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Trigun [トライガン] #1
Trigun Anime Manga Volume 1
Adding to the Trigun collection of fantastic television animation and dynamic manga, a new hybrid of the two mediums arrives to keep the experience alive. Composed entirely of frames taken from the popular Japanese animated television series, the Trigun anime manga books are enhanced with colorful sound effects and dialogue taken directly from the teleplay.
160 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1995
44 people are currently reading
2248 people want to read
About the author
Yasuhiro Nightow
143 books135 followers内藤 泰弘. Traditional transliteration would be Yasuhiro Naitou. Author uses "Nightow" for better pronunciation by English natives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 174 reviews
July 17, 2018
I am a bit of a sucker for the western genre and setting. Red Dead Redemption, Deadwood, Firefly, Back to the Future 3, Cowboy Bebop, all of that stuff I really really like. Trigun is another famous story in that genre, and the anime in particular is considered by many to be just as much of a classic as is Cowboy Bebop. I've only seen two episodes of the anime and thought it was quite good, but more often than not I prefer to read the manga. That way, I can consume it at my own pace, and it's just generally easier for me to follow the story. That's definitely not the case with the Trigun manga though, because this book is an absolute mess!
What is Trigun? It's a story about Vash the Stampede, an outlaw on the run with a huge bounty on his head. Wherever he arrives, chaos and destruction inevitably follow. The twist is, Vash is actually the sweetest person and a pacifist who is categorically against murder and violence, and the bounty he accumulates is always caused by the bandits who attack him. He is also followed by two women from the insurance office who try to minimise the damages caused by his encounters and who both constantly get into various situations of their own.
Sounds like a fun premise for a western, and it is. My problem with the manga is that I got none of that premise from reading it, I know it only because I watched two episodes of the anime. If I had only read the manga from the very beginning, I would be lost in the dark, because the storytelling in this book is entirely incomprehensible. It's filled with action scenes that are impossible to follow, they look like some jumbled, squiggly black-and-white explosion of stuff, and it's impossible to make out what's going on at any given moment. The dialogue boxes often lack the arrows that indicate which character is speaking, and the dialogues by themselves often read like some disconnected nonsense. To add insult to injury, the english version of this manga doesn't translate the sound effects which are written in Japanese. I can understand why they're not redrawn — these sound effects are clearly part of the design of every page, but at least they could add some footnotes or captions to explain what every sound effect means. This might seem like a small problem until you realise how much sound effects contribute to the storytelling, at least in manga, and particularly in Trigun — they're everywhere, in almost every panel, and I'm quite sure that I missed a good chunk of the story just because of this problem alone.
Trigun is a cool idea and an interesting setting, but I will have to go and watch the anime to know what this story is about. Unfortunately, the manga version was a disappointment for me, and that's even more of a shame because the anime only adapts the first few volumes of the series, leaving a huge chunk of it manga-only. Maybe if I watch the anime from start to finish I will end up having a better time with the books, but for now, I have no intention to continue reading this series.
What is Trigun? It's a story about Vash the Stampede, an outlaw on the run with a huge bounty on his head. Wherever he arrives, chaos and destruction inevitably follow. The twist is, Vash is actually the sweetest person and a pacifist who is categorically against murder and violence, and the bounty he accumulates is always caused by the bandits who attack him. He is also followed by two women from the insurance office who try to minimise the damages caused by his encounters and who both constantly get into various situations of their own.
Sounds like a fun premise for a western, and it is. My problem with the manga is that I got none of that premise from reading it, I know it only because I watched two episodes of the anime. If I had only read the manga from the very beginning, I would be lost in the dark, because the storytelling in this book is entirely incomprehensible. It's filled with action scenes that are impossible to follow, they look like some jumbled, squiggly black-and-white explosion of stuff, and it's impossible to make out what's going on at any given moment. The dialogue boxes often lack the arrows that indicate which character is speaking, and the dialogues by themselves often read like some disconnected nonsense. To add insult to injury, the english version of this manga doesn't translate the sound effects which are written in Japanese. I can understand why they're not redrawn — these sound effects are clearly part of the design of every page, but at least they could add some footnotes or captions to explain what every sound effect means. This might seem like a small problem until you realise how much sound effects contribute to the storytelling, at least in manga, and particularly in Trigun — they're everywhere, in almost every panel, and I'm quite sure that I missed a good chunk of the story just because of this problem alone.
Trigun is a cool idea and an interesting setting, but I will have to go and watch the anime to know what this story is about. Unfortunately, the manga version was a disappointment for me, and that's even more of a shame because the anime only adapts the first few volumes of the series, leaving a huge chunk of it manga-only. Maybe if I watch the anime from start to finish I will end up having a better time with the books, but for now, I have no intention to continue reading this series.
June 24, 2021
Trigun is an underrated and underappreciated staple in the manga space, but the necessary slow-burn nature of the series is a thorn in its own side. This volume of Trigun is more akin to a cute collection of short stories rather than the cutting and compelling character study that it evolves into with Trigun Maximum. While it serves its purpose to slowly establish Vash the Stampede as a character, this volume ultimately fails to set the precedent for what is to come. In addition, chaotic action scenes and flat dialogue make it difficult for new readers to stay engaged for the rewarding long haul. Without the context of the anime adaptation, many sequences are hard to follow due to Nightow's inexperience as both a writer and a mangaka.
However, with the knowledge of what is in store, this volume can be viewed as an endearing and humble start to the story of the Humanoid Typhoon. Harking back to earlier volumes feels innocent and pure with its oftentimes crude art and underdeveloped characters. This near-primitive first volume ultimately serves as a signpost for where Vash goes as a character and where Nightow goes as an author. Within the context of the series as a whole, Trigun #1 has its necessary place despite its invalidity as a standalone volume.
