#but we also all know what wolfwood's mission really was

[carmineskiesandspidereyes]

A Softer Trigun, part 19/?

pt. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

[pancake-breakfast]

I think chapter 2 of TriMax Volume 6 might just be my favorite thus far. Everything in it hinges on this one iconic scene.

This isn't the first time Wolfwood has pointed a gun at Vash's head. Maybe it won't even be the last. But it holds a bit more weight here because just a few pages ago, we saw a flashback where Wolfwood pointed his gun at someone else's head.

His hand shakes as he aims at Knives. His breath is heavy, and the memory of the Fifth Moon incident is fresh in his mind. He knows if he can just pull the trigger, he can end it here. This being of destruction will be gone, and maybe this time his fancy scientists won't be able to bring him back.

But then Knives does Plant things, and under the weight of it Wolfwood finds he just can't follow through. He fears his own death too much, and Knives will surely kill him.

When he points his gun at Vash, it's different. His hand is steady, his breath calm. The memory of everything that happened at the Dragon's Nest is fresh in his mind; just this morning he warned Meryl that she and Milly should remember that, despite his ideals, Vash is still a loose cannon that they'd do well to avoid. He thinks to himself that if he can just pull the trigger, if he can just take out the less intimidating of the brothers, then one of these monstrous twins and half of the problem will be gone.

This time, there's no crushing sensation of oppression. There's no air of fear and malice. There are no threats or memories of twisted promises. There's only a look, wary and concerned...

...but even by the time this happens, Wolfwood has already lowered his gun. He's decided not to pull the trigger, not because of an immediate threat on his life, but because... well, it's Vash.

Wolfwood surely knows that if he pulls that trigger, he catastrophically fails his mission, and whatever consequences might await him on the far side of such a failure aren't going to be anywhere near pleasant. But it doesn't seem like it's fear of Knives that makes him lower his gun. At the very, very least, Wolfwood knows no one stands a better chance at taking down Knives, but he also knows Vash. He's seen Vash's fake smiles and knows his real ones. He understands Vash's ideals despite very much not wanting to and not knowing how he could possibly accept them for himself. He's fought side by side with Vash, and been standing at his back since day 1.

And before this night is out, only a few minutes after pulling a gun on Vash, Wolfwood's right back there again, moving in tandem with Vash, being a human shield so they can accomplish Vash's goals together.

It's only when the fight comes to a close that Wolfwood realizes that's what he's been doing. He didn't put any thought into falling in step behind Vash, didn't dwell on the fact that Vash trusted and moved with him during the fight. It's only afterwards, when they stop to catch their breath, that he realizes Vash hasn't looked his way through the whole battle. That Vash didn't need to look his way through the whole battle.

Not only did Vash trust Wolfwood at his back, but he knows Wolfwood well enough to move intuitively around him, not hesitating and always understanding what Wolfwood's about to do. And at that moment, Wolfwood realizes two things:

First, that there's no way Vash didn't notice when Wolfwood pointed a gun at him. If Knives could figure it out while half dead and barely knowing Wolfwood, then Vash, who's awake, alert, and has spent plenty of time with Wolfwood, can surely figure it out.

And second, that when he's fighting back to back with Vash, nothing else really matters. All his (quite legitimate) fears about what Vash is and how dangerous he can be, about Knives, about finishing his job, about what he himself has become... they all melt away. He's where he needs to be, where he should be, and that's all there is to it.

[tenabrye]

Cam we get some how they are when they have a crush for Reboot! Vash and Nicholas?

Vash

It's the kind of sweet that's tooth-rotting when he has a crush on someone. Yes, he's still nice and all, but he goes the EXTRA MILE and does it just for them. If they're traveling with him and he notices that they've been eyeing something in the town they're currently staying at for a day or two, and he has enough double dollars, he's getting them that item. If they ask him about it, he chalks it up as it being a coincidence, even though it really wasn't. Is also the type to get things that make him think about them, blatantly saying so, too. The smile on their face brightens his day and he'd do anything to continue seeing it.

As much as he is sweet for them, his protectiveness skyrockets. He doesn't show it in front of them, but he's actually very, very scared of what could or will happen to them since trouble does seem to follow him, especially with that trouble being his merciless twin. The thought of what could happen if Knives were to hurt them, or do worse, keeps him up a lot at night. He'll lose sleep over those thoughts, but at the same time, he really doesn't dwell on them for too long with his crush around. Their smile or their laughter is enough to break him out of his bad thinking. As much of a pacifist as he is, if it really, and I do mean REALLY, came down to it, especially after the words of Wolfwood playing in his mind, he would do anything to keep his crush safe.

Them being sad is literally impossible with him around. Vash will make it his mission to brighten up their day the best he can. They want to talk about the problem? He's one hell of a listener. May not have the advice they might be seeking, but he will absolutely do his best. They want to cry as a way of dealing with it? His arms are wide open and his clothes ready to be stained with their tears. Keeps his cybernetic arm wrapped around them while using his free hand to rub gentle, soothing circles on their back. They want to take everything out on shooting something? He'll collect as many empty cans and bottles as he can and let them use his weapon, or if they prefer their own, to shoot at them. Whatever they need to feel better, they really just have to ask and he will make it happen, if he can.

Gets giddy when their hand brushes up against his own as they're walking beside one another, or if they happen to fall asleep against him, using his non-cybernetic arm to lean against. Definitely watches them while they sleep, but not in a creepy way. No, he admires them, oh so lovingly. Carefully brushes their hair back from obstructing their face. He will also give them his portion of food a lot of the time, insisting they take it because he's full. He's not, but he wants them to get enough to eat for the day. Whenever they camp out on the sand, if they can't make it to a town, he always puts their sleeping mats/bags close to one another. He passes it off as a safety precaution, which it is, but he really just wants to be closer to them.

He didn't think it was possible for him to like someone as much as he did with them, nor can he tell if they've picked up on his little crush. Until they make it obvious that they know he likes them in such a way, things will continue on like this, or until something happens that he just blurts it out. Like a situation in which he could have lost them forever. He holds them close as he whispers his feelings into their ear, voice shaking from the fear of the scene that went down prior. He'd be fine if they didn't feel the same way. A little sad, but he doesn't mind simply being friends. If they don't and accept his feelings for them? Absolutely ecstatic and will hug onto them, lifting them up while also twirling around. He's just a happy man.

Wolfwood

He's actually very subtle when crushing on someone, or at least tries very hard to be. It's actually very noticeable to others, and maybe even his crush, due to how he acts around and with them versus everyone else. People can see the way his eyes soften when he looks at them, the way his voice is softer when speaking to them, and that little smile on his lips. Even his crush would start to notice, unless they're oblivious, then they definitely wouldn't have a single clue.

He's VERY protective of them. Unlike Vash, he'd actually put a bullet in someone if they so much as make his crush even the SLIGHTEST bit uncomfortable. Okay, well, he actually wouldn't at first, but if the person kept it up even after being told to knock it off? You better believe Wolfwood is doing something about it. He's also the type to hold his crush's hand and say it's so that he doesn't lose them in the town they're currently in, but he really just wanted to hold their hand. If they don't mind it, he'll even wrap an arm around their waist to keep them close to him, but only if they give him consent or make it obvious beforehand that doing so is okay. May the heavens have mercy on whoever decides to lay a single hand on his crush, because he sure as hell won't have any.

Same as Vash, he will actually give them the remaining portion of his meal if he knows they're not full. He just says he's a light eater and isn't that hungry, even though it may be the opposite. He loves touching his crush, and not in a creepy way. He can't really pinpoint the exact reason why, but it gives him some relief when he's holding their hand, them having fallen asleep with their body leaning against his, or even waking up somehow wrapped up in each other's arms when they camped out instead of staying in town. He especially loves when that happens, because he's usually the first one to wake up at their little camp, so he gets a bit of time to admire their sleeping face before having to pull away when they wake.

Wolfwood is great with children and he will apply that with his crush if they're having a bad day. Offers them a lollipop of their choice and will sit and listen to their problems. He's actually really great at giving advice because not only has he seen a thing or two, but he's been through so much, which he doesn't want his crush knowing about, yet. He applies what he knows and has been through in order to give them the advice that would best help to solve, or make, their problems better. He's also open for a hug, if they really want it. Seeing his crush in any sort of pain absolutely pains him, so yeah, he's doing what he can to make them feel better. If need be, he'll tell them a story from his childhood to make them feel better. A fabricated story, obviously, but he has his reasons of why he has to. Feels better after seeing that little made-up story cheered them up a bit.

Unlike Vash, he would actually be devastated if his crush didn't feel the same way he did. At least for a little while. He's an adult, so he obviously won't be sulking like a teenager. Will abide by the friends only thing, but sometimes it slips his mind because he will still find himself doing romantic-ish stuff. However, he's got the biggest grin on his face if they do feel the same way. Will want to celebrate with a kiss, which he's practically dreamed about for far too long while traveling with you.

[mayfly-stampede]

Character changes? - thoughts

(warnings: Trigun Maximum manga spoilers, Stampede episode 4-9 spoilers)

Wolfwood

Unlike the manga and ‘98 anime, this is not a smiling and relaxed Wolfwood that presents himself shaking hands friendly with Vash.

Instead, Stampede Wolfwood has a sarcastic and bitter humor being always upset with Vash’s kindness with everyone, even their enemies.

