Trigun

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Trigun
Trigun manga, volume 1 (English version)
Trigun manga, volume 1 (English version)
トライガン
(Toraigan)
Genre Adventure, Weird Western
Manga: Trigun
Author Yasuhiro Nightow
Publisher Flag of Japan Tokuma Shoten
English publisher Flag of the United States Dark Horse Comics
Demographic Shōnen
Serialized in Shōnen Captain
Original run February 1995 – 1997
Volumes 3 (originally), 2 (current)
Manga: Trigun Maximum
Author Yasuhiro Nightow
Publisher Flag of Japan Shōnen Gahōsha
Demographic Seinen
Serialized in Young King Ours
Original run 1998 – 2007
Volumes 14 with 102 chapters (in Japan)
TV anime: Trigun
Director Satoshi Nishimura
Studio Madhouse
Network Flag of Japan TV Tokyo
Original run April 4, 1998 – September 30, 1998
Episodes 26

Trigun (トライガン Toraigan?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow, with an anime adaptation released in 1998 and an animated movie currently in production for a 2009 release.[1] Madhouse produced the 26 anime episodes for Trigun, and they are also working on the upcoming movie. As of April 2007, Trigun has ended in Japan, currently spanning 102 chapters and 14 tankōbon volumes.

Contents

[edit] Storyline

Screen capture of the sixty-billion double-dollar bounty poster for Vash the Stampede (from the opening credits)
Screen capture of the sixty-billion double-dollar bounty poster for Vash the Stampede (from the opening credits)

Known for its Space Western theme, Trigun is about a man named "Vash the Stampede" and the two Bernardelli Insurance Company employees who follow him to minimize the damage caused by his appearance. Most of the damage attributed to Vash is caused by bounty hunters after the "60,000,000,000$$" (sixty billion "double dollars") bounty on Vash's head for the destruction of the city of July. However, he cannot remember the incident clearly due to amnesia. Throughout his travels, Vash tries to save lives using non-lethal force. He is occasionally joined by a priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who is an excellent gunfighter like Vash. As the series progresses, it is revealed that he was actually assigned by Knives to "protect and guard" Vash. Later, he also becomes a target by members of the band of assassins, the Gung-Ho Guns, for not following the change in "orders" ( to eliminate Vash).

As the series progresses, more is gradually learned about Vash's mysterious history and the history of human civilization on the planet Gunsmoke. The series often employs comic relief and is mostly light-hearted in tone. It also involves moral conflict pertaining to the morality of killing other living things, even when justified (i.e. self-defense/defending others).

[edit] Manga

See also: List of Trigun media

After leaving college, Yasuhiro Nightow had gone to work selling apartments for the housing corporation Sekisui House, but struggled to keep up with his manga drawing hobby. Reassured by some successes, including a one-shot manga based on the popular video game franchise Samurai Spirits, he quit his job to draw full time. With the help of a publisher friend, he submitted a Trigun story for the February 1995 issue of the Tokuma Shoten magazine Shōnen Captain, and began regular serialisation two months later in April.

However, Shōnen Captain was cancelled early in 1997, and when Nightow was approached by the magazine Young King Ours, published by Shōnen Gahōsha, they were interested in him beginning a new work. He was however troubled[2] by the idea of leaving Trigun incomplete, and requested to be allowed to finish the series. The publishers were sympathetic, and the manga resumed in 1998 as Trigun Maximum (トライガンマキシマム Toraigan Makishimamu?). The story jumps forward two years with the start of Maximum, and takes on a slightly more serious tone, perhaps due to the switch from a shōnen to a seinen magazine. Despite this, Nightow has stated[3] that the new title was purely down to the change of publishers, and rather than being a sequel it should be seen as a continuation of the same series. The 12th tankōbon was published on July 26, 2006.

Shōnen Gahōsha later bought the rights to the original three volume manga series and reissued it as two enlarged volumes. In October 2003 the US publisher Dark Horse Comics released the expanded first volume translated into English, keeping the original right-to-left format rather than mirroring the pages. With the anime series already well known in the US, the first print run of 30,000 sold out[4] shortly after release. The second volume concluded the original series early the next year, and went on to be the top earning[5] graphic novel of 2004. Trigun Maximum followed quickly, and as of January 2008 twelve volumes have been released. Translations into French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish have also been released.

[edit] Anime

See also: List of Trigun media#Anime

Trigun was animated by Madhouse, broadcasted on TV Tokyo, produced by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in 1998 and directed by Satoshi Nishimura with scripts by Yosuke Kuroda, character designs by Takahiro Yoshimatsu, mechanical designs by Noriyuki Jinguji and music by Tsuneo Imahori. It is licensed in the United States by Pioneer USA (now Geneon).

Nightow has stated[6] that due to the finality of the anime ending, it is unlikely any continuation will be made.

In 2003, Trigun began broadcast as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block.

The October 2005 issue of Neo (magazine) includes an interview with Masao Maruyama, Madhouse's founder and series planner. In the article he reveals the studio is working on a Trigun Movie that will be released in "a couple of years". The November issue of Anime Insider also confirms this news.

