Trigun [Archive] - Quarter To Three Forums

Dave Long

04-10-2003, 06:18 AM

Anyone else watching Trigun during Adult Swim on Cartoon Network? I've never seen it before and I'm loving the action/comedy storyline. The way they start the series out with Vash the Stampede as a total goofball seems to set up some really cool revelations down the road. It's at Episode 8 tonight.

Yasuhiro Nightow's character designs are amazing too. I had to get Gungrave this past weekend after watching Trigun all last week. I've been super impressed with that game too... character design is just incredible and all the little extras they threw in like the action figures you unlock are a great use of the property. It's a shame the game seems to have tanked both here in Japan. They had planned a series and all kinds of good stuff around Beyond the Grave. :(

I've also been trying to stay awake for Cowboy Bebop. I finally kept my lids open last night and saw the second to last episode, "The Real Folk Blues Part I". That show just blows me away. Incredible storytelling coupled with more great character design. I gained even more respect for the fellow who did the music in Gungrave (reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop) when I found out he's a musician performing on the Cowboy Bebop music tracks. Apparently, the guy was also involved in creation of the CB music.

I've always dug anime, but never had the dollars or the gumption to buy VHS/DVD versions of a lot of them sight unseen. Now that Cartoon Network is running this stuff, I get all I can take when I want it. That's great! I may even pick up the Cowboy Bebop DVDs and Trigun as well. I know for damn sure I'll be getting the Gungrave soundtrack as soon as funds allow.

--Dave

Ben Sones

04-10-2003, 06:24 AM

The Cartoon Network rules, no two ways about it.

Dave, did you see Spirited Away when it was in theaters? I think you'd like it. It's due out on DVD this month (the 15th, I think).

Dave Long

04-10-2003, 07:05 AM

My wife just mentioned that we need to rent it. I wanted to see it in theatres but it wasn't here very long and we never got there. I will most certainly rent it though, and if it's as good as I've heard, we will own it.

Cartoon Network certainly does rule. I had always heard about Trigun, but what I'm watching isn't really what I heard about. I thought it would be more action packed from beginning to end. I'm not complaining though. It's great because it ISN'T action packed from beginning to end. The characters are changing and growing throughout the show and as more about Vash is revealed, I get more excited to watch.

I love the wild west in space stuff too. I could watch a million programs based around that idea. It's just so cool!

--Dave

Tyjenks

04-10-2003, 08:25 AM

Damn, if you get out of the habit of watching Adult Swim there is nothing to remind you to start back watching. No promos on other channels...nothing. I probably have not watched in a couple of months.

If someone would please just bump up an Adult Swim thread once every couple of weeks as a reminder and personal favor to me, I would really appreciate it. :wink:

BTW, I saw Princess Mononoke for the first time on Starz last month. What a great flick. I was hoping the post-Oscar re-release of Spirited would show up here in Birmingham, but it does not look like I am going to be that lucky. One theater here has one "art house" screen. If you blink, you will miss these little gems.

Dave Long

04-10-2003, 08:40 AM

Well, just for the record, the current lineup M-Th on CN is Trigun at 12AM, InuYasha at 12:30 (also good), Cowboy Bebop at 1:00 and Reign (by the creator of Aeon Flux) at 1:30. I have yet to stay awake for Reign.

I'm not sure what they'll do with Cowboy Bebop after this week since I think this is the end of the series tonight. There's still 18 more Triguns to go.

--Dave

Tyjenks

04-10-2003, 08:57 AM

Thanks Dave. I guess I could just bookmark the Cartoon Network website and put it in my semi-regular browsing rotation. :) That seems like an awful lot of work.

Thierry Nguyen

04-10-2003, 09:32 AM

I'm not sure what they'll do with Cowboy Bebop after this week since I think this is the end of the series tonight. --Dave

Probably what they usually do when they started airing it in 2001: either let another show take its timeslot for the remainder of the season, or re-air the entire season again.

Hopefully, they'll just re-air the whole season again, as you're catching the tail end of it. Ironically, even though CB is an episodic character study, you're catching the few sessions that can be considered the "main story" (sessions 5, 12, 13, 25, 26).

My favorite sessions are: 5, 11, 17, 18, 20, and 22.

Ben Sones

04-10-2003, 10:11 AM

I don't remember the session numbers, but I'm particularly fond of Hard Luck Women, Toys in the Attic, and the episode with Andy.

Union Carbide

04-10-2003, 10:27 AM

I really liked Trigun when I watched it on DVD. I'll say one thing tho, I'll never watch it in english again. The already weak dub gets irritating towards the last few episodes.

Thierry Nguyen

04-10-2003, 10:35 AM

I don't remember the session numbers, but I'm particularly fond of Hard Luck Women, Toys in the Attic, and the episode with Andy.

Ah, yours would be 11, 22, and 24.