Wolfwood wonders about Vash but in Stampede he doesn’t even try since their personalities are directly opposite.

And although Wolfwood didn’t tell all the truth, he never lied: he was never a friend, he was always the babysitter and actually never said he didn’t have something to protect.

But, as I said here, Vash can see though Wolfwood and knows he is actually a good person even when Wolfwood doesn’t accept it.

And I think this is why we feel Stampede Wolfwood that different:

He to protect everyone and take care of them, and be strong for them…and that means never show his true feelings or weaknesses.

In Stampede, we have a deeper perspective of this big brother complex that is maybe stronger than manga and ‘98 Wolfwood, stronger enough to be shown in his personality.

(mmm should I do a deeper analysis of this?)

Meryl

She can’t stay still when someone is in danger and I LOVE that of her. Maybe that’s why Roberto mentions she’s similar to Vash. I talk more about this in this post.

At the beginning of the manga and ‘98 anime, Meryl seems to be more mature than Stampede Meryl since she doesn’t let her emotions take the control that easily and she focuses to do her best at her job. Although in Stampede she’s 2 years older, it can be because she hasn’t used a gun yet as we all think.

Also, manga Meryl doesn’t have the same chances to lead to the action as Stampede Meryl.

All the conditions in Stampede are very different, and we know for sure that if manga Meryl were through the same situations she would act the same…but of course with a better plan.

Knives

I believe the change they made here is maybe one of the most important in all the characters.

We already know, specially for the manga, he cares about Vash and he longs to be by his side as brother although he doesn’t show this side that easy.

In the manga and ‘98 anime Knives cuts Vash’s arm in a moment of anger and/or arrogance already consumed by his plant savior mission…

but in Stampede he cuts it to save him.

“Don’t touch Vash!” he orders and we know how desperately worried is for his brother.

Also, after watching episode 9 that has his name in the title, all his actions and motivations since episode 1 seem really different, just as I posted here.

Vash

I believe one of the biggest differences in Stampede Vash is he caring about the enemy.

In the manga and ‘98 anime all the enemies are practically dehumanized and strongly decided to kill, that’s why we don’t see Vash connecting with them.

In Stampede, Nebraska father begs for his son, Rollo fights his sickness, Wolfwood worries for Livio and Elendira cries for his master…Vash empathizes with all of them and never shoots anyone directly, not even as a warning…the only exception is Knives and it was really hard for him specially being his brother.

Another change, we would say, is his soften and less comical personality. We see him more sensible, calmed, nostalgic…

BUT

If we look for this in Trigun Maximum manga, specially around chapter 38 where the problems become really complicated, Vash actually begins to show this side: less comical, more nostalgic, sad, painful…tired. And we begin to learn more about his way of life.

And when he smiles, it’s like a painful smile and all the comical situations are reduced to little details or moments.

Doesn’t this sound like Stampede Vash?

What do you think?

[kaondecay]

a couple little vol 7 thoughts featuring vashwood brainrot 😎✌️

man this scene makes my brain itch on so many different levels lmao, like on the surface level wtf wolfwood!! we’ve just had all these chapters explicitly digging into how vash has a Problem where he tries to hide his pain under empty smiles- and in fact wolfwood clocked that about him pretty much instantly back when they first met! so of course badgering him about ~looking sad~ (especially when he started the page with a neutral to mildly glum expression) is just gonna make him try harder to cover it up, and that’s exactly what he does with that stupid little smile on the second page 😔

but wolfwood’s whole point here is that that shit isn’t gonna work on him no matter how hard vash tries! unfortunately wolfwood is also emotionally constipated as hell, so it comes out as aggression and teasing rather than anything genuine.

actually i just gotta revisit that earlier moment here because the contrast is just fascinating lmao

like goddamn wolfwood really came in hot with the sincerity in that first meeting, how did we go from that to this?? was it just because they were strangers then, and wolfwood thought he could get away with saying shit like that because their paths might never cross again? this was also before ww got his assignment from Knives- did he not know this was the boss’s brother? he probably didn’t realize the twins’ inhumanity at that point either… he’s had a lot to grapple with over the course of this assignment, both re: the twins’ apocalyptic power, and the fact that he has to betray vash at the end of it, that would naturally create a need for emotional distance. allowing honesty and attachment with vash puts too much at risk.

so really, given that very high-stakes need for distance, it’s telling that wolfwood still can’t help expressing his awareness of vash’s suffering & investment in cheering him up, even if it comes out in such a ridiculous way lol

it also seems like a clumsy/oblique way of trying to reassure vash that he’s still a person? vash’s inhuman nature has come more to the forefront lately- losing control in the dragon’s nest, regaining the memory of all the death he caused in july, catching that bullet with a feather only for the whole town to turn against him for it- and it’s clearly been weighing on him. so wolfwood acknowledges that angle by calling him all those awful things- “the legendary devil gunman, the humanoid typhoon”- but immediately discredits them by pointing out vash’s softheartedness.

idk i also have one more little bit of brainrot about the moment they share leaving the bar, acknowledging that things are about to get serious with Knives

like goddamn there’s so much meaning packed into that exchange!! it’s the closest they really come to acknowledging their whole “you know i know you know” deal around wolfwood’s assignment. (hah, “i told you from the start…”, fuck. ) like, openly telling vash that knives sent him would break the plausible deniability that wolfwood is simply fulfilling his mission, and that would put the orphanage in danger. at the same time, he has been 0% subtle and never actually *lied* to vash about it either- the few times vash has asked direct questions, wolfwood has given him vague answers or conspicuous silence and allowed him to draw his own conclusions.

so this seems like their weird twisty way of setting mutual expectations for what’s going to happen next. wolfwood is vash’s “guide”, no more and no less- he has enough insider information to bring vash safely to his brother’s door, but past that point wolfwood will stay out of the confrontation. it’s the one thing wolfwood and both brothers all agree is best, whether they like it or not. god wolfwood’s face in that last panel kills me

i am absolutely normal about this

[revenantghost]

Hey! So i must i adore you analysis on Wolfwood as you compared his story beats to maximum and how they got changed, something that I dont really see people commenting on

I must say however, do you think vash and wolfwood are bound to have the same kind of relationship they had in trimax? I adore stampede like crazy and was enjoying it so much until around ep 10/11 where it got cleared they were very much going a seemingly different route than what we thought. And to be honest the moment i saw they pumped Knives and Vash dynamic like crazy got me thinking tristamp will be completely about them and not also Vash and WW/others (which i think is as important as K and V for trigun to work out) or tristamp will be mostly Vash and Knives and WW and Livio.

You seek to have a super optimistic (lol) look for s2 and beyond so i wonder if you think (either by beats laid out by tristamp, maybe i am too blind or pessimistic to realize them) there may be something similar to vash and wolfwood’s relationship in trimax???

Oh man, thank you so much!!! I’m honestly so happy that people even read that rambling because it’s been driving me absolutely bonkers. (I’m just gonna link that post here in case anyone’s interested)

But tl;dr: I think that it’ll be similar! Honestly, I think the Vash and Wolfwood dynamics have to be similar, because that’s such an integral part of Trimax. I jokingly called it the Vash and Wolfwood show to a friend when I started reading it—and yeah, that sums up a lot. Though I REALLY see your worries about this. I think we got a much heavier dose of Vash and Knives to really make the stakes super personal, but I have a feeling Knives will fall into the more distant role he takes in Trimax because, as he says, Nai is dead. Long live Knives.

Tristamp season one is a prologue, confirmed by the team very purposefully calling the continuing work the final phase despite saying the sky is the limit on future content depending on fan support. It speed ran a lot of stuff, and I think that was knowingly done because the staff has stated multiple times that they needed everything to be as perfect as possible, but they didn’t know how it would do. I don't even know if they thought they could do a second season. Trigun has historically not been popular outside of the cult following ’98 had in the west—Trimax was just an afterthought that many fans hadn’t read before Tristamp grabbed us all by the throats.

To touch on the other relationships, I like that Tristamp is that it's already expanding on characters that I felt could have spent more time in the spotlight. Like, I'm very eager to see where they take the girls! Because Meryl’s falling into the same role but with a vastly different career in this, and she’s already way more present . Why are they following Vash? How present will the girls be? MILLY!!! With Meryl ripping down Vash’s wanted poster at the end of season one, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s her mission to clear Vash’s name, and hijinks ensue. She already has deeper ties to Wolfwood than any other version before, which makes both of them stronger for it. I’m nervous to see how this all plays out because change scares me and I love this story so much lmao, but I do think it’s good! I already went off about how I love how important Meryl already is in the story, she’s a foil to Vash and the faith in himself he never had, and I feel like that only strengthens and reflects against the foils Vash and Wolfwood have going on. And Milly! I’m so excited to see where they go with her.

But this does change everything with Wolfwood. I keep thinking that Tristamp has changed Wolfwood fundamentally and keep needing to go back and rewatch because he is Wolfwood. He’s younger and rougher around the edges, but he’s still that moron I know and love. (Sometimes I’ll be reading fic and I don’t even realize that the person’s only seen Tristamp because they just get him and the dynamic right—Orange is doing a good job even if it scares me deeply lol)

I do have complete faith that they need to and will let Vash and Wolfwood’s dynamic shine just as brightly as it does in Trimax. I think, actually, a lot of that comes from outside of the text, though I could probably do another rewatch to pick up on all the loose threads they’re laying down to grow Wolfwood’s character and his dynamic with Vash in particular.

