timepiececlock (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timepiececlock) wrote2003-08-15 01:26 am
timepiececlock) wrote2003-08-15 01:26 am
Trigun talk.. a bit of a letter to those that grumbled after episode 26.
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Vash: I have one question for you. How does it really feel to kill unarmed innocent people?
Stan: I have a question. How do you feel when you burn your trash?
Vash: Nifty answer, sorry I asked.
------------------------------------
A random letter to those who hated the end of episode 26-
A lot of people I've talked to were unsatisfied with the ending of Trigun. That it was incoclusive and had no resolution. I've always disagreed with that assesment; to me episode 26 ended with a very fitting finish to the series, quite in-character with the writing and the characters and the storyline.
What should an ending do? It should resolve the major conflict of the series. The major conflict of Trigun is not Knives vs. Vash-- peopel who think that will feel disappointed. The major conflict of Trigun is Vash's internal struggle. It's the battle for his soul, between Knives and Rem's memory. Everything in every episode constantly brings up the same question that Vash lives his life by: is it right to hurt others, even if they are not like you. Vash choses to answer "No" to that every time, whereas the world around him-- the planet, the history, the colonists, Knives, Wolfwood-- the world around Vash says "yes." In the end only Meryl, of everyone in Vash's life on the planet, acts as a character shadow for Rem and echoes Vash's initial answer.
What it comes down to is that the show was always about Vash. Much more so than other anime I've seen, Trigun was truly about one person and one person alone. We get many beloved and dramatic sub-characters along the way, from the insurance girls to Wolfwood to Knives, but the themes have always been All!About!Vash. What is most important to Vash as a person? Living a moral life dedicated to the preservation of all life.
Does the ending answer this question?
Let's take a detour for a moment. I'll get back to that question; but this has relevance. You know why I liked the Gung Ho Guns, as villians?
From a story perspective I really really liked the fact that they weren't out to kill Vash. The idea that instead their real mission was simply to cause Vash pain (culminating in Legato's ultimate final act of forcing Vash to execute him) is so much more interesting, and it made for a better storyline for Vash's character, which is what the show is all about.
You have the standard villian group. Their job: kill the hero. You see the hero then defeat them one by one, until he gets to the ringleader and by the end of the story kills him too.
How much more interesting is it to get what you get with Trigun? Standard villain group. Thier job: kill everyone around Vash, and then die as well. So one by one they approach Vash, create a situation, and then make sure that Vash has to watch as people die that he is unable to save. And then, either die by suicide, by someone else, or by the next villian group man come to take your place. Make sure this happens over, and over, and over again. Drive the protagonist to madness and solitude and disillusionment and self-doubt until he loses all direction and becomes an even bigger fucking mess than he was earlier. Exploit him until you force him to turn on his own ideals, of his own volition.
That's what Knives's goal was with Vash-- to forcefully teach him, through Vash's own actions, to that Rem's way of life was the wrong way. After all-- Knives doesn't want Vash dead, Knives wants Vash with him. Because Knives's goal is to convert Vash, not to kill him (and Knives is big into the Fight Club-esque idea that only through being utterly broken and destroyed can Vash be made to see the truth) the main story conflict is still the batlte for Vash's soul: "When all is said and done and Knives has fallen, what does Vash believe in; what does Vash chose?"
The story does give you resolution to that question. The irony of it all is that in the end, Vash does reject Rem's way, the creed he's lived by his whole 133 years. But he doesn't chose in favor of Knives's way either. Instead, we're left with the final shot of Vash looking up into the sunlight, the wounded but still-breathing body of his brother over his shoulder, and Vash resolves that he can live his life for Rem's cause no longer, that he has to make his own way now.
So, who get's Vash's soul? Vash does. Not Rem or Knives. Not "good" or "evil." Instead, Vash turns from both and begins to live his own way. It's taken more than a century, but Vash finally learns the most important lesson of growing up.
