Trigun Bookclub: pancake-breakfast: Trigun Maximum Volume 10: Covers + Chapter 1-3

Back to the Trigun Bookclub Archive

Original Tumblr Post: Covers + Chapter 1-3

Of course we’d be going through this volume on the week of my birthday. Why the hell not.

We’ll see how far I get because I am le tired.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 10, Chapters 1-3 below.

Table of Contents

Volume 10 Covers

Gods, the fact that the only color on here aside from the title is the blood and the tiniest bit of skin tone really creates an impact. Also, I WONDER WHICH CHARACTER IS GONNA FEATURE HEAVILY IN THIS VOLUME HMMMMMMM???
Aaaand then we get the blow-up doll. Effect ruined. Also, for the record, she’s saying, “Sayonara.” As a Banana Fish fan… let’s just say this is giving me a lot of conflicting feels.
This back cover sucks. No, I will not elaborate.
Wow, full frontal on the blow-up doll? Damn.
These chapter titles suck, too. Again, not elaborating.
Kuroneko’s in the shadow of a Punisher. Ominous.

Chapter 1: Delusion

I popped the Jujutsu Kaisen soundtrack on in the background while I go through this, and I think the song it’s currently playing is far too peppy for this volume. I’d change it, but it’s JJK so there’s really no need. It’ll get there.
Ugh, Wolfwood’s in bad shape.
Interesting choice of Razlo for the cover image given the title.
TBH, Wolfwood is lucky Chapel’s pretty hellbent on making sure Wolfwood’s learned his lesson or he’d be full of too much lead to have conscious thoughts right now.
And of course, with his head swimming, Wolfwood’s thinking of Vash.

It’s like Wolfwood’s using Vash’s accusation to drive himself forward, like he’s taking this moment to prove Vash wrong, to hold onto hope in spite of everything.
This is actually a very nice reflection of the conversation Wolfwood and Vash had after Wolfwood killed Rai-Dei. It’s not actually about whether they know for sure things could turn out for the better. It’s about not giving up hope that it’s possible.

Chapel gets it. He hates and rejects it, but he’s picking up what Wolfwood’s putting down.
Hahahahaha, Wolfwood doesn’t even let him finish. He’s had enough of Chapel’s shit. That’s right, my dude.
Ohhh, the composition here. How Wolfwood, covered in blood and shadow, bent before his old master, still dominates the page while Chapel only gets the bottom fourth. How even though Chapel’s looking down at Wolfwood, it puts Wolfwood in the position of power and authority, as if Wolfwood were the one looking down at him and Chapel were looking down at… what? Maybe his own shortcomings, but certainly not at Wolfwood.

Chapel tells Wolfwood he won’t succeed, but this really shows how little he’s actually listening to Wolfwood. Wolfwood literally just told him that it doesn’t matter and that he has no regrets about the choices he’s made here today, success or no.
Dude, Chapel, if you’re so determined not to let it slip away, you’d have already shot him. But you’re too busy preaching.
Surprise Razlo! He looks… happy.

Dammit, Razlo! You’ve got a weird way of saving people.
Also, seems like Chapel doesn’t agree with this plan.
Ohhh, this is cruel. For all the noise Chapel made about Raz taking Wolfwood down, he clearly just wanted Wolfwood to suffer through having to fight Livio.

For some reason, I think Raz would just see Wolfwood’s progressively increasing ability as a challenge. The only reason he might consider this a threat is because it comes from Chapel.
Why don’t they just break or steal the vials? I doubt Wolfwood could stop them right now.
Ugh, pointy Punisher to the chest…
Wait, is Chapel gonna butcher the ones Wolfwood loves one by one and then kill him, or is he gonna kill him here and now? He can’t have both.

Chapter 2: Sworn Friend

Ugh, watching Wolfwood squirm in pain under Chapel’s gun….
Raz looks genuinely disappointed at this outcome. Not like, “Aw, man. I don’t get to fight him more.” Like, he genuinely didn’t want things to turn out quite like this.

Whooooo is the sworn friend? Livio? Vash??? Wolfwood could really use Vash about now. Pity Wolfwood ran off without telling him. Stupid baka man.
He did know, Raz. And he decided it was worth the potential cost. He decided that he wanted to protect and what he wanted to be was worth that cost.
An obsessive sense of attachment? Who else have we seen with that? Maybe someone else who uses their own attachment levels to demand reciprocation from the very few they’ve attached themselves to? Hmmmmmmm, I wonder….
Who’s being slated for execution? Livio/Razlo? Seems like Livio/Razlo.
WTF, Chapel just shot himself??
Yeah, it’s L/R.
No wonder Raz is so dedicated to Chapel. I doubt anyone has treated him like he had such value before this. Or after, for that matter.
Yeah….

