it's free real acetate

I'm gonna start with things I liked because I have a feeling the negatives are all people are talking about and we all need a breather.

First off, this is my favorite Eriks look. I adore it, I think about it constantly, he looks incredibly sad wet cat while being way too handsome to be legal. I like how Hoppered was the one to care for Vash and the reason given for Eriks's name. This is also my favorite rendition of Jessica, we've removed the weird romance with Brad but kept her crush on Vash in a way that made her so endearing to me. Also she's adorable. I like the contrast between Vash and Knives presented in Midvalley's episode and that episode is one of my favorites. I like that Milly and her family have a connection with worms and it makes her friends with Zazie, that ruled. I like that Vash has Luida and his friends there for him to support him. I like the Gung-ho's getting to live (there's more to that but I'll get to it later). I enjoyed seeing Wolfwood and Livio getting to act like siblings with each other. I greatly enjoyed the visuals of episode 8. I like the visual of the fifth moon being paralleled with Tesla's eye. Also whatever they did to the animation software that improved the shading on models I did like, especially on Wolfwood's boobs.

And the biggest thing that has carried the whole show for me is Vash and Wolfwood's relationship. They were the strongest part of the show. Even though more development was needed to make things hit for them hard, Wolfwood's development to realizing his feelings for Vash was something I was shaking in my teeth every episode from the reunion, to the soft look, to his comments in his fight with Midvalley, his chasing of Vash onto the ark, and all of episode 8. Stampgaze Vashwood is incredibly compelling to me ESPECIALLY after episode 8 with Wolfwood living. It's only furthered by looking at the two from a meta perspective, the two feeling drawn to each other and feeling like they are trying to have any time with the other feeling like the echoes of previous Vashwoods in them. Wolfwood getting to live also feels like a prayer granted for Trimax Vash in a way that actually made me ill. Wolfwood also hearing the "ticket to the future" thing and being the one Vash pulls a trigger for was great to me. Call it fanservice if you want, I was the fan being serviced.

And of course, I love the English dub. English dub team you not only fix the dialogue of the episodes but you do a better job at making the characters speak like they did in Stampede. It's cemented these voices as the ones I hear when I read. Thank you, I want to make out with all of you. Also, yes that's exactly what Livio sounds like to me. Perfect casting of Livio 10/10 no notes, I want him to read Livio's manga quotes ASAP. Come to the convention I'm going to or something please. Or do whatever that service is where you pay VA's to say things. You've also cemented David Matranga as my favorite Wolfwood VA and he's going to be who I hear when I read now. He has some of the best lines in the season that WILL be quoted by me forever.

Okay. Now, let's go through the problems.

Quick fire off of the basic shit first. Knives's resurrection was flat. Knives second form looks awful, it's bad on all fronts and he sounds like shit in it, what the fuck was that roar shit. Elendira is still not a trans woman, you could've pulled some shit to make it happen. Razlo's stuff was handled awfully, we need the second half of it. Legato's stuff was completely skipped jesus fuck. We don't get any more depth with Knives unless you count things being verbally told to us, which I don't.

The key issues with the whole series really show in the most recent episode.

Episode 11 is when every single issue the series has comes to a head and for me the episode that I watched and went "wow there was almost nothing redeemable." We have no time to cover literally anything presented and all of the things we are presented with would have been way more impactful and compelling if we had the time to develop them in previous episodes. Not to mention how much is having to be skipped and cut to fit the 12 episode format, like Legato's entire backstory and Happy Days.

Every writing choice also just is a fumble in the episode, we've had a few so far but this one it just kept happening, the only exceptions being Zazie doing a favor for Milly and Milly on the motorcycle. That shit ruled.

If Vash was taken thinking Wolfwood is dead, it would've had more bite. Why were we cutting between Meryl and Milly and the "fight" with Knives? Knives killing Legato makes little to no sense and has no satisfying feeling. Elendira's internal conflict is so shallow we were just introduced to the idea of it last episode. The statement that "Knives is lonely" is being shoved down our throats with no substance and the attempt at a parallel between Knives not understanding the plants and Vash not understanding Knives is just...nothing. It also contradicts the end of Stampede, Vash knows he doesn't understand Knives! He outright said it! "We've grown so different it's like I don't even know you anymore!"

And here's the biggest, most glaring flaw of the entire production of this series to me. This is not the team that made Stampede. I thought it was just a director change. Nope. It's an entirely different group of people. And you can tell.

The threads from Stampede aren't followed up on, the visuals of Stampede aren't here, the characters don't talk like they did before, and the group that was so clearly obsessed with Trigun aren't working on this. There is not that clear intention of this being a love letter to Trigun, to Nightow like Stampede has.

Here's just a few things that Stampede introduced that were not followed up on or continued in Stargaze:

Wolfwood no longer smoking a bent cigarette

The Chapel plotline

Lina being the one to care for Eriks

Vash losing his arm (also the fact it went back to being teal despite being purple last we saw)

Meryl's new look (reminder that scene is AFTER the 2 years)

Lieutenant Chronica

The pregnant plants in the Ark

The bounty on Vash

Stampede remixed the story but it kept integral moments just with different pieces. Wolfwood still killed a Gung-ho Gun in front of Vash, Jenora Rock is still where Vash is chased and it's still destroyed with Vash blamed, Vash still communicates with a plant on behalf of people, Meryl is still caught up in learning who Vash is and that's what's driving the plot, the list goes on and on. These were all changes from the original story but they weren't subversions, they still had the same impact they needed to have on the characters that they did in the manga.

