SUMMARY
Vash the
Stampede is a gunfighter. His reputation is so bad that people either head
for the hills, or try to collect the $60 Billion bounty. In reality Vash
is nothing like his reputation. He is an honorable man, a polite person,
and a total dimwit. He just can't remember much before the incident that
made him a wanted man in the first place.
Two insurance agents, Meryl and Millie are the ones
responsible for completing claims against any damage that Vash does.
Unfortunately, they are always one step behind and are constantly being
forced to degrade themselves in order to keep on his trail.
Throw in an ex-gunslinger priest named Wolfwood, and a
mysterious government project, and your days will never be the same.
Now, Millie and Meryl have tracked Vash to the town of
Inepril city. Unfortunately, the entire town is after him. They want to
turn him in, collect the reward, and repair their plant, so people would
come an work there again. While this plan seems simple, it proves to be
very difficult, especially when you bring in the notorious Nebraska Family
to take Vash down.
Can Vash save the city before they take him down?
DVD VISION TEST
VIDEO: Pioneer always has the best looking transfers.
The bright colors are blended well, with no pixels or color bleeds. The
source print is clean and free of defects.
AUDIO: Audio is great. The hard rock soundtrack sounds fantastic on the
English track. The Japanese track is a little softer, but plays more of
the subtle nuances. During the action segments, the dialogue is center
based with the sfx and people in the background coming from the sides and
the back.
EDITS: The only thing different is the clean open and close are used. No
other edits have been made.
EXTRAS: Ahh, well, this is where they come a little short. Mostly pictures
and a few concept art work. Nothing that ADV doesn't come up with all the
time. Disappointing compared to other releases.
WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: Based of
the manga by Yashuiro Nightow, this is a well written cross between Cowboy
Bebop and Futurerama. Series story Editor Yosuke Kuroda does a good job at
keeping the stable of writers on an even track. This series is very
clever, both in dialogue and situations. While it may not be new, it is a
fresh take on a tried and true genre.
ACTING: One of the few releases that the English and the Japanese are
equal in acting abilities. Both casts do a great job of voicing the
insanity of the characters. The only thing that threw me at first was the
English voice for Vash. It seemed a little too young. However, as soon as
Johnny Young Bosch gets going, he keeps up with his Japanese counterpart.
FAN SERVICE: Nothing really to speak of. Tight clothes
and sexy ladies. There is this cat.
CONCLUSION
Vash the Stamped is by far one of the funniest anime
characters ever. His over the top reactions to every situations will have
you laughing your butt off. You also can't help but fall in love with this
friendly "gunslinger" who counts bullets as they are being
fired, uses a pop gun to make his point, and "cries" in French.
The other main characters are equally nutty. Meryl the
over ambitious, multiple gun slinging insurance investigator who is two
steps from going postal and shooting everybody. Meryl is stuck with a
ditzy yet surprising strong partner Millie. Millie is at her funniest when
she is drunk. While Meryl is talking about how everyone would be better
off with out Vash a nearly comatose Millie spouts out; "I disagree. I
can handle it, I am unique, I have a different stomach for cake and ice
cream!"Full of non-sequiters, the two of them are the Abbot and
Costello of anime.
Having read the manga, we bought this disc thinking it
was the first one. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that we were
starting 3 episodes in. Fortunately, there is little backstory from the
first disc required to enjoy this one. The episodes contained here are
almost exactly the same as first few chapters of the manga, which is a
refreshing change from taking the original characters and creating a
totally different story....oh wait, Trigun did that all ready.
The character design is almost the same as the
manga,
making for a rougher look, similar to GTO. While the animation is better
looking than GTO, those who view anime as an art form may not like the
simpler style.
The only major
down point of this disc is that Pioneer only has three episodes on this
disc. With 26 episodes, It would not be that hard to release 5 per disc,
with the last one containing 6. Whether this decision was made in regards
for keeping up the suspense, or that it was a way to sell more discs, it's
hard to say.
It is very easy to understand why Trigun is so popular.
With it's hyper energy, clever dialogue, and interesting story, Trigun is
one of the best of the "space western".
Return to Top
Back to the Review Page
ŠAll information protected by DVD Vision
Japan copyright unless otherwise noted.