First, a new bit of info I saw recently is that the director, Kenji Muto? Apparently hasn’t even seen ’98, or at least hadn’t seen it as of making season one. Of course there are other writers on staff, and the crew has admitted to being huge Trigun nerds, but if your only exposure to Trigun is Trimax??? Wolfwood is massively important to Vash. Doing that dirty would be greatest sin you could make against this franchise.

Second, Nightow is so involved in creating this. He was involved way before most manga authors are brought in on anime, and even said that pretty early on he basically gave it his blessing and said that they got Trigun. (Though he still approved everything from then on as well.) And Wolfwood and his story arc in Trimax is so powerful and so moving. Nightow obviously had some significant investment and emotion in it, in Wolfowod and Vash’s relationship and journey. Like, I cry at things sometimes, generally just ooze tears, but Nightow and this damn manga made me sob. I can’t imagine he would tell the crew they understood Trigun without Wolfwood’s character and his ties to Vash being a priority. I know typically Japanese creators won’t throw shade at adaptations like we see in Western realms, but I rarely see the level of enthusiasm Nightow has for this project.

Okay, because this is getting long, and I’m getting into Trimax spoilers next, putting this next bit under a cut, continue at your own risk.

It’s actually funny, because for the end of that Wolfwood post, before I started my rewatch for it, I originally had a pretty specific prediction about what would happen. Then the ‘sky’s the limit’ on future content came out, and idk what to expect. I thought that the next season was going to be the Vash and Wolfwood show ala Trimax, we were going to fall in love with Wolfwood, and we were gonna have him couched at the end of that season. Because the couch is so essential, it’s so critical, but my god do I want this man to survive the narrative, if only once, and have it mean just as much. (Can you tell I’m torn on this every second of every day of my entire life) And after writing up that whole post I’m even more confused because I have no idea where the fuck they’re taking him. But at the same time, we have major plot threads tying us to that scene so much earlier. The vials existing way earlier, Livio and Razlo being introduced, that line about grieving but still deserving to smile and eat that Wolfwood gives Vash in the episode he’s introduced??? We're making everything more coherent and tied together, and fuck, we're screwed.

For now, all I’ve got is that I think some shit is going to happen to Wolfwood during our two-year time skip, maybe something with Chapel, idk how they’re going to inevitably use Livio against us, but we saw a softer Wolfwood in Tristamp. He needs to harden to be who we know. Orange said they’re going to be more like their other selves here, and though Wolfwood already has some faith in Vash, but he does not have faith in humanity. That’s the growth we have yet to see, and that’s what is really at the core of their relationship and development. It’s still there.

Many people who read Trimax are absolutely gutted and wrecked by the couch. That defines a lot of readers’ experiences—Wolfwood’s character arc is an absolute masterclass in writing a satisfying and meaningful conclusion for a character. So for them to change this much about someone who is that important, they have to have a plan, and a damn good one for Nightow to sign off on it. I’ve seen folks talk about how apparently the team spent the most time working on Knives, Vash, and Wolfwood’s characters (this one I haven't seen a source for), but as you said, we can already see it in the brothers’ relationship. They have a plan for Wolfwood. It’s only a matter of time before we’re wrecked by it.

Yeah, they are gonna keep doing stuff that you or I won’t agree with, or that we think could be better. Every version of Trigun is pretty flawed in certain ways imo, even though it might be beautiful or a favorite piece of media. But all of the concerns of mine that Orange could answer in the first season, they did so with flying colors and blew me out of the water. So don’t get me wrong, I’m scared. I’m so fucking terrified. Both Vash and Wolfwood are my favorite characters in Trigun in such different, integral ways to me. I love them deeply. And Orange is changing so much.

But Orange adores Trimax as much as I do. Nightow is 500% on board. So I’m biting my nails about it, but I choose to have faith. We’ll get wrecked by this adaptation, and I’d bet money on it if I had any lol

OOF, THAT WAS LONG. I hope this was actually helpful/useful and not just incoherent feral rambling!

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol 10 Ch 5-8

All I can say is that it's somehow worse the second time around and I have lots of feelings about it.

Ch 5

It’s a final battle in more ways than one, if you think about it. Which I’m trying not to, but failing very hard at. 

Something about Wolfwood using the Punisher as a shield just gets me. Using a weapon meant to harm and kill to protect instead. It’s a metaphor for who he is. 

Whoa! Wolfwood’s trick with the magazine is just so clever and out there. He’s such a smart and calculated fighter when he has a goal and isn’t just mindlessly fulfilling his mission. 

As we watch Wolfwood fight Razlo, we get a glimpse of Vash watching. We’re reminded that he’s been told to stand back and let Wolfwood handle this alone. And we also see how he’s raging at it. 

It honestly reminds me of how much earlier Zazie called Vash a bystander to humanity’s destruction. And here he is, doing that again, on a much more personal level. But it’s not because he refuses to interfere. It’s because he’s respecting his friend’s choice to do something important alone, and he’s raging at it. Vash doesn’t actually like being the bystander, being on the outside, he wants to be part of it and he wants to help. 

Wolfwood is pulling out all the stops for this fight. He’s sword fighting with the Punisher, using his ammo as a weapon, and apparently getting faster and faster. He’s decided he’s going to die, but if he is, he’s gonna do it in a blaze of glory. 

There is definitely some symbolism in Razlo’s mask being blown off. There’s no more hiding between one personality or another, because they’re the same.

Oh wow, that’s really gory. I’m actually wondering if that thing I saw go flying earlier wasn’t a mask but literally part of his face.

Ch 6

It’s telling that in the end, Wolfwood throws aside the Punisher. He finishes off Razlo with his own fists rather than with a weapon of punishment. Because he might be hurting him, but he’s not trying to destroy him. He’s trying to save his brother and he’ll do that with his own hands.

In between, we get these glimpses again of Vash watching and at first, he’s blank-faced, we can’t read his expression. 

But then we see him scream, tears running down his face. He’s suffering, watching Wolfwood do this alone and knowing he’s dying all the while. And there’s nothing he can do to stop it. He wants to save his friend, but he can’t, and it breaks something in him. It’s heart-wrenching.

Oh…right after Vash cries out Wolfwood starts coughing up a fountain of blood. Someone mentioned that with Vash’s superhuman abilities he could probably feel and hear as Wolfwood’s body shut down. He’s screaming because he can literally feel Wolfwood getting closer and closer to death.

The only time Vash interferes is to stop Razlo’s goons from attacking Wolfwood. That’s all he can do. Allow Wolfwood to save his brother himself and let nothing stop him from doing that. He takes to that mission whole-heartedly. And oh, is he angry while he does it. I can hear the gravel in his voice when he says, “Don’t interfere.” He’s got his guns pressed to their throats. Would he fire if they moved? We don’t know, but with the rage in his eyes, I say maybe. Vash has finally found what he’s willing to kill for. 

Livio comes back for a moment! He stops Razlo from killing Wolfwood because he still cares about his brother. This isn’t someone Razlo has to protect him from and he’s finally fighting back.

HOW. HOW IS CHAPEL NOT DEAD? 

Razlo finally sees Chapel for what he is. Not the caring mentor, but the obsessive, conniving old man he is. He would shoot one of his own disciples if they were getting the way of what he wanted. Poor Razlo, alone for so long and having given all of his twisted love and devotion to his man, suddenly realizes Chapel didn’t care about him as anything other than a tool and extension of himself. And as always, Razlo’s volatility and impulsivity come into play. That is finally what gets Chapel permanently killed. I think there’s something poetic about that. 

Livio is giving me a lot of feelings I can barely articulate right now. But I’m going to try anyway. 

He’s been trapped inside Razlo for this whole fight, watching him destroy his brother, the one person who had ever cared about him and showed him kindness. Livio watches how Wolfwood fights back against Chapel and everything he’s been taught to be a better man, a protector, the person he’s always wanted to be. We know Livio has been lost for a long time, and that once he wanted to be a protector, because he thought it was the only way he could be loved. Watching Wolfwood fight for him again reminds him of that, and when he sees that now he might kill that man, he finds the strength to stop Razlo. 

Not only that, he apologizes to Razlo! Livio used him to escape his abuse and put Razlo through living hell, to the point that he didn’t know anything else. He’s acknowledging that neither of them deserved that. But still, it’s time for Livio to take responsibility for his actions and find a new path forward. He wants to be like Wolfwood. He wants to try, he wants to change. 

How would it make Vash feel knowing that Wolfwood caused that kind of massive shift in someone else? I think, once he gets past the anger of what Livio did to Wolfwood, he’d be really proud of him. 

Wolfwood will take any opportunity to smoke, huh? He’s nearly dead, but he’s celebrating his success.

Ch 7

Oh my god, not little Wolfwood again. And on the day he leaves the orphanage. My heart can’t take this.

The orphanage was his home, the only place he ever knew happiness, and for all the years that Wolfwood was in the Eye, he kept it in his heart as the place where he was loved. They never managed to rip that away from him, even if he believed they’d destroyed his humanity. He was once part of something beautiful, and he would protect it with everything he had, even if he was no good anymore. Because he still wanted to be welcomed home.

Listen, Nightow, your timelines are so wonky because if it’d only been six years, Wolfwood is max nineteen. I get his body has been aged past his years but in no way is that man a teenager. In my head, I’m just pretending that says, “Its been many years since then.” 

