Trigun Bookclub: pancake-breakfast: Trigun Maximum Volume 8: Covers + Chapter 1-2

Original Tumblr Post: Covers + Chapter 1-2

We’re already to volume 8? *incoming trauma panic intensifies*

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 8, Chapters 1-2 below.

Table of Contents

TriMax Volume 8 Covers

Goshdarnit, that bird-man better not be losing his prosthetic again. Those things can’t be easy to come by.
LOL, he looks so serene in the fake cover. I’m guessing he supposedly dramatically threw the rose, but I just wanna think Wolfwood is wearing a tiny rose on top of that overblown mane Nightow gave him here. They’re definitely shojo characters now.

Knives, just kinda… peeking nto the back cover there.
Is it just me or did Meryl and Milly grow their hair out a bit again?
LOL, Legato getting eaten by a fish on the back cover. He deserves it.
Ooh, a spinoff chapter? I’m down.
Also, someone needs to update Kuroneko’s flea meds, I think. She’s scratching a lot. Do they have fleas on this planet? ~~I imagine they’re just more worms.~~

Oh, Nightow, with your angled horizon lines….
This guy with the beard reminds me of a badger for some reason.
Uhhhh… what’s happening here? Is this the arc taking off?
But… like… wasn’t the arc (and where they met Knives and all) somewhere deep in Eye of Michael territoriy?
I wonder who’s invading what?
LOL, Vash wakes up and just… goes about doing his routines, I see. Not gonna let the whole LACK OF AN ARM stop him.

Oh, shit, no. It’s Legato doing this. That’s bad. That’s very, very bad.
Thanks to Vash? Thanks to Vash?! Vash wasn’t the one who crashed all the humans into a desolate planet, forcing the humans to rely even more heavily on Plants than they likely planned to. Vash isn’t the one who murdered a bunch of Plants in that same Fall. Vash isn’t the one assimilating them into part of his being with no thought for whether or not it’s their will.
THAT’S RIGHT, VASH. YOU TELL HIM. STAND UP FOR YOURSELF, BABYGIRL!!!

Ohhh, that looks painful. Legato didn’t care for Vash’s line of talk, I guess.
And Knives, great brother that he is, allows it. Because Vash needs to be punished until he understands Knives’ point of view, apparently. ‘Cause that’s how that works.
Wolfwood, buddy, you look like you need some serious shut-eye.

Knives says this is a war, but he’s framing it like it’s just gonna be a massacre of his own design. And he’s way too happy about it.
What’s this Federation now?
Oh, that’s bad news for them. That looks like… Wolfwood, Livio, and the other guy who’s name I can nemver remember. Although I’ll honestly be a bit surprised if it’s Wolfwood and not just some EoM rando. Can’t imagine Wolfwood’s gonna be quick to make friends with Wheelchair Guy again anytime soon.
Ah, no. It’s Wolfwood. This could get interesting.
*sigh* Wolfwood…
This all flies in the face of everything Wolfwood’s learned about himself fighting alongside Vash, and Wolfwood knows it. The real question is, now that he doesn’t have Vash at his back, what’s he going to do with that knowledge? We just saw him choose to distract rather than kill with his weaponry, but how long will that last now that he’s back in the clutches of EoM?

Oh, honey. There’s nothing convenient about what’s going through Wolfwood’s head right now. Nightow hasn’t given is the slightest glimpse of it, but… you can just tell. His poise, his look, and his choice not to just murder-death those guys is plenty to show he’s at a crossroads. He’s fought to get here, and he knows there will nasty consequences regardless of which path he chooses.
Ugh, Livio’s making his move first.
Bonus points to Stampede for adapting Livio’s guns well.
Wolfwood is not happy about this.
“There are times where life is harder than death, and that time has just begun.” Foreshadowing much?
Oooh, look at all them plants just… watching.

And, of course, Knives just dismisses him. Because Knives.
Knives isn’t entirely wrong. He’s overlooking that there are ways he and Vash could probably mitigate this if they worked together instead of Knives being so genocide-happy that Vash basically has to dedicate all his life to mitigating that, but yeah.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, Knives. You’re also punishing a lot of people for things they may or may not have done, and may or may not have been content accepting, especially if another way presented itself.
Ohhh, that looks like Vash breaking free of Livio’s control for a moment.
Vash spitting truth here.

Gods, I’m so proud of him. Seems like he couldn’t keep the presence of self the last few times he ran into Knives to say stuff like this. Then again, Knives was too dedicated to setting off his angel arm to really listen much, so that might have something to do with it. Now that Knives has prioritized Vash NOT setting off his arm, he has to hear Vash say stuff.
I wonder if Nightow regretted giving Vash so many scars at this point where he suddenly has to draw them again and again for several pages?
GG twisting Vash’s words there to avoid actually looking at your own issues, Knives. A+ avoidance skills.

CW: Body horror, reference to chattel slavery

Crybaby Livio!
Oooh, old man struck a nerve. Not good. Wolfwood’s shit at hiding his feelings.
Ah, there we go. The orphanage isn’t aware that their numbers are harvested as Eye of Michael recruits. I… could say a lot on a religious group grooming its children to become ideal soldiers, but one only really has to look at the correlation between the U.S. Military and the U.S. Bible Belt to get the gist of it.
Livio cannot betray this guy? That’s strong words. It sounds like Livio was built up to “succeed” where Wolfwood “failed.”
Ah, we have another player on the field.
Ok, who’s saying this? I have no idea who’s saying this. Is it Livio? Is it Wolfwood? Maybe one of the others present in this scene?

Knives, what the hell are you swan diving off to do?
Ohhh, here we go with Knives stealing the plants. ~~Stampede~~ ~~really~~ ~~bumped this element up in the timeline.~~
Oof, these people have been dead for a bit. No worries; in a place like that, they’ll likely mummify before they rot too bad. Kinda like a peat bog but dry.
I hope Knives has a good tank to keep all these plants in and isn’t, say, stuffing them all in his arm like a madman.
Oh, would you look at that. He’s STUFFING THEM ALL IN HIS ARM LIKE A MADMAN. Dammit, Knives.

From what I gather, impalement is a very painful way to die. You usually go from exposure rather than bleeding out unless some kind soul pulls you free.
Oh, ok, Knives is also shoving them all into some sort of mass tank where they’re crammed together like…. Is this supposed to call to mind images of slave ships back when they were a major import to the Americas? Because that’s the vibe I’m getting. I really don’t know how this could be more comfortable for them than their bulbs.
Yeah, somehow I don’t think their warheads are gonna be much of a match for Elandira.
Vash is not having a good… week? I guess it’s been a while now. Legato’s having a time of it, too, since I’m sure Vash is fighting him quite a bit.