Trigun: I have finished
Feb. 2nd, 2006 01:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieThat's it, Vash is officially going on the list of Top 10 fictional crushes (he is the only animated character to be put on it, too).
Goodbye for Now is one of my favorite Trigun ep so far, and not just because Vash with long hair=love.
The fact that he's had one hell of a pure nervous break-down (I love those shots of little Lina finding him slumped and completely messed up in that alley, and when she and grandma take him in and wash him he is sitting catatonic in shock) and the fact that he can't remember what happened in Augusta is...knowing Vash, the levels of guilt he must feel are insane.
And that scene of him begging and humiliating himself so that the bandits would let that kid Lina off? I actually felt uncomfortable watching that. And I don't think it's just that he doesn't want to hurt anybody, any more (because he arguably could have fought them and won anyway), I think it's partly because he thinks of it as punishment for himself and he seems to have one hell of a self-punishing complex. But argh, it really hurt to watch him like that.
And we got to see all the wounds again. I am a h/c whore but that's maxing it out.
And of course, the pure fact that he changed his name which he hasn't before is as if he wants to negate everything about himself and have a peaceful existence. But of course that's impossible and so he gets his hair cut and gets his gun back (he must have been in a hell of a state to have dropped in anyway) and goes with Wolfwood (who I love more and more, and not just because he hit those who were talking about Vash being a wimp) to 'take care' of Knives (who is his brother, ouch). Of course, Vash lives with the knowledge people think he is a monster, and I wonder if he doesn't share that belief.
As to Wolfwood, I am so glad he is there to drag Vash out of his pit of despair and because I love watching the two of them.
I do love their bickering. So much fun.
In the follwing ep, not only did it have that really cool bit where Meryl and Milly found Vash again (awwwwww, Meryl is bossily adorable in her relief, and I loved Vash's "long time no see" understatement) but it had one of the funniest bits so far, with Vash walking in to that gang's place sing-songing "total slaughter lalalala genocide lalalala kill everybody" to try to psych them out. Bandits' reaction? "Awful lyrics." Heh. And the rock and hard place conflict of Vash's no-kill principles and the man who understandably wants to kill the man who killed his daughter in cold blood? I do love that the show doesn't shy away from showing that Vash's "don't kill anyone ever" is sometimes put to a hard hard proof.
Also, I am a bit unclear. Is Vash an angel? Or an alien? Or just a genetically enhanced human being? I think he's just supposed to be a plant, right? But why is he walking? Does he have an artificially made human-looking arm? Why? Because Knives chopped it off in July, right? (And grafterd it on Legato which is sick in a whole other way). That's why he needed a new one after Legato made him destroy Augusta? *is confused* Oh
Also, now I know why he always has his haircut like that. And why he has the coat. And I love that he leaves it at the end.
Now I've finished the eps so this is added:
OK, Vash so has mother issues with Rem.
Also, you should have heard the screams in my house when it turned out Wolfwood worked for Knives. But he is still amazingly cool and good and conflicted (the way he falls apart when he killed that demon child). Not as much screaming as when Millie and Wolfwood got together (with the coffee!). And not as much screaming then as when Wolfwood died. I was crying. Argh. That scene where he doesn't want to die and yet makes peace with it and tries to smoke his cigarette and there is blood dripping. I feel like crying all over again.
And of course is shatters Vash who tries to pull his tattered mask back on but it doesn't work. The scene of him sitting in that bustling square (he really does simply like people) and dropping his doughnuts and his cheeriness and starting to weep? Whoa. And Millie crying over Nicholas and staying put because he told her too. Ohhhhhh.
And when Legato, who is simply horrifying, creates a situation where he forces Vash to shoot him of his own free will? Oh, that is beyond clever and horribly cruel. The chirpiness that is that show continues in the next episode with Vash screaming from not being able to take it any more. Because if he's killed that one person, all his philsophy is meaningless and people who have died as a result of listening to him or because someone was hunting him died in vain. Yay. Not. No wonder we have Vash not resisting as he is being dragged behind a car by the enraged townspeople. Seriously, this show maxed out my h/c button. It broke it. Especially with everything ramming home to Vash that he can't be with anyone because anyone he touches dies. And we know he is so afraid of being lonely, and hurting others is the one thing he is more afraid of than that.