Oh no, not the kids screaming when they see him. It just reaffirms his beliefs about himself, that all he is is a monster. And Vash tries to explain things, but Wolfwood won’t let him! 

He hates himself so much, but God, his face here. Many others have pointed it out but when Wolfwood tells Vash to leave it, he looks so soft, young, and vulnerable. For the first time since we’ve met him. He doesn’t want to be a monster, he just wants to be loved and recognized by his old family, but he hates himself too much to even take the risk of letting them know him as both Nico and the man he is now. 

Wolfwood has already made his decision. Vash might’ve once said that Wolfwood isn’t lost, but he’s decided that it’s going to end here. He tells Melanie to not tell the kids the truth about him and he tells Vash that he’s not getting on the shuttle. But worst of all, he pulls out those coins and tells him that’s who he really is. He’s Vash’s friend, he’s a killer, one of the Gung Ho Guns. He doesn’t deserve to go back to his family. He doesn’t deserve the chance, the hope, of living. 

Vash even says to him, “You’re running out of time.” He means it in more ways than one. The shuttle is leaving soon, but also, Wolfwood’s life is running out. Does Vash hope that if Wolfwood gets on the shuttle, they’ll be able to save him? There’s no way to know that, but there’s hope, and Vash has always had hope. 

And then they bicker like everything’s fine and it’s just like old times. Because what else can you do in the worst of times but fall back on what’s comfortable and familiar? 

There’s that drink Wolfwood promised him for surviving the fight…

Even in his last moments, Wolfwood is trying to soften the blow of his own death. Telling Vash to smile, that he looks good when he does, that he was wrong to ever tell him that he looks sad when he does it. He just wants to see his friend smile and know he’ll be okay.

Despite all the things Vash would do for him, this one thing he can’t. Because then that smile would be fake and he can’t do that to either of them. 

And Vash, who has never relied on anyone but himself, to whom a higher power is likely a bit of a joke because for so long, he was the highest power—he begs God to let his friend live. 

The grief here is so palpable, I’m crying as I write this. 

The confetti…they all still love him, even as he is. They are welcoming him home in his last moments. 

This page brings me to tears. We’ve never, not once, seen Wolfwood cry, not now, not until he’s dying. Is this scream a final defiant cry against the universe? Is it him realizing he doesn’t want to die because he’s finally realized that he’s loved, that he was always loved? I don’t know. We’ll never know. That’s why it hits so hard.

The past few pages have been so atmospheric that I can hear all of it in my head. The bell finally tolls, the one Wolfwood has been ignoring this whole time. The sound the bottle makes as it falls from his fingers. Each one distinct in the silence surrounding his death. 

Vash is left alone. The man he realized he wanted to live for is gone. We can’t see his eyes, just the reflection of his glasses and he’s clutching at the sleeve of his jacket.

Ch 8

These panels did something to me the first time I read them. Vash’s words have been echoing in my head for months. They’re so blunt. “He’s dead. I buried him.” Have we ever known him to be so harsh and direct? Is he angry at Livio for indirectly causing Wolfwood’s death? Because Wolfwood died saving him when he could have killed him? But he’s also deathly calm. His eyes are blank. He’s locked everything down rather than feel it. 

You know what else haunts me? We never see Vash bury him. Their final moments together. How he dug the hole, how he picked up Wolfwood and placed him in his grave, arranged his body, and filled it back in, dragging the tombstone over the top. Was he this calm when he did that? Was he raging? Was he screaming and crying? We don’t know and I don’t think Vash is ever going to tell. It’s possible he’s blocked it out entirely because it’s too much to handle. 

I personally think all of his feelings came out while he was burying him. Now, he’s pushed them away in favor of the mission he has to accomplish. Because he can’t let Wolfwood’s sacrifice go to waste. 

When Vash answers Livio’s question, he’s pretty harsh too. “You of all people should know why.” He’s definitely angry and as much as he has the rest of his feelings tightly under control, that isn’t. On some level, he does blame Livio and he can’t hold himself back from letting it be known. 

The moment when Vash uses his powers is so interesting. So far, we’ve seen him use the Angel Arm to protect himself and Wolfwood. But in this instance, we can argue that he used it to attack. Sure, Knives was going to destroy the orphanage while Vash and Livio were still in there and Vash protected against it. He did more than that though. He attacked. The way I read this is he blasted that power back with his own attached to it, and he cuts Knives. This is the first time we’ve seen him actually hurt him, despite how often Vash claims he’s out to kill him. This was a deliberate use of his power to hurt and destroy, and it’s the first time we see his philosophy shift, just a little. 

Now though, he’s eating his feelings. Which is interesting, because the last time Vash experienced a traumatic monumental event like this, he couldn’t eat. But as we see, both Livio’s and Vash’s best memories of Wolfwood are tied up with food. They’re eating to get their strength back, but also to honor his memory. He was always trying to take care of them and now they’re taking care of themselves. 

It sucks that the only things they have left of Wolfwood are his weapons. He was a protector, but what he has left behind are implements of death and destruction. Especially the Punisher. The only thing Vash has left of his friend is his burden. It’s bittersweet that he uses it as his gravemarker, specifically as a cross rather than a weapon. Wolfwood may have been made into a weapon, but he’ll be remembered for his mercy.

Also, I'm taking recommendations for fix-it fics where Wolfwood lives, is resurrected, reincarnated, etc. My heart could use some healing, pls and thank you.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trimax Thoughts Vol. 4 Pt. 1

Woo, I'm finally gonna write these up. Knives on the cover let's goooo

I can't tell who is saying the dining room line in this panel, Brad or Wolfwood, but either possibility amuses me. (It doesn't sound like Vash...) Also greatly enjoying the random kid who can only be spotted by half of their face hjhgnjg

Enjoying Vash just (-_-) with all the chaos around him

Wolfwood sounding slightly, just barely, hopeful... :')

They're so cute... brief happiness I love it...!

KNIVES JUMPSCARE

Idk what Hoppered's deal is but his earnestness is very different from the rest of the Gung-Ho Guns... I kinda like him honestly.

Eepy Knives... also I guess we finally hear what Wolfwood's actual mission is.

Hey I uh... feel kind of bad... for Legato... like there was no way he could've known that. It's exactly as Midvalley was saying - humans are insects to him and they are no different. It's just intriguing to me that Legato would ask questions of Knives with his very firm devotion, and that Knives would be dismissive about something that, let's face it, might have been important for Legato to know? You could argue that having Ninelives go after Wolfwood for being a traitor ups his cover, but Wolfwood never really had a "cover" to begin with and isn't that just a waste of a resource? Idk. I don't know what to make of these two. Did Knives used to tell Legato every part of the plan? Is that why he asked? Is Knives still pissed at Legato for trying to kill Vash and this withholding is part of the punishment? Knives also allows Legato to speak directly with him in this way, implying Legato is the highest rank of his "knives" and therefore more valuable (probably due to being very powerful), but then he straight up shattered his spine like it was nothing... I'm so confused by their dynamic, I guess because I'm not seeing the reason for Legato's devotion. I hope this gets some elaboration.

Aaaand back to Vash and Wolfwood. How are they so stupid sometimes... Meryl is so wonderfully petty. Good for her.

"I just wish we'd gotten to them sooner." MERYL OH MY GOD she's so funny

I love them. I love them so much. Look at that teamwork!!! <3

I'm sorry out of context this looks kind of funny... but nooooo Meryl!!!

It's very simple - if Milly cries, I cry. :'(

What is this "it" that Zazie used...?

Augh. Milly can't sleep while Meryl's in danger... :(((

HJDHBJSHF??? Zazie doesn't even finish the sentence and Vash just leaps out the window??? Hello????

I'm glad Vash and Wolfwood still find a way to be absolute idiots even in dire circumstances

"I've always been nothing but trouble for Miss Meryl" Milly WHAT DO YOU MEAN??? You've literally always jumped in at the right moment!!! I think you've caused the least amount of problems out of everyone! Sweetie...

Hmm... something something "everyone will pick up a gun if their loved ones are threatened"... also "You wanna try me?" Milly I love you. Also I'd love to know what these two got up to over the two year gap. They're so close now! Milly is so protective of Meryl! And Meryl has so much faith in Milly!

...ok first off this is brutal. Secondly, this is now the second time we've been shown the damage being done to Wolfwood's body from inside. It's wonderful from a visual storytelling standpoint but I also... don't like it. Why are we watching him break from the inside.

Ah... I kind of suspected that's what might be happening... :/

Plant reveal, Plant reveal!!!

Midvalley voice: "oh no I can't play one note on my saxophone... :( welp imma head out bye chapel"

Vash’s suicidality… noooooo... :'(((

The people booing him ahahhahaaha (that was kind of a dick move though man...)

Yeah he can't actually see, can he...

Oh???

Huh. Well this seems. Fun. Knives quit torturing your brother challenge.

[alena-reblobs]

Trigun Bookclub Trimax Vol4 Part 1

Vol01: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3  | Vol02: Part 1 | Part 2

Trimax: Vol01 Part 1 Vol01 Part 2 | Vol02 Part 1 Vol02 Part 2 |

Vol 03 Part 1 | Vol03 Part2 | Vol04 Part1 | Vol04 Part2

Thoughts on the first part of Volume 4 of Trimax!

