Trigun

Space is (at least according to Star Trek) the final frontier of humankind. It is fitting then, that there be an anime about gunfighters of the future, on a sandy, desert planet, with the usual cast of bandits and outlaws, and against the usual backdrop of lawlessness and disorder. That series is Trigun, telling the story of Vash the Stampede, and for killing whom there is $60 billion reward. But even though Vash is an outlaw, and has levelled several towns, he is determined not to kill anyone—even the bounty hunters who try to kill him and claim the price on his head. But those who do catch up to Vash, and manage to avoid wounding themselves or their comrades, are astonished to learn that this master gunslinger is not frightening, but a scrawny dork who fools around too much. In tune with Vash's dual nature—fighting machine and humorous guy—the show begins as a hybrid of relentless action and relentless comedy. However, as the bounty hunters get serious about pursuing Vash and his darker past begins to emerge, both Vash and the series lose much of their happy-go-lucky air.

Episode 1: The $$60,000,000,000 Man Bounty hunters are trying to kill Vash the Stampede and collect the tremendous reward for doing so, while two insurance agents, Millie and Meryl, just want to stop him from causing any more damage.But, no one is quite sure what he looks like, and rumors conflict.
Episode 2: Truth of Mistake Vash takes a job as bodyguard to a wealthy water baron and his pretty houseguest. Meryl and Millie, hearing that Vash may be in the area, sign on as his bodyguards as well, without realizing that the man they are looking for is right under their noses.
Episode 3: Peace Maker While Millie and Meryl argue whether the dork in red is Vash, he runs into a drunken master gunsmith named Frank Marlon in a bar. After an evening of drinking and a face-off at the local bank, Vash's gun is given a tune-up, courtesy Marlon.
Episode 4: Love and Peace A man walks into a bar... and into a hostage situation. The bandits want revenge for their families killed by "Death" Borstock, now the biggest landowner in town. Borstock just wants his daughter released unhurt. But a third party has an agenda of his own...

Episode 5: Hard Puncher When a group of toughs try (and fail) to capture Vash, an entire town decides to get in on the action and use teh reward money to repair its power plant. Sparks really fly as the Nebraska Family shows up, too.
Episode 6: Lost July The long-awaited plant technicians arrive on a grand sand steamer, sending the town into festival mode. Vash is more than willing to guard the body of lovely Elizabeth, the head technician, but dark shadows haunt her past... and Vash's. And Vash may be an ace gunman, but can he stop a plant from meltdown?
Episode 7: B.D.N. Vash hits the road again on board the sand steamer. He befriends a young stowaway, Kaite, but the relationship--and the ship--hit the rocks when Brilliant Dynamite Neon and the Bad Lad Gang attack.
Episode 8: And Between the Wasteland and Sky Vash and Kaito, in hiding, form plans to rescue everyone on the sandsteamer. Vash defeats the Bad Lad Gang, but is wounded in the process, and then forced to fight against BDN himself.

Episode 9: Murder Machine A long bus trip is interrupted first to pick up a stranded priest with a giant cross, Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Large robots attack the bus as it leaves, but since a small child was left behind, Vash and the newcomer get out to fight the robots save the boy.
Episode 10: Quick Draw Wolfwood has taken a job at a restaurant to help out a boy and his mother, who have a great debt to pay. Wolfwood convinces Vash to enter a quick-draw contest, with a reward of $$50,000, in order to help the family out.
Episode 11: Escape from Pain A rift arises between Vash and the others over a pair of young lovers in a desert caravan, about whether they ought to run away or stay around. Wolfwood picks up a motorcycle.
Episode 12: Diablo Trigun begins to take a decidedly darker turn as Legato Bluesummers comes to kill Vash, frames him for murder, and then Monev the Gale of the Gung-Ho Guns levels an entire jailhouse just to get at Vash.

Episode 13: Vash the Stampede Mostly a recap of the first 12 Episodes with the excuse being that Meryl is sending her report back to the insurance company, but it does contain some original sequences, and a commentary on the action thus far.
Episode 14: Little Arcadia As Vash and crew discover a verdantly vegetated landscape, Trigun takes a look at family values. An elderly couple holds the title for the land, but some guy named Morgan wants to take it, and hires out the rest of the Nebraska Family to fake care of it.
Episode 15: Demon's Eye Vash comes across a saloon where Legato has killed everyone, and then Vash is challenged by the second of the Gung-Ho Guns, Dominique the Cyclops. Afterwards, Vash tells Millie and Meryl that he has to go, and that they cannot go with him.
Episode 16: Fifth Moon Vash squares off with Gung-Ho Gun three, E.G. Mine, and defeats him easily, but then meets number four, Rai-Dei the Blade. Rai-Dai draws blood, but Legato uses his mind tricks to force Vash to use third and largest gun.

Episode 17: Rem Savarem A flashback to Vash's past on board a ship, with him, Knives, and Rem. Knives is revealed to be an extreme sadist, but he and Vash plan to escape anyway, along with Rem.
Episode 18: Goodbye for Now Two years have passed since the Fifth Moon Incident. Vash has changed his identity and is living more or less peacefully with a young girl named Lynna and her grandmother. Wolfwood tracks him down to deliver some disturbing news, and after dispatching a local gang, it's time for Vash to leave again.
Episode 19: Hang Fire Meryl and Millie re-enter the story as the hijacked sand steamer they're on arrives in the town where Vash is visiting an old friend. Meanwhile, Gung-Ho-Guns number five, Leonof the Puppet Master, catches up to Vash.
Episode 20: Flying Ship Vash and Wolfwood hitch a ride to Sky City, an old plant that never crashed and still sustains a sizeable population suspended in midair. But the people there are unfriendly to ousiders, especially to Vash and Wolfwood.
Episode 21: Out of Time The continuation of "Flying Ship." Leonof and Gung-Ho Guns six and seven, Hopperd the Gantlet and Gray the Ninelives, attack. Vash shows his experience with the power plants, and a deceptive plot is uncovered.

Episode 22: Alternative Refused entry to a paranoid city, Vash, Wolfwood, Meryl and Milly stay with a group of orphans in the hills. Gung-Ho-Guns number eight, Zazie the Beast, launches a sandworm attack. Wolfwood reacts, apparently without thinking, and Vash gives him grief for it.
Episode 23: Paradise Wolfwood reveals that he is not who he claimed to be, but had been following Vash for another reason. However, he is torn between Vash's admirable philosophy and the only way of life he has known. Gung-Ho Guns nine and ten, Chapel the Evergreen and Caine the Longshot, attack, and Vash struggles with some serious issues.
Episode 24: Sin Provoked by Legato, Vash prepares to fight. Just as he is leaving, however, the last of the Gung-Ho Gang, Midvalley the Hornfreak attacks with his death-dealing saxophone. And beyond him, Legato waits.
Episode 25: Live Through Vash is finally forced to confront the fact that even though he tried to avoid killing, many people nevertheless died because of him. He considers giving up his search for Knives, but Millie and Meryl help him out and get him to finish the job.
Episode 26: Underneath the Endless Blue Sky Vash's final showdown with Knives. Their past is revealed in a long flashback, then they draw their guns.

Back to EC Anime Club Main page