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EP. REVIEW: Trigun Stampede


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KaidoYuji8Shinji



Joined: 15 Mar 2016
Posts: 129
Location: Manchester, NH
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:25 pm Reply with quote
This episode was better than the last few. Still way too fast. I’m wondering if they are doing the FMA: B thing and we are rushing through what we have already had adapted to get to the new stuff? Otherwise, oh man the next few raiders are going to be interesting….
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Theozilla



Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 144
Location: Oakland, California
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:26 pm Reply with quote
MrAJCosplay wrote:
I'm going to assume that Knives doesn't want Vash straight-up dead because he had numerous opportunities to do so, and it's implied he needs him for some plan. If that's the case, what is the point of these attacks supposed to be? Knives knows that Vash is capable, but Vash also could have better self-preservation. If the whole idea is to keep Vash alive, then I feel like that should outweigh any desire to psychologically torture him if that is the intention.


This feels like an odd criticism to levy against Stampede specifically, as this could be said about how the Gung-Ho Guns were utilized in the first anime and original manga too?


Funny that the doctor character mentioned the "venom of hatred" about Monev the Gale in this episode, I wonder if that was an intentional word-choice referencing how Nightow was influenced by the Marvel comics character Venom when designing Monev the Gale (who's name is literally "venom" spelled backwards).
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JoelBurger





PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:35 pm Reply with quote
You know what would make this examination of Vash's hypocrisy actually mean something in whatever thematic conversation the show wants to have? If we ever saw him succeed at anything ever before said examination. We're 5 episodes in, and rather than give off the impression that Vash is an incredibly skilled superhuman whose actions nevertheless take a physical and mental toll on him and those around him, we have a Vash who should probably quit if for no other reason than he's a huge loser who can't do anything right.
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ninjamitsuki



Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Posts: 620
Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:43 pm Reply with quote
I'm sorry but what they did to Elendira is really shitty.

If they absolutely needed an "adult in a child's body" character, Zazie is right there, or make a new character.

But doing it to a badass grown-ass trans woman who has never been animated before just feels like pouring salt into the wound.

Maybe someday Elendira will be properly animated.


Otherwise, I actually really enjoyed how they fleshed out Monev and seeing the Eye of Michael.
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trilaan



Joined: 17 Jan 2009
Posts: 1064
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 7:52 pm Reply with quote
Theozilla wrote:

Funny that the doctor character mentioned the "venom of hatred" about Monev the Gale in this episode, I wonder if that was an intentional word-choice referencing how Nightow was influenced by the Marvel comics character Venom when designing Monev the Gale (who's name is literally "venom" spelled backwards).


Also, in one shot you can see most of the word "VENOM" in a weird font on the wall of the lab where Rollo's being transformed.

ninjamitsuki wrote:
I'm sorry but what they did to Elendira is really shitty.
But doing it to a badass grown-ass trans woman who has never been animated before just feels like pouring salt into the wound.


I'm still not sure what Nightow was going for with her in the manga, I don't recall the character being identified as a trans woman except by fans after the fact. Perhaps he and Orange are attempting to play it safe lest they come under fire. Still, big loss not having one of my favorite GhGs in this. Maybe she Pokevolves into an adult. Yeah, I'm grasping at silly straws.

ninjamitsuki wrote:
Maybe someday Elendira will be properly animated.


I have a fear that they were counting on this series to give them an idea of how fruitful another adaptation would be and it's (I'm guessing)low numbers from those who won't even give it a chance are hindering future adaptations. But perhaps fan outcry for Elendira will do something.

ninjamitsuki wrote:

If they absolutely needed an "adult in a child's body" character, Zazie is right there, or make a new character.

The further we get from 1998 anime Zazie the better in my opinion. Manga Zazie has always been one of my greatest sources of interest in the manga due to its differences from the 1998 series.

ninjamitsuki wrote:
Otherwise, I actually really enjoyed how they fleshed out Monev and seeing the Eye of Michael.