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here. Did more of Chapel’s goons pull the hostages out of the orphanage, or did they somehow get out on their own?
Good on Miss Melanie for recognizing Wolfwood in spite of everything. Although I imagine it might be a bit easier for Wolfwood if she didn’t.
Man, they really are clueless about what happens to these children when Eye of Michael picks them up.
Dude, he’s gonna have Razlo hunt them down?? Smart move for hurting Wolfwood. It’s actually markedly worse than Chapel killing them himself.
Mad props to this woman for being like, “No, we’re not playing your stupid chase game. I will literally protect these kids with my life.” She’s clearly terrified herself, but she’s no fool.

Chapel, you dumb shit. A master who beats his dog will still get bit even if he provides the dog with the best food a dog could want. Eventually, no amount of compensation is enough to continue enduring the pain.
Freaking called it. Pity Chapel figured it out, too.

These upside-down panels from Wolfwood’s perspective. Lovely. It really emphasizes Wolfwood’s disorientation, the idea that his whole world is being turned on its head. Again. And it makes him feel small, being looked down on by a familiar face the way he once was.
Have I mentioned recently that Chapel’s a sick fuck? ‘Cause Chapel’s a sick fuck.
Gods, this woman. She doesn’t cringe from him or hate on him or try to protect the other children from him. She just sadly, kindly chastises him the way a loving mother would if she found her child had skinned his knee after falling out of a tree she specifically told him not to climb, but that he climbed anyway to save a stuck.kitten. And it shakes Wolfwood to his core in the best way it could.
The effect this exchange is having on Raz is serious, tho. Can’t wait to see how the cards fall there.
I take it back, she’s not even truly chastising him. She’s thanking him for coming home. She’s telling him he’s a good son and whatever else he might have done wrong in the meantime, it doesn’t matter because oh shit he’s the prodigal son who was lost and now he’s found, who was dead, and now he’s alive again, and in spite of everything she just loves him soooo soooo much. You can’t convince me she wouldn’t run up to him and throw her arms around him and call for a fattened calf to be killed in honor of his return if she could. They may be poor, starving orphans, but if he makes it through this, she will prepare a feast in honor of his return. Dammit, all y’all are gonna compel me to break down all these Bible references in separate posts, aren’t ya.
Wolfwood, you dumbass. Have some grace for yourself. It’s ok. Even with your regrets. You can accept her gesture of love.

THAT’S RIGHT YOU SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT VASH YOU IDIOT. Gods, I just want to take him and shake him right now. Smack him. He’s gonna fucking bleed out, get tortured, and die, all because he didn’t ask Vash to help. Freaking pointless. Idiot.
Sorry, I’m trying to contain myself, but I’m having a lot of feels right now. I’d say I’ll calm down, but this is only chapter freaking two of this volume, so that seems unlikely.
Yeah! Steal ’em, Nick! You got a plan! Do it do it do it!
YEAH STEAL THEM WITH YOUR TEETH YOU BEAST!!!
Why does Chapel even have vials on him if he can’t use them? Did he steal these from Wolfwood in a panel and I just missed it??
Uhhhh, what’s flying overhead there? If that’s the ark, I might have to stab something because I was told this would play out a certain way and I hope to God I was told wrong. We have quite enough going on here with just Chapel, thanks.
Lucky for you, Wolfwood, Nightow is writing this story, and because of that, it ain’t that kinda story. It hasn’t been up to this point, and it would be a bit of a betrayal of the narrative for it to switch gears now.

Someone shot a bullet. But who?
Ok, for reference, the sound effect in the white space here (チリンチリチリリリニ, “chirin chiri chiriririni”) is the sound of the bullet casing falling on the ground and, presumably, rolling off somewhere.

VASHU ZA STAMPIIIIIDOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Gods, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see this man. I don’t think Wolfood has, either. Love this entrance. Beautifully dramatic, starting with the gun on the right and then the 3/4 spread that’s just DOMINATED by the close-ups of his feathers absorbing the bullets. Ohhh, thank God it was Vash showing up. For now. For now. I know it’s just for now. But I WILL TAKE WHAT I CAN GET.

Is it just me or is Wolfwood smiling around the vial in his mouth? He’s definitely shocked. I’m so happy for him. I could kiss them both right now.