In May 2007, Nightow confirmed at the Anime Central Convention that the Trigun movie was in the early stages of preproduction with a near-final script, although he did not divulge any plot information.

In February 2008, more details about the Trigun movie emerged on the cover of volume 13 of the Trigun Maximum manga, announcing that the movie was scheduled for 2009.[1]

[edit] Characters

Main article: Trigun characters

[edit] Origin of the Title

Vash has three primary weapons, each of which is a type of gun, hence why the series is called Trigun. They are his long barrel revolver, a false arm hiding a submachine gun, and his powerful Angel Arm. Several other characters fit the same formula. For example, Wolfwood's cross has 8 pistols, a machine gun, and rocket launchers. Livio (from the Manga) handles three types of ammunition. And Razlo (also from the manga) wields three Cross Punishers simultaneously, earning the nickname "Tri-Punisher".

[edit] Weaponry

Vash's revolver is loosely based on the Mateba Autorevolver[citation needed] and the cylinder of the Smith & Wesson Model 3[citation needed]. Although the Mateba revolver entered mass production in 1997, 2 years after the Trigun manga was released, it had been in its design stages since the 1980s. In the anime only, the gun can also fuse with Vash's arm, forming a giant laser weapon called the Angel Arm.[7]

Milly Thompson's stun gun is modeled after a minigun. Instead of bullets, it fires a large X-shaped projectile (like anchors), striking the enemy with enough force to knock them off their feet or render them unconscious, or in some cases, act like "claws" that incapacitates an enemy against a wall.

Meryl Stryfe keeps dozens of derringers[8] concealed inside her coat. They appear to fire two shots of .32 ACP ammunition each, and while they are not ideal for traditional duels, they can be lethal at close range.

Cross Punishers are used by several characters throughout the series, including Vash, all of which are different from each other, with the only uniting feature being they all resemble crosses. Wolfwood's version possesses a machine gun concealed in the bottom of the cross and a missile launcher at the top. In the anime Wolfwood can also be seen using a different Cross Punisher in two episodes with numerous pistols concealed in the arms of the cross, although this only appears during two episodes. episode 10- "Quick Draw" and episode 11- "Escape from Pain".

In the anime, Knives also has an Angel Arm that resembles Vash's.

[edit] Media

Further information: List of Trigun media
Author Song Name Time Album (OST)
Trigun Intro Tsuneo Imahori H.T. (Humanoid Typhoon) 1.33 The First Donuts, The Spicey Stewed Donut
Trigun Destroying Angel H.T. (Remix) 4.36 The 2nd Donut (Happy Pack)
Knives Tsuneo Imahori Knives 3.18 The First Donuts, The Spicey Stewed Donut
Vash Tsuneo Imahori Never Could Have Been Worse 4.59 The First Donuts
Wolfwood Tsuneo Imahori Blue Funk 3.26 The First Donuts, The Spicey Stewed Donut

[edit] Reception

Source Reviewer Grade / Score Notes
Anime News Network Christopher Macdonald Overall : B+ DVD/Anime Review of DVD 5: Angel Arms
AnimeOnDVD Chris Beveridge Content: B+
Audio: A
Video: A
Packaging: A+
Menus: A+
Extras: N/A		 DVD/Anime Review of DVD 1 (of 8)
THEM Anime Reviews Jason Bustard 5 out of 5 Anime Review

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Trigun Movie Coming In 2009. Animekon. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
  2. ^ "When Young King Ours invited me to do some work for them, they were hoping for a new piece, but I was troubled by leaving Trigun unfinished. I told them I wouldn't feel like I had done my work unless I finished it, plus I was attached to it, and I asked them if they'd let me finish it." interview with Nightow in the September 2000 Manga no Mori newsletter, translated by sumire.
  3. ^ "Nightow stated that there is no difference in the story between the two titles, and the only reason for the change is because of the switch of publishing house." summary of discussion panel with Nightow at Anime Expo 2000, in Anaheim, California.
  4. ^ "The first volume of the English language version of Yasuhiro Nightow's Trigun manga sold out an edition of 35,000 copies at wholesale within days of its release... Dark Horse is going back to press for 15,000 additional copies" from ICV2 article posted on October 29, 2003.
  5. ^ "The top earning manga release of 2004 was Dark Horse's Trigun #2, which sold less copies that Fruits Basket or Rurouni Kenshin, but sold at a higher, $14.95 price point." from ANN news article posted 2005-01-04.
  6. ^ "When asked as to whether or not Trigun could spawn a sequel, he said that it would be unlikely given the story brings itself to a natural close." from discussion panel at Anime Expo, as above.
  7. ^ Modern Firearms - Mateba Model 6 Unica auto-revolver
  8. ^ G4techTV.ca > Anime Current: TriGun > Anime Current: TriGun

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Trigun
Media
Manga • Anime • Trigun: The Planet Gunsmoke
Characters
Vash the Stampede • Millions Knives • Nicholas D. Wolfwood • Gung-Ho Guns