I feel there are so little instances were we see Vash and Wolfwood being friends/buddy-buddy and here in casual clothes, they just look so much like good friends it makes me happy to look at! Just two dudes! Vash putting a hand around Wolfwood’s shoulder to show him around the ship...rare physical contact!

(with each progressing volume I’m less and less just showing little panles but simply complete pages. Watch me in volume 14 pointing out every single page because EVERYTHING is worth looking at.) anyway! Knives looks so cool here! Reminds me of western superhero comic style how he is drawn actually! And I love the follow up page, and the little detail that sb else already pointed out of the glass fracturing from...plant stuff? Or the shock wave of Knives destroying the satellite? And that first panel of Vash opening the eye as he senses Knives and probably him using his powers...

The little dots of what is being unsaid of Vash are so telling. I mean, the cards are pretty much on the table already. It’s less that Vash really needs Wolfwood...but more that it’s Wolfwood’s mission to accompany Vash. Vash knows that and Wolfwood knows that Vash knows but it’s all left unsaid. (Why say it when there’s nothing you can do about it and it wouldn’t change a thing anyway?)

This volume is out here to confuse me in lots of scenes, this one of them. Though now that I look at it again I think....this is not a knife as I initially thought, but the ground or whatever they are standing on (machinery structure?) is sliced/cut open by Knives. And Midvalley was able to see or sense it because of his hearing?

These brothers really look so much alike. I wonder if they are identical twins or if these categories even apply to plant nature? Since they originate from one source only..it’s more like they are clones maybe of their mother plant. Like little tree sprouts!

Very interesting to note here on this spread, after Knives tells us that he is a collector of Knives (the Gung Ho Guns): We see Wolfwood’s cross and also the arm that is holding it (white sleeve? Or is this just thanks to the drawing?) but the rest of the body is out of frame! Clear distinction from the rest of the gang! 

Oooh Legato was not informed of this! Even though as a Gung Ho Gun, Wolfwood would be his subordinate. Legato might think that Knives doesn’t trust him enough or value him enough since he withhold that information- though the me it just seems like he does not care. Look, he can’t even be bothered to look at Legato while talking to him, even yawning. His whole posture tells us how uninterested he is in Legato.

Pic of Legato walking away (with that weird creature on his shoulder! I’ve come to the conclusion that he has kinda attached himself to that half-person because of his pretty messed up state) which looks kinda cool! Yeah alright, you can have ONE or TWO cool panels, you messed up boy.

This whole chapter here to ultimately confirm that Wolfwood has an ulterior motive (secret mission assigned by Knives) to follow Vash and guide him. His real reasons though, we don’t really know yet, but I guess a first time reader could make a pretty good guess.

Love the girls for this! And look at Milly’s expression! :DD These silly moments in between really safe the reader from dropping into too much of a depressing hole.

I strongly believe that Milly thinks Meryl is being honest here, because she hovers over her so considerate, while Meryl is straight up being sarcastic. Probably grinning into her hand! She’s such a fun character :D

I’m not quite so sure what they are saying by this (and the conversation the page before)? Do they regret that they teased Vash and Wolfwood. What Meryl says here, “feel like this”, does she mean she wouldn’t have expected to feel angry and revengeful after Wolfwood and Vash just left them behind earlier? And she probably doesn’t like how the whole situations drags her in emotionally...I guess. Hm. Sometimes these conversations are hard for me to fully get behind, but that’s ok.

Somebody tell me this is not what I think it is but also I don’t want to know.

Yeeeah cool Milly pose!!

They are doing it! They are arresting criminals, helping people by themselves, and they are being so much more confident about these situations than in the first volumes! Others have pointed that out before and I’ll say it again, I LOVE that Nightow’s female characters have their own agenda and are being strong, even supportive of the main male cast.

Uuuh Zazie you should let that get checked

Another conversation where I’m not quite sure I’m understanding it correctly. By what I’ve read of others too by now this is Wolfwood arguing that it’s maybe better to leave the girls behind and have them stay out of trouble, while Vash is saying that, hey, the know what they are getting into and if they want to follow him, they can do that! I mean..Vash is probably enjoying the company for a change, where people will stick to him despite being super dangerous, and the girls have grown on him. Vash says it sounds more like Wolfwood asks himself if he’d be able to watch them die if they get in a fatal situation...well, maybe! I’m sure that’s smth Wolfwood doesn’t want at all! But he does have a point though, cause the road that Vash and Wolfwood are headed is much more dangerous than Meryl and Milly can imagine and are prepared for.

These are from different pages, and I liked how just 2 pages before, we see Meryl shortly stepping into this ring of light...just for her to be gone from it later. And that panel with the light and nobody in it...such a strong impression!

The reaction faces of Wolfwood and Vash..:DD

[severalspoons]

Chapter 18 meta-meta

Continued from here: https://tiggymalvern.tumblr.com/post/623045799757103104/liveblog-rewatching-trigun-the-rest-of-episode

tiggymalvern

Why did it take 6 months since Knives destroyed the town for him to show up and try to make Vash leave?

0.0 Any combination of the two would make sense, TBH. I can see Wolfwood wanting to procrastinate on Knives’ mission as much as possible, and also just give Vash time to recover. That said, he’s been proactive thus far, and I don’t think he’d reappear only because Knives threatened his kids again.

Wolfwood’s different enough that Vash must have known something was up with him. He’s known he was lying about certain things since the very first day he met him, and Vash is far too curious not to have given some thought about why Wolfwood might have been lying and what he’s hiding. Wolfwood carries around a personal armoury! Even on Gunsmoke, that’s not quite normal. 

Right. I saw that when Wolfwood was actually around. Asking questions about the church, watching him closely when Millie asked why he was so good at fighting, etc. 

But Vash is also Mr Ticket to the Future, and whatever Wolfwood is hiding, Vash’s inclination would be to trust Wolfwood as long as Wolfwood did right by Vash and the people around him. How much did Vash guess and when? We have absolutely no idea. But I also think even if Vash knew details, he would have believed in Wolfwood as a genuine friend and allowed for him having switched sides.

^This. I think he would accept and forgive so long as Wolfwood wasn’t putting anyone in danger. Which I think explains the 180 he did at the end of episode 22 when Wolfwood killed Zazie.

I wish there were more clues as to who knows what, when. 

I actually don’t. I like the fact that’s a lot of space in the story to spin ideas and work with different headcanons and write different fics that all fit. Having everything spelled out in detail is limiting and simplistic.

You know, I hear this sort of comment a lot, and it still confuses and frustrates me. Wanting a few more clues isn’t the same as wanting everything spelled out in detail...

It’s not black and white (”all the information” or “barely any”), there’s a continuum of details you can have about characters (or people, for that matter). We all feel comfortable extrapolating from different amounts of information, and that’s okay. Wanting more information, if only to check whether your guesses are plausible, is not the same thing as wanting perfect certainty.  

Would I do so much overthinking and meta if I really wanted things to be limiting and simplistic? Some of us are constantly told we’re extrapolating too far, our leaps are too big and don’t make any sense. Some of us just get used to checking all our work compulsively and overexplaining everything. Some of us just want to be understood sometimes. ;)

It doesn’t help that I spent way too much time in academia in experimental science land, where people speak precisely and want evidence for everything. People outside of science often don’t understand that we have infinite curiosity, and we’d be bored to tears if we actually found all the answers. Even if we found all the answers we were looking for right now, it wouldn’t matter--new questions would open up along the way. That’s why I love research. ;)

In any case, the manga gives a heck of a lot more information about all the characters, their backstory, and their motivations than the anime. Yet it still has room for questions and interpretation. I don’t think anyone says that there’s no room to write fanfic about the manga? :) I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wish the anime had been just a little closer to the manga in that way.

Hope that clears things up a bit!

[sebastiano-merlino]

I've just published a new post on https://mylittleblackbird.com/2017/10/16/trigun-my-review-of-the-anime/

Trigun - my review of the Anime

This is going to be an article full of feels… so many feels!

Trigun is one of my favorite animes. This is the result of a combination of factors that can be summarized up into:

Awesome setting

Compelling theme

Incredibly well-designed characters

Great ability to inflict emotions on the audience.

I’d like to talk about them in order and, don’t worry, as usual, I will mark the sections containing spoilers.

Before we get into the meaty part, I am going to refer to the 1998 Anime series, not the Manga (that I read way too many years ago) nor the “Trigun: Badlands Rumble”, the movie from 2010 that I’ve yet to watch.

Trigun is an adaptation by the director Satoshi Nishimura (studio Madhouse) of the homonymous manga written by Yasuhiro Nightow. It is a Space Western story and follows the adventures of Vash the Stampede for a brief amount of time while trying to show us his philosophy and how this is impacting his and other’s lives. As the story progresses, more is discovered about Vash’s mysterious past and origins.

The setting

The story takes place on Gunsmoke (No Man’s Land) a desert planet in a far away galaxy. The human race has left planet earth because of unknown reasons and now finds itself on this deserted planet. Here humanity struggles to survive to the lack of natural resources. This caused a de-evolution into a society similar to that of the first explorers of the American’s west. Gunmen battles on the streets while sheriffs struggle to avoid the violence to spread.

One of the main resources of energy (and even water and food) are Plants. These mysterious systems are heavily relied on by humanity that builds cities surrounding them.

The theme of Trigun

I guess the simplest way to explain the theme of this series is to show you a short clip that summarizes it.

Simply put: can we save everybody? Can we subvert the idea and perhaps the natural order of “kill or be killed”?

This short video is a haunting one. I find this scene incredible from a writing standpoint – Rem (the woman) and her reaction when she sees Knives killing the spider (0:17) and the single shot of the two brothers (1:14), so similar and yet so different. So close and distant at the same time.

This theme is the main focal point of the entire series. The thing that hurts the most is that I am not even sure Vash is right here. We see him struggling for the whole duration of the story not to kill anyone. Protecting the good without harming the evil.

At first sight, this looks like the author wanted to create a perfect hero. I think there is a better read though. Vash keeps fighting without even knowing if there is a meaning in it. He doesn’t know if there will be an end. We watch him struggling to do the right thing without even believing it is actually the right thing. Is he just being a hypocrite? Will he not just make the spider die anyhow by continuously saving the butterfly?

I don’t know. The author doesn’t seem to know either and the anime doesn’t claim to give you an answer. It just leaves you with the pain of the question.

This draws quite an imperfect hero who is probably just lying to himself while trying to do what he thinks is the right thing and being punished for it.

The characters

Trigun displays an incredible cast of characters. Protagonists and antagonists are compelling and because of this, the series received overall praise during the past twenty years.

The main protagonist is Vash the Stampede. He is a mysterious man, arguably the best marksman on the planet. He has a massive bounty on his head for having destroyed an entire city on his own. Because of this hunters are always behind his back. For the same reason, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, two Bernardelli Insurance Society employees, follow him to prevent him and who want to kill him from causing excessive damage.

Vash the Stampede

Vash is a pacifist. He has the goal to protect everyone he meets without harming anyone. Not even the evilest of villains. Because of this, he suffers incredible pain and losses. Many times while watching I struggled because of the emotional pain inflicted to the character. As discussed in the previous chapter, Vash has a naive and simple view of life. He keeps himself in sync with it by thinking of his mentor Rem Saverem (the woman in the video above). She taught Vash while still young and acted as a mother to him and his brother Knives. During this period, she explains a philosophy of peace and non-violence that remains with Vash forever.

Another important character is Nicholas Wolfwood. A priest and yet another mysterious gunman. He has a bleaker and more practical view of life and how to deal with evil. It is hard to talk about Wolfwood without making any spoiler, but he is what Vash would have probably ended-up being if not for Rem. They become closer and closer during the series and it makes it for an important subplot of the series to watch the growth of both characters as they influence each other.

The big bad of the series is Millions Knives. He is Vash’s brother. Knives’ philosophy is completely opposite to Vash’s. He looks at life in a more black and white way. Evil exists and must be eradicated. We must protect innocents and destroy who harms them. Sad to say, but in his view, humanity is the evil to eliminate.

The perpetrator of most of Knives’ actions is Legato Bluesummers, an emotionless nihilist. He continuously puts Vash in “kill or be killed” situations through the use of a group of outlaws, the Gun-oh-guns.

Trigun and the ability to convey emotions (Contains Spoilers)

Despite having often a humoristic tone, Trigun seems to have made a mission of making you cry. This especially in the last few episodes.

We see an example of this ability when Wolfwood dies. This happens on two fronts: the death itself and the way the others cope with it. We are used to seeing heroic characters dying in a stoic manner. Maybe even happy to have achieved their goals. This is not the case for Wolfwood. He has just saved Vash and saved the lives of the people he loves. Despite this, he cries while dying and re-affirms he doesn’t want to die. He finds it unjust and even blames God for having created an unfair world in which he has to die immediately after having found love and friendship.

This also continues after. Milly, Wolfwood’s lover at this point in the series, has to deal with his death. It is excruciating to see the scene in which she cries and laugh at the same time while claiming she is fine. Similarly, we follow Vash, while he separates from the girls and travels to another village. He is apparently joyful while buying some donuts (his favorite food). He sits down and starts eating them just to break into tears one moment after, consumed by the guilt of having convinced Wolfwood not to kill. Because of this, the man has paid with his own life.

A second example is when Legato forces Vash to kill him. The scene itself is powerful.

I consider this one of the greatest defeats for a hero I have ever seen in almost any media. Vash has lost. He has killed someone and, even worse, this happens to him after his best friend has been killed for following his ideas.

The aftermath is again devastating. Vash goes through the crisis. Unable to cope with what he has done, he thinks of himself as a killer. We hear him screaming in pain behind closed doors while Meryl and Milly are unable to do anything that can help him.

Does Trigun have any defect? (Contains Spoilers)

Well… nothing is perfect, right?

I am not here to talk about the relatively poor animation and generally flat drawing, but I can see some problems in the story too.

The Anime doesn’t really help us understand some of the things that happen. One example is Legato and his strong motivation. He almost appears surreally insane. Why such a devotion to Knives’ cause? (I know, the manga explains it but, we are not talking about that here).

Similarly, the story never goes deep on what Plants really are. We understand that Vash and Knives are Plants – this is why they hold such power. We never understand where Plants come from and why only the two brothers, amongst all the Plants we see, have human form.

There is also some waste of time. Whereas the first few episodes might be useful to establish the setting and Vash’s famous “fake smile”, this section of the Anime goes on for a bit too long. I would have preferred a shorter intro to the anime and I think it represents a risk of abandonment for the story to have such a long and undertoned introduction.

  This is my review of one of my favorite animes. Let me know what you think in the comments and if you like my work here feel free to subscribe to my mailing list.

[pancake-breakfast]

CW: Trauma and Suicidal Ideation

Once we reach volume 6 of Trigun Maximum, I think it's fair to say that no one in our party of protagonists understands Vash on an emotional level more than Meryl. After all, she's the one who got a full dose of Vash's emotions back in the Dragon's Nest.

It seems like a lot of what we see of Meryl in Volume 6 is her trying to process all of that, which honestly would be rough for anyone. We've seen how Vash himself is processing it and that can easily be summed up as "not well." It's not exactly a surprise that she's showing signs of depression and suffering from night terrors all throughout the first chapter. But in spite of the fact that Vash (likely inadvertently) traumatized her with both his history and the reveal of what he is, she remains so concerned about him.

The first action we see her take after coming across his memories isn't to try and flee or defend herself from him, but to shoot at Legato. There are five superhuman beings stuck in a deadlock, and then there's her, a mere normal human, and she's the one who breaks that deadlock. She sees what she needs to do and, despite the tears in her eyes, she does it without hesitation to defend herself and her friends.

She may be small, but her power is adequate.

And when everything dies down, she's the first to verbally check on Vash.

This question is kind of loaded, though. On the surface, she's asking if he's ok and back in control, but she could also be asking a myriad of things about what the hell even happened just now, or what happened in July, or how everything she saw about his arm in his memories has affected his wellbeing and how he's coping.

Vash's response is meant to reassure her, but it's so vague it does little to dispel anything but the fear of immediate danger (be it to himself or to others around him). It's no wonder Meryl is still haunted by so many thoughts and feelings after all this; they really needed to sit down and have a long talk about what happened both in the Dragon's Nest and in what she saw in his memories. But they don't. And so Meryl is left floundering.

It's something that's gonna bite them both in the ass sooner rather than later. Much, much sooner.

But again, as we move into the next chapter ("The Gunslinger"), Meryl's primary concern still isn't about Vash's destructive capability. It's about whether or not he'll be able to survive his next gunfight. 'Cause there's always a next gunfight for Vash.

Sorry, I lied. That's not the face of someone who's afraid their friend won't be able to pull a trigger to save their own life in the next gunfight (which is playing out in the now right in front of her for this scene). That's the face of someone who is deeply concerned for her friend whom she know is absolutely drowning in the sorrow of his past actions, of having pulled a much bigger trigger than the one of the gun now in his hand (or even of the Punisher that Vash has seen fit to commandeer for this mission), and who has every reason not only to go to great lengths to never repeat the mistake of July again, but enough regret to possibly let even the lowest of lowlife scum put a bullet in his own head to keep that from happening.

She thinks of his angel arm, but her immediate thought isn't, "Oh, no! What if he goes off again?" Her thought is, "Oh, god. He's carrying waaaaay too much emotionally, it's making him suicidal, and he is going to die here."

So, then, what's up with this reaction a few chapters later when Vash accidentally releases just a tiny bit of his power to stop a bullet?

My thought is this is the conversation Vash and Meryl didn't have coming back to bite them both in the ass.

Meryl hasn't had a lot of time to process these memories, and as best we can tell, she hasn't talked about them to anyone. Wolfwood kind of gives her an opportunity, but instead the two of them get caught up in denying they know as much as they know. If they'd instead had a conversation about Vash, it might have helped Meryl find a place for some of this.

But the person she really needed to have that conversation with is Vash.

While Meryl's flashback is of the events of the Dragon's Nest, from what we saw at the end of the Dragon's Nest arc and in the Gunslinger chapter, Meryl isn't that afraid of Vash and his power. The one who truly fears Vash's power is Vash himself.

Despite Vash having only recently regained his memories of July, he's still intimately aware that he has immense raw destructive power. But it's been over two years since he blew a hole in the moon, and even before that he had literal decades to build up the determination that (usually) keeps him moving forward when the horrors are too great. Meryl has had... what, a week? A month? A few days? Not nearly enough time.

