Trigun Bookclub: pancake-breakfast: Trigun Volume 2: Chapter 2-4

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Original Trigun Post: Chapter 2-4

Trigun Book Club! Maybe Wolfwood will show up in today’s reading….

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for Trigun Vol. 2, Chapters 2-4 below.

Table of Contents

Chapter 2: Diablo

Ok, Legato Bluesummers is a HUGE problem child, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE his character design. This guy would adore goth fashion.

I wonder who’s decided Vash deserves this particular hell. Also, it’s noteworthy that the fact that they’re sending TWELVE assassins after him (presumably one at a time) suggests they expect at least the first few to fail.
“Anyone in their right mind would keep that man locked up!” Hahahahahahahaha, try it.
Ugh, poor Vash…. He looks so sad and angry… and a bit scary. I’m worried for him.

It would be absolutely understandable if his feelings here were toward the humans unjustly locking him up, but the text goes on to let us know that the primary thing on his mind… the source of all his feelings right now… is Knives.
Flashback time!
Ohhhh, this is a place where ’98 hard deviated, but Stampede stayed the course. ’98 had Vash, Knives, and Rem running around with a handful of other characters back then, but here, it’s just them.
Honestly, I feel like this panel is hitting on more story themes than are immediately apparent.

How sad that loneliness drove her to join Project Seeds. Sad, but understandable.
Oh, Vash, babygirl. Someone hug him.
You know, there’s another character who wears an outfit that looks very similar to this in present day. And it’s not Vash.

Full-on mom mode here in telling them what to do.
Vash looks older in this scene than he did in either anime adaptation.
Obscuring Knives’s face. Smart. Can’t see too much of him until it’s Time.
TBH, Knives’s argument here feels like justification after the fact. Like he needs a reason for everything that just happened to be right despite any elements of it going sideways.
For a pacifist, he sure can rock some serious murderface.
The ease with which he flips from murderface to softboi face is a bit disturbing.
He says this, but babygirl here looks SO TIRED. Whether or not he believes what he’s saying, I think he really needs their kindness right now.
I don’t know what Milly is trying to say/do here, but I wish her the best!

I just want to note that knowing my kana has made the sound effects a LOT more fun for me than they’d be otherwise.
Mmmmmm, something tells me Vash is likely to be out of there before morning. It might be this big guy who just showed up and opened fire, it might not. Who can say?
Oh, honey. Vash is NEVER unarmed. E~~ven when he’s literally missing an arm.~~
Hi, Monev! Thank you for introducing yourself to the class! You can sit down now. There’s an empty seat right over there.
Yeah, the LAST thing Vash needs is to be trying to protect some bystanders against anyone making this level of posturing.
Good question, Monev. I don’t think Vash is quite sure what he’s up against, but he’s clearly not going to underestimate you or take any chances. Not after meeting Legato.
Goshdarnit, the girls are still here.
Yeah, this could get messy.
I feel like Meryl taking a hit here was kind of nodded to in Stampede, where she also rushed in against Monev and nearly got herself killed.
See? Gun arm. Vash is never unarmed.
Annnd he’s no longer chained down, either.
Not sure what’s going on here, but I doubt it will be good for the building.
Yep. Sayonara, windows. We barely knew thee.
What’s wrong, Monev? Looks like you might have bit off more than you can chew.
Oh, man. This end panel, though. Current favorite Vash murder pose.

Something something Hellsing something Alucard something aesthetic inspiration.

Chapter 3: Fragile

(The title makes me think of this song.)
Oof, little Meryl. I’m glad Milly’s taking care of her.
I wish it was apparent who was thinking they can’t let Vash go. I’m guessing it’s Meryl, but that’s based on metagame knowledge.
Iconic Vash pose.

Oof, goodbye, buildings. May you meet up with the windows from the previous chapter in whatever afterlife architecture ends up in.
Ok, this pause, though. This deliberate pause. The way the panels move from Vash shouting as loud as he can, to this almost peaceful pose of his back with the “ooooo” hum being the only indication of movement as he looks at a literal wall, to the GIANT SWISS CHEESE EXPLOSION. That’s such a good build.

Ahhhh, and then this show of him focusing on the next page. People are getting shot, the world is exploding, and his gun is PERFECTLY LEVEL, his eyes are open. He’s watching and waiting like a freaking ambush predator.

Aaaand he’s injured. Darnit.
BUT HE MADE THE SHOT. TWICE. And Monev knows it.
Milly, still trying to help. <3
Heh, Vash might have lost the arm, but he didn’t lose the arm. Hahahahahahahaha
Babygirl, remember the lesson you were trying to impress on Katie in the last volume. Don’t get so caught up in your memories that you forget to be in the moment. The past is already fixed. The moment is where you can do the most good.
Something something it may seem silly something will to survive.
Uhhhh, why are we going to the bank now? Maybe something about that vault being thick and potentially safe?
Dang, we can just follow the blood trail, can’t we?
Oof, trying to reload one-handed like this. Hands shaking. Trying to remember his own potential despite everything.
Uhhh… why was there just a bag of weapons hanging out there? Did Monev put it there earlier? It looks like something you’d find in a video game.
Honestly, this security guard should just take the night off.
Can’t have Trigun without the bigass guns…

Vash is using the door as a shield. Just not the way one would suspect.
Again, with that perfectly steady hand.
Goodbye, Monev tough-guy mask. Hello, knee to the face.
Even after all this, Vash’s resolve immediately cracks when he sees Monev’s genuine fear of dying.
Again, with Rem’s form blending into his and dominating the page. Meanwhile, he’s just a shadow in the corner. Again, with the heavenly imagery of her, where here the only think keeping her from looking like a traditional angel is the lack of wings. But her hair, the way the cloth flows around her, and her whole pose speaks of angel’s flight.

