Copyright © 1998 Nightow Yasuhiro / SHONEN GAHO-SHA, TOKUMA SHOTEN, JVC

I can describe the domestic release of TRIGUN for you with three words: fast, frenzied and fun.
TRIGUN is an action-packed comedy that comes fully locked and loaded with furious firefights and goofy humor. The plots are clever, the animation is stylish and the gags are gut-busting. Trust me, TRIGUN is good, good, good.
Based on the manga by Nightow Yasuhiro, this show follows the exploits of the gangly gunslinger Vash the Stampede in a futuristic Wild West setting. Vash has the reputation of being the "Humanoid Typhoon," a horrifying creature that leaves a swath of death and destruction in its path. But, in fact, Vash is really just a skinny, silly cowpoke who has a knack for fighting criminals without killing anybody.
He is continually underestimated, especially by Millie and Meryll, the two female insurance investigators who are assigned to observe Vash and account for the damage he causes. Even by the end of the fourth episode, the women still can't accept the fact that the clumsy geek they're following is really the infamous Humanoid Typhoon. Time after time, they are astonished by his ability to find trouble, then save the day with plenty of property damage yet no loss of life.
Much of the humor of TRIGUN naturally revolves around Vash's histrionics. Unsurprisingly, he is something of a peeping tom and all-too-easily falls in love with the next pretty face. His scrawny frame and ridiculous movements, whether he's dodging bullets or dancing, provides lots of visual jokes. However, the most hilarious moments of TRIGUN come from the delightful and incredibly expressive contortions that appear on each character's face. Whether expressing shock, pain or joy, these funny faces provided me with a lot more laughs than the somewhat predictable facial distortions found in other anime. (Oh, and be sure to watch for the completely random cameo appearances by one super-cute little cat!)
All these visual jokes are made possible by TRIGUN's slick animation. This fine presentation allows the characters to be highly expressive and distinctive, and it also makes the action tremendously fast-paced and fluid. As you might imagine, the character's various weapons are rendered in marvelous detail. The animators also enjoyed themselves depicting what happens to a variety of objects as they get blown to bits in a blaze of gunfire (card tables, jukeboxes, entire saloons, etc.)
TRIGUN's music is stylish as well. The background music is almost entirely guitar-based, running the gamut from the opening hard rock riffs to gloomy country-and-western twangs to the occasional upbeat banjo.
I viewed the English dub version, and while the dub was probably the weakest component of TRIGUN, it was still not entirely unpleasant. Vash's voice was a bit of a surprise to me at first; I was expecting Clint Eastwood but instead I got more of Keanu Reeves as a surfing cowboy. This eventually grew on me though, especially since Vash is all about misleading appearances, and the voice actor really cut loose during Vash's hysterical fits. Millie and Meryll were convincingly cast, and the repeated interchanges of deadpan "Hello!/Hello!" between Vash and Millie were quite funny. The only voices that were in any way disappointing were the not-quite-Texan drawls of the assorted villainous henchmen (but bad guys always seem to be given the cheapest talent in English dubs because they just don't get to talk much before they are beaten down.)
Finally, there is one more good thing about this TRIGUN release—you get four whole episodes, 100 minutes of great entertainment. So, if you like shows with excellent animation and wacky humor, do anything short of breaking the law to get your hands on TRIGUN. With three times the action and comedy of most other anime released domestically, TRIGUN is a target you don't want to miss!

Released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment (U.S.A.) L.P.
VHS, 100 minutes
Dub PIMT-001D
$24.98 (Dub) $29.98 (Sub) Available now in the U.S.A.
Where to buy