When people talk about the term “space cowboy”, the show that comes into mind for many people is the misadventures of bounty hunter Spike Spiegel and his disciples aboard the eponymously-named Cowboy Bebop. Hailed as a masterpiece by many, which not even its ill-fated 2021 live-action adaptation could surpass. The other one is Outlaw Star, a 1998 production which was also produced by the same people behind the former show; however, since I’ve never seen it, I’m just going to dismiss it for now and let anyone who’s seen it here speak for it. Finally, there’s Trigun, which is the subject of this post that aims to offer another outlook to this interesting blend of science fiction and Western cowboy exploits. Never really considered this show, but decided to give it a try at the beginning of 2024 to see what it was all about.
Trigun
Let me tell you all about how Trigun came to being. It all began when a disgruntled real estate associate ditched his work to pursue his manga-drawing hobby and turn it into a career, which at the time of his endeavour was a risky venture seeing how the Japanese economy was not at its best condition at the time. It was first serialized on Monthly Shonen Captain in 1995 and were it not for the magazine’s demise in Christmas of 1996, it would have a two-year run that would be collected into three volumes. Two years later, it would be picked up by Madhouse and transformed into the anime adaptation it’s known for.
Many consider it among one of the staple highlights of Japanese animation in the 1990s, with the depth of the drama leading the way. However, this is one of those “in retrospect” series as the show became far more popular in the West as opposed to Japan, which led to two other related works being produced for it: the film Trigun: Badlands Rumble in 2010 and a remake of the original series, Trigun: Stampede made by Studio Orange that came out last year around the time I was watching the original, that aired between the Feasts of Epiphany and the Annunciation.
Plot
Set in a desolate, sandy planet where civilization lives in small hubs and must trek through the rough landscape, we are introduced to a man named Vash the Stampede, a supposedly brutal, ruthless and cruel-hearted mass murderer who becomes victim of pursuit by two employees from an insurance team named Meryl and Milly; however, as soon as they approach him they find him to be an amicable, aloof and atypical protagonist who hates killing people (preferring instead to stun, distract or disarm them however possible), and has a hippy mentality of believing in a world where everyone is happy with each other. The two girls reluctantly tag along with him as they attempt to decipher who he really is throughout the first half, seeing Vash take down greedy aristocrats, bank robbers, train hijackers, random bounty hunters seeking the billion-dollar price tag on his head, and bring “love and peace” to troubled townsfolk without shedding a single pint of blood.
Later, they would be joined in this endeavour by a wayward, wandering Catholic cleric named Fr. Nicholas Wolfwood who carries a big cross, later revealed to be a bazooka, on his back. They become acquaintances with one another despite their differing worldviews regarding human livelihood. Eventually, regular encounters with random no-gooders are replaced with battles against a group of assassins known as the Gung-Ho Guns, led by their leader Legato, whose aim is to challenge Vash’s methods and slowly reveal his dark past as the brother of the main antagonist, Knives – who, unlike our hero, is a nihilist who wants to eradicate humanity owing to their inherited nature of original sin, and once lived on the same space pod as him – and the man who Vash must confront in order to exorcise his poor reputation.
What I Liked
- The plot could use some work to get adjusted to, but like many mentioned, I have to agree that they did the underlying drama great justice, especially in the second half when – as the first half kind of gets you to suspect – Vash’s idyllic, pacifist methodology becomes strained when his enemies become bigger, badder and ruthless, making him to realize that he can’t protect everyone, and stumbles into a crisis of faith as a result, in addition to the back-and-forth banter he has with people like Milly or Fr. Wolfwood over his sudden lapses in judgement; see episode 23 for example, when the latter has to kill one of the Gung-Ho disciples, with the appearance of a child, which gets the ire of Vash; ditto for his gripe with Monev in episode 12, which is the most terrifying we’ve seen him up to that point. With questions concerning consequentialism, “consistent ethic of life”, just war theory, and situation ethics getting in the mix, it’s the series’ biggest selling point.
- There’s a retarded cat named Kuroneko that likes to make appearances in the most random places, such as the opening theme, during a chess match, besides random peoples’ sides, and even falling from the sky. I don’t know about you but seeing him just mulling around the background is quite witty for a show this edgy.
- The exploration of Vash and Knives’ strained past and the development of their ideologies is well-rounded to a tee and quite terrifying too. Episode 17 in particular was the most exciting bout as we witnessed the ongoing tension amidst a gradually breaking condition aboard the ship – like a violent version of the Titanic. Their origins, the fallout between them and the foreshadowing of this predicament crafted well to the second half’s change of tone and its relation to the plot.
- Episodes 7-8 were exciting in featuring Vash stopping a terrorist from driving a train off a cliff, in the style of Keanu Reeves’ 1994 hit film Speed. And I liked also the moments of serious intent laid out during the battle segments, and how meaningful each one of them got – against Diablo in episode 12 when he is faced with his first real villain, with Rai-Dei and him becoming the first “human Act of God” in episode 16, aboard the SEEDS in episode 20, and finally against Knives in the final episode. Even Fr. Wolfwood’s death in episode 23 gave off a different, yet just as shake-inducing conclusion to what’s been a contentious second arc, with his death, like the breakup of the Bebop crew, triggering the final showdown and letting us know that this was no longer just a fun show.