How could you not like that ending? It is perfect for Vash's character journey. And plus, there's a very deliberate wink at VashxMeryl, as they come to an understanding before he leaves for the confrontation.
What's not to like.
Vash: I have one question for you. How does it really feel to kill unarmed innocent people?
Stan: I have a question. How do you feel when you burn your trash?
Vash: Nifty answer, sorry I asked.
------------------------------------
A random letter to those who hated the end of episode 26-
A lot of people I've talked to were unsatisfied with the ending of Trigun. That it was incoclusive and had no resolution. I've always disagreed with that assesment; to me episode 26 ended with a very fitting finish to the series, quite in-character with the writing and the characters and the storyline.
What should an ending do? It should resolve the major conflict of the series. The major conflict of Trigun is not Knives vs. Vash-- peopel who think that will feel disappointed. The major conflict of Trigun is Vash's internal struggle. It's the battle for his soul, between Knives and Rem's memory. Everything in every episode constantly brings up the same question that Vash lives his life by: is it right to hurt others, even if they are not like you. Vash choses to answer "No" to that every time, whereas the world around him-- the planet, the history, the colonists, Knives, Wolfwood-- the world around Vash says "yes." In the end only Meryl, of everyone in Vash's life on the planet, acts as a character shadow for Rem and echoes Vash's initial answer.
What it comes down to is that the show was always about Vash. Much more so than other anime I've seen, Trigun was truly about one person and one person alone. We get many beloved and dramatic sub-characters along the way, from the insurance girls to Wolfwood to Knives, but the themes have always been All!About!Vash. What is most important to Vash as a person? Living a moral life dedicated to the preservation of all life.
Does the ending answer this question?
Let's take a detour for a moment. I'll get back to that question; but this has relevance. You know why I liked the Gung Ho Guns, as villians?
From a story perspective I really really liked the fact that they weren't out to kill Vash. The idea that instead their real mission was simply to cause Vash pain (culminating in Legato's ultimate final act of forcing Vash to execute him) is so much more interesting, and it made for a better storyline for Vash's character, which is what the show is all about.
You have the standard villian group. Their job: kill the hero. You see the hero then defeat them one by one, until he gets to the ringleader and by the end of the story kills him too.
How much more interesting is it to get what you get with Trigun? Standard villain group. Thier job: kill everyone around Vash, and then die as well. So one by one they approach Vash, create a situation, and then make sure that Vash has to watch as people die that he is unable to save. And then, either die by suicide, by someone else, or by the next villian group man come to take your place. Make sure this happens over, and over, and over again. Drive the protagonist to madness and solitude and disillusionment and self-doubt until he loses all direction and becomes an even bigger fucking mess than he was earlier. Exploit him until you force him to turn on his own ideals, of his own volition.
That's what Knives's goal was with Vash-- to forcefully teach him, through Vash's own actions, to that Rem's way of life was the wrong way. After all-- Knives doesn't want Vash dead, Knives wants Vash with him. Because Knives's goal is to convert Vash, not to kill him (and Knives is big into the Fight Club-esque idea that only through being utterly broken and destroyed can Vash be made to see the truth) the main story conflict is still the batlte for Vash's soul: "When all is said and done and Knives has fallen, what does Vash believe in; what does Vash chose?"
The story does give you resolution to that question. The irony of it all is that in the end, Vash does reject Rem's way, the creed he's lived by his whole 133 years. But he doesn't chose in favor of Knives's way either. Instead, we're left with the final shot of Vash looking up into the sunlight, the wounded but still-breathing body of his brother over his shoulder, and Vash resolves that he can live his life for Rem's cause no longer, that he has to make his own way now.
So, who get's Vash's soul? Vash does. Not Rem or Knives. Not "good" or "evil." Instead, Vash turns from both and begins to live his own way. It's taken more than a century, but Vash finally learns the most important lesson of growing up.
How could you not like that ending? It is perfect for Vash's character journey. And plus, there's a very deliberate wink at VashxMeryl, as they come to an understanding before he leaves for the confrontation.
What's not to like.