And, shaking, his gun dripping with blood from the force with which he shoved it in Monev’s eye, he comes back to himself. And loses it in an entirely different way.
I love this last panel. It makes Vash seem so small and so alone. At the same time, literally everyone else in the panel aside from Monev is coming toward him to help. He might feel alone, but he’s far from it.

Chapter 4: Scars

Ah, yes. Fragile things do end up with scars, if they don’t break.
Honestly, what Meryl is typing here sounds far more journalistic than insurance agent-y.
She’s starting to realize that, while Vash himself is a nice and gentle soul, there’s a lot about him she doesn’t know. I’m reminded of that quote, “No one will ever know the violence it took to become this gentle.”
(BTW, I’m listening to the Stampede soundtrack and it’s currently playing the version of Knives’s theme with vocals and it’s NOT HELPING.)
(Also, it sounds like SOMEONE is developing a bit of a crush on Mr. The Stampede.)
Monev seems to have grown some respect for Vash.
Ha, they gave this line to Wolfwood in Stampede.

I appreciate Vash’s response. It says a lot about his character. Even when he seems like he’s trusting, he’s generally being far more cautious than people think he’s being.
Quest #1: Complete! You’ve acquired a Coin Half!
*sigh* Everyone’s scared, but he saved them all. But… their concerns aren’t unjustified. If one assassin found him, the others likely will, too. And it’s not like they’d send their biggest guns for Round 1.
You really shouldn’t just walk straight into people’s rooms. Even if you knock. Lucky for everyone he already had pants on.
Ugh, he’s such a mess….
LOL, buddy. I hope that’s not why you’re turning down the opportunity for sex. And… if a partner really cared about you, it’s not like she’d think less of you for them. Hasn’t anyone ever told you chicks dig scars? Good on Meryl for calling him out.

Vash might have initially been put off by them seeing his scars, but now that they have, he doesn’t seem to see a reason to hide them.
I don’t think Vash could live a quiet life if he wanted to. Not with the Gung-Ho Guns hunting him. ~~We’ll not get into Ericks for the time being.~~
This is such a thing, though. I don’t think she would fault him or think any less of him if he never bothered to settle that score. Then again, all things considered, him taking a back seat in all this would kind of be ignoring a ticking time bomb that might undo all she sacrificed for.

Huh, it’s a bit of a surprise they let Monev stay for a few days, too.
There’s something hilarious about Meryl’s roller suitcase in the middle of the desert here.
LOLOLOL, Milly calling out Meryl for her intense interest in Vash.

Milly is a lot more devious than she looks….
Uhhhhh, what’s with the cross? What’s with Vash’s panic?
Ohhhh, shit. Is that Monev??
Yep, it’s Monev. Is… is he still alive??? Crucifixion is specifically designed to 1) be IMMENSELY painful (the spikes are generally hammered not through the palms, where they’d just rip out, but through the nerve bundle that runs up the forearm between the bones, which are holding the majority of your weight), and 2) slowly kill via exposure.
Nooooo, I don’t like this guy alreadyyyyyyy….
I… I don’t think Monev had a home. Not really. Not like the Gung-Ho Guns were gonna welcome him back to the mansion basement. He’d need to make a new path for himself in the world.
Yyyyep, it’s E.G. Mine. Please send him back where you found him. I don’t like him.
Vash, staying focused in this.
TBH, that get-up looks EXTREMELY uncomfortable.
I agree, Vash. I agree. I hope you can dodge this trolley problem with an Option 3.

Hahahaha, Vash manages to disable E.G. before his bag has a chance to drop to below shoulder level.
Howwww. How did he know Legato was watching?!
Oh, good. Legato’s surprised by it all, too. And almost got shot. He’s taking it pretty well, though.
Go for the source of the problem rather than the riffraff it’s kicking up. Wise. Legato doesn’t look pleased by this change of plans. But I think Vash is right to decide this quest is shit.

I feel very Two Cakes-y about manga Monev vs. TriStamp Monev.

(Warning: Spoilers for Trigun: Stampede ahead.)

There are things I like about both. And while TriStamp wrapping Vash directly into his backstory and mucking much more clearly with Monev’s head might be a bit off-putting to some, I appreciated how much more personal they made his arc to Vash. You have all the same elements; a boy betrayed and trained to be a monster, released primarily to cause Vash pain, and then just as it seems he might be saved from everything he’s been through, his life is cut short in a way that does NOT endear Vash to his killer.

But in Stampede, Monev’s arc also holds the full weight of 20 years of Vash being too late. Too late to save the town. Too late to save the boy. To short-sighted to see the consequences of just trying to help. Too slow to save the man.

It makes it hit in a far more meaningful fashion… but I don’t know that it would be right for manga Vash at this point in his story arc. Right now, he needs to recognize and reconcile what he is and isn’t. We’ve seen far more of him being silly than we’ve seen of him being dangerous, and here, we see him leaning into his more dangerous side. Through his arc in the manga, we too must start to ask the questions Meryl asks, and might begin to wonder if, perhaps, the Humanoid Typhoon is far closer to the edge than he immediately appears.

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