You can see we're getting close to the end of Trigun Stampede, and I'm not going to lie, this episode proves that the show would've been so much better if it had been twice as long. Studio Orange did an outstanding job with the show's animation and presentation. I suppose it took a long time to capture the exact look and character animations, so expecting twice as many episodes would probably mean the show wouldn't have been released for another year or two at the absolute least... This also implies that Studio Orange would have had to delay other animation projects, which is not always possible.It's really a shame that everything this episode attempts falls short. I feel like I'm missing a lot of this story's plot, which is a pity since I wanted to care about a lot of the things going on here, but I couldn't conjure the emotional depth that I believe STAMPEDE desired.
Consider the death of Roberto. That was intended to be a watershed moment in Meryl's character growth, as we saw her mentor die after doing everything he could to protect her. I like how he hands her his revolver and tells her it's her decision whether to return or flee. I also enjoy how similar the gun is to the weaponry Meryl uses in the original anime. This moment, though, falls a little flat for me since I don't believe the programme did a good job of defining what precisely the relationship between these two was intended to be. Yes, it's the stereotypical cynical mentor attempting to care for a naive and wide-eyed pupil.Yet, the goal of these two characters seemed to be more about revealing information or pounding home pre-established story elements than creating an emotional hook for the programme. There was never a time when Roberto sat down with Meryl and treated her as if she were someone he wanted to care about but couldn't because of his cynicism. On that topic, we don't know why Roberto is so pessimistic about the world.You could blame it on the fact that he's older and has probably seen a lot of shit in this unforgiving world, but we've seen just as many, if not more, adults adapt to this way of life, so you could argue that the show needed to establish WHY he is the way he is and how that may have manifested itself in his relationship with Meryl. At worst, it appears that Roberto is being utilised as a story device to promote Meryl's character development rather than being a strong, distinct character in his own right.
And then there's Vash, on whom I believe Trigun Stampede is cheating. As far as I can tell, this is a reinterpretation of the manga and the original anime. Yet Trigun Stampede does something that I dislike in many reboots: it tells a tale or informs a character with knowledge from the material that it's based on without really incorporating it in the show. Vash is a pacifist who would prefer avoid confrontation than become engaged in it. I know how big of a reveal it's going to be when Vash takes off his shirt and we see how screwed up his physique is as a result of being a pacifist. Although not being human, he cannot escape all circumstances in which he finds himself, especially because self-preservation is not his first goal. But when Nicholas brings this out, it feels more necessary than I believe it is intended to be, and that's because we haven't seen Vash in enough circumstances where he's truly putting his life on the line for the sake of others, which I think the original anime accomplished rather effectively. At the end of this episode, the main moral dilemma is pounded home: Vash does what he does because he feels bad.
I'm not upset that he has a different rationale for becoming a pacifist than in the original series. I'm annoyed because it feels a bit frail. Knives becoming upset at Vash and explaining that his entire motive for defending humanity is out of remorse for almost murdering all of them feels strange coming from the guy who admits to tricking Vash into doing that. Vash has human pals who realise he was duped but yet support him because what occurred wasn't his fault. Maybe not all humans think that way, but it muddies the waters for what is meant to be Vash's entire persona. Similarly, more examples of Vash interacting with people and being shunned by them, as in the original series, would be preferable. We've only seen one example of this so far, but if we saw more of Vash visiting communities and being compelled to sacrifice himself for the benefit of these people, the show's case would be stronger. I'm anxious about how this show will end because this episode reveals the key emotional and moral dilemmas while also demonstrating how shaky the foundation is.