thoughts on ending...(spoilers)

[BigShot Jordan]

The last 4 episodes of Trigun were perhaps the most dramatic and serious of the entire series.I thought that Wolfwood died in a very heroic and sad way.The way that he died and the manner of it made me shed a tear or too.Another particualr scene that got to me is when Vash killed Legato.It was the first time in the series that Vash literally killed someone.It felt disturbing the way that the gung-ho-guns just execute themselves. I thought that the ending wrapped up the series pretty well.The last fight was very well done and Merle and Milly released a side of themselves I never realised. When I saw the first episode of this series I was expecting a comedy,but about 14 episodes in it turned into a dramatic actions series with little comedy.

I think I enjoyed the later half of the series better than the first half of the series.It felt more meaningful and the story was much better.I also enoyd the new characters introduced.Legato and Knives stand as some of my favorite villians of all time.

If you have seen the ending,tell me what you thought.

[tekblade]

the ending was okay, but i cant remember much about it since its been a while since i last saw it. it was sad how wolfwood had to go just when he and milly got together. plus vash had to kill legato or milly and merle would had gotten killed he had no choice which was interesting because it was the first time he killed. butthe ending was okay :D

[DarkCode]

After I saw the ending i declared to myself it was my favorite anime of all time but it was kinda sad how wolfwood died he didn't want to die that way but Vash honored him by useing his cross gun right?

[tekblade]

yeah he carries the cross gun with him

[cloakactive]

Vash and the cross gun.... now theres a scarier image then before yea?

[tekblade]

hmm a walken plant with a cross that has a whole crap load of guns. :D maybe...

[Lokki]

That ending was frickin awesome. The poetic feeling I got from watching it was awesome.

[Magnus9]

This series was awesome! I never realized how serious it had gotten until I had seen the last 4 episodes. The most dramatic and memorable scene for me was Wolfwood's death. I was like "Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!! Why?! Damn you!!" I really loved the poetic feel of the ending and after finally finishing this series I have to say it is and will always be one of my favorite.

[Miss_Misato]

It was cool how Vash saves Knives after all, when all throughout the seriese he had been so bent on killing him. Anyway, I don't think Knives will turn good :)

[tekblade]

well knives was sorta like a good boy when they were little youngsters, but he prob turned bad cause of how i forgot his name, i think he was the egineer or something was talken how evil or something they were :D

[Sakaki]

- spoilers -

Well, heck ... wonder why I bother marking spoilers when that doesn't seem to be an issue at this community. ^_^;

The last four episodes of Trigun were indeed a complete 180 from the first four. When I purchased the first tape, I was laughing hysterically at the humor that seemed just too good to be true. I had heard that it got darker, but I never really believed it until I went further and further into the series. It seemed to me as though the transition from light to dark was almost ... gradual, in a sense, one that bothered me not ... although I can't say the same about my friends, who felt that the first half of Trigun was an entirely different animal than the last part.

The first three episodes on the last DVD are some of the most tense, tragic, and well-crafted moments that I've seen in any anime series. From Wolfwood's demise (excellently done) to Legato's final moments, one is drawn in and onwards towards the last episode ...

Some folks might find the very last one a bit ... a bit of a letdown, although I must admit that I do not feel the same. It had to end that way ... with his new understanding and firm resolve to his path, there was no way that Vash could ever kill Knives. It would have been extremely out of character for him, in all actuality.

Speaking of Knives, I believe that the outcome of "turning good" stands a decent chance. Vash is there for him now, and Vash has grown much over his 100+ years of life. Vash is no longer quite the younger, more inconsequential brother as he once seemed ... when he stood and stared down upon the dehabilitated Knives at the end of the fight, that realization began to dawn upon Knives. He had misinterpreted and underestimated Vash.

The direction Knives took seems to have been dictated more by his own internal anger, fear, self-doubt, and other negative emotions, aided by outside circumstances that pushed him onwards in his path. When he lost respect for humanity, when he stopped listening ... when it seemed to him that compared to these monsters who treated him so cruelly (Steve), he could not be wrong ... these were the moments which lead him to a path he could not return from on his own.

With Vash there to teach ... Knives can learn.

- Sakaki

[tekblade]

well said :D

[Millions]

All in all, I liked the last 4 episode, allthough I thought the final battle was rather anticlimatic. I mean, compared to some of the other fights Vash had, the last one against Knives was rather...ho hum. I guess I would have liked to see Knives a bit more throughout the series....his only main apperances where towards the end.

Bah....it was a still my favorite anime of all times...I was terribly sad when it was over but hey....I hear they're going to release all of the Gung-Ho-Guns action figures! (YAY!) And I'll be danged if I'm not gonna be the first one in line for those babies!

[Strike Fiss]

Actually, I thought the ending of Trigun was probably one of the BEST endings I've seen!