Same here! Although I would have preferred a more faithful manga adaptation with the GhG Vash knew as a child being someone else and Rai Dei the Blade being the impetus for Vash and Wolfwood's clashing of ideals. I want, nay, NEED my samurai on roller skates!
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Vanadise



Joined: 06 Apr 2015
Posts: 519
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:36 pm Reply with quote
trilaan wrote:
I'm still not sure what Nightow was going for with her in the manga, I don't recall the character being identified as a trans woman except by fans after the fact.

I actually just recently read through Trigun Maximum and it's pretty clear about it; there are multiple times when other characters refer to her as male and are corrected, and also several times that she's called a "transvestite" (which is considered a derogatory term nowadays, and there are some other unfortunate stereotypes around her, but I'm still willing to give her credit for being a serious character in an early 00's manga). It's about as explicit as you can get without her just looking at the camera and saying "I'm transgender."
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trilaan



Joined: 17 Jan 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:08 pm Reply with quote
Vanadise wrote:

I actually just recently read through Trigun Maximum and it's pretty clear about it; there are multiple times when other characters refer to her as male and are corrected, and also several times that she's called a "transvestite" (which is considered a derogatory term nowadays, and there are some other unfortunate stereotypes around her, but I'm still willing to give her credit for being a serious character in an early 00's manga). It's about as explicit as you can get without her just looking at the camera and saying "I'm transgender."


Coolness, I admit it has been years since I have read the manga. I cry too much. But I know I need to reread it soon, probably after this series is done.
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malek86



Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:28 am Reply with quote
The weirdest thing about this episode is that Vash continues to be very much ineffectual himself. Wolfwood has to bail him out, there is really no indication that Monev wasn't just going to snap and kill him. Old Vash may have been a pacifist, but he knew how to unleash the hurt, and was not afraid to do so.

They also gave Wolfwood the role of "executioner" from a later fight in the manga, though they changed his reason. But Vash being so passive this time, there's no butting heads about it between the two, which in turn doesn't do much for Wolfwood's potential character growth.The next episode might help though, the preview shows Livio.

Frankly I can't quite tell where they are going with this anime. Everyone seems so flat (and depressed). And Meryl and Roberto have no reason for existing, which makes me further wonder what was the point of replacing Millie anyway.
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Takkun4343



Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 1552
Location: Englewood, Ohio
PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 5:22 pm Reply with quote
I am of three minds on this week's episode.

For starters, "Child of Blessing" was definitely a step up from the surprising botch job that was last week's introduction for Wolfwood. I liked how for this one, they combined elements from "Diablo" (Vash vs. Monev the Gale) and "Alternative" (Wolfwood one-shot kills an enemy Vash almost successfully talks down) to create something that was arguably more meaningful and tragic than the latter OG episode, with the original inclusion of Vash's past connection to Monev/Rollo. This is the kind of Nightow grimdarkness I can get behind! And as always, Orange is killing it with the animation and visual direction.

That said, I'm still not feeling the hype that I should out of an all-new, dynamically presented Trigun, even based on animation quality alone. There's just something lacking behind all the style. You could call it "substance", but the term I'm looking for isn't as cliche. Speaking of, the episode should've removed the "Wake up, [blank]!" "[Blank's] dead and he isn't coming back." exchange between Vash and Wolfwood once the battle ended. That sort of thing is both overplayed and excessive. And the reveal of Wolfwood as a Gung-Ho Gun could've used a little less blatancy before the whole thing was confirmed. Was there any reason for him to take a power-up vial that looked almost exactly similar to the mist used to wake Monev back up before firing off his Punisher laser?

