February 9, 2024
Trigun
Westerns have always been about tough gunslingers traveling frontiers and stopping villains. The protagonists of the genre are taciturn tough guys without emotion. Our protagonists either have a very famous name or no name, a righteous quest, and the adoration of the community. Christianity often finds its way into the genre, usually as a guide for the protagonist, sometimes a hindrance. Clint Eastwood’s numerous Westerns have become the default for the genre, but shows like The Mandalorian and even the 1954 Japanese movie Seven Samurai put spins on it. With the generic themes of the genre exhausted, there is nothing left to do but innovate, and that’s how we get the underrated anime Trigun.
The manga arrived in 1995 and the anime in 1998. Trigun succeeded in finding a twist on the worn-out Western genre. The protagonist is a mystery: rather than being the bounty hunter, as is custom of the genre, he is the bounty. Vash the Stampede is wanted for numerous massacres and slaughters and has a ridiculously large bounty on his head. Anyone, whether they’re familiar with Western tropes or not, should be picturing a large, burly brute, but this show is about circumventing established norms. The protagonist of this show is a skinny, clean, and handsome young man; and he’s nice. Vash is the nicest person on that horrible desert planet. Right away, we see him as a goofball and a savant, expertly using his environment and skill to incapacitate the villainous bounty hunters after him—all with a friendly smile—and escape. He doesn’t kill anyone in the whole skirmish.
As the show progresses, much more is revealed about the mysterious protagonist in the red coat. He has a weakness for women and hits on them like a middle school kid who’s not sure what he’s doing. He hauls around a magnificent silver revolver as if it were a part of him. He is a master in both shooting and fighting. But most of all, he is a strict pacifist. He hates death and hurting others and only uses his martial skills to subdue or trick his opponents to avoid bloodshed. He travels the broken planet, bringing much-needed peace along with the trouble that’s always close behind. His actions are saintly, and he should be deified rather than reviled.
There are two Trigun shows: the 1998 original Trigun and the 2023 Trigun Stampede. The original is 26 episodes, and the newer show is still airing. The original series ended a bit abruptly and left many hungry for more, and one quarter-century later, they got it. It stands to reason that one should watch the first show and then, if still interested, watch the new show, which is a re-imagining of the original content, not a sequel or a remake. Both shows are currently available on Hulu.