Or The best Superman Story Never Told Trigun is my all-time favorite series. Join me as we dissect some of the philosophical ideas behind Trigun, and why it's the best Superman story never told. #trigun #anime #analysis
A critical part of the story for me is Vash's recovery after killing Legato. He doesn't just get up again. He's a complete wreck for a good while, until he sees Meryl trying to save HIM by talking down some angry townsfolk. Her actions show that Rem's ideals are still alive. It ties in with eastern ideas of reincarnation, but these aren't necessary to see the point. Vash realizes that even if he's done terrible things, he can keep moving forward. There are always people to save, and though they can't always be saved, it's always worth trying. The ticket to the future is always open.
@@richardblack3385 i feel that theory sort of kills the message, though. meryl doesn't need to be related to rem to have a similar presence in vash's mind - it would be redundant
No... No it does not tie into Eastern ideas of reincarnation... You just have to stop at "Rem's ideals are still alive", this "reincarnation" bullshit is a vastly tourist ideal that Westerners have about the concept. Reincarnation is not by any intent of the author Yasuhiro Nightow or the director Satoshi Nishimura or show writer, Yosuke Kuroda. Reincarnation isn't in the text, is not intended in the subtext, and the presence or reincarnation serves the theme little justice, what pray tell, does it POSSIBLY serve the theme to consider reincarnation or ideas of such to be present in the story? The whole "Meryl is the reincarnation/granddaughter of Rem" is enormously a fan held idea that is not in the least a matured, scrutinized thought drawn on anything but the fact that it's an anime, and its cultural geography INCLUDES the concept of reincarnation, but does not explicitly mean people write to that solely because of it. By your own word, you just said "these aren't necessary to see the point", wouldn't that mean it's not ACTUALLY part of the themes of the show?
"But, what’s the point of achieving perfection? There is none. Nothing. Not a single thing. I loathe perfection! If something is perfect, then there is nothing left. There is no room for imagination. No place left for a person to gain additional knowledge or abilities.". - Mayuri Kurotsuchi
i believe in the veil of soulmaking, so everyone's suffering is to inform them how to be better people; if we die suffering or kill others suffering, we are just escaping our responsibility to strive to be better in this life. Waiting for the next life to be a better person is a fool's errand., @@Fulgmr
"We see Vash blunder, trip and scream his way through myriad attempts on his life." That has to be the most perfect summation of Trigun that I have ever heard, thank you.
Honestly the episode where he kills Legato is one of the most powerful moments in anime. I teared up the first time I watched it and then again when he was screaming in the next episode. It was an amazing piece of storytelling.
I haven't watched the anime but the manga tells a more thorough story. If the ending of the anime goes as stated on this video, it's a nice focus to wrap up the story quicker, but not better. Also I think the manga puts more emphasis on Rem's story and why it's so important to understand Vash's idealism and Knives's hatred.
Its a hard but fun lifestyle to strive for, i take an Optimistic pessimistic outlook. being nice to others will often reveal stories and gifts that youd never expect.
My fifth grade science teacher had a poster on the classroom wall that has been my mantra ever since I saw it. "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Seems apropos.
There are plenty of clues as to why Vash and Knives arrive at their respective worldviews, especially from the flashback episode which deserves a video analysis itself, but you missed a huge theme so ingrained in Trigun that the main characters are literally 'plants' - what is the 'best' course of action in terms of survival? To Knives it was only ever about the most efficient course of action to survive, to 'not be eaten' as he eloquently phrases while lamenting the apple as a child. As a Plant, he sees eliminating humans as a matter of safety and survival. And since his respective father figure was abusive on the spaceship, he rejected Rem's idealism knowing how terrible humanity had potential to be. Vash on the other hand had an absence of a father figure. Instead of rejecting humanity due to experiencing abuse, he embraced the concept of life according to Rem's ideals, without any other masculine figure in his life to balance his ideals he thought of humanity in terms of only the good. His ignorance allowed him to not view life in terms of survival, or fear of his own life. Without his superhuman strength Vash would never have had the luxury of surviving with such a worldview, evidenced by the numerous scars on his body. So I don't think Vash's development was simply about becoming the best kind of person he could be given the circumstances, it was also about learning about the fears, troubles, and sickness of others, especially those weaker than Vash himself, and just how big a burden his ideals were to the average person. Ultimately it was understanding his brother, who so desperately wanted Vash to validate his worldview. And the ending is beautiful, because despite having a conviction that his brother was wrong, he doesn't outright reject Knives either. He spares his life, not because it was the 'moral' thing to do, but because he wants to. An act of final selfishness, free from the restraints of Rem's ideals, that seemingly contradicts his newfound beliefs and willingness to hurt others if they pose enough of a threat. What Knives says to Rem is important as a child when the spider prepares to eat the butterfly. He says that the longer they had thought about it, the the sooner the spider would have gotten the butterfly-this thought process goes all the way down to Chapel, to Wolfwood, who are taught not to hesitate, to act right away. You have to kill to survive. Vash's biggest growth as a character was recognizing his INACTION was a form of action, with often dire consequences. Perhaps after he spares his brother in the final episode, this new Vash took further action to ensure Knives would not hurt others again.
(SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA BELOW) The Plant aspect is played way better in the manga (bear in mind, not plant as a tree or such, but more akin to a reactor). Knives hatred for humanity is only deepened by how humans treat their kin, and seeks to unite the Plants of Gunsmoke in an effort to rid them of the pain from humans relying and abusing then. Vash, on the other hand, goes around and brings comfor to dying Plants as well as helping out humans in need, becoming the only being on Gunsmoke who has earned the trust of both species. In truth, Knives completely throws away any semblance of humanity in the manga to completely personify hatred. Even when free Plants and Humans from Earth come to the aid of Gunsmoke (which would help everyone), Knives is too far gone and instead seek to destroy all humans, and absorb all Plants.
The garden at the beginning seems like biblical Eden and then Rem's death is the death of Peace which the brother's lived under when she was with them. The two must then struggle to regain their peace and work hard for it, as man works for his food and comfort that were previously gratis in Eden's paradise. In the end, Vash finds peace among men and does not kill his brother, ending the cycle of suffering rather than ending another life.
The line is funny but wrong at the same time, specialy in this context. TFS Gohan did not want to fight. Vash fought while taking the hardest route, as in not killing anyone and preventing any possible death. It was shown countles times that it would've been more easy to just kill his oponenets than saving them.
@@atonlort5666 i agree the line doesnt fit vash but it does fit most cases of pacifism. It is annoyingly common for people to realize they dont like conflict (fighting, arguing, etc) as soon as they start losing
I look at it like Batman, his one rule, no killing, but over the years i realized how flawed it is, you have some of the most horrible people alive hurting others yet, Vash or Batman stops them, just for them to go out and do it again. Probably why i'm more of a Jason Todd mind set, not every criminal or bad person has to die, just the ones who aren't afraid.
@@devildavin But they would turn into a judge, jury and executioner. I'm certain these characters have no issue with criminals on death row after due process has determined it appropriate.
The analysis started off well enough, but it still felt like you half-assed it. I think that it's important to highlight Wolfwood in any serious discussion of Trigun and its philosophy, and not once you mention him. If anything, Wolfwood is the one that seriously plants the seeds of how ineffective Vash's absolute pacifism truly is. Wolfwood's point of view is not perfect, either, and he does learn from Vash along the way... But in the end, it costs him his life too, to follow in Vash's footsteps.
I think you're absolutely right that a full comprehensive look at the show HAS to tackle wolfwood. I was kicking myself leaving him out but I wanted to try and stick to the bare essentials because A) I wanted to keep the video at a reasonable length (I'm new at analysis and felt I might be over extending myself as is) and B) I wanted to leave a few surprises for the people that had never seen Trigun and decide to watch it after this video. The give and take between Vash and Wolfwood is absolutely brilliant and I could (and one day might) do a whole video dedicated solely on their relationship. I hope you can forgive the omission and still enjoy what I had the ability to cover in thos video!
@@DallenMalna That's a fair explanation, I think. In any case, you can always make a sequel video or an addendum that covers things much more in depth. In that case, you may not have to worry about keeping the video in a certain length. You can simply say at the beginning "This analysis will REQUIRE that you watch the show at least once. If I seem long-winded, I apologise" or something similar. Thanks for the reply.
