Trigun: Wolfwood

— by John Yung

Follow-up to the previous review in EX 5.5

Nightow Yasuhiro calls his creation a "deep space planet future gun action," and TRIGUN: WOLFWOOD, the third domestic volume of the animated adaptation of Nightow's work, fits that description to a T. For more details on the background of this series, EX had an extensive introduction to TRIGUN in issue 5.2's feature article, and we also ran a review of the first volume in the same issue.
The first episode on this DVD, "And Between the Wasteland and Sky," continues where the story left off at the end of TRIGUN: LOST PAST. Vash, Meryl and Millie are trapped aboard a hijacked desertliner transport heading for disaster.
The next episode, "Murder Machine," serves as the introduction of a new character to the main cast. Nicolas Wolfwood claims to be a wandering preacher who is on a mission to rescue orphans from the desert, but the large cross he carries is more than it seems. Wolfwood isn't the subject of the episode's title; that actually refers to something ancient, dangerous and hidden under the sands...
"Quick Draw" rounds out the collection of episodes on this DVD, and it revolves around a gunfighters shooting contest, which, of course, our heroes Vash and Wolfwood enter. When the contest organizers discover Vash in the list of entrants, they start thinking about collecting a bounty that's worth much more than the contest prize.
In WOLFWOOD, TRIGUN continues to deliver thrilling action tempered with plenty of humor. We are still no closer to getting the answers to the mysteries surrounding Vash, and now we find a new enigma in Nicolas Wolfwood. The lack of answers isn't too tantalizing, since the other elements of the show provide plenty of distraction. The animation quality is average for a TV series, but the direction is well done. The background music should start sounding familiar to viewers who have been watching since the beginning of the series, but it is well matched to the scenes. The subtitles are clear and concise enough to be read quickly, but it's the English voice acting that's a pleasant surprise. Kudos to the actors for delivering a performance worthy of their Japanese counterparts.
The quality of this DVD is quite outstanding. The video transfer seems crisp and clear, and the soundtracks have the proper mix levels for the voice acting, sound effects and music. The menus are designed to look like those old western wanted posters, which is stylish and appropriate for this series. However, the scene access menu is sort of confusing to use because the bullet hole used as the selection indicator is on the left-hand side of the current selection, whereas it appears on the right-hand side in the main menu. That's my the only complaint about this otherwise exceptional DVD (and admittedly a minor one since not everybody will use the scene access menu).
There are a couple of extras on this DVD; both of which are galleries. One gallery features still images from the episodes on the DVD. The other gallery contains mechanical production drawings of just about every weapon used in TRIGUN. The fine details of the line drawings in the weapons gallery don't quite survive the transition to video, but you can still see enough detail to appreciate the Madhouse staff's obsession with mechanical draftsmanship.
TRIGUN is an entertaining series, and WOLFWOOD is a shining example. The story is running full-tilt, even if it actually won't hit its full stride until the next volume where we start getting some answers. This is an unusual approach for building up the plot, but if you've watched the series this far, you're sure to get a big bang out of the remaining episodes.

Released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) LP
75 mins
Dubbed VHS, PIMT-0003D, $24.98
Sutitled VHS, PIMT-0003S, $29.98
Bilingual DVD, PIMT-0003V, $29.98
Available now in the USA
Where to buy