4/10
However, with the knowledge of what is in store, this volume can be viewed as an endearing and humble start to the story of the Humanoid Typhoon. Harking back to earlier volumes feels innocent and pure with its oftentimes crude art and underdeveloped characters. This near-primitive first volume ultimately serves as a signpost for where Vash goes as a character and where Nightow goes as an author. Within the context of the series as a whole, Trigun #1 has its necessary place despite its invalidity as a standalone volume.
4/10
March 30, 2017
Love and Peace! Trigun is my favorite manga ever!
February 29, 2024
bro why is this so bad?? if I hadn't watched tristamp before reading it I would have understood exactly 0% of what was going on at any given time. because I watched tristamp, I understood around 25%. the rest remains a mystery - it's so hard to follow what's happening from one panel to the other, there's so much stuff going on graphically that just creates noise. I'll keep reading because I'm that desperate for more trigun content but I'm going to hate every single page if the rest is like this. there's no plot, no character depth nor development, no explanations as to why certain things happen. what a pain
June 15, 2023
no one is more surprised than me that i am entirely entranced, enamored, and enlightened by a blond man
February 14, 2020
Talk about a blast from my past! I think I was last into Trigun back in middle school, so it's been long enough that re-reading this was almost like diving back into something with fresh eyes. Obviously that isn't quite the case, I remembered more about this than I was expecting to, but it was still a refreshing revisit.
I'm not sure I would recommend newcomers start with the manga, however. I feel like you'll get more out of watching the anime first if you're brand new to Trigun, and then giving the manga a shot. The manga is fun and all, but I think audiences can get a much better feel for the characters by going through the anime. The manga's strength lies in its slowburn exposition of its worldbuilding and the balance of its multi-layered tone to the story-telling.
Either way, Trigun is a story I highly recommend getting into, especially if you're either an anime newbie, or if you're an anime fan who is looking to explore older titles. Just start with the anime first, then hunt down these old manga volumes and give them a read.
I'm not sure I would recommend newcomers start with the manga, however. I feel like you'll get more out of watching the anime first if you're brand new to Trigun, and then giving the manga a shot. The manga is fun and all, but I think audiences can get a much better feel for the characters by going through the anime. The manga's strength lies in its slowburn exposition of its worldbuilding and the balance of its multi-layered tone to the story-telling.
Either way, Trigun is a story I highly recommend getting into, especially if you're either an anime newbie, or if you're an anime fan who is looking to explore older titles. Just start with the anime first, then hunt down these old manga volumes and give them a read.
October 15, 2017
I watched the Trigun anime a long time ago and I believe it was my first anime. What I remember about it was that the first few episodes were terrible and that the show doesn’t get good until towards the middle and apparently the manga is the same way. But what’s not to like about it? The humor does NOT work. It’s not funny and it’s more annoying than funny. And honestly it’s just kind of boring. Vash the stampede starts off as just kind of an idiot and doesn’t become the gunslinging badass that most people know him to be until later on when he gets hunted by Bluesummers and his gang. I do have the second omnibus so I hope that that one will be better.
August 8, 2019
At first I thought that this series was going to be a western/action type of series. You know, like those western movies that take place in a small town that’s right in the middle of the desert that looks more like the Sahara Desert instead of a U.S. southwestern desert. And so the manga proved to be exactly like that. It was just an action flick that followed the main character and his fights against people wanting the bounty on his head.
It seems very similar to the manga Rurouni Kenshin. The main character is a powerful samurai and everyone he comes across wants to defeat him because he’s labeled as Batosai the Man Slayer. The difference between the two series is the ending. And I’m talking about Trigun Deep Space Planet without the Trigun Maximum series. So if I missed a couple of plot points then I apologize.
The story is about a man with a huge bounty on his head named Vash the Stampede. He is known as the cause of destruction for the city of July and so he’s labeled as a dangerous criminal. For three volumes, a lot of criminals or bounty hunters try to hunt him down to collect his bounty.
Most of the manga was kind of boring due to the repetition. It's the same thing over and over again. Vash enters a city and there just happens to be trouble and he has to deal with the villain with a goal of a typical hero and not kill his enemies. The first couple chapters are okay but after volume 1, it gets old really fast. It also doesn’t help that the series is too comedic. Now I have nothing against comedy, in fact I love manga comedies. One of my favorite mangas, One Piece, is a comedy and it's fantastic. The problem with the comedy in this manga is that it's in all the wrong places. It seems like there’s going to be a badass action scene but then it places in some comic relief in the middle of it. The difference with the comedy in One Piece is that the comedy is inserted in places that make the comedic moments quick and clever. Here, the comedy just ruins the action because it’s really stupid. But that's most likely due to the time when it came out.
The ending was really confusing and the scenes with Vash and his past are all done a little too quickly. There’s no flowing story to them because the scenes are just bits and pieces of his memories. One example is this character called Knives, who we don't know about, because the third volume was never clear on his identity. My first impression of the guy was that he was a computer program that took the image of Vash and held a hatred for humanity that we haven't been made aware of yet.
There’s also scenes of this backstory of humans trying to alter the planet so that humans can live on it. Apparently humans used all their resources and now the planet is unable to support the human race. So there are hundreds of large spaceships orbiting the planet with the whole human race in hibernating tanks except for a few people. If memory serves me correctly, I only remember Rem, Vash and Knives. Now whether the rest of the human race was like Vash and Knives, is made unclear but the way Rem communicates with them makes it seem like the two of them are one of a kind. This is confirmed towards the ending of the first Trigun when Knives woke up and during their fight something about angels is mentioned and how the two of them were powerful beings that were above humans. (This could be a translation error but I saw them mentioning beings like angels.)
