ash the Stampede, otherwise known as the Humanoid Typhoon, is a one-man maelstrom who wreaks havoc and destruction wherever he goes. In the last town he visited, so many people died at his hands that the undertaker was able to build himself a new mansion. Authorities have put a $60 billion price tag on Vash's head, but he still remains at large. Or so the legends say.
Vash leaves so much devastation in his wake that one insurance agency, burdened with Vash-related claims, assigns agents Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson to find the outlaw and follow him around 24 hours a day, verifying those claims. But the two women find the legends are difficult to verify. For one thing, they can't seem to find proof that Vash has ever actually killed anyone. For another, they can't seem to catch up with him. Instead, they keep bumping into this gawky doofus who seems to be too stupid to know when people are trying to kill him. Oddly, he answers to the name Vash, and he does meet some of the descriptions they were given. But instead of a cold, violent murderer, he's a bumbling lunatic who chases maniacally after women and invariably stumbles into the worst trouble available in the area.
In these four episodes, Meryl and Milly first meet Vash at the center of a messy dispute between bounty hunters who each want to take him back to the authorities and claim the reward. Then the agents find Vash acting as a bodyguard to a merchant who's cornered the water rights in a dustbowl town. He's become rich by selfishly exploiting a natural resource, and Vash seems to be helping him or possibly just looking for a chance to peek through his pretty guest's windows when she's showering. In the next town, Vash gets involved with a local drunk who used to be a famous gunmaker, before his guns were used to kill someone he loved. Finally, Vash blithely strolls into a saloon, not realizing that Meryl, Milly, the saloonkeeper and the local debutante are all being held hostage inside by vengeful gunmen--who turn out to be far less dangerous than the rescuing party that's on its way in.
Funky but familiar
Trigun doesn't initially offer any introduction to its low-tech, future-Western world. Vash's parched planet has two suns and the natives ride tapir-snouted, hulking birdlike creatures instead of horses, but otherwise the series uses all the familiar motifs of the traditional Western, right down to the lone vulture waiting patiently as two gunmen stare each other down in the center of a deserted street. The story themes are as archetypal as the scenery--the lone hero facing off against the corrupt sheriff on behalf of the helpless saloon girl, the desperado demanding a public showdown to avenge his murdered family. Even the music seems like it was yanked from the same Sergio Leone flick as the crumbling ghost towns and the raw, dry deserts around them. Only the giant bug-eyed mutant mercenaries really seem out of place.
By drawing on familiar themes and leaving out the scene-setting, Trigun leaves a lot of room for chases, comic misunderstandings and wacky encounters between the panicky Vash and the gunman of the week. Milly and Meryl are present mostly as comic foils; they have a comfortable chemistry, though they're a bit too reminiscent of Mihoshi and Kiyone from the various Tenchi series. Milly's airheaded burbling and Meryl's cheery, weary, proficient-but-hopelessly-outnumbered-by-idiots optimism
are all too familiar by now, though both women do have enough individual characterization to give the customary relationship a few new spins.
Vash does occasionally show hidden competence; like the star of Irresponsible Captain Tylor, he keeps viewers constantly guessing exactly how much of his unlikely exploits are planned and how much are just sheer luck. He also shows a surprising core of compassion that briefly pulls the series into serious moments. But throughout the initial episodes, this is mostly an over-the-top comedy show that focuses on giant guns and super-deformed slapstick. The real plot of the series has yet to kick into gear, and these opening episodes aren't entirely representative. Stay tuned for a shift that leaves these first stories in the dust.