Because of the nature of the series, it would have seemed strange to have a long, drawn out battle between the two. It was as a gun-fight should be...and more!

Fast, furious, with barely any time to think, only to pull the trigger. Then, it gets better by adding the tension of a double mexican stand-off. THEN, it even adds the coolness factor of the Angel Cannons. <grins> And of course...lots of MERCY!

I think it was fast for a reason. If it went on all episode, it would have been a true anti-climax. Knives was a great 'bad guy' because he WAS there througout the entire series...constantly edgging Vash on with his little minions. All of it was leading up to the end. When they finally met, Knives had expected Vash to be completely destroyed (mentally, if not physically), as 'proof' that Humanity was evil (or rather, Knives' group of Humanity, at least).

Though....

I do wish he said "Love and PEACE!" instead of "I will Survive!" at the end. ^_^

-Fiss

[Millions]

As the way anime endings go, I'll agree with you, Trigun had one of the best...I thought the episode before the ending (The one where Vash is getting ready to battle Knives) Where he talks about the red Geranium that Rem loved was one of the best parts in the whole series...I dunno, I guess I just felt like some sort of suspense was missing from the last fight. Oh well... :-P

[Drizzten]

My Thoughts.

These are my first impressions of Trigun after watching the ending.

I too feel that the last few volumes were more interesting and dramatic than the first. The humor was fun, but it became formulaic and predictable. But the beginning was fun to watch. The middle introduced the wisps of the plot and things got serious. With the Gung-Ho Guns in the picture, I really became interested. Until then, Vash had his way with the bad guys. And finally, the end. To be honest...I feel let down.

First off, I think the overuse of flashbacks and memory fragment recollections was a little too conspicuous. Nearly the first third of the last ep was flashback. It was tedious to watch the same 5-7 scenes over and over again. I wanted more of the monologue that Vash says during the previews. That was some good dialogue and gave a different spin to the view of things.

Next, I think Mad House (the animation company) skimped on the animation for nearly every fight scene in the series. How many times did you see someone dive to the left or right with white lines flashing past them as "bullets"? They could spend the time to make Vash smoothly roll like a snake when suddenly grabbed by a happy character, but they couldn't add more frames to the movement scenes during some fights? And just how many times can a guy be grazed in the cheek and shoulder? I think Vash's cheeks should at least have the scars like the rest of his body...he was shot there enough.

Those are my major problems. I think the ending was a bit of a disappointment. I like the way they handled the fight between Vash and Knives. It was one of the better ones, IMHO. But it still felt rushed, and I felt it ended a little abruptly. Everything is up to the viewer...whether or not Meryl and Vash get together, whether Knives learns to behave, what the people what Vash met in the sky have done. It's all inferred, and it bothers me. Yeah, and no "Love and Peace!!!" at the end?

Don't get me wrong. I like Trigun. It's still one of my favorite animes. I think that I went in with my expectations too high and I got burned.

[Millions]

I think they left the ending more open for a second series (Which I heard WAS a consideration a while back) or a movie...at least, that's what I'm praying for.

I can't really see what exactly you mean by the animations of what I'll call "Bullet Time" In animation, the less frames you have, the faster the animation will move. Thus, a bullet can't be represented accuratly over a series of say, 80 frames. It would move too slow. Of course, that may just be my gums flapping...

And as for that damned 'cheek getting grazed a billion times thing' Yeah...what the heck is with that?? His face would be all cut to smack and back. And come to think of it....every anime I've seen with some sort of wild west gun influence has that grazing cheek scene...what the frick?

[Ronin Aquila]

One nagging feeling after witnessing the final confrontation...

It is quite obvious that Knives and the Gung Ho Guns are based upon Shishio Makoto and his "Ten Swords" army from Ruronin Kenshin. And Shishio Makoto commanded loyalty not just because he was charismatic, but also because he had the SHEER MARTIAL PROWESS to hold his subjects in line.

However, after the final gunfight, it is clear that Knives is NO MORE POWERFUL THAN VASH, only as skillful. And considering that Vash took such merciless poundings from the Gun Ho Guns, it is clear that Knives is THE WEAKEST LINK in his organisation.

By the same token, WHY IN BLUE BLAZES DID LEGATO NOT JUST CONTROL KNIVES TO KILL HIMSELF TO GAIN SUPREMACY!? Seeing that Knives is an inferior being to himself, it is ludicrous that he should hold such utter loyalty to him.

That's my thoughts for the day. Good Night.

[Asaki Masako]

It's really quite depressing. I honestly did not expect an ending like that. I just really hate the fact that Wolfwood had to die. He was like the second coolest guy in the entire show! I also kinda wished that Vash had killed his brother...but I guess that's never easy, especially for Vash. All in all, it was a really good ending, but really sad at the same time :bawling:

[MANTA]

I thought the last 4 episodes were really great. The final fight had several really nice spots in it. Eps 23 and 24 were really powerful and emotionally charged episodes. I do have a few gripes though, as Drizzten mentioned I think the animation for some of the fight scenes were just aweful, especially the one with Rei Dei. Another thing is that the series would have had much more of an impact if it was 25 or 24 episodes, because they seemed to be streching things a lot. Between that filler review episode and that long lull between the end of 24 and the final battle the series looses a lot of steam.