And Meryl is the one who saves his sanity (and I love the later scene where they just quietly sit and watch the stars). Yay. I love the scene where he first wakes up after shooting Legato and he tells her he remembers what happened and she can't stand to deal with it so she makes a flimsy excuse about stepping out and you see her stand right outside his room, leaning on the door as he just howls in misery. Argh. Add in Millie and her desperate missing of Wolfwood despite her brave facade, and this makes me want to bash my head against the wall.
I think both Knives and Vash are two sides of the same coin, results of their superior abilities. Knives is a sociopath, but his tendency to view others as not real or equal is exacerbated that he is so much the humans' superior in abilities. He hates Vash after all, but he does see him as a person. And for Vash, this had led to another extreme: he'd rather suffer anything than harm anyone or fight back, because the playing field is so unequal.
I do like that at the end he walks off with Knives, and he takes off the coat which is so related to Rem because he is ready to find his own words and be his own person (and hopefully go to Meryl some day, too. I am a sap).
Even though I am still horribly upset about Wolfwood (I loved his struggle with what is right because he is right, sometimes there are no right, good choices. He taught that to Vash, just as Vash told him about not killing ever. And I love the cross being passed from Wolfwood to Vash), this is a more hopeful ending than I hoped for. I love that Vash learns to be his own person: he realizes that sometimes you have to do something horrible and you don't get destroyed but deal with it and move on. Compromise is necessary and no absoultes are possible, which is good.
Goodbye for Now is one of my favorite Trigun ep so far, and not just because Vash with long hair=love.
The fact that he's had one hell of a pure nervous break-down (I love those shots of little Lina finding him slumped and completely messed up in that alley, and when she and grandma take him in and wash him he is sitting catatonic in shock) and the fact that he can't remember what happened in Augusta is...knowing Vash, the levels of guilt he must feel are insane.
And that scene of him begging and humiliating himself so that the bandits would let that kid Lina off? I actually felt uncomfortable watching that. And I don't think it's just that he doesn't want to hurt anybody, any more (because he arguably could have fought them and won anyway), I think it's partly because he thinks of it as punishment for himself and he seems to have one hell of a self-punishing complex. But argh, it really hurt to watch him like that.
And we got to see all the wounds again. I am a h/c whore but that's maxing it out.
And of course, the pure fact that he changed his name which he hasn't before is as if he wants to negate everything about himself and have a peaceful existence. But of course that's impossible and so he gets his hair cut and gets his gun back (he must have been in a hell of a state to have dropped in anyway) and goes with Wolfwood (who I love more and more, and not just because he hit those who were talking about Vash being a wimp) to 'take care' of Knives (who is his brother, ouch). Of course, Vash lives with the knowledge people think he is a monster, and I wonder if he doesn't share that belief.
As to Wolfwood, I am so glad he is there to drag Vash out of his pit of despair and because I love watching the two of them.
I do love their bickering. So much fun.
In the follwing ep, not only did it have that really cool bit where Meryl and Milly found Vash again (awwwwww, Meryl is bossily adorable in her relief, and I loved Vash's "long time no see" understatement) but it had one of the funniest bits so far, with Vash walking in to that gang's place sing-songing "total slaughter lalalala genocide lalalala kill everybody" to try to psych them out. Bandits' reaction? "Awful lyrics." Heh. And the rock and hard place conflict of Vash's no-kill principles and the man who understandably wants to kill the man who killed his daughter in cold blood? I do love that the show doesn't shy away from showing that Vash's "don't kill anyone ever" is sometimes put to a hard hard proof.