@@aggrodkreg4321 I think I might do that after a bit. I really want to research some more and maybe re-read the manga to to do a serious deep dive on some of the aspects I overlooked like the affects Knives and Wolfwood have on Vash, and how different they are in the manga compared to the anime.
@@DallenMalna It's not that you missed out an interesting feature, but rather than in missing it out, your analysis takes some very wrong steps. Legato would have you believe that the lesson is "the right thing to do here is to kill", but, as we know from Wolfwood, the real lesson is "sometimes we do wrong things because they're just what we know to do at the time; forgiveness is how we move on and learn to do the right thing in the future". By missing that, you give Legato the credit for Vash's growth, and that's just a mistake. Killing Legato isn't right; it's not "the best choice". It's still the wrong thing to do. It's just that that's the best answer Vash has at that time; he makes it, breaks his code and, yes, does something wrong, because he doesn't have anything else he can do. But you leap to the assumption that the lesson we're supposed to learn is that sticking to an impossible standard is something we just need to let go of, and you can only make that assumption if you haven't learned Wolfwood's lesson. It's no coincident that Wolfwood is a priest bearing a cross. Vash takes a hit when he falls short of his ideals, but he's resilient enough to move ahead in his conflict with Knives, continuing to believe in Rem (who isn't a stifling figure that holds him back but the source of his moral compass) and it's no accident that it's the weapons Wolfwood gave him that help him turn the tables in protecting his vision of the world. (also, C.S. Lewis is awful.)
Nice video man. Wolfwoods story killed me growing up watching this. When he sits in front of the altar and questions his choices in life with that cross... soulcrushing.
I keep coming back to this video. The sheer amount of pure love for this series is extremely infectious and I can't help but smile the way through, feeling my own appreciation for the series grow along with the dramatic recap of the series. Even then this is like a nice and easy pick up on the morality of the series and sometimes things really are best in small bites. It certainly started a butterfly effect of thoughts about morality when I watched it. I am sad that I missed watching this when I was younger, I think it really would have done me some good. No less enjoyable as an adult though! PS: I'm the one from the Reddit post.
I've always loved Trigun. And Vash is one of my favorite characters. To have an in-depth analysis on the series (more so on Vash himself) definitley a joy. Also it doesn't hurt to have a fellow believer as a RU-vidr.
Dude yeah it's really glad to hear from a fellow believer. I find a lot of Christians on RU-vid are really busy bein focusing purely on "Christian" things and that is awesome! But I believe God is God of everything and that includes storytelling, so I always wanted to kind of take a critical lense from Christianity and look at storytelling that way!
Excellent analysis, man. This is my favourite anime series of all time. Many would say Cowboy Bepop, but Trigun puts biggest smile in my face. Vash is one of my favourite characters in all of anime, especially because his pacifism, ideals and being essentially the "Superman". One of the things that I love about Vash is also that he keeps his sadness and tragedy hidden behind his smile, his goofy nature unlike characters like Eren Jaeger who openly shows how much he hates Titans and lets his tragic past define him.
Three classic anime space westerns came out in 1998. Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and everybody forgets Outlaw Star. They are all series that I think of as mandatory watch material.
Kinda, but minus the remorse. Vash isn't atoning the way Kenshin is. Vash was born pure, raised pure by Rem, and remains pure in a hostile world. Desperately. Kenshin is holding back, while Vash is holding on. It's a solid comparison, though
Well we are talking about spoiling an anime that is what 20 years old or more by now? That said it is a crime so few people even know it exist. Basically if it didn't air on Adult Swim people barely knew about it outside of the more hard core anime fan.
@@JustaGuy_Gaming IDK, there is this idea seeded into newer anime fans that older anime is bad. The differences in tone, direction, style and presentation are vast enough to where I often hear timeless classics being written off all the time. The anime collapse of the mid 2000's has a lot to do with it as many great older titles are still trapped in licensing hall. Many newer fans wouldn't even have had the option to watch most older titles when they first got into anime due to localized versions of anime being completely inaccessible at the time. Wolf's rain just got rereleased, what? Last year? Not spoiling is just a positive in-community thing to do.