While Trigun is not perfect, and it might have more flaws than I would like in an anime, it still remains my all time favorite show. I enjoyed it thoroughly, loved the charecters, laughed and cried, all this in an anime I would have no concerns showing to my younger brother. I don't know how they pulled it off, but hats off to the Trigun team.

[Sakaki]

- spoilers -

Originally posted by Ronin Aquila
And considering that Vash took such merciless poundings from the Gun Ho Guns, it is clear that Knives is THE WEAKEST LINK in his organisation.

In my opinion, the fact that Vash got the stuffings beaten out of him on more than one occasion does not necessarily imply that Knives is "the weakest link" in his organization.

The purpose and the intent of the Gung-ho Guns was to make Vash suffer as much as possible, short of killing him. This was done in order to obtain an ultimate goal, which was to cause Vash to return to Knives.

Knives, by that point, had no reason to do the same. Perhaps he believed that it had been done for him. But his purpose right then and there was not to cause his brother maximum suffering, rather it was to change his mind and retrieve what to him had been lost. Practically until the end, Knives maintained an optimism that this could be done.

I'm not sure if Knives would truly have been emotionally capable of killing Vash, his brother, in that final fight. In flashbacks we see that Knives tries to take care of Vash, covering him with a blanket at night. We see that Knives actually values Vash's company and presence - when Vash shot him and left, this was something completely unexpected to Knives, an impossibility coming true. He collapsed to the ground, out of shock. We know that his wound he suffered then was not fatal, but the emotional backlash of the action was too much.


By the same token, WHY IN BLUE BLAZES DID LEGATO NOT JUST CONTROL KNIVES TO KILL HIMSELF TO GAIN SUPREMACY!? Seeing that Knives is an inferior being to himself, it is ludicrous that he should hold such utter loyalty to him.

Because Legato's power, and Legato's purpose throughout the entire show was given to him by Knives. For example, Legato wears Vash's arm ... this was not something he picked up off the street. In truth, Knives is in no way inferior to Legato, either biologically or power-wise. Everything that Vash can do, Knives can do. Is Legato a plant, like Knives and Vash ...? Despite his possession of Vash's arm, he is not.

The utter loyalty comes from belief in the truth and strength of his purpose and his leader, the assurance that this action and goal of theirs is what should have been done long ago. Legato sees himself and sees his master Knives as in the right. Midvalley the Hornfreak also mentioned that those who follow Knives have no will or rights - their life is for Knives.

- Sakaki

[Drizzten]

Interesting post, Sakaki. I agree with most of it.

Also Ronin, do not forget that Knives had that weird black energy ball that wiped Wolfwood's mentor off the face of the planet. I doubt Knives revealed his true powers during his fight with Vash. He was confident that he would either beat Vash (since he though Vash was weak) or Vash would see his philosophy and admit defeat.

[tekblade]

even though knives had that powerful black ball thing which killed wolf's master, in the fight he was able to activate both of those cannons he created by takin vash's gun. so all and all i dont think knives was trying to hold back much of his power, i think. i think that knives cant be the weakest person cause in every fight vash was in he never can use the the cannon arm he has cause only knives can activate it. so i think if anyof the gun hos tried to go turn on him he would blast them with his cannon.

[ussjburori]

uhm...k. the ending sucked. there was sooooooooo much to be desired. milly coped too quickly, even for her. the meryl-vash thing. knives would NEVER be good, he'd fight vash again. what happened to the humans on the other planets? are there other plants like vash and knives?

and no knives isn't the only one that can use the cannon. vash can and does on 2 occassions. he just chooses not to most of the time. the 2 times he does use it are when he fires at knives since he can't control it and he's pissed, the other is when he's fighting the ninja gung-ho-gun which i don't believe was his fault entirely(i have to rewatch). knives is the man and should've killed all of humanity, end of story. there should've been more knives besides the final episode (him as a kid doesn't count!)

[RyuKenZ]

I see, hmmm, well first I don't think the ending sucked, I mean it was not great or anything, but still, it was okay. Second Vash uses the cannon twice before the knives fight, he destroys both July and August, the first time was triggered by Knives, and the second by Legato...he never uses the cannon cause they are so destructive...we don't know if Knives will be good or bad, he is kind of knocked out at the end, Vash was attempting to save him, but we don't know if he ever succeeds...thats a toss-up, I agree though, Knives would never be good, and more Knives would have been really nice, also instead of that lame suit thing he wore, he should have had a black coat like Vash's with red leather and gloves, really sweet:D