Also, I am a bit unclear. Is Vash an angel? Or an alien? Or just a genetically enhanced human being? I think he's just supposed to be a plant, right? But why is he walking? Does he have an artificially made human-looking arm? Why? Because Knives chopped it off in July, right? (And grafterd it on Legato which is sick in a whole other way). That's why he needed a new one after Legato made him destroy Augusta? *is confused* Oh
Also, now I know why he always has his haircut like that. And why he has the coat. And I love that he leaves it at the end.
Now I've finished the eps so this is added:
OK, Vash so has mother issues with Rem.
Also, you should have heard the screams in my house when it turned out Wolfwood worked for Knives. But he is still amazingly cool and good and conflicted (the way he falls apart when he killed that demon child). Not as much screaming as when Millie and Wolfwood got together (with the coffee!). And not as much screaming then as when Wolfwood died. I was crying. Argh. That scene where he doesn't want to die and yet makes peace with it and tries to smoke his cigarette and there is blood dripping. I feel like crying all over again.
And of course is shatters Vash who tries to pull his tattered mask back on but it doesn't work. The scene of him sitting in that bustling square (he really does simply like people) and dropping his doughnuts and his cheeriness and starting to weep? Whoa. And Millie crying over Nicholas and staying put because he told her too. Ohhhhhh.
And when Legato, who is simply horrifying, creates a situation where he forces Vash to shoot him of his own free will? Oh, that is beyond clever and horribly cruel. The chirpiness that is that show continues in the next episode with Vash screaming from not being able to take it any more. Because if he's killed that one person, all his philsophy is meaningless and people who have died as a result of listening to him or because someone was hunting him died in vain. Yay. Not. No wonder we have Vash not resisting as he is being dragged behind a car by the enraged townspeople. Seriously, this show maxed out my h/c button. It broke it. Especially with everything ramming home to Vash that he can't be with anyone because anyone he touches dies. And we know he is so afraid of being lonely, and hurting others is the one thing he is more afraid of than that.
And Meryl is the one who saves his sanity (and I love the later scene where they just quietly sit and watch the stars). Yay. I love the scene where he first wakes up after shooting Legato and he tells her he remembers what happened and she can't stand to deal with it so she makes a flimsy excuse about stepping out and you see her stand right outside his room, leaning on the door as he just howls in misery. Argh. Add in Millie and her desperate missing of Wolfwood despite her brave facade, and this makes me want to bash my head against the wall.
I think both Knives and Vash are two sides of the same coin, results of their superior abilities. Knives is a sociopath, but his tendency to view others as not real or equal is exacerbated that he is so much the humans' superior in abilities. He hates Vash after all, but he does see him as a person. And for Vash, this had led to another extreme: he'd rather suffer anything than harm anyone or fight back, because the playing field is so unequal.
I do like that at the end he walks off with Knives, and he takes off the coat which is so related to Rem because he is ready to find his own words and be his own person (and hopefully go to Meryl some day, too. I am a sap).
Even though I am still horribly upset about Wolfwood (I loved his struggle with what is right because he is right, sometimes there are no right, good choices. He taught that to Vash, just as Vash told him about not killing ever. And I love the cross being passed from Wolfwood to Vash), this is a more hopeful ending than I hoped for. I love that Vash learns to be his own person: he realizes that sometimes you have to do something horrible and you don't get destroyed but deal with it and move on. Compromise is necessary and no absoultes are possible, which is good.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 05:35 pm (UTC)And Legato. Pure, psychotic genius. Technically even though he's killed, I've always felt that it was Legato who was the ultimate winner of the series. Just brutally ruthless and knowing exactly how to make Vash hurt in the worst possible way. Legato is honestly more frightening than Knives simply because Legato knows exactly what to do to push people over the edge. Knives reads people wrong sometimes, Legato never does probably because of his abilities.
In the end Vash knows he can't be an idealist anymore, but it willing to try to do good and still hold the mantra "love and peace". He takes up the cross and heads off, hopefully back to Meryl someday, because you know there's not only a liking between the two, but also a deep friendship. And as much as he loves kids, you know he'd want some of his own.
