Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to descend to the sand-swept wastes of No Man’s Land, as we check back in on Vash and his companions for another episode of Trigun Stampede. When last we left off, the team had just barely survived a horror-themed outing in the belly of a giant sand worm, where a mysterious, youthful assassin known as Zazie the Beast nearly got the whole group digested. Fortunately, they were aided in their escape by Nicholas D. Wolfwood, a so-called priest wielding a giant gun in the shape of a cross.
Both the worm and its master provided a natural opportunity to expound on Trigun’s moral philosophy, as Vash questioned Wolfwood’s conception of “monstrousness,” as well as his pragmatic view of survival. Vash is a martyr forever seeking his own destruction, seemingly finding it easier to sacrifice himself for others than to defend the worth of his own life. To Wolfwood, such a view is self-defeating and ridiculous; life is obviously its own reward, and clinging to it by whatever means necessary is the only directive worth following, particularly in a world as cutthroat as No Man’s Land.
The two work as well here as in the original Trigun because they are actually quite alike, and are simply coming at a perspective of world-weary humanism from opposing directions – Vash from a refusal to harm others, and Wolfwood from a willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure others survive. Their similarities and differences alike are summed up in their approach to the dead worm – Wolfwood demanding that Meryl eat the beast he has slain, the burden he has taken himself, versus Vash quietly attesting that he too deserves to eat and laugh like anyone.
Furthermore, our stinger revealed that Wolfwood is actually in cahoots with Zazie, a fellow assassin looking to manipulate Vash and his companions. Like the origins of Vash’s nature, the original Trigun only revealed this information at the end, basically after the point it could in any way inform our understanding of his character, so I’m intrigued to see how this new structure will impact the show’s portrayal of his journey. Let’s get to it!
Episode 5
We open panning down over a series of makeshift windmills and broadcasting dishes. The architecture of Trigun is inherently kinda interesting because the vast majority of it is repurposed – all segments of the arc ships that were stripped from their carcasses and put to new uses, alongside whatever scraps of wood and metal they could form into lean-tos and other buildings. This aesthetic offers a perpetual reminder of humanity’s apparently glorious past, the technological heights we climbed to, but which now only serve as irregular sheet metal. It’s an aesthetic that seems to naturally echo Vash’s philosophy – for when all our great wonders have crumbled, the only thing that lasts is how we choose to treat each other
It’s also a convenient worldbuilding conceit in terms of narrative drama; technology is basically like magic in this world, a fading power that can be grasped or exploited for individual violent actors without implying everyone has some degree of access to their specific contraptions
“We Sinners were cast upon this land when the arc crashed.” And of course, it’s an obvious choice for this show’s overall religious metaphor, that posits us as sinners who have fallen from God’s grace, having lost the mandate of heaven and its countless technological wonders. Now only Vash and Knives, the two sons of God, can choose to either redeem or condemn us
It shouldn’t need to be said, but your specific worldbuilding choices are crucial in storytelling, and should ideally match the scope, narrative priorities, and thematic philosophy of your work. Many modern anime have entirely forgotten this lesson, setting themselves in generic Dragon Quest-style isekai worlds, and thereby immediately abandoning either the allure of a unique world to explore or the narrative/thematic benefits that an intelligently designed world could offer
“Praise the angel. Honor the angel. Become the angel’s eyes.” We see two figures praying before what is presumably their marker of an “angel,” a circle with eight lines sketched around it. Actually gesturing towards a “biblically accurate angel” look
“Dear God. Please let the wind blow.” This boy’s face is discolored over one eye, as if he has literally given one eye to the angel
Convincing fatigued expressions as our now-quartet drive listlessly through the heat and dust, that same religious program droning on the radio. Faith can be a tonic in hopeless times, but it just as often misleads and corrupts, twisted by mortal hands into an instrument of control and power
“The church of plant worshippers.” Well, if you’re going to worship something, it makes sense to praise that which keeps you alive. And as modern history seems to indicate, most people do need to worship something – if they’re not actively religious, they will find a political or cultural leader, or even just a fandom
Roberto states that some mysterious creature attacked this land, slaughtering everyone and painting the desert red. Some very nice visual effects for this vision of the creature – it actually appears like continuously repainted glass, in spite of being a visual filter. The overall effect echoes Pluto’s vague, ominous visions of its android killer
Vash has woken up, and seems to have his own thoughts on this tale. Trigun’s interest in religion extends to a general preoccupation with myth-making, most frequently explored through how Vash’s actions are interpreted and mythologized into the story of the “Humanoid Typhoon”
They come across a large bug that appears to have been killed with one bare-handed punch, and Vash notices the windmill village on a nearby bluff
