as the superior
being when compared to his human counterparts. This again causes some
confusion, as he is the main protagonist of the series, and yet he comes off as
being distant and unattainable. Another component of the first episode are the
mix-matched attire worn by the characters. Some seem to be dressed in classic,
old west garmented with boots, bandanas, and cowboy hats, whereas others are
dressed in an almost futuristic fashion that post-dates modern attire, but clashes
with the old western themed clothing of other characters. Vash, is notably
wearing his red trench coat and hippy-looking glasses. This variation in
respect to how the characters are presented to the viewer suggests that this
series was created to cater to the needs of multiple generations or age groups.
As
with many anime series, the background imagery of Trigun was striking. The
fading of bright and neutral colors produced beautiful ombre skies. Another
element that caught my eye was the detailed pueblo homes that adorned the
canyon where most of the first episode took place. This once again suggested
that the culture on planet Gunsmoke was regressive to modern thinking and
therefore more historically based, rather than futuristic. Most characters,
including but not limited to the main four, were extremely individualized in
appearance, voice, and mannerisms, which showed a real commitment to
personalization.
(comicvine.com)
Trigun
speaks to its audience in a way that represents conflict resolution, defining
elements of what it means to be human, and the struggles associated with
overlapping eras (new age vs. retrospective ways of thinking). The take away
message demonstrates the format by which an individual can pursue a journey of self-discovery
and develop his personality without allowing conflicting worldviews to corrupt his
self-image. This series certainly engaged viewers of all ages, and created an
inviting and welcoming environment for the viewer to get lost within, which
supports the major fan following that Trigun has established.
References
“The
$$60,000,000,000 Man.” Trigun. MVM
Films. Netflix. Web. 13 Sept. 2014.
Gombos, M. (2006, May 26). Gunning
for Answers! An Interview with Trigun creator
Yasuhiro
Nightow. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
"Vash the Stampede." Comic Vine. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.
