#also also yeah I just recently watched Trigun for the first time and omg

[hep-heptagon]

There’s no way Vash wouldn’t shop at Hot Topic (wip)

[pancake-breakfast]

Trigun Book Club! Trigun Book Club! (@trigunbookclub)

Way back in the mid-2000's, a young Pancake Ray was working their first job out of college at a local Giant Chain Bookstore and discovered that no one else working the store cared if they spent their breaks sitting on the floor in front of our rather impressive two and a half bays of manga we had and just... read them right there. Much manga was read, and among the titles read were both Trigun and what was available at that time of Trigun Maximum.

I remember very little from that initial read aside from 1) confusing fight scenes, and 2) enough deviation from the anime (which I had recently watched) that I didn't really have a place for at that time. The anime had wormed itself into a very special place in my heart, so between the differences and just not being in a good place spiritually to handle some of its more religious themes, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. It probably didn't help that, back then, the manga was nowhere near finished.

I still read every volume we had, because gods, I read anything that looked even remotely interesting on the manga shelves at that time.

Now, an older and (debatably) wiser Ray is going to be reading these along with the rest of the Trigun Book Club Denizens. But first, I want to start of with a quote from the notes in The New Oxford Annotated Bible (3rd Ed.) in their prelude to I Kings, which is what I'm currently studying:

There is, on the other hand, no neat correlation between sin and judgment in Kings, largely because of the compassionate character of the Judge who accepts the repentant sinner, who does not desire final judgment to fall upon his creatures, and who is always ready to find cause why such judgment should be delayed or mitigated.

It just seemed like something to keep in mind when thinking about the character of Vash... but YMMV.

Onward!

Stream-of consciousness thoughts for Trigun Vol. 1, Chapters 1-3 below. (More detailed thoughts will be their own posts.)

Trigun Volume 1 Covers

Ok, first off... I love the alternate covers Nightow did. The stark contrast between the serious cleanliness of the covers and the crazy tongue-in-cheek alternate version really sets the tone.

LOL, "Deep Space Planet Future Gun Action!!" Yep, that's it. That's all it is.

How have I never seen Meryl as Luke Skywalker before??

Chapter 1: The $$60,000,000,000 Man

This poster says "Appearance: Unclear," but it also has a picture of him. I'm not sure what to make of that.

Vash's face is so goofy. It's like if his world isn't ACTIVELY ON FIRE, he doesn't know how to be serious. I do like the belts. When watching S1 of Stampede, I missed the belts. I hope S2 has more belts. Something something fetish gear.

I love that there's actually a tally of all this on a wall somewhere. SEVENTY FREAKING TWO MURDER CASES.

Kid: "Mom, I want a gun." Mom: "You already have a gun at home." The Gun At Home: *only shoots toy darts when you, a child no older than 8, are living in the Space Wild Wild West and think you need real bullets*

I love how quickly Vash goes from "OMG FOOD" face to SERIOUS EATING FACE.

And it's immediately followed by this CLOSE-UP ASS SHOT. WHYYYYYY???

I don't know who this cloaked guy who's cocking his shotgun by shaking it vertically is, but I love his stupid hair.

Yeah, you don't get to kill the protagonist THAT fast....

WW isn't even here yet and Nightow's already filling panels with man-tiddies...

LOL, he counted ALL the bullets in that page that was... just... it was just bullet fire. Somehow he counted them all. For every gun. And now everyone else has to leave stripped down to their boxers.

I love that someone, somewhere decided they needed to have a pinball machine all the way out here in nowheresville.

Ah there are the girls. Milly looks so worried about the catcalls, but Meryl? Meryl looks bored.

Chapter 2: Looney Tunes

Ok, first off, this chapter title just makes me think of ep 12 of Stampede when So-and-So starfishes his way out a window before floundering in the air for a second of hangtime and then falling.

Exposition! Huzzah!

Population decline slowing = humans adapting to the new environment. Resilient little buggers.... I know someone who probably HATES that statistic.

So, basically... before July, Vash was small beans. Or going by another name.

Aaaand straight into his goofy poses. This man is made of rubber, I swear.

LOL, why is he talking in French?! I guess a guy's gotta have his hobbies....

But Meryl... I'm with Milly here. Is it really that dangerous??

Ah, yes. The ol' "they'll understand me better if I just speak louder" trick. A favorite of Americans traveling in non-English-speaking countries when said American hasn't bothered to learn even the tiniest bit of the local language.

Current favorite Vash Chaos Pose:

LOL, "MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES FOR INTERRUPTING THIS CONFUSION." This feels like such a Japanese thing to say. It's like, "I know you're all engaged in frantic chaos right now, and because you're engaged in it, it must be very important to you, so I, the intruder, must offer my sincere regret for interrupting it."