Now this little plot twist could be going one of two ways. I'm only making assumptions because I can't remember the rest of the manga and I also have no desire to read the rest.
One, is that these 'angels' they talked about could be a fantasy element about divine beings that live in a higher existence than mankind.
Two, is that angels could be a name that is resulted from some scientific experimentation that resulted in Vash and Knives developing their abilities and being different from humans because of these experiments.
But those are the two most common possibilities. I'm sure there are probably more.
Since there wasn’t a huge cast of characters I’m only going to talk about three. The three characters are Vash, Millie, and Meryl.
Vash is the main character and he’s likable enough. He’s your typical hero that is nice and decent. He’s a bit of a pervert, kind of stupid but he’s so nice that you can’t help but like him. He’s kinda funny but he also has the overused attitude of ‘I’m too dangerous so I keep my distance from people’. This is not the first character that has this trait and he surely won't be the last.
Millie and Meryl are okay but the problem with them is that they aren’t shown very much in the manga for them to have any character development. Millie is an airhead so she’s used for a lot of comic relief. Meryl is uptight and always yelling at Vash and . . . that's about it. These ladies don’t have much personalities at all. They are boring but to the manga’s credit they are not in the series a whole lot. If anything, they're kind of in the background doing whatever needs to be done to keep the plot moving.
The other characters are not that interesting and completely forgettable. Nicholas D. Wolfwood is about as interesting as a box of plain Cheerios without the honey flavor. Wolfwood is intended to be this nice guy who’s a bit of a flirt but also has some sort of dark history. But we barely see him and when we do, he doesn't leave a big enough impact to be memorable.
The villains are also boring. While they do, admittedly, have neat fighting techniques to make interesting fight scenes, the downside is that the personalities are dull. They don't have interesting motivations for their evil schemes, they don't have any specific character traits that would make them stand out from any villain, and they don't have an interesting dialogue about their scheme. They talk smack to Vash and that’s about it, which doesn't make it interesting.
I know some people loved this series but I’m sorry. I didn’t like it and I probably won’t read Trigun Maximum. I’ll just watch the anime and see what happens.
It seems very similar to the manga Rurouni Kenshin. The main character is a powerful samurai and everyone he comes across wants to defeat him because he’s labeled as Batosai the Man Slayer. The difference between the two series is the ending. And I’m talking about Trigun Deep Space Planet without the Trigun Maximum series. So if I missed a couple of plot points then I apologize.
The story is about a man with a huge bounty on his head named Vash the Stampede. He is known as the cause of destruction for the city of July and so he’s labeled as a dangerous criminal. For three volumes, a lot of criminals or bounty hunters try to hunt him down to collect his bounty.
Most of the manga was kind of boring due to the repetition. It's the same thing over and over again. Vash enters a city and there just happens to be trouble and he has to deal with the villain with a goal of a typical hero and not kill his enemies. The first couple chapters are okay but after volume 1, it gets old really fast. It also doesn’t help that the series is too comedic. Now I have nothing against comedy, in fact I love manga comedies. One of my favorite mangas, One Piece, is a comedy and it's fantastic. The problem with the comedy in this manga is that it's in all the wrong places. It seems like there’s going to be a badass action scene but then it places in some comic relief in the middle of it. The difference with the comedy in One Piece is that the comedy is inserted in places that make the comedic moments quick and clever. Here, the comedy just ruins the action because it’s really stupid. But that's most likely due to the time when it came out.
The ending was really confusing and the scenes with Vash and his past are all done a little too quickly. There’s no flowing story to them because the scenes are just bits and pieces of his memories. One example is this character called Knives, who we don't know about, because the third volume was never clear on his identity. My first impression of the guy was that he was a computer program that took the image of Vash and held a hatred for humanity that we haven't been made aware of yet.
There’s also scenes of this backstory of humans trying to alter the planet so that humans can live on it. Apparently humans used all their resources and now the planet is unable to support the human race. So there are hundreds of large spaceships orbiting the planet with the whole human race in hibernating tanks except for a few people. If memory serves me correctly, I only remember Rem, Vash and Knives. Now whether the rest of the human race was like Vash and Knives, is made unclear but the way Rem communicates with them makes it seem like the two of them are one of a kind. This is confirmed towards the ending of the first Trigun when Knives woke up and during their fight something about angels is mentioned and how the two of them were powerful beings that were above humans. (This could be a translation error but I saw them mentioning beings like angels.)
Now this little plot twist could be going one of two ways. I'm only making assumptions because I can't remember the rest of the manga and I also have no desire to read the rest.
One, is that these 'angels' they talked about could be a fantasy element about divine beings that live in a higher existence than mankind.
Two, is that angels could be a name that is resulted from some scientific experimentation that resulted in Vash and Knives developing their abilities and being different from humans because of these experiments.
But those are the two most common possibilities. I'm sure there are probably more.
Since there wasn’t a huge cast of characters I’m only going to talk about three. The three characters are Vash, Millie, and Meryl.
Vash is the main character and he’s likable enough. He’s your typical hero that is nice and decent. He’s a bit of a pervert, kind of stupid but he’s so nice that you can’t help but like him. He’s kinda funny but he also has the overused attitude of ‘I’m too dangerous so I keep my distance from people’. This is not the first character that has this trait and he surely won't be the last.
