Trigun #3: Wolfwood Pioneer 75 minutes English/Japanese English Subtitles 7/25/2000

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While watching this show, something sprang immediately to mind. I never thought about this before, but Vash reminds me very much of my good friend John Farrell from freshman and sophomore years at St Joseph's Preparatory school (right before he got shipped off to military school in Virginia). Farrell would spend his time carressing his classmates amorously with his bare feet while they tried to answer the teacher's questions, or leave little "nose treasures" for Mr. Mark C. Reed to dodge while grading his Alegebra tests. But I think the most amazing thing he ever did was consistantly get "69" on tests, purposefully. If you needed proof that this kid was smart then those tests would be your metaphorical pudding. To so often get the same grade on a test he would have to be able to get a perfect score on each and every one of them, and as such he could determine exactly how many he needed to get wrong to score that elusive grade. I figure this is similar to the way Vash works, and the haphazard way he dodges bullets is the factor that makes it most evident. Goofy faced antics and all that only proove that he's the most excellent gunslinger in the whole of that crazy mixed-up planet they call Gunsmoke. Vash the Stampede is the John Farrell of anime, except without the gross boogers and excessive flatulence. So really he's not TOO much alike other than the fact that both hide their amazing talents under an impressive veneer of supidity. If you asked me why I wouldn't have an answer for you, but I will submit that John Farrell once snuck a three foot Samurai sword home in his pants leg past Philadelphia police, bus drivers, and his mother. If that can be done, who KNOWS what Vash has in store for us?

 

But forget about all that, it's not important. I guess if you have anyone to thank for my sudden revival of reviews it'd be Cartoon Network. Their loveable line up of Kikaider, Cyborg 009 and other animated masterpieces has refueled my passion towards the genre, I think. Conversely though, you might say that watching the stuff on TV lets me enjoy cartoon robots duking it out without having the feel the pressure of writing a review about it. So thank Cartoon Network, or revile it...either way it doesn't matter to me. All I know is that August of 2003 is going to bring some seriously awesome shows that I have every intention of watching to the fullest. And I don't even have to PAY for them! So while not going to bed and getting way too little sleep for my next day of work one night I noticed that Trigun was on. I don't know why there's a sudden rennaisance of anime that came out three years ago on TV right now, but when it's stuff of the quality of Trigun I don't think you'll find anyone complaining. At least, nobody outside of the padded walls of a mental asylum (or our mutual friend and fanatic of the "digusting cartoon porn that I dare not speak its name", Kyle, who believes that any anime on TV is a horrid aberration of nature's desgin). So Kyle and Norman Bates aside, I think Cartoon Network has got a pretty good thing going for it and it's recent run of the red coated gunslinger's TV show has only rekindled my interest in it.

 

Also of importance is that the original "review" I wrote for this disc is about five setences long, I shit you not. I don't know how I managed to screw myself over, but it seems like the worst reviews I've written were the ones of the shows that have eight FREAKING discs. That's a hell of a lot of anime to watch, and 26 episodes seems insurmountably longer when it's spread over eight instead of six discs. I don't know why, because it's obviously the exact same amount...but it just scares the hell out of me. Yes, you heard right, I'm afraid of watching anime. And if you were in my shoes then you'd probably sympathize with me on this point. Let me tell you, there's only ONE thing I fear more than watching anime and that's that people might actually read some of the god awful reviews I've posted in the past two years. Therefore that fear overrides the other one and I gladly popped in the third disc of Trigun for my (and your!) viewing pleasure.

 

And what a disc to come back into the fold with! Here we're introduced to the very suave Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who's first found passed out in the middle of the desert. Seems he got a little tired after dragging himself, his chopper, and his absolutely gi-normous cross a hundred isles across a burning wasteland. Now, I've not brushed up too much on my Trigun terminology, and so I'm not entirely clear about how long an ile is, but I'd imagine it has something to do with a MILE, just like their "dallons" and other forms of measurment. I'm not clear on whether or not this is a mispronunciation on the part of the Japanese or a purposeful effort, but either way I'm none too happy with it. You're not special Japan, just use miles or kilometers like everyone else. Also impressive was that the town visited in the third disc of this episode held their quickdraw tournment on MY birthday. The very impressive "May 3nd". Now come on Japan, how hard is it to get things like that correct? It's just two little letters. But Nicholas D. Wolfwood will make things all better. He's loved a bit too much by the female population of anime fandom for me to feel too comfortable liking him, but sometimes it's just plain hard. After all, anyone who goes out screaming to an impressive still-frame is okay with me, and I must admit I almost shed that "single tear" as my heartstrings were tugged by memories of 70s robot anime.