And then there's AJ's main concern: that we haven't spent enough time with this Vash to make Wolfwood calling out his relentless pacifism as natural as it was with that Vash. I get it, but as Wolfwood is undeniably a minion of Knives in this version, it's possible the call-out was done out of frustration that Vash was exactly as he was told he was: selfless to every fault. Of course, that's assuming he had heard beforehand that Vash was that kind of person. Just my off-the-top-of-the-head theory, nothing to really take stock in at its current state of underdevelopment. While we're on the topic of theories...
Quote:
I'm going to assume that Knives doesn't want Vash straight-up dead because he had numerous opportunities to do so, and it's implied he needs him for some plan. If that's the case, what is the point of these attacks supposed to be? Knives knows that Vash is capable, but Vash also could have better self-preservation. If the whole idea is to keep Vash alive, then I feel like that should outweigh any desire to psychologically torture him if that is the intention.

Unless psychologically torturing him is the whole point. Knives is attacking Vash through actions against others and sending proxies after Vash himself to force him into situations so uncomfortable that it would cause him extreme distress, all while knowing he's capable of surviving everything he can throw at him and thensome. That's what I believe Knives' goal is: for Vash to suffer. spoiler[That's the ultimate reason Legato forced Vash to kill him in Trigun '98, after all.]
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trilaan



Joined: 17 Jan 2009
Posts: 1064
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 9:01 pm Reply with quote
Takkun4343 wrote:
I am of three minds on this week's episode.

For starters, "Child of Blessing" was definitely a step up from the surprising botch job that was last week's introduction for Wolfwood. I liked how for this one, they combined elements from "Diablo" (Vash vs. Monev the Gale) and "Alternative" (Wolfwood one-shot kills an enemy Vash almost successfully talks down)


Also, the manga has a different version of Alternative and features a Gung-ho Gun that, if left out of Trigun Stampede, will fairly devastate me.

Takkun4343 wrote:
This is the kind of Nightow grimdarkness I can get behind! And as always, Orange is killing it with the animation and visual direction.


Oh, absolutely!

Takkun4343 wrote:
And the reveal of Wolfwood as a Gung-Ho Gun could've used a little less blatancy before the whole thing was confirmed. Was there any reason for him to take a power-up vial that looked almost exactly similar to the mist used to wake Monev back up before firing off his Punisher laser?


Frankly, no, they could've totally left that for next week. Another sign that they're trying to cram everything into 12 episodes.

Takkun4343 wrote:
And then there's AJ's main concern: that we haven't spent enough time with this Vash...


Here is where I can't help but think that this series really is supposed to be made with the old Trigun fan in mind and they expect us to merge our past experiences with Vash into this one(basically treating every Vash as the same character), to make up for the fast pace at which this story is progressing. The only proof I have, though, is that I appear to be doing exactly that myself.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1757
PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 4:46 pm Reply with quote
I finally caught up with episode 5, and honestly, I don't really understand what people's problem is with the depiction of Vash in Stampede. Sometimes I think that people keep expecting the show to do what they think it should be doing, and then thinking it's bad for not doing exactly that. (Or maybe I'm just "filling in the blanks" from my previous Trigun knowledge. Who knows.)

Anyway, thing is with Vash - it's not about whether he ultimately succeeds or not. Vash keeps trying. That's really it with Vash, that he has his principles and he's trying and trying, against all odds, to stick to them. Even against what he knows is common sense. In the manga and the first anime (I think especially the first anime) it's a really powerful revelation to see just how much it costs him to stick to what he does instead of doing something that might be easier for him, might be easier for the people around him, may be easier for the person he's up against. He does his absolute damned best, literally tearing himself apart, to keep seeing the good in the people around him, to hope against hope that they may be saved. It's not really about whether he's whether he's useless or not or whatever.

(This is something I love Trigun for - in most other shows with "love & peace" type main character who faces a test of their principles, they always get an easy way out eventually. Not Vash. Vash's principles are tested over and over again, in increasingly cruel ways, the price he pays is increasingly high, and he never gets to escape the consequences of his actions. That progress is done amazingly in the first anime, spoiler[which is why Legato's storyline is so devastating]. And it takes a huge toll on him, physically and mentally, and yet he keeps trying anyway. )

Anyway, I continue liking the show, despite it breakneck speed. The first episodes were worrying, but by now it seems the show is doing a reasonably good job at what it's trying to do.