Millie and Meryl are okay but the problem with them is that they aren’t shown very much in the manga for them to have any character development. Millie is an airhead so she’s used for a lot of comic relief. Meryl is uptight and always yelling at Vash and . . . that's about it. These ladies don’t have much personalities at all. They are boring but to the manga’s credit they are not in the series a whole lot. If anything, they're kind of in the background doing whatever needs to be done to keep the plot moving.
The other characters are not that interesting and completely forgettable. Nicholas D. Wolfwood is about as interesting as a box of plain Cheerios without the honey flavor. Wolfwood is intended to be this nice guy who’s a bit of a flirt but also has some sort of dark history. But we barely see him and when we do, he doesn't leave a big enough impact to be memorable.
The villains are also boring. While they do, admittedly, have neat fighting techniques to make interesting fight scenes, the downside is that the personalities are dull. They don't have interesting motivations for their evil schemes, they don't have any specific character traits that would make them stand out from any villain, and they don't have an interesting dialogue about their scheme. They talk smack to Vash and that’s about it, which doesn't make it interesting.
I know some people loved this series but I’m sorry. I didn’t like it and I probably won’t read Trigun Maximum. I’ll just watch the anime and see what happens.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2022
I do not remember exactly how I discovered the Trigun anime series, but I was hooked once I did. As a fan of "Cowboy Bebop", and of the space western subgenre, both the anime and now Yasuhiro Nightow's manga fit perfectly into my wheelhouse.
Vash the Stampede's code of ethics and morals reminds one of Uncle Ben's (and Aunt May's) infamous quote, "with great power comes great responsibility". Vash is not a novice when it comes to his superhuman capabilities. He is quite aware of his powers and skills, and for the most part has mastered his reign over them. Like the Lone Ranger, he aims to incapacitate rather than destroy...well, when it comes to human beings that is.
There were times when the subtle moments of action, within the manga cells, were not quite in focus as they would be in an anime adaptation. It took me longer than a moment to digest the cell, and understand what I just consumed from that image. Not a deal breaker when it comes to continuing the series, but something to prepare for while I look for volume 2.
Millie and Meryl are fun, and I love Meryl's moving "aha" moment towards the end of volume 1. It is one that resonates with me, even though like Millie I would go to bat for my loved ones without a second thought. I look forward to where their storylines, and character arches, go.
I'll leave you now with my favorite quote out of the entire first volume. May it give you the boost in optimism that it offered me:
"Seize happiness and TELL the world of your dream!! Then start all over again! Your ticket to the future is always blank," -Vash the Stampede (215-16).
Vash the Stampede's code of ethics and morals reminds one of Uncle Ben's (and Aunt May's) infamous quote, "with great power comes great responsibility". Vash is not a novice when it comes to his superhuman capabilities. He is quite aware of his powers and skills, and for the most part has mastered his reign over them. Like the Lone Ranger, he aims to incapacitate rather than destroy...well, when it comes to human beings that is.
There were times when the subtle moments of action, within the manga cells, were not quite in focus as they would be in an anime adaptation. It took me longer than a moment to digest the cell, and understand what I just consumed from that image. Not a deal breaker when it comes to continuing the series, but something to prepare for while I look for volume 2.
Millie and Meryl are fun, and I love Meryl's moving "aha" moment towards the end of volume 1. It is one that resonates with me, even though like Millie I would go to bat for my loved ones without a second thought. I look forward to where their storylines, and character arches, go.
I'll leave you now with my favorite quote out of the entire first volume. May it give you the boost in optimism that it offered me:
"Seize happiness and TELL the world of your dream!! Then start all over again! Your ticket to the future is always blank," -Vash the Stampede (215-16).
January 26, 2009
Let me be clear when I say I am NOT a fan of manga, just comics in general. I find the plots of most to be childish and unoriginal, and frankly pathetic. There was a time when I was younger, however, when I, as many did and continue to do, craved all things Japanese. I was lucky that this was one of my first series, and after revisiting it I can say it has done more than stand up to my nostalgic rememberances. The art is dumbfoundingly complex, the storyboarding effective, simple, and beautiful, and the plot anything but a cliche. <-- no, I'm not going to bother searching for a special character. The action is fluidly and effectively conveyed, with the artist/author clearly having a very complete concept of every object involved and its motion.
In particular the villains impressed me. While over the top and obscenely powerful, they dance just on the right side of the fourth wall, avoiding the Goku effect that annihilates the character development of so many series. Their motivations are believable and as often heartbreaking as horrifying. In the end they always seem to become very human.
Across every element is a terrific style both artistically and in a literary sense. It paints the world very richly, returning you instantly to the mindset at the outset of each volume.
Highly recommended. This is one action comic you can truly read for the story.
In particular the villains impressed me. While over the top and obscenely powerful, they dance just on the right side of the fourth wall, avoiding the Goku effect that annihilates the character development of so many series. Their motivations are believable and as often heartbreaking as horrifying. In the end they always seem to become very human.
Across every element is a terrific style both artistically and in a literary sense. It paints the world very richly, returning you instantly to the mindset at the outset of each volume.
Highly recommended. This is one action comic you can truly read for the story.
May 23, 2019
I've become a bit jaded with manga in recent years, as evidenced by the fact that I quit the last long term series that I was working on (even though it had beautiful art) and barely gave the last set a try, but delving back into Trigun was a fun romp. The post-apocalyptic(ish), western setting is definitely not my norm for content, but something about the red-jacketed gunslinger makes me want to know his story. Nightow is really just starting to set the stage for his story in this first volume, throwing all kinds of random conflict Vash's direction, but some of the major themes are already starting to emerge. We see Vash's lonely nature being eroded by the insurance girls and the wild west themes about settlement, competition for resources, and the importance of the environment are taking the forefront. What is Vash trying to accomplish on this wayward planet is still a mystery, but we'll join the caravan (or steamship in Vash's case) for a while to find out.
