Trigun Bookclub: pancake-breakfast: Trigun Volume 1: Chapter 4

Back to the Trigun Bookclub Archive

Original Tumblr Post: Chapter 4

It’s late and I’m tired… but I wanna get through another chapter or two of Trigun for @trigunbookclub before I sleep, so here it goes!

Stream-of consciousness thoughts for Trigun Vol. 1, Chapter 4 below. (More detailed thoughts will be their own posts.)

Chapter 4: Bang! Bang!

I love this soft close-up of Vash’s face with the screentone on it at the beginning.
I mean, when you’re already used to being hunted, having a mountain of cash on you just makes you a bigger target. But the bounty’s been cleared, so I hope he keeps enough on hand for emergencies.
Eyyyy, it’s Kuroneko! Let that cat have a salmon sandwich, too!
Vash looks SO ANNOYED that he now has permanent babysitters. Meanwhile, Meryl is just like, “Oh, I’m getting paid for this, so it’s whatever.”

Vash is indeed a sneaky sneak. He’s had a lot of practice.
Hahahahaha, I remember this scene with the tracking device from the ’98 anime. Dear, sweet, airhead Milly….
But one thing I didn’t notice in the anime was Vash GAVE the sandwich with the tracking device to the cat. Nice try, ladies, but that weird blond man isn’t as dumb as he looks. ~~And he can look pretty freaking dumb sometimes.~~
I love the little pi-pi-pi noise from the tracking device starting off all slow and then getting busier and busier as they get closer to it. Like, Nightow’s tendency to just chaos up his scenes can be frustrating sometimes, but sometimes, it’s also beautiful.
Kinda wish Stampede took a bit more time to explain the steamers as a function of society… but I’ll let it slide.
Speaking of Stampede… it didn’t occur to me that the steamer didn’t think twice about a small car following it due to the caravan nature of the trip. Not sure if Stampede did away with that or rendering a bunch of cars and then trying to figure out what to do with them in that scene would have been an animation pain in the ass.
Love the chaos between Milly and Meryl trying to figure out how they’re gonna make their way on the sand steamer with Vash just… calmly making his way to the ticket booth here.

Never trust small children with secrets…
I love how the guy from the steamer isn’t slightly concerned that having Mr. The Stampede onboard might bring trouble to their trip. Instead, he’s like, “Man, why NOT get this dangerous terror of a man who, until just recently, had a huge bounty on his head to guard the ship? This will ABSOLUTELY be profitable and not disastrous in any way!”
Are the townsfolk trying to get him too drunk to leave??
He sure is doing his best to make them happy, isn’t he?
Funny how much less stressed people are when they don’t have to worry about their basic needs. /s
I LOVE how quickly Vash is like, “Oh, you tried to capture and/or kill me earlier? Water under the bridge!” He knows the townsfolk were desperate. At least one person actively apologized to him during the whole debacle. And he’s wise enough to understand that it really, truly wasn’t personal so much as it was the actions of people backed into a corner and not sure how to get free.
I’ve noticed a lot of the sound effects done in Overhaul aren’t translated (which… as someone who’s fiddled with translation themselves, I can think of several good reasons for, so not a criticism), so I’m just gonna note that the untranslated panel here is raucous laughter. It literally reads, “Wahahaha wahahahaha,” which we can surmise from the surrounding context is laughter from the Vash Go-Away Party bleeding out of the building and into the night.

I’m glad the townsfolk are enjoying themselves together with Vash. I’m glad Vash is enjoying himself together with the townsfolk.
I have thoughts on the whole scene with Vash and the whores.
(BTW, I headcanon Vash as demisexual sex-positive ace. Like, he doesn’t fall in love often or without deep connection and he’s clearly not sex-motivated, but if he actually manages to end up in a relationship and sex is something his SO wants, he’s gonna do his darndest to make sure they’re happy in bed.)
Look at that steamer just… going off to the horizon. And the kids waving enthusiastically at Vash as he leaves.
LOL, that’s a sendoff right there. “Don’t cause trouble, kids! *immediately vomits*”
Just leave him alone, Ship Guy. Vash just wants to rest and maybe not bring attention to himself for a bit.
Vash can definitely turn on the charm and handle a crowd… but I swear, this man’s an introvert through and through. He’s had enough people-ing and needs to be in his bubble for a bit.
Hahahahahaha, so I guess the fans get to know that, whatever else Vash has going on in his pants, he can definitely use a urinal with it. ~~I realize this means nothing, but felt the need to document it for posterity.~~

I love the censored swearing immediately followed by actual swearing.
I mean… the joint lock might not restrict its victim’s movement much when the person’s in the air, but with decent form, you can still do some serious damage. (This child does NOT have decent form.)
I do appreciate the reference to the aunt being an abusive drunk. That sort of thing doesn’t come up much.
Aaaaand we’re getting into the SA references already. Preeeetty sure they dropped that line from ’98.
~~I know the kid’s lying. I’ve seen the anime. But still.~~
Pffft, this kid thinks he could kill Vash the Stampede….
Thing is… Vash probably DOES understand, all things considered. And whether or not he buys the kid’s story, he’s definitely the type who would sooner give the benefit of the doubt even at risk of being taken advantage of than cast off someone who’s been in that situation because he doubts the veracity of their statements. Like, he might be blowing of Ship Guy, but the moment anything happens (if anything happens), Vash will let himself get dragged into it amazingly quick. Even when he doesn’t have to.
(I probably should pull that last bullet out and do a separate, more detailed post, but I’m not gonna because sleep beckons and I can SEE the end of the chapter.)
Ship guy sure treats his dish staff different than his potential hired bodyguards. Rude of him.
With the exception of that one scene, I actually think ’98 did a pretty good job adapting this chapter.
In retrospect, the title of this chapter is kinda hilarious, as I’m pretty sure the only thing that went “bang bang” was that metal bit falling on Vash’s face.

Back to the Trigun Bookclub Archive