Also: NOT HAYAMI SHOU AS THE RELIGIOUS RADIO PERSON, AND ONOSAKA MASAYA AS THE RADIO DJ. :DDDD Talk about subtle but amazing cameos. Very Happy

Re: Elendira, I'm not sure she's supposed to be an adult in a child's body? Maybe she's just that young? Also, she's voiced by Murase Ayumu (a guy).
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trilaan



Joined: 17 Jan 2009
Posts: 1064
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 7:36 pm Reply with quote
SHD wrote:
Anyway, thing is with Vash - it's not about whether he ultimately succeeds or not. Vash keeps trying. That's really it with Vash, that he has his principles and he's trying and trying, against all odds, to stick to them.


Vash is a personification of faith and having faith when everybody else is telling you that you're a fool, especially when living in a world that is not kind to those who live on faith. Also, his story is about having faith not because you are told to have faith in something(i.e. Rem's teachings, Jesus' teachings, Buddha's teachings, etc), but to have faith because you truly believe in those ideals and choose to uphold them of your own free will. Possibly due to Nightow-san's own struggles as a Catholic in Japan.


SHD wrote:
Also: NOT HAYAMI SHOU AS THE RELIGIOUS RADIO PERSON, AND ONOSAKA MASAYA AS THE RADIO DJ. :DDDD Talk about subtle but amazing cameos. Very Happy


Oh, wow, that's great!:
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kotomikun



Joined: 06 May 2013
Posts: 1205
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:23 am Reply with quote
Takkun4343 wrote:
There's just something lacking behind all the style. You could call it "substance", but the term I'm looking for isn't as cliche.

Well, the title for episode 6 offers an even more cliche option--the world they're in feels hopeless.

It takes place on a desert wasteland planet, with the few surviving humans sustained only by a dwindling supply of magic plants. A maniac alien with godlike superpowers roves around killing and destroying whatever he likes--and just to add insult to injury, he's the protagonist's twin brother, so people keep mistaking him for the main villain. The god-alien's mad scientist buddy steals children to perform horrific experiments in transhumanism, usually leading to their death and/or conversion into mutant killing machines. Every single character is some combination of depressed, traumatized, evil, or doomed, except Meryl, who is constantly put down by her partner and hasn't gotten to do anything useful yet except toss a bullet to Vash in the first episode.

By the laws of narrative, it's probably still going to have something resembling a happy ending. Maybe involving Vash unlocking his own god-alien powers, since nothing short of a deus ex machina could turn this thing around. To get there, though, we have to take a long trip through edgelord-land. Whether that's tolerable is a matter of taste; for me, the extreme levels of darkness kind of backfire, making it hard to take seriously. It's too obvious that these circumstances were contrived to be as difficult as possible, so none of it feels believable.

It's still apparently entertaining to watch, or I would have dropped it. The animation and artistry just keep getting better. I just don't feel like there's going to be any purpose or message to all this. Other than, like, "never give up, never surrender..." even in a situation where you would have died almost immediately, if not for plot armor and bad guys with terrible aim.
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KaidoYuji8Shinji



Joined: 15 Mar 2016
Posts: 129
Location: Manchester, NH
PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2023 10:38 am Reply with quote
Ok, I liked episode 6. It was easily my favorite episode. I also like how we finally have a good cliffhanger. Now let’s get Vash involved. I almost feel like Wolfwood is the MC
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Probablytomorrow



Joined: 04 Aug 2019
Posts: 165
PostPosted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 9:27 am Reply with quote
Did I miss something? Was there a reason Vash didn’t try to disarm Livio, or did he really think his only choices were between killing and running around in circles on a ship filled with bystanders?
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