Midvalley the Hornfreak? An evil jazzman with a weaponized saxophone? I have to believe that TRIGUN was plotted with tongue firmly planted in cheek - - or, at least, hope - - because if it wasn’t, the show somehow just got cornier than I ever thought it could be. I’m all for mixing humor and drama, the serious with the ridiculous, but there’s got to be some consistency of tone. And when the tone of the episode is morose, with soul-searching conflicts about killing and the threat of innocent supporting characters getting gang raped, a bad guy exclaiming, “Oh no! You took B-Sharp away from me!” stands out like, well... like a flat note.
And hey… let’s rewind a little. Wasn’t the bald evil priest guy gunned down by Wolfwood in the previous episode? Didn't he already die? The wheels are really falling off this runaway train.
My earlier question about leadership got answered, at least, with it now being abundantly clear that Legato serves Knives and not the other way around. I hate to keep ragging, but I haven’t liked Legato since the first episode that hinted at him. His voice actor honestly speaks with the breathy, sort-of monotonic voice Trey Parker uses for every “overly serious bad guy” in SOUTH PARK - - except this guy, of course, is playing it straight.
The psychic domination power is still a pretty cool gimmick and the kids seeming to know things they shouldn’t know about Vash's predicament was a good fake-out. Though, honestly, it probably wouldn’t be that far out of the realm of possibility for some smartass kids to be that precocious and rudely forward about a man's inner turmoil.
Hey... only two episodes left? That’s not much time for Vash and Meryl’s understated flirtation play to be fulfilled.
Watch this episode, “Sin,” below and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon here & here . Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
What I liked about this episode is that it served to draw the line in the sand for Vash on his principles. It's one thing for him to go to such insane lengths to keep from killing when it's just his life on the line. It's a whole other matter when it's someone else who's in peril.
It sort of reminds me of that scene in the movie Dark Knight. The Joker testing Batman's ideals with the hostages on the boat. Though, the movie copped out when it had the people on the boat making the decision in place of Batman.
I will say that they had some really great moral twist when the big hulking prisoner was more ethical that most of the people on the civilian ferry. I loved the scene of that guy talking the key out of the hand of the chief guard and tossing it right out the window without any hesitation.
This series was fun. I'll give it that. It just lacked the deep and solid drama of series such as Evangelion and Death Note. It lacks the same narrative strength.
Be prepared for disappointing.
There is kind of a sense of creeping inevitability at this point...
They like to call me "Big Pun..."
Maybe. But it's executed clumsily. He already decides to shoot Legato and does shoot him, then he goes back on the decision and still has a dilemma about it.Yeah. I'll agree. It's maybe only 10 good episodes out of 26.Ahhhhhhh... balls.
It went like this: Trigun ran from 1995 to 97, with 3 volumes, the magazine it was in was shut down, the anime was made in 98, and Trigun Maximum (which continued from volume 3) was started in the same year in a new magazine, and ran until 2007, with 14 volumes. The anime has a Gecko Ending.
I can definitely see that. It's got the kind of lack-of-focus that comes when the source material isn't totally concrete.
I've always seen the silly villains as a Japanese thing. That doesn't make it good or anything but it's never bothered me. Kinda how Metal Gear bosses are completely bonkers.
I'm not totally writing the series. Not at all. I'll my share my assessment-in-sum for the final episode.
Heh... funny thing is that I'd say it's an American thing too. The villains in this show have a LOT in common with early 90s superhero comics.
Hmmm... you know, I'm not as well-versed in the fineries of classical music as I'd like to be. Could you elaborate on this for me?