@@earlyman7439 It always breaks my heart to see older anime ignored or put down. Armitage 3 Polymatrix was one of the first anime's I ever bought a DVD for. In fact it came with my first DVD player. Yet it gets like a 2-3 star ratting on most sites. It had a deep story and the English dub was well done by big name actors. Luckily for a lot of those anime's with licensing problems there are a lot of sources online to let you watch them, even if it's a big of a legal grey area. Still the fact they are not official, and wont' be on things like Netflix or Crunchyroll kinds of means most people won't ever hear of them.
The Fundamental Flaw of Philosophy tells us "Whether something is hard means absolutely nothing about whether it's right or wrong". Ultimately Vash stuck to his ideals even if it was proven to him that he cannot keep them perfectly, because he realized that what he wanted to fight for wasn't proven wrong just because Perfect Pacifism is impossible.
Don't you mean absolute pacifism? Because I'm a little confused because pacifism in the field of political philosophy has at least 3 definitions, them being absolute pacifism, which a rejection of all violence, conditional pacifism, which rejects some forms of violence with the exception of self-defense, and pacifism, which sees violence such as war and peace as in-twined. Also, epistemologically speaking, this depends on the definition of pacifism from culture to culture or anthropologically as well. Case in point, a critique of pacifism is only possible if it is defined on what the meaning is.
Outstanding analysis. Kudos for quoting Lewis. There's a novel with another pacifist main character, Daniel Keyes Moran's "The Long Run". I liked it on first reading, and it's got some great ideas and scenes--but in the end, Trent was not a model for the rest of us--he had powers we do not. So does Vash, but he resolves the problem in an entirely different, and much more satisfying way.
Thank you so much for this video. Trigun is a purely humanitarian piece of art work. It is meant to teach us how to be kind and to love one another, but also how to come to terms when we are at odds. Bless everyone involved in the production and prolonging of the trigun legacy
This was an amazing analysis on one of my favorite animes and you actually had me tearing up at the end. God bless you and I hope you have a wonderful life full of LOVE AND PEACE!!!!
You just won yourself a subscriber. What a wonderful, in-depth, and refreshing analysis of my favorite anime. Few people see it for what it is. Thank you so much for this video.
I absolutely loved your review. I like to study theology, and as I watched this show, I recognized that there was something special about it, although I was having trouble summarizing myself. Your review does just that. I loved the quote from Lewis. Mere Christianity is probably my favorite book besides Holy scripture. I’ve often thought about that quote, and how it applies life’s challenges,the example of Trigun really puts that perspective. God help us to always make the best possible choices, pursue holiness, and through God’s mercy and grace - get back up when we fall down. Keep up the good work. Grace to you. By grace alone Through faith alone In Christ alone To God alone be the glory
I pose for you here a question: If a man/woman/child were having their lives threatened, and no action short of the destruction of that threat will save them, would you sit by? Would you not be as responsible, for refusing to do what needs be done, as the one pulling the trigger?
That's the exact thing that Legato, a villain in the show, does to Vash later in the series. Edit: 6:16 in the video is that very scenario you're talking about.
Nah that is always the dumbest excuse ever. It's not equal guilt to not save some one as the person who kills them. That doesn't mean there is no guilt or responsibility, but it's not equal. Thinking like that would only cause insane levels of guilt and stress to the point most people would kill themselves. Thousands if not millions of people die every day, many of which you could of helped. If you thought of all the children you could of fed with the hamburger you threw away or how giving just one more dollar to a charity would of saved a life.... There are more charities and more children than you can ever hope to help. You are only ever responsible for your own actions, and even then you can't always foresee the consequences of them. Using your example say a man is holding up a family at gun point. You rush in and kill him to save the family. Good deed right? Well what if he was providing for his own starving family and now that he will never come home they will die in the streets in despair? You had no idea the back story behind the robber, and it might not of changed your mind either. Do the needs of the guilty give them a right to harm others?
Its really simple....If i have to pull the trigger i will, if i can't save them i just walk away....like a Coward? Yes, but cowards live longer....besides if there was nothing i could do to save them then its not my fault.
This is easily the most inspiring thing I have heard in some time. I think, all these years later, why a girl I used to know tried to get me into this series, why I enjoyed it so much. Thank you. You have given me both a loftier and more reachable goal. 😊
Great analysis!! I watched Trigun in High school and liked it but definitely did not notice the deeper levels you discussed. This video made me appreciate it even more. Hats off to you.
