THE RENEWAL OF TRIGUN IN THE EYES OF A NEWCOMER TO THE SERIES

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I state that I have not seen the original series and I have not read the manga so this will be a review made by a person who approaches the Trigun universe for the first time. On the bright side, here you can read the impression this series has made on someone completely immune to any unnecessary comparisons. Since the show's worldbuilding is one of its strengths, I'll try to avoid heavy spoilers so as not to affect anyone's viewing. ______________ PLOT ~~~
The vital center of the narrative of Trigun Stampede is the relationship that alternates fraternity and enmity between the protagonist Vash and his brother Millions Knives. The series is set on No Man's Land, a barren planet where humanity has landed after an expedition from planet Earth. The only way for men to survive in this desolate land is by relying on plants, "tubs of liquid" with an entity inside them that allows the production not only of energy but also of food and water.
The story begins in medias res and precisely follows the story of Vash the Stampede after his meeting with 2 journalists who arrived in the area in search of news. The plot is one of the strong points of the show, thanks above all to the incredible worldbuilding that the series demonstrates in just 12 episodes. The species that populate the planet, the functioning and nature of the plants, the information on the Seeds Project (the expedition I mentioned earlier): all these elements contribute to making the discovery of all the aspects that characterize the world very interesting.

The main plot instead deals with the relationship between Vash and Knives, which culminates in the final 2 episodes, the absolute peak of this season. Their bond is explored in their personalities, their past before the narrative begins, and especially their goals. The insights we have available allow us to fully immerse ourselves in their situation and to understand their reasons and their hatred.
The pacing of the narrative immediately proves to be very quick and direct, leaving little room for comedy and giving much more weight to the action and dramatic aspects. This has pros and cons. The very direct pace and focused solely on the plot slightly lacks in the characterization of secondary characters such as the 2 journalists, even if it still manages to give excellent space to the main ones. As an advantage, being aware of the presence of many filler episodes in the original series, it has that of having a more entertaining story, which does not get too lost in minor passages or superfluous elements.

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CHARACTERS

Trigun Stampede has proven to be a very careful series in the characterization of the main characters, even if its fast narration logically prevents us from dwelling on all the members of the cast.

-Vash the Stampede: He is the protagonist of the series, a kind-hearted boy who has embraced the philosophy of not-killing anyone by virtue of his traumatic past. From the start he proves to be a nice and funny person but who knows when to take the situation seriously. His guilt about the triggering fact of the series will accompany him throughout the narrative and will characterize his choices.

-Millions Knives: He is the antagonist of the series and my favorite character. Of a much more malignant nature than his brother Vash, he has the goal of taking over the plants present on No Man's Land for reasons that obviously I will not say to avoid spoilers. His characterization and the way his motivations are presented make him an incredibly defined and well fleshed-out character. The moment in which a spectator manages to see himself in the will of the villain, to the point of even giving him reason for what he does, is the moment in which he realizes that we are in the presence of an excellent villain. One thing that is truly indicative of his and Vash's couple dynamic is that of the two, it is Vash who seems self-righteous in his will and his choices while Knives proves to be the more thoughtful and clear-headed. This reversal of the classic protagonist-antagonist relationship is an element that I particularly loved in Trigun Stampede.


-Meryl Stryfe: She is one of the 2 journalists Vash meets in the first episode. Meryl is a petite girl and absolutely helpless in the face of the enemies that populate No Man's Land but she is still a strong and very determined person from the anime. Her impotence, unfortunately, prevents her from having a decisive role in the story (except for the ending) so she, due to the characteristics of the pacing mentioned above, gives the impression of being the most out of place in this context. However, you have all the space and time to make up for it in a sequel which, from the season finale, would seem almost more focused on the characters than on a crackling story like this "prologue".

-Roberto De Niro: It is the 2nd journalist and Meryl's senpai. A man no longer young who has seen a lot in his years of work and for this reason he always proves to be very aware of his surroundings, making him a character capable of taking care of Meryl.

-Nicholas D. Wolfwood: It's a character that Vash meets after leaving Jeneora Rock. He immediately proves to be the very badass character and immediately creates an excellent dynamic with Vash who has their difference in personalities at the center, especially as regards Vash's good-naturedness, which he considers inadequate and dangerous for the protagonist himself.

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ANIMATIONS AND MUSIC

In the unlikely event that anyone does not know, Trigun Stampede is animated entirely using CGI (Computer-generated imagery), which is a method of computer animation in 3D. This animation technique has always been at the center of numerous controversies in many anime released in recent years. Personally, I've never had absolutely anything against its use, obviously in case it's used properly (but this could be said of anything).
The quality of Studio Orange's CGI (Houseki no Kuni, Beastars) is absolutely at the top of the entire Japanese animation industry and this anime is yet another, if not the most decisive, confirmation of it. The fluidity of the scenes is incredible and the models are very clean but in this show the directorial creativity is the master which raises the spectacularity of the action scenes to the highest possible level. Every fight, every shot, and every camera play is in fact much easier to achieve in a Full CGI anime and in Trigun Stampede it finds its maximum expression in artistically breathtaking scenes and with a quality that in 2D anime is as difficult to find as a needle in a haystack. A note of merit must also be given to the excellent character acting which is one of the most difficult elements to master in 3D: the expressions and the way the characters express themselves are incredibly effective and greatly elevate the very personality of the speaker.
The show is also characterized by some tertiary characters made in 2D but above all by one of the choices I most appreciated: Wolfwood's past drawn in this style in full contrast to everything the series had shown so far.

Also from a musical point of view the show has really good ideas. The inserts used during the fights greatly increase the level of hype and so do those for more dramatic contexts. Here too the peak of this element and of the technical side in general is found in the extraordinary presentation of the last 2 episodes.
But the thing that most attracted me to this anime from the first episode is the wonderful western sci-fi atmosphere that it presents thanks to magnificent settings that play on the desert-futuristic contrast and obviously also thanks to the musical sector (I recommend seeing the animated scene below with audio to get an idea of what I'm talking about).
▶ Video
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CONCLUSION__

In conclusion, Trigun Stampede was certainly one of the most surprising and impactful anime in this winter 2023 season. Its story, its worldbuilding, the relationship between its characters, its technical rendering and much more have contributed to creating a season of great emotional value and of great interest for future developments. I'm sorry that the series was badly received only for the absence of a character from the original series, a changed haircut and an animation method different from the classic 2D. I certainly recommend it to all those who do not have problems with these elements, whether they are new to the world of Trigun and to readers or viewers who are already somewhat familiar with its content.

P.S. I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any mistakes