- Gotta love the little monologues that Vash narrates at the end of each episode. Rather than most shows who just give a generic description of the next episode’s content, the show’s central theme is given a poetic description whose prose reminds me of the meditations by Antonio Cardinal Bacci, an early Traditionalist who is best known for, along with Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, writing a document decrying the abuses proliferated by the Novus Ordo in 1969. Some of my favourites include:
- From episode 5 – “The longer one holds to a memory, the longer they live in the past. The deeper its impact, the more rose-coloured it appears. Soon they turn to resentment, which strangles them all the more even as they try to move on.”
- From episode 7 – “Survival often blinds man’s conception of sin. They say it’s too late to stop the habit. Remorse, agony, they all repeat until it reaches despair. But they blind themselves also to the knowledge of a light that keeps shining on them ever so warmly, should they repent.”
- From episode 25 – “130 years ago, you and I were born. There was nothing but peaceful days. Rem was close to us. But sometime in the past, our disagreements destroyed that bond. Even then, I have faith that I will not kill, betray, despair, or shut my dreams off. I believe that the future is only for me to write.”
What I Didn’t Like
- Unlike Cowboy Bebop which diversified its locations and featured many sights with a futuristic touch like casinos, spaceships, cathedrals, desert towns and abandoned skyscrapers, Trigun‘s landscape is graced by nothing but blue sky and sandy plains, with the exception of the spaceship environs in episodes 17 and 19-20. Were it not for the underlying subject matter, I would have dropped this series. I get that it was trying to mimic the whole cowboy shtick, but just because the landscape was just so sterile it was troublesome, like being placed in a completely white room. Anime has produced so many visual masterpieces in each decade, but I hate to say that Trigun is not my cup of tea for this categorization.
- Fr. Wolfwood’s attire is problematic; while there’s nothing wrong with the suit-and-tie look in principle, it’s too generic, let alone imprudent to style himself as a priest for that. He looks like he just came back from a monkeying session at Vatican II. They couldn’t have given him some cool drip at least like they did with Vash or Legato?
- I thought the shootout tournament in episode 10 was lazily formatted, giving us only one competition before Vash and Fr. Wolfwood have to engage in death combat. They couldn’t give them a montage of them kicking butt at other gunslinging feats? Add to that, the standoff in episode 14 between Milly, Meryl, the farmhands and Morgan’s disciples just came off as anti-climactic, and spoiled an opportunity for the two girls to rock.
Characters
One constant of the show is that you can never expect what you’ll get out of the characters, as they’re all sorts of personalities – often emphasizing opposites together. They’re all kinds of obnoxious, dimwitted and sometimes aloof; but at the same time they are observant, analytical and they can pull off some darn intelligent moves at times – this is the case of Vash and Fr. Wolfwood whose tag-team dynamic plays off like a buddy cop film, and to a lesser degree: Milly and Meryl. I find that their silly-serious outlook balances their weight as protagonists as well as their roles being more, well, for lack of a better term, suited to their gender roles – where Vash and Fr. Wolfwood provide most of the action and drama, Milly and Meryl act as narrators to add flavour to what’s going on. Some would say that the latter two should have gotten more focus, and for that I agree and disagree – disagree in the sense that they’re already prominent enough in terms of screentime, but also agree that perhaps their interactions with Vash and the others seemed a bit shallow and expository, which for a team like them, shouldn’t be the case.
On the other hand, Knives was the best villain this show could offer; why? Because I find he makes the most sense. Most of the other bad guys in the show are pretty tame to distinguish as such, in contrast as either too cartoony, like Cliff from episode 2 or the shootout tournament organizer in episode 10, or, as in the case of the other bounty hunters that want Vash’s head, over-the-top stereotypical; and in other cases, way too outlandishly evil (Legato for example). Knives, meanwhile, is the perfect mix of chilling and cordial from the moment he is first introduced, with his character slowly unraveling to reveal the hidden, troubled monster that he is – yet also, built different compared to the others. As such, in this category, I have a neutral disposition towards them.
Music
Most of the soundtrack was a dud. The opening had such a bland rock tune that I skipped through after the first few episodes, and the ending itself was nothing special as well. I have to admit though, despite that, it’s just as how I would expect a show with a nomadic premise would go like. I can definitely see the sight of myself driving down the dunes of Nevada with this tune in the background. If you’re looking for anything else sound-worthy in the episodes’ soundtrack as well… don’t waste your time. It’s got a retro vibe but all the songs sound much the same with instrumentation that doesn’t fit the action.
Favourites
Favourite character: Vash and Milly match the trope. Vash because his goofy, outgoing and shift to contemplative personality reminds me of myself and Milly just because of that secret flair of gangsta she wields. Just witness her first appearance and realize how full of troll she is.