Have not watched this show in years but the ideology with how it is presented in this show is something to behold. I love the take on the Superman trope and how touching inner redemption is handled. Great analysis!!!!!! There are some powerful quotes that I will definitely be bookmarking from you! Keep up the fantastic work!!!!!
I really enjoyed the way you broke this down. I love this anime and the deep themes layered there is. Well done and I look forward to more content like this!
Isn't Vash more like Batman than Superman then? Someone who refuses to kill despite the fact that it causes more harm to society than good, his arch-enemy is someone who wants him to kill and break his moral code, and fights by manipulating and setting up dire scenarios where he'll have to kill to survive.
There is a good argument to be made for that too, but I feel he is closer to superman in terms of how much stronger he is than everyone else. He could literally wipe out the planet even by accident of he isn't careful, so the dilemma is less...will he lose? And more...will he lose himself?
Hes both in essence. A god like being who could destroy the planet without a grain of effort who tries to never break his moral code by choosing to never kill regaurdless or how evil or how dispicable the actions the individual has commited, even if others end up dying because of this.
Superman also refuses to kill after Zod, and it unquestionably causes more harm to society than good, and he has numerous enemies that play off of that. Max Lord comes to mind. Batman vs Joker may be a more well known version of the story, but it's Superman's dilemma as well.
They're similar and polar opposites as well. Batman is driven by vengeance and is literally psychotic - he's as crazy as the villains he puts away and enjoys beating them to within an inch of their life. Vash is a true pacifist in that he tries to avoid conflict wherever possible but fails because seems motivated by love and an insane attachment to the idealism of Rem. While Batman has his "no-kill" rule (which doesn't apply to non-humanoid aliens), he doesn't care much for any of the people he meets or the villains he puts away.
I remember viewing this anime as a kid, it actually changed my view of life, and kind of "broke something" in me at first, I tought so deeply on many things and really opened my mind in terms of all the different ways people see and feel everything
A little late to the video your analysis was fantastic also watching some of the most climactic moments of the show seriously gave me goosebumps I love the message of the show of purpose and morals
Damn... You took my personal role model from one of my favorite animes of all time and gave me a window into it I had missed despite or perhaps because of my love for the series. Something I needed to hear at this point in my life. Giving my best and not getting where I want to be may be because I am 'dreaming of Ren' as opposed to accepting that I'm making the best decisions I can as I continue to walk towards the best solution I have in front of me. Thank you for opening this up for me.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING THIS ANIME THE ATTENTION IT FUCKING DESERVES I LOVE YOU Edit: I'm so sorry that comment was on impulse after watching your opening but now that I've seen the entire video I must say you deserve FAR more subscribers than you have. Your sense of character building and story telling is fantastic and while you didn't touch on everything, like Wolfwood's journey, the final battle with Knives, etc, but given what you DID provide and how BEAUTIFULLY you touched on it, I loathe the fact I didn't find this sooner. Your video made me so openly, my good dude. I'm subbed. I await anything else you put out, will probably check out that Smash video next
You're way too kind! And yeah I wanted so much to talk about knives and wolf wood but I decided to focus on Vash's pacifism for now so that maybe people who go to watch the show will still have something to surprise them!!! I am so grateful you enjoyed this video! I'm still new to the analysis game and my next set of videos are a little different than this because I have a tradition of reviewing every game book and anime I went through in the year...once I finish that though I'm planning on diving full bore into more analysis! Also if you want more content somewhat like this from me I do suggest either my "dallen malna reviews" playlist or better yet my "stories that matter" playlist. Thank you again so much for the subscription and I'll do my best to earn your views!
Holy hell Dude, this is gold. Never quite thought of the philosophical aspects of this show, as I watched it before I really dove into those aspects of shows i watched.
@@flashvincent1021 Was it? I don't remember him having a knife before, and the actual scene is not really clear enough to tell through the images. But I'll take this to be at least as possible as a rock. Either way, it was definitely not a gun.
I suggest Outlaw Star. As far as space things go it is far far superior to Cowboy Bebop. Robotech is also a classic series that frankly started most of the American anime.