May 31, 2022
Re-read this after more than ten years I did it the first time, it's still a nice, quick and fun read. Sometimes the plot and the action get a bit confused, but the western feeling is perfectly represented and it has a good mix of facetous and serious.
April 14, 2023
Vash está en búsqueda y captura por ser considerado uno de los pistoleros más peligrosos del planeta: el Ciclón Humano. Sin embargo, Vash ni siquiera es partidario de los duelos y los tiroteos, es tan solo un pacifista con muy mala suerte.
Me he visto Trigun Stampede y me he quedado sin corazón porque me lo ha destrozado, así que me he propuesto leerme el manga, que es relativamente corto. Las dos historias se desarrollan de forma diferente, pero la esencia es la misma. Vash sigue siendo un bonachón tontorrón y yo, personalmente, lo quiero mucho.
Mi problema está en el dibujo. Los paneles de acción están demasiado abarrotados y son un poco claustrofóbicos y no en el peculiar estilo que tienen mangas como Akira, donde es adrede y se ejecuta elegantemente, sino que parece algo experimental a ver qué surge. A veces no se entiende lo que está pasando. Tengo la esperanza de que se limpie el dibujo así que seguiré leyendo.
Me he visto Trigun Stampede y me he quedado sin corazón porque me lo ha destrozado, así que me he propuesto leerme el manga, que es relativamente corto. Las dos historias se desarrollan de forma diferente, pero la esencia es la misma. Vash sigue siendo un bonachón tontorrón y yo, personalmente, lo quiero mucho.
Mi problema está en el dibujo. Los paneles de acción están demasiado abarrotados y son un poco claustrofóbicos y no en el peculiar estilo que tienen mangas como Akira, donde es adrede y se ejecuta elegantemente, sino que parece algo experimental a ver qué surge. A veces no se entiende lo que está pasando. Tengo la esperanza de que se limpie el dibujo así que seguiré leyendo.
May 9, 2022
Колись я дуже довго шукав цю манґу. Після перегляду аніме, ця річ стала для мене культовою. Потрібно віддати належне, це ж дебютна робота Ясухіри Найто. Яка після цього отримала продовження у вигляді Trigun Maximum.
Робота вражає легкістю стилю, гумором та детальністю та водночас простотою малюнку.
А так то історія про найманця, який намагається вирішити усі проблеми без вбивств та постійно через це попадає у забавні ситуації. Крім того він ще й один кращих стрілків. А ще ходять чутки що він знищив ціле місто.
Єдиний недолік для мене - малий формат. Я сподіваюсь Dark Horse таки зважаться та випустять її у Deluxe виданні. Бо інколи боляче читоглядати.
Робота вражає легкістю стилю, гумором та детальністю та водночас простотою малюнку.
А так то історія про найманця, який намагається вирішити усі проблеми без вбивств та постійно через це попадає у забавні ситуації. Крім того він ще й один кращих стрілків. А ще ходять чутки що він знищив ціле місто.
Єдиний недолік для мене - малий формат. Я сподіваюсь Dark Horse таки зважаться та випустять її у Deluxe виданні. Бо інколи боляче читоглядати.
February 19, 2021
Nostalgi :')
April 10, 2023
I need more.
April 28, 2023
Quiero mucho a Vash y nomas estoy leyendo esto por el y para reírme de sus desventuras, quiero sus botas tho, love my goth babygirl JAJAJAJA
March 25, 2024
i thought i'd read the original manga before i read trigun maximum but i already watched the anime so i dont think i need to read these lol im just gonna move on to trimax
May 6, 2025
peculiarly difficult to follow. & yet I think I’ll get the next one? Maybe it’ll be clearer
May 31, 2023
Ive never struggled so hard to make out art as i did with this manga😭 hope vol. 2 is better plotwise.
1.5
1.5
August 6, 2023
Me encanta Vash, Meryl, Milly y todos los demás. La trama está genial y engancha mucho. Recomendado 😎🤠
February 15, 2023
Trigun, a space western about a mysterious pacifist gunman with an absurdly high bounty on his head, is one of the best shows I've seen. Unfortunately, the manga didn't live up (by my estimation) to the majesty of the anime. Before originally having production stopped due to the publishing studio going out of business, the first couple of Trigun volumes covered what would end up being the first half of the 26 episode show, and the remaining 14 volumes which continued the story when the manga was brought back, follow a completely (at least for the most part) different story than the anime, outside of a couple of major plot points. I don't plan on my usual essay, instead I'll just go briefly into all the things I didn't like about the manga/thought the anime did better.
Firstly, some of the fights feel insanely drawn out in the manga, especially Livio vs Crimson nail and Vash vs Legato. Even with all that though, the final fight between Vash and his brother Knives was expedited and really lacked that dramatic punch. I much prefer the somewhat ambiguous ending of the show where Vash injures Knives in their gunfight and basically takes him with him in the hopes of rehabbing him, and he walks off into the unknown. The ending with Vash and Knives in hiding and Vash being found here was a little goofy and singsongy to me, and even though this creation is known for being silly at times, I think it was not necessary there. I also just liked the fight between them more in the show, the secluded atmosphere was just perfect.