– Milly Thompson, probably
Favourite moment: As a guy who’s played chess before and seen myself troll people with the most unsuspecting of moves, Milly defeating Fr. Wolfwood’s opponent with what we call a 200 IQ gamer move was a charming moment that would make my middle school self smile. Featuring an appearance from the mystical Kuroneko as well.
Favourite episode: Episode 17 was the part that put all the previous bits to perspective and made things make more sense from a philosophical and ethical standpoint. I always love a show that can reach beyond its story with a theme related to Christian morality, and this episode bumped Trigun up in that aspect.
Favourite battle: He might be on the wrong team but Legato single-handedly demolishing an entire gang by using mind games and biological warfare to make them self-destruct was quite awesome.
Favourite quote: Rem, Vash and Knives have some of the series’ most compelling quotations and this one from episode 17 is no exception. After Knives kills a spider that’s about to eat a butterfly caught in its net, thus fulfilling Vash’s intent to save the latter from death, an argument follows, and then Vash and Rem come face-to-face with each other later:
Vash: Rem, why is there so much strife in the world?
Rem: Because people’s pride and their differing thoughts on life often render to foolish decisions. However, I believe that even though man is riddled with mistakes, it’s always possible to fix them. Only then can we move forward.
Rem assuring Vash of man’s capability of redemption
Bonus Stage: What Did I Learn?
- There’s a particularly touching scene in episode 17 where Rem puts herself in between the infant Vash and Knives, whiel three mercenaries point guns ready to abort them. Rem’s action comes off with a strong message of one pro-life message that Trigun gets correct which has unfortunately evaded the common sense of many: that the life of the child in the womb is, indeed, a human life, and thus precious in the sight of God; unlike Steve, one of her crewmates, who deny their humanity and use it as an excuse to bully them to no end, Knives especially. How much is his action like what has become so default as abortion becomes accepted on grounds of the false dilemma of bodily autonomy, fallaciously making exceptions the norm, and futile attempts at rewriting long-established biological principles. No wonder Knives becomes nihilistic! Deny the humanity of one at a particular stage, and inductively goes the rest. In contrast, Rem says of them: “They are angels sent by God to point us in the right direction!” She dedicates her whole life to them, treating them as her own children and giving them the biological attention as deserved of such; rather than seeing them as a burden, she sees them as worthy inheritors of the God-breathed life given to them, capable of amazing things – echoing the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee” (Jeremiah 1:4-5)
- There is also an aspect of justice and mercy that is played out in Vash’s character development. Initially, Vash seems to embody compassion towards all, be they friend or foe. Consequently, he affirms in episode 15 to Legato: “The choice of who lives and who dies isn’t for anyone to make.” Instead of “kill or be killed”, he is successful in diverting alternate routes for saving everyone involved – but only when people actually begin to die does his philosophy begin to derail, and the Gung-Ho Guns that are after him begin to taunt him by putting him in situations to break his resolve. Here lies the dilemma: Vash believes that justice and mercy cannot go hand-in-hand. Christ proves the contrary: to those such as Sts. Zacchaeus, Matthew, Mary Magdalene, and the sick, He showed mercy and healed them from their infirmities, encouraging them to see the error of their ways and live better lives. To the obstinate, such as the Pharisees, the faithless, or the Temple marketers, His justice came in full force to prove a point that God will not be mocked. Thus remarks Fr. Joseph Pohle: “Whenever God allows His justice to hold sway, He simultaneously exercises mercy, in so far as He rewards the just beyond their deserts, and punishes the wicked more leniently than they would have a right to expect. Conversely, God’s mercy is always allied with His justice, inasmuch as God forgives sin only on condition that the sinner do penance.” – and in this vein does Vash come to a balance with.
Conclusion
Trigun ended up being a show whose philosophy I liked more than its core plot and combat elements. Kind of like Evangelion – there’s more than can be expected from this show and how they present, analyze and debunk the “consistent ethic of life” charade of Vash .vs. the “just war” belief that Fr. Wolfwood espouses. It’s definitely a topic that I wish to write a post upon, because it’s not too uncommon to hear Modernists use this tactic in order to downplay the pro-life movement’s attack against abortion, by deflecting to other supposedly equivalent issues like the death penalty, beating poverty, and euthanasia which have little to no equivalence with the issue at hand. All in all: Trigun‘s built different as anime because it’s more a morality play rather than an adventure. It’s a tad bit tacky at times and the visuals are really subpar, but, like Cowboy Bebop before it, if you can stand the heat and pace of it, you might get out with something out of it.
SCORE: 6.7/10
The Traditional Catholic Weeb 
Interesting review. I watched this way back in 2001-2002 and thought it one of the best anime shows at the time. Of course, since then, my tastes changed and evolved after watching a lot more shows. I might rate this a bit higher, a 7.5 to 8, perhaps because of nostalgia.
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Interesting how you rated it haha. I feel the same way as you with regards to Digimon Paul!
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