I hadn't seen Trigun yet, and a friend of mine decided to pick up the series to check out while we were looking for some entertainment due to the lapse in NBA action.

I'd seen a bunch of Vash the Stampede parephenalia, and I was wondering what the big deal was about and why people thought he was so amazing.

Well, all those models, posters and such that make the guy look like a tough guy with his shades...totally not what the anime's about...at least not from the first set of episodes.

Vash is a guy with a bit of a hazy past (duh.), and apparently a bounty of $$60,000,000,000 (they refer to it as 60 Billion Double-Dollars in the series.) on his head, dead or alive. Everone talks of him in these hushed tones, like he is the embodiment of death itself.

However, Vash will very rarely pull his gun, and in some episodes, he won't even do that. He will sometimes, rather oddly, will claim that the world is made of love & peace at the end of an episode. All the damage done to cities towns, etc, is all by people trying to kill him, and bringing far more firepower than they need. Hence, buildings get leveled, people get injured, and Vash goes to the next town unhurt.

For some reason, Vash has the ability to dodge damage. Bullets miss, explosions don't harm him, and he's always in the right place at the right time when it comes to staying alive. He's super-accurate, but doesn't like to fire, instead, he just prefers to stay the heck out of everyone's way.

Filling out the cast of characters are Meryl Strife and Millie Thompson, two girls working for the insurance company that has to pay for the majority of all the damage done when Vash rolls into an area. They are tasked with looking after "Mr. Stampede" 24 hours a day to try and minimize the amount of money they might have to pay as a result of other people's attempted bounty collection. Problem is, they've never seen him, and so they don't know who they're supposed to look after. This ends up being a problem for the two of them for most of the first tape.

So, the resulting cast has Meryl as the "straight man" with Millie the incredibly astute, yet completely ignorant character. Vash is this goofy, impossible to hit, enigma with a huge bounty on his head, and the lot of them get into a whole bunch of craziness.

The animation quality of the first few episodes aren't as good as the rest, there is a marked jump in quality from Episode 1 to Episode 2, but for the most part everything looks pretty clean.

This installment features 4 episodes, starting with the $$60,000,000,000 Man. They don't give you much background into Vash's life, but you'll learn that he never gets the girl, and that he can't hold his alcohol.

Truly an enjoyable piece of work with enough entertainment for anyone looking for a good time. If you don't dig the "Space Western" feel of it all, or if you aren't one who enjoys the comically rediculous, this may not be for you, but all my friends have enjoyed it so far, and now we're hooked. Give it a rental.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12