I wonder how this version of Milly will merge with a Milly who was crazy enough to volunteer for the position of Meryl's partner in Stampede.

This Vash is definitely not so keen on being caught, even in the face of suffering women and children.

But here he is, protecting the very people who had guns in his face a second ago.

Chapter 3: Hard Puncher

Current favorite Vash Serious Pose:

Ok, I have thoughts here.

Sooooo many shonen speed lines....

Current favorite Vash Action Pose (That intense side eye is *chef's kiss*.)

Man, poor Gosef. But Vash standing over his prone form looks badass.

LOL, the Insurance Girls finally have everyone's attention, and.. they look like they don't want it anymore.

Hahahahaha, there goes the bounty. Can't put a bounty on a natural disaster. The federal government has officially labeled him "not human." *pats Vash*

Actually, he looks kinda happy about this. I guess not having a bounty on your head anymore might do that.

He can still have the head-pats.

The difference in his expression when greeting Meryl versus greeting Milly....

For as terrible as Mr. Nebraska himself is, I always appreciated how much he seems to genuinely care about his son in his own weird way.

Gods, I'm glad every other version got rid of his gun legs, though. That's... a Thing, and I don't like this Thing.

And just like that, Vash goes from "concerned about these girls constantly being around him" to "mildly intimidated by them." Beautiful.

(Thanks to @trigun-manga-overhaul for their translations and making this series accessible!)

[nekkyousagi]

5,6,8, and 19!

Mabs!!! Why you give me such hard questions!???!! Haha…I’ll do my best!

5. list all anime you have ever watched

Impossible!! I’ve literally been watching anime from 1999 on. So to list EVERY single anime I’ve EVER watched since then…no one has time for that. So I’m just gonna downsize it to some of my top favorites:

Rurouni Kenshin, Sengoku Basara, Yona of the Dawn, Gurren Lagaan, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Digimon (Adventure, Adventure 02, Tamers), Beyblade (Original First 3 Seasons), Yu-Gi-Oh! (the first one with Yugi Moto and friends), House of Five Leaves, Peacemaker Kurogane, Tiger & Bunny, Zoids: Chaotic Century,  Inuyasha, Martian Successor Nadesico, Trigun, Outlaw Star….I could keep going but no. Too long a list!!! OMG!

6. popular anime you didn’t like

My biggest red flags recently have been Attack on Titan and Tokyo Ghoul. The cannibalistic nature of the titans was too horrifying for me. And really, anything with too much blood & gore content is a no-no. Also, I never could get through Neon Genesis Evangelion or Code Geass. Didn’t much like Sword Art Online either. There are others, but those are pretty much the main ones. Especially, the first two!!!

8. anime character you are most like

There are so many characters with little quirks that I can relate to, but after really thinking about it, I’m pretty sure I’m a combination of 3 girls from Princess Jellyfish:

Tsukimi, the main character, with her curly eyebrows, messy wavy hair, freckles, glasses, her shyness and freakouts around boys, love of the ocean and passion for drawing and art. That’s me!!!

Chieko, and her passion for Japanese kimono!! Not into dressing dolls like she does, but definitely collecting and wearing kimono. Even though most of the time I don’t feel like I’m the right size or shape for it, her character design helps me be confident that anyone can wear kimono!!

And Mayaya, who I think is the closest of the 3 to how I actually am irl.

I totally relate to Mayaya on a deep level. She’s tall, awkward, clumsy, spazzy, makes weird faces and gestures as she talks…loudly. Is obsessed with Dynasty Warriors, is a history nut and references them constantly, is kind of masculine looking and yeah..that’s very much like me. I can relate to her so much…not even funny.

19. favorite anime ships

Ships? Well, my favorite ship of all is…The Star-ship Enterprise, of course!!! NCC 1701! She’s so beautiful!!!!!!!! Prettiest ship in the galaxy! Those ample nacelles! I could die!!!!!!

No, but seriously, I know what you mean! I don’t really “ship” anyone in the sense most people have. For me, shipping falls under the category of major bromances!! You know, the intense rivalry/brother/bff bro feels! There’s quite a few, but a couple I can think of that give me a lot of feels are probably:

Tyson & Kai - Beyblade

Kotetsu & Barnaby - Tiger & Bunny

Ginji & Ban - Get Backers

Naruto & Sasuke - Naruto

And Best of All: DATE MASAMUNE & SANADA YUKIMURA - Sengoku Basara

I can’t even with those two. Azure Crimson FOREVER!

Hope that was enjoyable! Thanks for the questions, Mabs!!! @tacotits

Questions from this ask post: