Trigun Vol. #2 (of 8)

By: Dani Moure
Review Date: Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Release Date: Monday, March 21, 2005



What They Say
A city is dying, but when they decide Vash's bounty is the cure, will they find it comes with too high a price?

The reckless pursuit of rewards or revenge sometimes leads away from the true goals of life - love and peace. It's time for Vash to show what he can do when his past comes back to haunt him...

Episodes comprise:

5. Hard Puncher
6. Lost July
7. B.D.N.

The Review!
The story of the legendary Vash the Stampede continues...

Audio:

I listened to the English language track for my main review, and noticed no dropouts, distortions or other technical problems with the disc; it's a pretty standard stereo mix. The dub is really good, accurate to the literal translation but sounding very natural and never stifled. Johnny Yong Bosch is superb as Vash, portraying his nuances in a wonderful manner, while Dorothy Melendrez (Meryl) and Lia Sargent (Milly) also put in very good performances.

I spot-checked the Japanese track, having heard it all the way through before, and noticed no issues in the spot I checked. The Japanese track is also very good, with Masaya Onosaka putting in a great and often hilarious performance as Vash.

Video:
Video is the main area where this series takes a bit of a knock. It looks a little washed out at times, though that is in part due to the animation style and colours used. I noticed no artefacting or aliasing during regular playback, which is good. Unfortunately, this transfer suffers heavily in the form of cross colouration and rainbowing, along black lines and in character's hair in particular. It's a little unfortunate and can be a bit distracting at times, though it's not terrible and didn't ruin my enjoyment of the show.

Subtitles are in a yellow font which is easily readable, and I noticed no spelling or grammatical errors in them. As this is an older series (in terms of its original DVD release), the ending song is hard-subbed.

Packaging:
No packaging was included as this was a check disc.

Menu:
The menus are simple but functional, and the same as the last disc. It starts with a brief introduction sequence continuing to the main opening menu, which has a central image of Vash with a flame burning behind him. The show's logo is at the top, with episode choices and the set-up and extras menus at the bottom. A piece of background music plays over the main menu, and sound effects of bullets being fired are used on menu transitions. The sub-menus are static and silent with a bit of character artwork beside the selections. Access times are fast, as you’d expect with a set of simplistic menus.


Extras:
We don't get many extras on this first release. We do get the original Geneon USA (from their days as Pioneer) trailer for the show which lasts a minute and a half, as well as a gallery of 25 pieces of mechanical design line-art, and another gallery of screen caps from the show. It's not really the most exciting array of extras you'll find around.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The antics with Vash the Stampede continue as he faces some interesting adversaries in the series that will hopefully be a bit of a breakout success for MVM. With the series being spread over eight discs, the number of episodes on this volume drops to three, as the remainder of the discs will be (bar the last which will have four episodes).

In the first episode, Vash finds himself unwelcome in a city whose inhabitants really need the $$60 billion bounty on his head. While he initially saves an inn from some hoodlums, the owners (along with the rest of the townspeople) turn on him. When Meryl and Milly arrive on the scene, the town’s leader soon explains the need to fix the city’s plant, and hence the need for the money. But trouble is just around the corner for the town, as the Nebraska family arrive on the scene to torment them, and only one man can stop them.

As is something of a staple in the early stages of this series, this episode shows a different side to Vash’s character. Here, despite the townspeople turning on him even when he helped them, he doesn’t stop fighting the good fight and helps get them out of their sticky situation. While his incessant need to help people no matter what they do to him can seem a bit stupid at times, and can lead to some unfortunate situations, it’s quite admirable in a sense and really keeps me rooting for him no matter what happens.

The next episode follows from the last, with a woman called Elizabeth arriving in town, choosing Vash as her bodyguard. Much to Meryl’s dismay, Vash accepts the job and essentially becomes her lapdog as he protects her from some unknown invaders. But soon her own plans come to light, and it’s apparent that this isn’t her first meeting with Vash the Stampede...

This episode reveals a brief snippet of Vash’s past, and as you’d expect it’s not particularly pretty. What exactly happened all those years ago isn’t made clear at this stage, but it’s obvious that Vash was part of a massive incident that led to mass destruction and some memory loss on his part. What I liked here was that this revelation provides a great hook for the series going forward, as it had me really eager to see what truly went on in his past.

Besides that one key point though, the episode plays out quite well, with a fun story. Meryl is particularly hilarious in her blatant jealousy and frustration at Vash’s decision to become Elizabeth’s puppy. His willingness to do whatever she says just makes it all the more amusing. His interactions with Elizabeth again show that despite how naïve he appears, he is actually very aware of others’ characters, and also reiterates that he is always willing to look for the good in everyone.

For the final episode on the disc, Vash finally leaves town on a sand steamer, but gets a bit more than he bargained for. He wants to travel unnoticed as a normal person, but he ends up running to a young kid who comes up with a sob story for him. While he can’t believe how lucky he is that Vash is so gullible, he gets the Humanoid Typhoon involved in a struggle for the steamer itself. And to make matters worse, while Vash thinks he’s left everyone behind, Meryl and Milly end up on board cleaning dishes to pay for their travel.

Throughout these episodes and yet again in the third, we really see how much Vash is willing to trust in people. For all the power and ability he has, which is made obvious by his reputation (which doesn’t even really equal the glimpses we see of it in his occasional moments of action), the key to the character is his human side and his good nature. He trusts in everyone, that there is good in them and that they will do the right thing. He doesn’t want to kill and goes out of his way, even at the risk of his own life, to not take life away from others. All are traits that really help give us the chance to empathise with him, and no doubt when the inevitable drama comes as the series continues, it’ll be all the better and more intense for it.

It’d be hard to go the whole review with just the bare mention of the characters of Meryl and Milly that I’ve made thus far. While the pair are often used as comic relief, they compliment Vash really well, and cater to a different aspect of his personality that we wouldn’t see if they weren’t their. Meryl’s constant despair at Vash’s actions, as well as the type of guy he is in general, is hilarious and really works to bring some light heartedness to the more dramatic moments.

With this disc, the production values for Trigun haven’t really changed at all. The animation, done by Madhouse (a favourite studio of mine), is pretty good throughout though there’s a slight dip in quality from the first disc. The character designs really appeal to me, giving off a "cowboy western" vibe. The action is well presented, this is certainly one series in which the action is far better in motion on screen than it is presented in Yasuhiro Nightow's original manga (in which the action sequences are often poorly laid out and hard to decipher).

In Summary:
Trigun continues to be a good series, though the early part of the series gives off an air of being the calm before the storm, and this is one storm that you know will be huge even from the small glimpses and hints throughout these episodes. Given its look and feel, as well as the story, Trigun really does have that breakout potential and I really hope it hits a wider market and gives MVM even more success. While the eight-disc release schedule is a disappointing (but out of MVM's hands), the standard retail price is dropped as a consequence, and the series is enjoyable enough to recommend right now, at least as a rental if you can’t afford to buy it.

Features
Japanese Language (2.0),English Language (2.0),English Subtitles,Trigun Trailer,Mechanical Designs,Image Gallery

Review Equipment
Philips 28" Pure Flat Widescreen TV, Pioneer DV-464 code free DVD player, JVC gold-plated RGB SCART cable, standard stereo sound.