Trigun, episodes 11-13

[kate_nepveu]

Episodes 11-13 of Trigun (are we already/only halfway through?). Spoil me and die (well, spoil me further and die, since I've been spoiled inadvertently for episode 23, boo hiss).

Okay, I was falling-over-tired when we watched these, but Chad wasn't, and the caravan episode made no sense at all—either in how the problem of the caravan being allowed into a particular city was solved, or in Wolfwood's reaction—I can't possibly believe that he would've thought that slavery was an acceptable price to pay for the survival of the caravan. If it was meant as a way to show his emotional/moral problems, it didn't work because I kept expecting him to say "no, just kidding." And the gun-to-the-head was just lame.

I do like Milly.

The next episode was much more interesting. In no particular order:

• Who set the Dubious Duo on Vash?
• How were Vash and the smaller member of the Dubious Duo communicating? PSI or tech?
• Does Vash recognize that guy? What was with the image flashes when he first walked by? What about the flashback (?) in the cell—is that someone else destroying the city he's accused of?
• What did Vash want with the boot guy? Was he killed to frame Vash or some other reason? Was the lesson in the bag related to the boot guy (I think we're supposed to think it's the boot guy's tongue?).
• Is this the first time someone's been killed in the series? I think so, but Chad's not sure.
• Vash's eyes can glow in the dark?
• Vash's arm is a gun? (Is that how he saved Wolfwood in the underground thingamabob? I don't think so because using it seems to wreck the covering and there wasn't any evidence of that, but still.)

  (I note in the next episode, when we see Vash shirtless, my main thought was that Ed's automail was a lot better supported, in terms of shoulder plates and stuff. Unless Vash's skeleton is adamantium or something.)

  (Also, why he has metal mesh over some of his scars escapes me.)

And then there's a recap episode, very poorly placed, but it was moderately amusing and there was a teeny tiny bit of new information.

Finally, I continue to be annoyed that the crossed-guns image from the opening credits doesn't work at 100x100. Nothing else that's not a spoiler has jumped out at me as wanting to be an icon for the show.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Also, why he has metal mesh over some of his scars escapes me.

Unlike FMA, which is ruthlessly logical all the way through, Trigun is an odd mix of some things getting explanations when I never thought they would, and some things just never making any real sense. I wondered about the mesh too. Maybe the underlying bone had been destroyed? You'd think an implant would be a better solution, though. I had to conclude that it was there because it looked cool.

I don't remember the boot guy.

[kate_nepveu]

Boot guy: Vash shows up at his store and says finally you're here, you sell a lot of other stuff so your store is hardly ever open. The boot guy says "do you want to talk about *boots*?" Vash replies that he wants to know something else, he won't make any trouble and will abide by the boot guy's rules, what does he say?

Then cut to episode title, then the next we hear of the boot guy is his wife hysterically reporting that he won't talk in the village square where Vash has just "talked" with the creepy guy. Then Vash gets locked up for the boot guy's murder, and the big guy finds him in the cell.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

...wow, I do not remember that at all. Sorry!

Have you met someone with an outfit with weird stuff on the shoulders yet?

[kate_nepveu]

This guy? http://pics.livejournal.com/kate_nepveu/pic/000h24a5/g49

Who is apparently named "Legato Bluesummers," after checking the episode.

He's who I was calling the smaller member of the Dubious Duo.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was Legato. I had been thinking the DD were other people. In that case, while some of the details are never explained, many of your questions will be answered later.

[kate_nepveu]

Yeah, they had the feel of returning characters.

I should really check names before I post, but I was in A Mood this morning.

[hollow49.livejournal.com]

Regarding Episode 12, in no particular order:

I don't think the boot man serves any grand purpose - Vash occasionally seems to look for people with specific skills (like Frank Marlon in Episode 3). I thought that the bag contained some kind of grisly souvenir, but it's left up to our imagination - perhaps wisely so.

I think we're meant to think that Legato Bluesummers is comminicating telepathically with Vash, hence the strange background noise at the time.

This is the first case of onscreen death we see so far.

The opening shot is of Monev the Gale (big guy) destroying all kinds of targets with his guns as part of his life-long training in distruction.

The glowing eyes are a visual metaphor for rage, hate and fury, less well-known than the single sweatdrop for embarrasment or cross (outlining throbbing veins) for frustration. Just a different "look" for Vash in a different mood. (I think the mesh for injury may be another visual cliche - I think I've seen something similar in a manga, but don't know which - it can't be Trigun since I only saw Trigun manga after watching the anime.)

Vash did use his left arm to destroy the factory bot - if you look back at that scene, when we see him standing over the remains of the robot his left arm was smoking... (I told you that there was a scene there which had added meaning with hindsight from Episode 12, remember?)

As for wrecking the arm covering - it seems to be a minor plothole that the covering always seems to fix itself.

Other comments - Both volume 5 and 6 have titles that while they refer to events in the volume, are names not given in the anime until later volumes. This one was called "Gung-ho guns" and the significance of the title is not made clear until episode 15. (Episode 14 is a "filler" type episode, and does not advance the plot.)

One little thought - have you considered the etymology of the name "Trigun" yet?

[kate_nepveu]

The strange noise seemed a bit mechanical to me, which is why I asked.

Thanks about the eyes--as you can see, at this point I'd have been perfectly willing to believe they were literal rather than figurative. =>

*looks back at episode* Ah-hah! So it was. I noticed it but didn't know what to make of it.

Yeah, as far as the arm covering, I noticed that Wolfwood doesn't have any trouble getting his luggage back together, though so far he's not needed to do so in a hurry.

As for the name, I figured if it wasn't thematic, it would be revealed eventually--so don't tell me either way.

Hi. Just found this...

[(Anonymous)]

Found your blog while looking for philosophical/"literary" analysis on Trigun.
Thought I'd throw in that, yes, they are communicating through telepathy. Several times watching the series clued me in, though I don't think it's ever stated.

To clear some things up for you...

[em0rox.livejournal.com]

Vash went to the boot guy because like his gun, his boots require a very skilled person to work on them. As for what's in the bag, please for the love of god start reading the actual mangas of series instead of just watching the anime... The guy's head is in the bag, check out these images from the manga...


http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/TheCreek_2006/trigun/trigun004.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/TheCreek_2006/trigun/trigun005.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/TheCreek_2006/trigun/trigun006.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/TheCreek_2006/trigun/trigun010.jpg



hopefully that will clear some things up for everyone here..

Re: To clear some things up for you...

[(Anonymous)]

Not so simple. Why would his wife claim that he can no longer talk, that he can't talk, instead of freaking out that his head is cutoff. That must carry meaning. I also wonder about the trigun title. The only thing I could ever come up with is Wolfwood's cross. At least as something that makes sense. Otherwise, Milly, Meryl and Vash could be the triguns..... although it would need to be plural. It would also exclude wolfwood. I watched that Anime first, and it's too bad, because the really endear wolfwood as a character. I could not imagine having a second "wolfwood" clone befriend vash, albeit with a personality disorder. It ruined the manga for me.