Trigun

Director
Satoshi Nishimura
Production
Madhouse, TV Tokyo, Victor Entertainment
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
1998

Trigun Volume 2: Lost Past

By otaku_kei
17th Mar 05

Vash the Stampede: ace gunman; peace activist; wanted criminal and shameless buffoon. A character unlike how you would first envisage he is a puzzle wrapped in an enigma. Welcome back to the planet Gunsmoke for the second volume of fan favourite - Trigun! Just a quick recap of what has come before: Meryl and Millie have been dispatched from their insurance offices to find Vash and try to contain his actions, for he is the greatest insurance liability on the planet. In their search they encounter many outlandish characters many of who fit the conflicting descriptions of Vash the 'humanoid typhoon'. But one guy just keeps crossing their paths with his spiky blonde hair, flowing red trenchcoat and a donut fetish could this really be Vash?

Whilst volume 1 had our two girls and this gangly fool travelling from town to town this volume sees the characters get caught up in the events of one town. First up Vash arrives in a small town that is teetering upon the brink of disaster, the machinery that was once the lifeblood of the town stands idle from damage. To pay for the much-needed repairs the whole town turns out to capture Vash and claim the reward on his head, but that goofball is not going to make it easy on them. After the town inflicts so much damage to itself Vash ends up having to save those who wish to profit from his death, an action that captures the heart of the town and makes them decide to clutch this loser to their metaphorical bosom. The next episode sees Vash continue to help this town try to recover, although assassins are never far from trying to claim the reward of $$60,000,000,000,000 on his head. And the final episode concerns our unique band of misfits as they get on the landtrain out of town, only to have to face a bandit attack on the convoy.

These episodes provide a great deal in the way of action, and also surprisingly a good amount of heart as well, especially the sixth episode Lost July. This gives us a bit more insight into Vash's origin, and brings up quite a few questions as to what he has really done during his lifetime. We also get some insight into why even with all these reported acts of destruction by Vash why has it never been reported that he has injured or killed anyone. These small revelations help the viewer to start to understand a character that has up until this point been quite annoying. We also get the two insurance girls developing quite a bit with Meryl starting to question whether this Vash could really be the monster that it is claimed, and Millie showing a degree of depth that her usual ditziness did not prepare us for.

This release does change the tone of the show so far with darker undercurrents to the plot the first volume did not provide. The comedy that is thrown in as well is better timed to provide light relief to either the physical danger or the disturbing revelations. This one change makes the whole show much more bearable for me as the first volume was just far too silly. For those of you who were fans of the first release I'm sure that this will already be on your must have list, but for those who were uncertain after the mixed bag that was volume 1 I would recommend just giving this show another try. I'm glad I did.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 2.0; Japanese 2.0; English Subtitles; Image Gallery; Mechanical Designs; Trigun Trailer; MVM Trailers

Release information: 18th March - OUT NOW

Notes: Another great quality disc for your collection, with both audio tracks having no problems, and the visuals being great even if they have dated a bit. The standard fare of extras from MVM, although I never will understand the desire to put the trailer for the show you are watching on the same disc? But then mine is not to reason why and all that...

-- otaku_kei 17th Mar 05

Trigun Images