Chapter 3: Sudden Change

HE CAME BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT YOU, YOU IDIOT!!! Don’t lose focus! You guys have a job to do! You can question him later, probably!
Vash fully and confidently wielding his abilities is just so beautiful. Like, right now, he doesn’t fear who or what he is. He knows, he accepts, and he’s decided that he gets to define how it’s used. Not Knives. Not anyone else. Just him. And he’s gonna use it to protect.
*coughs in Vashwood* Love makes idiots of us all, does it not?

Raz’s WTF reaction is beautiful and entirely understandable. If a literal angel suddenly jumped, wings out, in between me and someone else, I’d say that, too, even if I wasn’t actively trying to kill the other person.
No, Raz. I see that look on your face. This isn’t a game. Let it go, man. Just walk away. You can do it. Just. Walk. Away.
NO NO NO, YOU GO BACK IN YOUR CRATE RIGHT THIS INSTANT RAZ!! *baps him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper*
Oh, honey. Chapel just told you that Wolfwood could take you out. You’re worthless against Vash.
Wolfwood, do you not have use of your arms anymore? Please spit that out and drink some vial juice. You don’t know where that thing’s been and you’ve had it in your mouth for like five minutes.
Huh. I think… maybe… Chapel didn’t notice Wolfwood took the vials. At the very least, his attention seems more Vash-focused at the moment.
LOL, *CRUNCH* I guess that’s one way to do it. Why worry about a bunch of tiny glass cuts when you’re about to heal big-ass bullet wounds. I guess I should have expected this given how frequently Stampede Wolfwood chomps down on glass.

Gods, I hope that’s not the sound of him eating ALL the vials….
Chapel’s realized something’s amiss.
Wolfwood. My boy. My man. Pleeeeaaaase don’t be more dumb about this than you’ve already been.
Has Vash fired his own gun even once yet?
Heh.

Did… Wolfwood just headbutt the shit out of Chapel?? Buddy, I’m already questioning your intelligence. Please don’t make yourself dumber than you already are.
Aaaand Razlo’s been distracted by a flying Chapel. Heh.
Oh, honey. Let him go. He’s a really, really shitty master. Trust me on this.
I wonder if these two leftover guys are gonna get used as human chaff, too….
Interesting that Wolfwood goes for his own Punisher rather than just steal Chapel’s.
Aaaand he puts his glasses on. Taking back the upper hand Matrix-style.
Vash, answering Wolfwood’s unspoken prayers again. What’s more, he’s gotta know Wolfwood’s gonna kill Chapel, but instead of trying to negotiate or anything, he’s doing what he needs to do to give Wolfwood the peace of mind to finish the job.

LOL, Miss Melanie and the orphans all just staring at Vash like, “Who the crap is this weird angel guy??”
Duuuuuude, Vash just called him “Nicholas.” He doesn’t do that. He calls him Wolfwood. But they call him Nicholas, so by using the familiar name, he adds veracity to his claim.
Thank God Chapel’s finally dead. But wait, that means the person Wolfwood is prepping to kill is…. No wonder he doesn’t want them watching. No wonder he looks genuinely afraid.
Oh, Raz. You don’t have to be alone. You never had to be alone.

I wonder who’s speaking here. Vash? It lacks Wolfwood’s twang.

Dang, that’s a callback.
Ah, so this is definitely Vash’s perspective.
Vash seems torn between trying to protect the kids and Miss Melanie from what’s about to happen and wanting to protect Wolfwood.
Did they just dodge their own attackers to attack the attackers attacking the other person? Because that sounds like something they’d do and looks like maybe it’s what’s happening, but eh, action panels in manga.

Ha! Yus! It’s all different when they’re fighting back to back with each other.
I just realized I’m way too relaxed about everything for how many chapters are left in this volume. Ehhhhhhhhhh…
Gods, they’re so perfectly in sync. Foolish Wolfwood for forgetting this. If he’d remembered, he would have just brought Vash with him instead of putting himself in a position where he had to wait for Vash to catch up.
I just <3 them sm….

Gods, this is such a lover’s spat.
LOL, Wolfwood’s love language is still violence.
Hahahahaha, this is all… just… lovely. Vash sucks at saying what’s on his heart. Wolfwood also sucks at saying what’s on his heart. They both just suck at this so much. And then Wolfwood called Vash old and incompetent, and Vash is now simultaneously shocked, repentant, and dead.

Good, at least I get to end on a high note tonight.

Back to the Trigun Bookclub Archive