Such a great vid from you. You taught me the idea of pacifism in Vash and how we people can adapt it in our lives. Saying from the 1st year philosophy college student thanks for a lesson you brought out from this masterpiece anime. May the god bless you.
I watched the first episode a few years ago, was disappointed by the lolsorandom humour, and never watched another episode... Until seeing your video here. Watched the next five episodes recently; really enjoying it. Thanks for giving me reason to watch this further and see the depth behind the show's goofy exterior!
Yeah that first bit really does just seem very "WOAH ZANY AMIRITE?!" But I think it does a good job getting you to accept the "normal" state of the characters so the dark turn can hit that much harder
I know it's a huge classic but It's still on my "plan to watch list" haha it's very hard to stay up to date with the latest anime, so going back to your history book is even harder haha great video man keep up the good work 👌
I'm not a huge anime guy. But I implore you... WATCH THIS SERIES. I watched it in my formative years, when I was going through some really, REALLY dark times. It truly helped to mold the very basis of my morality in ways that I can't properly quantify or justify through meaningless RU-vid comment. Seriously... make some time for it, my man.
Anime that came to the states in the 90's and early 2000's was amazing. Very few titles hit store shelves, those that actually made it seemed to always be the best of the best. Now we are drowning under a sea of mediocrity. Even when we find amazing new shows, they end up being dead or discontinued. One set up "season" of 12 episodes and then nothing ever again. Trigun was amazing not only because how well it tackled complex topics while having amazing humor but it also told a complete story with new characters and an original world in something like 26 episodes. It was designed to be complete after basically one full season. Newer shows tend to plan some epic 200 episode mega series like One piece, and then cancel it even if the manga keeps on going. I will say the tendency of Anime to shift drasitcally in tone was always a scary thing though. Trigun, Eva, Full Metal Alchemist and so many other shows start off light and happy and then turn extremely dark and gritty. It made watching them almost depressing at times with little to no warning of such dark themes were comming.
this analysis was really well done. great job man. you tackled some aspects i didn’t catch on my own. i notice your channel is very small but the quality of this video doesn’t show it. i love the love and peace bit at the end. a request for a future video would be neon genesis evangelion
Eva is so hard to tackle but I will likely get around to it once the final film releases. I'm a little nervous to ever make that video because while I love eva I think i love it for wildly different reasons than most people. Still, stick around once that final film comes out and I'll give it my best^^ My next couple of videos are well overdue year recaps. But after that ill get back to analysis. I've been thinking about tackling Disney's Beaty and the Beast believe it or not XD. Either way thank you so much for the comment!
I love your analysis of this awe inspiring series. Even though I have watched it for free I bought the series to show support. Can you dissect the philosophical themes in Ergo Proxy by episodes please. It will be heavy stuff but rewarding nonetheless. Keep up your cool work man
You said "he doesn't even fire his gun until the fifth episode," but if you watch closely on the first episode, after the girls are kidnapped by the big mohawk guy, Vash comes to save them and ends up tumbling down a hill towards them. You can just barely catch a glimpse of two bullets flying off of him to cut the ropes and allow the girls to run. The scene is shown again in a later episode as Meryl recalls when they first met Vash.
You're absolutely correct! I should have specified "he doesn't even fire his gun at an opponent until the fifth episode," but whatcha gonna do? Thanks for pointing out that little detail though! I hope you enjoyed the video even with my mistake!
Whoo Hooo!!! Love and Peace! "Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else." (1 Thessalonians 5:15) Fave anime by far.
vash is one of the most influential characters in my life. It's the idea I always want to strive for when it comes to everyone, so much is determined by circumstance when it comes to the types of people that come to be I don't see anyone with the moral authority to invalidate another's life no matter what they are or what they have done, and I know that I would likely succumb to emotional rage if something were to happen to the loves in my life by another's actions, that cannot however invalidate the idea behind such a idea.
That was beautiful, just like Trigun. The manga intensifies the philosophies present in the anime even further and is my all-time favorite story. Have you seen The Irresponsible Captain Tylor? You might find Tylor just as interesting as Vash. I tend to liken Vash to Jesus and Tylor to the Buddha. They are two of my all-time favorite characters.
LOVE AND PEACE! Trigun and FSN double up as the greatest super hero stories of all time. Vash takes it much further than Shirou though in his devout pacifistic ideal.