If she and Vash had spent some time talking over what they both learned about him in the Dragon's Nest, it might at least help Meryl recognize what parts of it are her and what parts of it are him. Even if it didn't, it might have helped Vash contextualize her panic in this scene and find a better way to respond, or helped her to dig up the words for it before the boys ran off, since she would have spoken them them already in a more controlled setting.

But that didn't happen. So instead, we get to see all of Vash's fear and panic over what might happen if he loses control manifest in Meryl. And it manifests as screaming, trembling, and tears seemingly without end.

Thank God for Milly, or it might have resulted in her feeling the same kind of loneliness and isolation Vash feels, as well.

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol 11 Ch 4-6

Half of this is just me having emotions about Livio. For a character who showed up so late in the game, he's very quickly wormed his way into my heart.

Ch 4

Return of the wicked? So Legato rejoins the game.

Oooh, Zazie butterfly! You know, it was really funny reading Trimax after watching Tristamp which was chock full of worm lore and realizing there’s just���none of that here. All you know is there are worms, Zazie is one of them (perhaps the leader?), and they’re sorta kinda on Knives’s side. Except not anymore if Knives apparently throws them off the Ark. 

BABY KNIVES!!!! I am not immune to baby Knives. 

It’s interesting that Zazie says that because Independent Plants can produce matter, they’re better candidates for coexistence. I assume the problem with humans is they only cause destruction. But while Knives is certainly capable of creation, that’s very much not what he’s using his powers for at the moment. On paper, he looks great! In practice, not so much. 

Well, I should’ve kept reading because Zazie very much so doesn’t mean that. Apparently, they’re using worm poison to incapacitate everyone on the ship and go after Knives. Zazie does see how much of a danger is to their planet, and seeing as its their own, they won’t stand idly by anymore. 

BLEGH I FORGOT ABOUT THE CROTCH WORM.

The concept of a control worm is so interesting. Is that how Zazie is “possessing” the body they use to appear human? But also, the idea of her using that to control Knives is so insidious but so fascinating. I actually want to know what they would do with him and whether they’d be able to wield his powers like that.

I never understood this bit with Legato’s wires. Because he never seemed to need wires to do his body control trick before. Or maybe it just wasn’t explained that that’s how he was doing it until now. He’s yet another puppet master character, except what’s terrifying is he’s somehow using the strings to control his own body. I’m taking back my snarky comments about Vash finding Legato scary earlier. This is terrifying. Imagine the willpower it takes to do this, to endlessly carve metal wires out of the coffin you’re in and use them to remake and control your own body. 

All of Elendira’s teasing and joking takes on new meaning too. She was doing that partially because she thought Legato was pathetic and couldn’t do anything to her. How horrifying is it to realize he was just holding back? He was biding his time until he was needed and he could’ve snapped her neck whenever he wanted. 

So that massive explosion was Knives expelling Zazie’s poison by gathering it into a gate. This is another one of those times that we’re reminded just how capable of destruction Plants are and just how much power they hold.

Vash watches this explosion calmly and then goes back to making his own special Plant-powered bullets. The way the panels focus on his hair and we realize that it’s gotten even blacker. He’s very purposefully using up his power to make these and that just…that hurts to see. 

Because for a moment, in the last volume, he really wanted to live. And now he’s actively pushing himself closer and closer to death. He’s back in that terrible place he’s lived in for so long where his life doesn’t matter, only his final mission, only defeating Knives. It’s an incredibly painful manifestation of his grief and it’s even more pronounced for how Nightow just shows it to us without any commentary. 

Chapel…when Vash refers to Wolfwood’s coin he calls him Chapel. Because the man who held that coin wasn’t his friend. He wasn’t even real. He won’t call it Wolfwood’s because it isn’t, because Wolfwood ultimately wasn’t a Gung Ho Gun or a killer. He was his friend.

Ch 5

It’s so exciting to see the Earth Fleet and see how much advanced tech they have. Not only that, but how much knowledge they have about Plants. Most excitingly, the existence of other Independents, like Chronica! 

This opening scene reveals a lot too, about the relationship between Independents and humanity in Earth society. Chronica is obviously a respected member of this crew if this man is asking her opinion. It’s unclear how much power she has in making decisions and such at this moment, but it doesn’t look like she’s hated or anything. Then there’s the fact that apparently, they’ve had enough problems with Independents fusing with dependent Plants that whenever new Independents are born they have their neural pathways rewired so they can’t do that. Apparently, Knives isn’t the only Independent who decided to use their powers to wreak havoc on humanity.  

Meanwhile, Vash and Livio are being idiots together. I love the relationship between them and how much of a goofball Livio is now that he’s coming out of his shell a little. 

You know, if some guy coughed up a worm in front of me, I’d have that reaction too. This is a big mood. 

I love that Vash just presses the button on the case. Doesn’t even go, “Huh, I wonder if this is an explosive or if it’ll trigger something bad.” Guess he trusts Meryl and Milly’s assessment that it’s safe. 

Legato giving his evil villain speech:

Vash: Can’t believe I have to listen to this bullshit. 

Vash, rude!!! Don’t call Elendira a bitch!!! 

Hey!! Look at that, Vash asked someone for help! Not in so many words, but he admits that he can’t take on Legato and Elendira at once. He needs Livio’s help to get past her and get to his brother. 

And that means so much to Livio, being entrusted with this duty! He can do something good, he can do something to protect rather than harm, and he’ll do it with the body and powers the Eye of Michael gave him. He’s taking the evil that was done to him and using it for good. 

The way he says, “She’s a monster too, right?” it makes me so sad. Because you know he means, “like me.” Only a monster can fight another monster, so he’s the perfect man for the job. I like how even though Livio is finding ways to be a better person, part of him is still stuck in his old way of thinking. It’s so real! He’s making progress, but he’s not quite there yet. 

I know everyone has talked about this page but man…it hits hard. They weren’t even directly talking about him, but the idea of being a protector, of taking the horrible things done to you and turning them around to use them for good is a very Wolfwood idea. Both Vash and Livio are taking strength from it. His presence is so powerful they don’t need to say anything to invoke his memory, he’s that meaningful to them. This is a moment of Vash and Livio bonding over that shared memory, and I see it as the first step for Vash in forgiving Livio. He believed that Livio was a good guy, but now he’s seeing it. After all, faith can only take you so far. And he sees how much Wolfwood’s sacrifice means to Livio too. 

Also, I just realized Vash hurt himself trying to punch Livio in the stomach. That man has abs of steel. 

I think this is the first time Vash explicitly talks about how he can hear the Plants’ thoughts. This is a very revealing moment for him, showcasing his inhumanity, and it’s a big deal. But he’s using it to try to do something good, which is very much becoming a theme of this chapter. 

“Is it possible for something created by humanity to break completely free of their creators?” Something something we create our own gods (literally in this case) and then they develop a will of their own. Quite often, that’s what happens with human inventions. The minute you put an idea out in the world, tangible or intangible, it’s no longer yours to control. Plants have always had some will of their own, but until now they hadn’t exercised it. Knives is forcing them to make a choice about whether to save humanity or doom it. But they’re so alien and unknowable to humanity that it’s hard for anyone to imagine how this will go or how they can convince them that human life should be spared. 

Vash asks more people for help!!! I’m so proud of him. 

Also love that he calls the Plants “the girls inside.” He really sees them as his sisters, as individual people, with wants of their own, and talking like that in front of others might one day help change their minds about how they view Plants too. 

Awww, no, his goodbye with Meryl and Milly :( 

The girls have lost him so many times and they’re watching him walk away again, straight into danger. Vash teases them over it, because this man is incapable of accepting that people actually care what happens to him, but it’s getting to him too. Maybe it’s reminding him that he has something to come back to. Their little goodbye fist bump means everything to me. 

You tell him Milly! Let Meryl feel her emotions!

Love that none of those guys even realized they were talking to Vash the Stampede. They just went, “Yeah, we’ll take advice from some random dude with weird hair. Seems legit.”

I don’t understand why Chronica would want to turn off her limiter program if that’s what’s keeping her from fusing with other Plants. I’d think keeping Knives away from her and all the information in her head would be a top priority.

Ch 6

Livio centric chapter!!! I’m really falling in love with Livio’s character on this reread. I think the first time, the hangover from volume 10 was so strong, I couldn’t appreciate it. 

That moment when he saved Jasmine defined who he wanted to be, even if later what he did to her dog overshadowed it. But it’s telling that when he faces Elendira, this is what he’s thinking about: how he wants to be a protector.

Oh Elendira. She really knows how to twist the knife. She’s so mean. But it’s so fun to watch. She’s the best kind of villain because her taunts are so truthful, so accurate, that it instills the tiniest seeds of doubt. Oh, she’s good. 

But evil. EVIL. THAT IS SO EVIL. 

Like I said, she’s good. She knows exactly how to bait Livio. Though I really do wonder how she knows all of this. Not about Wolfwood being dead but about how much he matters to Livio and the way Livio is trying to turn his life around. 

Right, this is the part of the story where Livio just becomes a human pincushion. Truly, no one else could survive Elendira. I’m not sure Vash could. Livio’s regeneration abilities are the only thing that make him stand a chance against her. 

Also, I don’t understand Elendira’s gun or her powers. Sometimes, I swear the nails can’t be coming from her gun and she’s just creating them out of thin air like in Tristamp. This is one of those things I’m just trying not to think about too hard. 

Elendira, you mysterious woman, why are you so focused on the destruction of the world? Who hurt you? More questions I will never get answers to.

Unlike Legato, I don’t think she’s doing this out of any sort of devotion to Knives himself. She seems to just want the world to go to pieces and Knives is a means to that end. Because I really can imagine that if Knives told Legato right now that he’s changed his mind about destroying humanity, Legato would get with the program. But Elendira would blow the bomb anyway. 

Oh no, those poor kids! They just saw some guy get impaled! And then cough up blood and pull out all those nails?! That’s horrible!

Awww, Livio’s reaction to them though! He’s trying to keep them calm and make sure they’re safe. He’s never cared about kids before, but now they’re the reminder he needs of what he’s protecting (and what Wolfwood died to protect). 

This last scene with Jasmine and the kids, where they give him their clothes as a thank you is so so important that I’m having a hard time putting it into words. 

Jasmine obviously doesn’t recognize him, but Livio left the orphanage because of how scared she was of him. She was someone he was supposed to protect and instead he hurt her. He couldn’t live with that. Unknowingly, he’s now protected the children she’s in charge of. He’s made it up to her. He’s proven to himself that he can make amends and do good. And it gives him something to fight for that’s more than the nebulous wants of a dead man. These people are living and they’re his to protect, so they can continue to live in the world. This is the only way Livio knows how to love and it’s bittersweet to see him put in action. Protection isn’t the only way to show love, but it’s how he understands it and at least he has that, when for so long he had nothing.

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol 3

Well, things are getting real serious in this volume and I have a lot of thoughts. Now that I’m not reading in a fevered state of obsession, the darkness of this volume hit me really hard. But more on that below the cut.

Ch1

Wolfwood is faced with Gray the Ninelives and remembers his big argument with Vash! He seems to decide that he’ll try to do things Vash’s way for once, but he’s very not happy about it. But like I said before, we’re already making progress. As much as these two disagree, they still listen to each other and try to work with the other’s perspective. 

This weird centipede puppet thing is incredibly freaky. I’m actually having a hard time looking at it.

More commentary on Vash’s humanity—or lack thereof, this time by Leonof, who also directly compares him to Knives. It’s interesting that he seems to see them as exactly the same. I suppose he’s right in that they actually have pretty similar core motivations, the sorrow, suffering, and rage he refers to. But yeah, Vash resists the worst that these feelings can bring about while Knives gives into them, but somehow Leonof sees that resistance as incredibly inhuman, which I don’t know if I agree with. 

Man, Wolfwood is so bitter and hopeless. He basically says, “Your ideals don’t matter. Either way, we all end up dead. The world is a terrible place where nothing changes and we have no hope of doing anything about it, so why bother even having any ideals.” That is…so incredibly depressing, Wolfwood. What happened to this man, I really wanna know. 

Ch2

Assuming Wolfwood is Chapel, was he not supposed to interfere with what Leonof is doing? I guess he didn’t interfere in the Rei Dei fight until the end when he thought Vash was going to die, and seeing as his purpose is to make Vash suffer, killing Rei Dei would be more in-line with his mission. Also, how does Legato even know about this? Is one of Leonof’s puppet creatures reporting on what’s happening in the colony?

I need to know where, exactly, Wolfwood has been hiding this spare handgun all this time.

I’m the kind of person who deeply enjoys when a man is overcome by bloodlust and then ends up covered in blood, so this chapter is just a 10/10 for me. Love me some bloody unhinged Wolfwood

Ch3

I have to say it again: Wolfwood gets so unhinged when he fights and I love it. It’s an interesting parallel to Vash who so far has been a fairly artful, though not always graceful, fighter. Comment inspired entirely by this two page spread

Vash getting tricked by puppet people never gets any easier for me to handle emotionally

“A momentary lapse in judgment can have fatal consequences.” Yeah, Vash refusing to shoot perceived innocents is a lapse in judgment, Leonof, sure. This is like the worse version of Wolfwood’s argument from last chapter

Emilio the Player? Is that supposed to be Leonof? Does Vash know him somehow?

I think this might be the cruelest of all the Gung Ho Gun fights. This isn’t just endangering innocent people, Leonof is actively using them against Vash so he can’t tell who is and isn’t a puppet. He tricks him into shooting someone! The psychological warfare is chilling and I’m starting to wonder if there’s a reason why he’s playing so much on Vash’s emotions

Ch4

Oh, so Vash does somehow know Leonof! Are the names he’s saying people they both know? Why doesn’t Leonof remember being Emilio?

Either way, this is personal. That explains the psychological warfare

Whoops, Vash might’ve just made things worse for himself by bringing all this back up for Leonof

I had a very hard time parsing this page and from what I can tell, Vash either blew up a water tower or set off the smoke alarms and the sprinkler system. Either way, there is water falling from the sky

Listen, I don’t care what’s going on. I just really wanna know how Leonof and Vash know each other!! This is all very, very cryptic

Random pile of coffins? Random dead lady (or is it a puppet) in a coffin?? And so I ask, what is going on???

Ch5

Listen, I know I’ve been going on and on about Wolfwood’s violence in this chapter but I think this might be the first time we really see him fight and he’s goddamn brutal. He’s practically feral. It’s a very marked difference to Vash and I’m trying to figure out exactly what this means but I’m not grasping it completely.

It definitely shows how willing he is to get his hands dirty. He’s not going to waste time with tricks, he goes straight for the kill and nothing will get in his way. But it’s also starting to feel wrong, I guess? Especially as he beats up Gray the Ninelives and has all those flashbacks to the children at the orphanage. It feels like he’s trying to give himself a reason to keep going like this when he really doesn’t want to. 

Also, love that Gray the Ninelives is literally nine dudes in a trench coat. Nine lives like a cat, right? That’s what I originally thought. Nope, nine lives because it’s basically a horrible organic mech suit powered by nine little guys

Leonof with his funky bat wings is so Dracula coded

Confusion alert: what the hell did Brad do exactly? It didn’t look like he was doing anything then the next second, what I think are the ship’s doors opened and dumped Leonof out. And then he says he did it. Does he just move really quickly in the space of a few panels? I feel like I’m missing something

Best guess for what happened to Leonof: the pain of his memories returning made him let go of the thread holding him up because he couldn’t handle the agony. But also, I have no clue. He obviously loved Isabel and I think the puppet is her preserved corpse, so losing it also broke something in him. But I want the whole backstory here, Nightow! Am I gonna get it? Probably not! I have so many questions!!

A dramatic Wolfwood monologue once again interrupted by silliness, this time in the form of Meryl and Milly. Insurance girls to the rescue! They legit save his life because he’s too busy making a brooding speech to realize he’s about to be chopped in half because Gray the Ninelives still isn’t dead

In conclusion, I have no idea what’s going on, but it was fun!

Ch6

Knives and his goddamn BDSM suit is killing me. But like…what is he doing? Is he using his powers?

Vash expression of sheer confusion at waking up in the hospital is so good!!

He’s so shocked to see Meryl and Milly again! Like he really can’t believe these people he became friends with would ever come back into his life. He’s beaming, though, when he gets past the shock. He’s so happy! I’m not sure we’ve ever seen him smile so wide

Oh, Vash. Jumping straight to blaming himself when he learns about everyone who died in the colony. But it really seems like no one here actually blames him. In fact, I think the people of the colony are happy to see him! But he’s so used to the damage his presence causes and how people turn him away for it that he thinks the people in this place he considers home would feel the same. Argh, I just made myself sad

I’m glad Luida outright tells Vash he’s part of the family. I’m not sure he believes her, but I don’t think he hears anything like that often

Leave it to Wolfwood to get mad at being thanked for saving people. To be fair, it would be pretty confusing to be thanked for killing when you just had a big blowout about how you shouldn’t murder people

“I’ve burdened you with my own ideals. I’m sorry.” What a LINE. Vash is definitely very aware that the vast majority of people can’t live like him, and that doing so can be very difficult. He’s really opening up to Wolfwood by admitting this

They’re already coming to understand each other more and the flaws inherent to both their ways of looking at the world. Rather than pushing back, they’re opening up. We love to see it

Vash’s pouty face here is everything

Ch7

Vash looks so soft and fluffy with his hair down. It’s also very fun/interesting/jarring when he doesn’t have his coat on. It reminds you that, at heart, he’s just a guy

Vash actually letting people in is!!! He shows the girls the cold sleep chamber because he wants them to understand why he does what he does. 

And Meryl does see it. She has another moment where she weighs up everything she knows about Vash, all the contradictory parts of him, and starts to see how heavily his past weighs on him, that something dark lurks there

Wolfwood is once again confused and trying to figure out Vash’s motivations. Redemption is a good guess to make but he’s not quite seeing the bigger picture yet. Mainly, that Vash doesn’t care about himself, that this is about everyone else. Because I don’t think he believes he can be redeemed and really, Vash has a literal death wish (sometimes)

To prove Luida’s point, Vash once again uses his own body as a shield to save the girls and gets his tech arm shot off again. Wolfwood can’t get over the stupidity.

Luida providing a Vash thesis statement right here. Kindness even in the face of endless suffering. I think maybe, right here, is when Wolfwood starts to really get who Vash is, what he’s doing, and what he stands for

This was fun! We got to learn more about Vash, see Wolfwood actually fight and get very bloody, and see some new places in this world. If I’m remembering correctly, things are only going to get darker from here, so I’m just gonna hide with the boys in their cozy little hospital outfits until it’s time to go on to the next volume.