Stargaze at first seems scared to remix anything, having things said word for word and panels recreated as if they're scared to mess with the source. Then it does something even more unexpected, it subverts. Now, a few subversions would work if we had time to really engage with it but we just don't and later subversions feel more like a "ha! you thought!" to those who have read Trimax than actual compelling engagement with it. It is interesting for the Gung-ho's to live, it's incredibly interesting to have Wolfwood live, but we don't have the time to develop any of these so when we get to episode 10 and Legato survives it just falls completely flat. There isn't any fully meaningful engagement with the source like Stampede had, you get a taste and then we move on because we only have twelve episodes. Stampede's direct quotes are woven in and given proper contexts where they just slide in easily, while Stargaze's feel out of place or a "oh that thing!" moment at best.

This leads into the second largest flaw, the complete lack of time. I truly believe that so many issues would have been fixed if this was two seasons. There's so many concepts that I genuinely wanted explored and would've been brilliant to me. The post about episode 10 from holdmagun shows this, there's something there! Elendira wanting Knives to care about them too, that's an interesting concept! Meryl's protection over Milly as a result of losing Roberto and her reaction to Elendira in the elevator, that's an interesting concept! Having the twins both be gods in the religion the Eye of Michael follows, that's an interesting concept! There's so many more things in Stargaze that I want explored and could be actually compelling engagement with the narrative of Trimax but we just don't get it because, say it with me,

WE DON'T HAVE ANY DAMN TIME TO.

I said it before the show even released. This needed to be two seasons minimum. You cannot cover what you need to cover in Trigun Maximum in a satisfying way in anything less than that and Stargaze shows that. Even if it's not doing a one-to-one adaptation, Trimax is so rich with it's story and concepts that you cannot cram it all into a short period well.

We don't get to develop Vash's full arc (Vash's narrative position is something that could be a post of its own but I'm tired and other people have already posted enough about it), we don't get to follow Meryl and Milly AT ALL, we don't get any real version of Happy Days which is CRUCIAL, we lose all time with Livio and Razlo's arc, Legato's entire story is skipped, and our time with Knives is shallow and underdeveloped.

Another issue that I think is a significant thing to note compared to Stampede as well is the visual language and designs. Now that we're almost done with the season, it really does feel like the team was afraid to do anything new from what Stampede had which is why we get characters in repeat outfits and outfits that just...don't fit? We saw the outfit Meryl was supposed to have in Stargaze at the end of Stampede and there was a concept in the exhibition, though only worded not shown, of Wolfwood's look but neither came to fruition. Vash not getting a new coat also sits differently now than it did at the start, it could've been a moment of visual language that's wasted. Meryl's new outfit isn't bad but as I sit with it it doesn't feel like a design that would've come from Stampede. Same for Milly. Livio is another one that falls flat as well, it's better without the coat but it feels like another attempt at just putting Trimax in but not trying to do anything with it. The only two designs that got a pass from me were Eriks, Midvalley and Razlo. Thighs out ftw. And then there's Knives second design...it speaks for itself. The concept art and the fanart by Tomio Ogata give it merit...in 2D. It does not work in 3D.

The lighting and color choices also weigh the show down. Why are we fighting in the climactic fight of episode 10 at noon with the sun right above us. It looks bad. This should've been sunset or sunrise. Stampede also had several moments where the lighting affected the colors of the scene significantly, even if the lighting itself wasn't "realistic" for a day night cycle. Think back to how noon looked in episode 1 of Stampede verses how it looks in episode 9 of Stargaze. The stylistic lighting and coloring that was part of what made Stampede great is gone, we get a taste of it at the start with Eriks and in episode 8 and then we lose it again.

Another grievance I have outside of the show itself is the marketing of Stargaze. The "Live and Suffer" poster indicated a very different tone, one akin to Trimax that we just...do not get at all. It's enough to start a conspiracy that the show WAS different when that poster was made and then by the time of the second poster was what we see now (it's a dumb one don't do it). And then within the show, the damn intro song suggests a tone closer to Trimax than the actual thing. I know people have mixed feelings about it, but I greatly enjoy it as a screaming and loud guitar enjoyer myself. The mix of upbeat sound with the loud screams of the singer depict the kind of emotional turmoil Vash experiences in Trimax, presenting the happier okay self but screaming in pain internally. Even the lyrics fit Trimax Vash's arc (go look them up I love them), but not Stargaze's at all.

Trigun Stargaze had so much potential but ultimately fumbled the ball and by the end has disappointed at best, enraged at worst many fans. I can't find it in me to get truly angry with the show, only frustrated, and I think I will be having to defend it amidst the wave of blind hatred it's going to have for a very very long time (I have seen so much worse done to a source material, Trigaze is just mid).

What I do look fondly on though is getting to engage with others as each episode came out and the wave of fanworks that have spawned from this, I know I've been on quite a Vashwood kick when it comes to writing due to the insane Vashwood stocks we have now. I am also going to greatly enjoy rewrites and fan creations of what Stargaze could've been, taking the concepts presented and properly running with them.

I'd join in making them if I could, but I've got a grocery list of physical and mental issues I gotta get through first. Same thing that'll hold me back from making a much longer deeper dive into Trigun as a whole and give Trigun Stargaze a proper well researched critique.