One of my biggest issues is the characters, from the characters themselves to the relationships between characters, it just isn't as good here. The show does Vash's character much more justice, and his lively and goofy self just doesn't show as well in the manga in my opinion. I also don't really like how Milly and Meryl kind of disappear and become practically secondary characters in the mid volumes, but when they come back they have the great relationship with Vash and they're all lively etc. It really felt like Nightow was gonna write them out, and then just had them do stuff once they were beloved characters in the anime. I was especially disappointed with the loss of the sort of "will they won't they" and psuedo-adversarial relationship between Meryl and Vash, as she is much sweeter to him throughout the manga here. The same can be said between Wolfwood and Vash, as they had much more of a standoffish relationship in the anime, which they still had here, but they were still much more obviously good friends here, which I just didn't like so much as a dynamic between them. Apart from the relationships, I just really didn't care about any of the non-anime characters that were introduced to the Manga, such as Livio. Sure, that's kinda cool that he's got like a second dude inside of him (:0), but I really have no feelings toward him, and it felt like he had insane plot armor and should've died vs the Crimson Nail (especially considering how long the fight was, seriously man I don't want a fight that lasts multiple volumes!).
One thing I did like, however, was the fleshing out of the whole "plant" aspect of Trigun, and I liked the interesting concept with the hair going black meaning that the plant is starting to die. That being said though, it kindof doesn't matter because that was never important and while I thought it may have been building to Vash's death, nothing came of his full crop of black hair. I also liked that we got to see more of Legato's backstory and motivation, how he was sexually abused and then Knives killed all the people around him and Legato declared his life as worthless if he couldn't follow Knives. Still, Legato's death was done much better in the anime, and I felt like it weighed much heavier on Vash in the show than it did in the manga, especially considering he had like no down time in the manga to think about it. On the topic of deaths, Wolfwood's was extremely disappointing. His death in the show is gut wrenching, it hurts, but in the manga he has this rather boring drawn out fight where he probably should have died multiple times until finally he meets with Vash again and dies off-panel. That was very disappointing to be sure.
Lastly, one thing I think the show does much better than the manga, is that it keeps the backstory for the planet shrouded in mystery, which personally brought great intrigue to me. I mean, you really don't even know what the show is TRULY about until more than half way through, when we finally learn about the seeds project, and it changes your entire concept of the show. I think Nightow revealed way too much too soon about all of this, and it kind of took away from the shock and the emotional whiplash present in the show. That being said, it was cool to have more of that sweet, sweet lore to snack on, I just think he showed his hand much too soon. I also thought that Knives had a pretty interesting scheme/motivation in the manga which wasn't present in the anime. This great plan to merge with all the plants on the planet so every human would die in the desert wasteland was a cool concept, but again going back to my problem with the characters, there were way too many involved in this conflict and I kinda didn't care, especially at the point where Knives was basically floating in the air for like 3 volumes not really doing anything. I appreciate showing all sides to the battle, but with the destroyer ships and the militant fighting/strategy, I really just didn't care because obviously the main attraction is supposed to be Vash and Livio's fights. This is why the more quiet conflict of the anime was much better, because there was just the necessary focus between Vash and Knives to worry about. It just felt like any character in the manga that wasn't in the anime was totally irrelevant and I did not care one bit about them.
With all of this negativity out of the way, let me just say that this Manga is not bad, per say, I just think, and I understand this may be rather harsh, that Nightow did a worse job with his own creation than the showrunners who adapted his idea.
Firstly, some of the fights feel insanely drawn out in the manga, especially Livio vs Crimson nail and Vash vs Legato. Even with all that though, the final fight between Vash and his brother Knives was expedited and really lacked that dramatic punch. I much prefer the somewhat ambiguous ending of the show where Vash injures Knives in their gunfight and basically takes him with him in the hopes of rehabbing him, and he walks off into the unknown. The ending with Vash and Knives in hiding and Vash being found here was a little goofy and singsongy to me, and even though this creation is known for being silly at times, I think it was not necessary there. I also just liked the fight between them more in the show, the secluded atmosphere was just perfect.
One of my biggest issues is the characters, from the characters themselves to the relationships between characters, it just isn't as good here. The show does Vash's character much more justice, and his lively and goofy self just doesn't show as well in the manga in my opinion. I also don't really like how Milly and Meryl kind of disappear and become practically secondary characters in the mid volumes, but when they come back they have the great relationship with Vash and they're all lively etc. It really felt like Nightow was gonna write them out, and then just had them do stuff once they were beloved characters in the anime. I was especially disappointed with the loss of the sort of "will they won't they" and psuedo-adversarial relationship between Meryl and Vash, as she is much sweeter to him throughout the manga here. The same can be said between Wolfwood and Vash, as they had much more of a standoffish relationship in the anime, which they still had here, but they were still much more obviously good friends here, which I just didn't like so much as a dynamic between them. Apart from the relationships, I just really didn't care about any of the non-anime characters that were introduced to the Manga, such as Livio. Sure, that's kinda cool that he's got like a second dude inside of him (:0), but I really have no feelings toward him, and it felt like he had insane plot armor and should've died vs the Crimson Nail (especially considering how long the fight was, seriously man I don't want a fight that lasts multiple volumes!).