Vash is a genetically altered plant form, from what I understand. Yes, technically an alien too, but an alien with a plant life base. The Angel Arms are a power source that is just phenomenal and can be cataclysmic. They can only be used a few times though. In the manga you find out that every time Vash uses the Angel Arms, part of his blond hair goes black. When a plant forms hair goes all black, he dies. When they find him after he destroys Augusta, about half of his hair is now black. It looks pretty cool, but you also know what it means.
And Vash's main problem IS that he loves people but because of what he is will always hurt them in spite of himself. It's a horrible situation, yet the show still leaves hope there.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 05:51 pm (UTC)Oh yes (even though I am still confused on whether he is a Catholic priest or not). I did like how subtly any potential ships were done on the show. You know, Milly seriously reminds me of Kaylee, btw.
how much more symbolic can you get with him dying on the Cross Punisher
Oh yes, the show loves its symbolism. Especially when his silouette is outlined in the church slumped on a cross. And I love that Vash ends up with the cross afterwards.
I do wonder if it would have been better to have shot the apple guy (since I am not Vash) or would it have made it so bad for Wolfwood? I honestly don't know.
brutally ruthless and knowing exactly how to make Vash hurt in the worst possible way
The only reason Vash doesn't completely fall apart the way Legato wanted is because of Meryl's lesson which allows him to pull through. Because otherwise? He really did doom Vash to eternal torment.
In the end Vash knows he can't be an idealist anymore, but it willing to try to do good and still hold the mantra "love and peace".
Oh yes, I love that he realized that you can fail and then still keep on going and climb out of the pit. Because that is something he's always believed in for others, but never for himself.
I do wonder what on earth is he going to do with Knives?
there's not only a liking between the two, but also a deep friendship. And as much as he loves kids, you know he'd want some of his own.
*brain melts from the wonderful mush of this* Ahhh, Vash should certainly have kids and Meryl is pragmatic enough to deal with him. Plus, we know it's true love because she started the acquaintance by giving him donuts :P
It's a horrible situation, yet the show still leaves hope there.
And that's why I love it. It's an open, optimistic ending. Of course, all his troubles wouldn't have been there is not for Knives and his making him destroy July and then sending goons after him so now that Knives is neutralized, maybe he'll get some peace.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 06:18 pm (UTC)Technically he is, but he also drinks, smokes and shoots people, so I don't think he'd have any hang ups with getting married.
Ahhh, Vash should certainly have kids and Meryl is pragmatic enough to deal with him.
She is and you know he'd be the biggest pushover of a father in the world. He'd also be tons of fun because he's just so GOOD with kids as he's a bit of a big one himself.
I believe the hope at the end is because Knives is neutralized, Vash eventually will be able to get on with a normal life. Yet trouble just seems to follow him where ever he goes, so I doubt life with him would ever be boring.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 06:23 pm (UTC)Exactly. He is the coolest and sexiest fictional priest I've ever seen. Woooooo!
the biggest pushover of a father in the world
Oh yes. While Meryl will be like my grandmother with the bossing and making them clean their shoes. I am remembering an ep where he ended up playing with those town children and basically let them do anything at all with him. So guuuuuh.
And I love how he just always seems to seek them out...
he's just so GOOD with kids as he's a bit of a big one himself.
Do you know, that's a really good explanation. He never really had much of a childhood though, did he? First stuck on that ship with most of the crew thinking he's a freak, then wanderin around desert with psycho brother...
Yet trouble just seems to follow him where ever he goes, so I doubt life with him would ever be boring.
Yeah, but it would a lot more bearable without Knives' machinations. He'll never get a complete peaceful Eden he'd love, but he won't be mentally torn apart either...
Have I mentioned how much I love your icon?
no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 06:36 pm (UTC)The icon is one of my favorites. I've had it forever.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 06:44 pm (UTC)The icon is one of my favorites. I've had it forever.
I remember seeing it before and having no idea what it referred to :)