Trigun: Stampede ep 1
Well what a roller coaster the last few days have been, out of the blue I discover there's a new Trigun series, what a surprise, and check my username I'm a BIG Trigun fan. To this day two of my biggest role models are Vash The Stampede and Milly Thompson. I'm not sure if that's a healthy thing or what that says about me, but it is what it is. I was pretty gosh darn excited at first, somehow my mind had forgotten what reality is really like and I imagined Studio Madhouse giving Trigun the loving FMA Brotherhood treatment and doing a more faithful take on the manga. The original anime series was perfect (in my opinion) and I'd argue far superior to the more overblown story Nightow ended up tellng, but it would have been interesting to have seen it translated to animation nonetheless.
But Stampede is not that. From the first episode it appears to merely be a truly 2023 reboot of the franchise. And that's a bad thing, a very bad thing. The opening sequence alone was enough to scupper my heart's hope. The creators of this new show seem to be intent on robbing Trigun of one of its defining strengths, its slow burning sense of mystery and intrigue, the feeling of appearances hiding deep and strange secrets, the slow but comfortable and natural drip feeding of its world's secrets. Things it actually shares in common with that other great 90s sci-fi western, Cowboy Bebop. But in its abysmal first episode Stampede wants to spill the beans about everything, Knives and Vash, Rem, Lost technology. What is going on here. Like other modern anime shows I've seen Stampede looks like it doesn't know what restraint is nor that there's an art to storytelling. You could argue it's this way because it's made for older fans like me who've already seen the original, but I don't think so, it feels more like it's cynically targeting a new generation but offering them up reheated and watered down slop.
There are other things I also didn't like, such as seemingly swapping out Milly (the co-best character of the show!!) for some joyless Robert DeNiro dullard. That alone is enough to earn deserving enmity and scorn. And making Meryl his young rookie, absolutely unforgivable! It also didn't make me laugh once or even smile, so I'm not sure if I was just already jaded by the opening minute or if it's simply less funny than the original, I suspect the latter. And there are lesser crimes, I dislike its 3D, and the new designs disappoint, Vash's new red coat just looks like a normal red coat. Cosplay in 2023 is surely a boring affair when you can just go to Marks and Spencer's clothing section and probably get everything you need. Grim. Oh and the ending music, god I mean it's so bland I've actually even forgotten what it sounds like. Compare to this lovliness :
It's early days of course, and am still hoping for best, but very much fearing the worst.
Well, looks like episode 2 is already out, so I'll probably be back in a jiffy after I've seen it.