One thing I did like, however, was the fleshing out of the whole "plant" aspect of Trigun, and I liked the interesting concept with the hair going black meaning that the plant is starting to die. That being said though, it kindof doesn't matter because that was never important and while I thought it may have been building to Vash's death, nothing came of his full crop of black hair. I also liked that we got to see more of Legato's backstory and motivation, how he was sexually abused and then Knives killed all the people around him and Legato declared his life as worthless if he couldn't follow Knives. Still, Legato's death was done much better in the anime, and I felt like it weighed much heavier on Vash in the show than it did in the manga, especially considering he had like no down time in the manga to think about it. On the topic of deaths, Wolfwood's was extremely disappointing. His death in the show is gut wrenching, it hurts, but in the manga he has this rather boring drawn out fight where he probably should have died multiple times until finally he meets with Vash again and dies off-panel. That was very disappointing to be sure.
Lastly, one thing I think the show does much better than the manga, is that it keeps the backstory for the planet shrouded in mystery, which personally brought great intrigue to me. I mean, you really don't even know what the show is TRULY about until more than half way through, when we finally learn about the seeds project, and it changes your entire concept of the show. I think Nightow revealed way too much too soon about all of this, and it kind of took away from the shock and the emotional whiplash present in the show. That being said, it was cool to have more of that sweet, sweet lore to snack on, I just think he showed his hand much too soon. I also thought that Knives had a pretty interesting scheme/motivation in the manga which wasn't present in the anime. This great plan to merge with all the plants on the planet so every human would die in the desert wasteland was a cool concept, but again going back to my problem with the characters, there were way too many involved in this conflict and I kinda didn't care, especially at the point where Knives was basically floating in the air for like 3 volumes not really doing anything. I appreciate showing all sides to the battle, but with the destroyer ships and the militant fighting/strategy, I really just didn't care because obviously the main attraction is supposed to be Vash and Livio's fights. This is why the more quiet conflict of the anime was much better, because there was just the necessary focus between Vash and Knives to worry about. It just felt like any character in the manga that wasn't in the anime was totally irrelevant and I did not care one bit about them.
With all of this negativity out of the way, let me just say that this Manga is not bad, per say, I just think, and I understand this may be rather harsh, that Nightow did a worse job with his own creation than the showrunners who adapted his idea.
June 2, 2009
Anime, like movies based on books, usually aren't as good as their manga counterparts, but I find Trigun to be the exception to the rule. The manga art is sometimes too chaotic and hard to follow, and I feel like Vash's personality doesn't really come out at all like it does in the anime. The story line also doesn't seem to have a rhyme or reason. It just started and that was that. But, it's still a good read, and I will continue to read the whole series
August 16, 2008
Weak art, shallow characters and the story full of senseless action scenes that are quite hard to follow. There are tons of better manga than this.
July 12, 2022
The anime might benefit from motion and sound, perhaps better structure. But the heart of what made the anime great can be found right here.
May 30, 2023
I first discovered Trigun back in college during it's run on adult swim. I loved it immediately because it was so beautifully strange. Over 20 years later and the manga is still in my top 3 favorite manga, if not my absolute favorite. I have been pleasantly surprised by the renewed interest in Trigun due to the studio Orange remake of the 1998 anime and have taken some time to revisit the manga. I am just going to post a quick review here rather than rehash every book in the series.
Trigun is a sci-fi space western/ retelling of the story of Jesus Christ. It follows the life of Vash the Stampede.
The full story is split two manga series- Trigun and Trigun Maximum. The series was dropped by its first publisher and picked up by another hence the name change. There is a definite tonal shift in the way Trigun and Trigun Max are presented. Trigun is a light hearted satire of the tropes in Western genre. The stories in this series are generally playful and don't take themselves too seriously. Trigun maximum has a far darker tone and plays with the religious allegory in a far more heavy handed manner.
I have loved this series for 20 years and I was delighted to find that the story still holds up after all this time (looking at you Wars of Light and Shadow). The story is surprisingly thematically dense, compassionate, and thoughtful. Nightow is able to strike that rare balance between humor and angst. The books have a great cast of memorable characters- Wolfwood as allegory Judas has to be the most fleshed out and developed characters I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with.
Overall I highly recommend reading the manga while recognizing that the series is not for everyone. Its worth a try for fans of the space western/scifi genre
Trigun is a sci-fi space western/ retelling of the story of Jesus Christ. It follows the life of Vash the Stampede.
The full story is split two manga series- Trigun and Trigun Maximum. The series was dropped by its first publisher and picked up by another hence the name change. There is a definite tonal shift in the way Trigun and Trigun Max are presented. Trigun is a light hearted satire of the tropes in Western genre. The stories in this series are generally playful and don't take themselves too seriously. Trigun maximum has a far darker tone and plays with the religious allegory in a far more heavy handed manner.
I have loved this series for 20 years and I was delighted to find that the story still holds up after all this time (looking at you Wars of Light and Shadow). The story is surprisingly thematically dense, compassionate, and thoughtful. Nightow is able to strike that rare balance between humor and angst. The books have a great cast of memorable characters- Wolfwood as allegory Judas has to be the most fleshed out and developed characters I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with.
Overall I highly recommend reading the manga while recognizing that the series is not for everyone. Its worth a try for fans of the space western/scifi genre
January 21, 2022
The first volume of Trigun is a bit of a mixed bag, but overall still quite good. We follow our pacifistic protagonist through a variety of dangerous situations (most often happening through no fault of his own) which he deftly solves using excessive skill to avoid causing any death.
While the action and plot later in the story builds to insane levels this volume mostly covers most straight forward scenarios with less over the top bad guys, relative to the series as a whole that is. It's a good chance to get to know Vash better before everything gets too crazy to see him in casual situations.
The weakest point of this volume is the chapter Little Arcadia which is fine but feels a bit like a rehash of an earlier foe and only has Vash as a supporting character to the main story. Ironically this chapter was directly translated into the anime and yet feels better placed there feeling more distanced from the first confrontation with members of The Nebraska Family.
