#volaetalks

Im gonna be real, when I first got into Trigun, I couldn’t care less about the filler episodes and moments where it was just the characters being silly and interacting with the people not necessarily important to the plot. However, stargaze has made me realize just how important those seemingly “unimportant” moments are in the grand scheme of things.

For starters, it serves as a nice breather from the otherwise very plot heavy story. Also, it’s just nice seeing the characters be a little silly before facing the horrors. But more importantly, I have come to realize that those moments where the characters (ESPECIALLY VASH) spend time amongst the humans are so so sooo important in hammering in the later themes of the manga. In particular, having Vash interact and involve himself with a multitude of situations helps test his ideology while exposing him to all walks of human life. This, in my opinion, helps further strengthen his role as humanity’s sole representation in the battle between him and knives. He has seen and experienced so many different things because of the people he’s interacted with…he’s the perfect bridge and representation of humanity.

With this being said, I really can’t say the same for trigaze Vash. Asides from WW, the girls and a handful of other characters, it really feels like Vash’s interactions with humans has been confined to a small bubble of people. Combine this with the fact that there hasn’t been any character that pushes back against his ideology, he still hasn’t had the chance to see all walks of life, to see the tough decisions that these people go through everyday in just a casual setting. And here I’m supposed to believe this guy is gonna represent humanity in the last fight? Nah…I can’t convince myself to believe that…

on a side note, I think one of the most frustrating things that has been bothering me throughout my stargaze watch is how there are no characters that try and rebut against Vashs ideology. Not even the other main characters who have different ideals as him (e.g WW & GHG) seem to put much effort in questioning his ideals and are just willing bend over backwards and just accept it. Where is the conflict? Not everyone is gonna agree with such an extreme ideaology, especially given how life is for humans on No Mans Land. Especially for the gun ho guns, some of which who (in trimax) are very insistent on Vashs foolishness for believing in such an idea of everyone getting through life without killing. This is not to invalidate Vashs perspective as there are examples of it working out, but I wish stargaze would show some inner conflict between the characters and show that vash can’t just expect everyone to side with him all because he’s making a promise to protect them.

it especially bothers me for WW character…this man has lived his entire life living by the ideals of survival. It either him or someone else, and when it comes down to it, he’ll do what he has to to make sure he lives and can keep protecting his family. And because of this, it isn’t something he can so easily break out of. Obviously at the end of the manga he does side with vash, but it’s a slow buildup of trust and only at that final volume before his death does he exclaim his belief to Vash’s cause.