“Child of Blessing.” Presumably that boy from the cold open, an assumption affirmed by our immediate cut from title card back to him
The radio preacher constantly droning in the background is a nice aesthetic touch, a graceful way to emphasize this faith’s all-encompassing presence in this community
“Why does God eat the sacrificed children?” Welp, this cult’s showing its teeth quick
“Death is not the end. It is the beginning.” If you can sell your followers on your afterlife, you can make them do anything. Very few people have genuinely made peace with their life; for everyone else, the fear of death is a powerful motivator
Wolfwood points out the town lacks a plant, and Roberto gestures towards the windmill. Without wind, they live in darkness
Excellent scrambling character acting as Vash dodges a hail of bullets. Trigun is inherently a sorta tricky property to adapt in CG animation, because Vash is such an elastic, cartoonish visual presence, but Orange are doing a fine job of conveying his constant fumbling through intentionally clumsy physical choreography
A holographic skull-headed meanie with gatling guns for arms drops to the street, roaring about Vash the Stampede. Don’t know how anyone gets any work done around here
The team show off their fabric and particle effects by having this oaf machine gun through a row of hanging carpets, sending fragments of thread billowing in every direction
Nice texture to these interior backgrounds as we return to our child of blessing, who seems to be named Rollo
He learns he’s been chosen as the next sacrifice, and flees into the desert. The aspect ratio tightens as he runs, lengthening black borders emphasizing the world closing in on him
Vash is as generous in his kindness as ever, appearing briefly worried that his violent pursuer might have hurt himself
Wolfwood chides Vash for his sentimentalism, but he’s only venting light frustrations; the two of them actually seem to be getting along at this point
A dichotomy being drawn between Rollo and this pursuer – there is no life too precious to avoid being sacrificed to this faith, and no life so tainted that Vash does not see value or beauty in it
Rollo stumbles in the desert and is greeted by Vash, implying our two plots aren’t actually happening simultaneously
“Maybe God won’t save me because I don’t believe in him.” Their vision of god demands faith and sacrifice – the people work for him, not the other way around. In contrast, Vash still questions whether his own life has value, even as he perpetually strains and sacrifices for the sake of others. The son of God is proven so through his own unwillingness to believe in himself as savior, a doubt that inspires him to go to any lengths for others, seeing their lives as more meaningful than his own
“If God won’t save you, I will!” But it is precisely his belief in people that misleads him here, as he fails to ask any follow-up questions regarding Rollo’s flight or his mother’s love. Instead, he leads the boy right back to the slaughter, assuring him that everything will be fine
“The man you praise as God is not here right now”
Rollo is taken in for experimentation by a group of scientists, alongside a young girl who appears similar to Vash and Knives, and who similarly describes herself as an “Angel.” Knives’ associates do not see your nature as reflective of your actions – there are simply gods, angels, and mortals, and the first two categories are allowed to do whatever they want to the third, owing to the fortune of their superior nature. A type of putting the cart before the horse that has basically infected every sort of organized religion
“There may be some side effects, but at the very least it won’t be the illness that kills you.”
A match cut makes it clear that this cyborg is what has become of Rollo. Thus this fight becomes a metaphor, a question regarding the allegedly infinite possibility of redemption
Meryl finds a photo of Vash with Rollo as a baby. This is his curse – to watch everyone he loves and cares for decay over time, dragged down by the cruelty of No Man’s Land
As Vash apologizes for breaking his promise, we finally see Rollo’s face behind the mask. A literalization of how strangers can appear as monsters until we find a point of connection
Frustrated by Vash’s inaction, Wolfwood takes the shot. Some crimes cannot be made right, for either Vash or for Rollo
“Your hypocrisy is showing. You’re the one saying things you can’t even make good on.” Vash promises a kinder world, but he cannot summon it into being, and his kind words can become a curse to those who believe in them. Wolfwood may be colder, but he never offers people more than the truth
And Done
Whew, that was a brutal episode! With Wolfwood on the team, the show is now fully equipped to interrogate Vash’s philosophy, illustrating the limits of his idealistic view of human nature. It was Vash’s unquestioning faith in others that led Rollo to five years of suffering and an unceremonious death; while Vash himself is strong enough to get away with believing all people are worthy of faith and support, the dependent, struggling humans of this desolate world are rarely so lucky. It is understandable now why Wolfwood has such contempt for Vash’s optimism – this vignette demonstrates clearly how such idealism can be exploited, leaving the hard work of cleaning up to men like Wolfwood, who could see reality from the start. Is it possible to preach kindness towards a species as selfish and easily misguided as humanity? Can a world this harsh support any philosophy but survival of the fittest?
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