Speaking of the anime, if you've seen it a few times or even once in recent memory you'll quickly notice how much was both added and remixed for it. The anime invents a number of stories in it's first half which I think help with the pacing and build up, but these would also add too much to the manga with how much longer the back end of the series ended up being compared to the fast and simple conclusion in the anime (due to it overtaking the manga quickly).
Overall I would give this a 3.5 if possible as I feel it's still quite good but flawed.
While the action and plot later in the story builds to insane levels this volume mostly covers most straight forward scenarios with less over the top bad guys, relative to the series as a whole that is. It's a good chance to get to know Vash better before everything gets too crazy to see him in casual situations.
The weakest point of this volume is the chapter Little Arcadia which is fine but feels a bit like a rehash of an earlier foe and only has Vash as a supporting character to the main story. Ironically this chapter was directly translated into the anime and yet feels better placed there feeling more distanced from the first confrontation with members of The Nebraska Family.
Speaking of the anime, if you've seen it a few times or even once in recent memory you'll quickly notice how much was both added and remixed for it. The anime invents a number of stories in it's first half which I think help with the pacing and build up, but these would also add too much to the manga with how much longer the back end of the series ended up being compared to the fast and simple conclusion in the anime (due to it overtaking the manga quickly).
Overall I would give this a 3.5 if possible as I feel it's still quite good but flawed.
March 21, 2023
For a shonen from the 90s, it's quite typical, and if that's something you're looking for, particularly something that mixes science fiction and westerns, this is probably the thing for you. Personally, while I respect the talent and detail in the artwork, I cannot stand the art style, and actually find it quite difficult to follow a lot of the time because too much is happening. I also find the story in this volume at best funny in the more comedic moments, or just kind of boring, though the world-building is... at least interestingly designed? Though also a lot of it is very typical for stories of this type, and this doesn't exactly stand out to me other than it's still popular today, and I'm up to speed with "Trigun: Stampede", and giving the manga another chance while I wait for episode 12.
I actually started this back in 2011 and dropped it because of the art and story. My impression hasn't changed. I still love Milly best of the cast, and it's nice to see her again. Vash's physical flexibility is also quite neat, and his ability to wear 10,000 belts and constantly show off his stretchy arms and legs is quite... fascinating. I'm not complaining.
All in all, if you want a classic shonen from the 90s... well I can't say I exactly recommend this, but if you really like "s-CRY-ed", "Cowboy Bebop", "Outlaw Star", "Marchen Awakens Romance", "Flame of Recca", or that kind of thing, this might be for you. If you like "Trigun: Stampede", there will be a number of elements here that you can see I the anime, but a lot was changed.
I actually started this back in 2011 and dropped it because of the art and story. My impression hasn't changed. I still love Milly best of the cast, and it's nice to see her again. Vash's physical flexibility is also quite neat, and his ability to wear 10,000 belts and constantly show off his stretchy arms and legs is quite... fascinating. I'm not complaining.
All in all, if you want a classic shonen from the 90s... well I can't say I exactly recommend this, but if you really like "s-CRY-ed", "Cowboy Bebop", "Outlaw Star", "Marchen Awakens Romance", "Flame of Recca", or that kind of thing, this might be for you. If you like "Trigun: Stampede", there will be a number of elements here that you can see I the anime, but a lot was changed.
December 12, 2022
I don't think there is another property from Japan that is so intrinsically its own thing, while also being a complete hodgepodge of American pop culture, and eccentric Japanese sensibilities.
Obvious comparisons to Cowboy Bebop are inevitable. They are both space westerns with a focus on characters battling internalized trauma and a plethora of varied and interesting villains.
One mastered style over substance. One mastered substance over style. Neither are lacking of either.
I truly think that Trigun is essiantial viewing as an anime, but the first volume of the original manga is rough.
The art is great, but the cluttered nature, lack of flow, and pacing issues would be absolutely confusing to anyone going in blind. The show had a somewhat leisurely pace of allowing you to meet and breathe life with it's characters, and that just isn't as feasible in a weekly manga, especially one of this time.
The original show is wonderfully melodramatic and slapstick. I'll even say it's my seminal favorite anime of all time. However, if you tried to read this but just don't have the heart to continue, that's ok.
I don't blame you. Reading this was like seeing a famous painters first painting. The talent is there, but it isnt honed.
Just know that if you give these characters a chance. This world, and it's themes a chance.
You'll be spreading the good words of Vash the stampede throughout your own little cosmos.
Love and peace my friends.
Love and peace.
Obvious comparisons to Cowboy Bebop are inevitable. They are both space westerns with a focus on characters battling internalized trauma and a plethora of varied and interesting villains.
One mastered style over substance. One mastered substance over style. Neither are lacking of either.
I truly think that Trigun is essiantial viewing as an anime, but the first volume of the original manga is rough.
The art is great, but the cluttered nature, lack of flow, and pacing issues would be absolutely confusing to anyone going in blind. The show had a somewhat leisurely pace of allowing you to meet and breathe life with it's characters, and that just isn't as feasible in a weekly manga, especially one of this time.
The original show is wonderfully melodramatic and slapstick. I'll even say it's my seminal favorite anime of all time. However, if you tried to read this but just don't have the heart to continue, that's ok.
I don't blame you. Reading this was like seeing a famous painters first painting. The talent is there, but it isnt honed.
Just know that if you give these characters a chance. This world, and it's themes a chance.
You'll be spreading the good words of Vash the stampede throughout your own little cosmos.
Love and peace my friends.
Love and peace.
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