Mine were Ballad Of Fallen Angels, Mushroom Samba, Speak Like A Child Pierrot Le Fou, and the aforementioned Toys In The Attic and Cowboy Funk.

EDIT: Got the numbers right after confusing 3 for 24.

Ben Sones

04-10-2003, 10:59 AM

Nah, not Honkey Tonk Women--Hard Luck Women. It's the one that comes right before the final two-part episode; the one where Edward finds her father.

Dave Long

04-10-2003, 10:59 AM

So maybe you guys can answer me this...Cowboy Bebop seems to be pretty popular, both here and I guess in Japan. Why only 26 episodes? Are these things planned that way? It's obviously not the same as television in Hollywood it would seem...

I just checked the online listings for CN for next week's Adult Swim. Looks like Asteroid Blues is the episode of Cowboy Bebop they're airing on Monday. Is that the first one?

--Dave

Ben Sones

04-10-2003, 11:02 AM

Japanese television is much better than US television when it comes to NOT milking a popular show for all its worth. They tend to wrap up shows while they are still popular, rather than long after they stop being good (what I like to call the "X-Files Syndrome").

Miramon

04-10-2003, 11:05 AM

Eh, I never watch English-dubbed anime, it is almost universally bad.*

But since I don't care about Trigun, let me hijack the thread momentarily at least over to Noir. This is a cool though somewhat morbid and cynical series which was perhaps somewhat inspired by Cowboy Bebop's success, though the concept and art styles are utterly different (the similarities include rather angst-ridden characters, relatively grown-up plots, and a lot of money spent on the sound track.) The series is enhanced by the excellent music and soundtrack from Ali Project. I particularly like the opening credits tune "Kopperia No Hitsugi" which is interestingly complex but still lively and fun to listen to, and which is developed as a theme in various other pieces. I'm not sure of the music theory terminology, but I think the melody fails to resolve itself, and just sort of keeps going on to the next segment in a sort of endless cycle. Anyhow, it's actually worth it to buy the soundtrack CD in addition to the DVD.

*The one exception to my no-dubbing rule would be the Peacock Throne series, which has amazingly good dubbing done by perfectly chosen American voice talent. When some girl transforms into a demon-babe, ripping apart some of her clothes, and incidentally presenting our heroes with a nice rear-view, the gruff-mercenary-dude says "I can see your true ASS-pect now" and that pretty much paid for the tape as far as I was concerned....

Ben Sones

04-10-2003, 11:07 AM

I dunno--I found the dubbing in Cowboy Bebop to be pretty damn good. A lot of anime does have terrible English dubbing, but that's not an accusation that I'd level at this particular series.

Anonymous

04-10-2003, 11:07 AM

Yes, Asteroid Blues is the first.

Trigun is a great series as well. It's probably even deeper and more emotional than Cowboy Bebop, but it takes longer to get to that point. The last stretch of episodes are amazing.

Matthew Gallant

04-10-2003, 11:10 AM

There are lots of anime series that have single season runs. It's just a cultural thing. I think it comes from almost every anime being an adaptation of a serialized manga story. A long-running series is the exception, not the rule.

There are also weird spin-off type deals, like in Gundam where the setting continues on, but with different characters-- or in Tenchi Muyo where the same characters take part in a different story arc, complete with different ways of how they all meet, and different ways of making Brandon Reinhart cry.

Dave Long

04-10-2003, 12:12 PM

I've seen a number of the Gundam episodes from various series and was aware of how they all are connected. That's kind of why I was wondering why we don't see more of Cowboy Bebop, as an example.

Thanks for the all the explanations.

Since you guys are all into anime it seems, I highly recommend checking out Gungrave on PS2. Insanely cool character designs and a straightforward but very fun plot are just two of its best characteristics. The anime interludes are as good as any of the shows we've been discussing here. The bosses are wildly imaginative too. Most importantly though, you get to shoot stuff...like...everything in the level, leaving a smoking ruin in your wake. It's short, but it's only $20 or less now so it's completely worth it. Beyond the Grave has more style in his pinky than 95% of the other video game characters out there. Lots of cool extras to open up when you beat it too.

--Dave

curst

04-10-2003, 12:50 PM

Eh, I never watch English-dubbed anime, it is almost universally bad.*

That's not a problem with Cowboy Bebop. I haven't gotten to watch it as much as I'd like since it's all History Channel all the time in our house, but what I have seen has made it one of my favorite TV shows.

And I'm not a big anime fan, bad dubbing or not. It's just really well done.

Dirt

04-10-2003, 01:11 PM

"Japanese television is much better than US television when it comes to NOT milking a popular show for all its worth. They tend to wrap up shows while they are still popular, rather than long after they stop being good (what I like to call the "X-Files Syndrome")."

Which is still better than what I like to call the "Dragon Ball Z Syndrome" where the camara will spend 30 seconds fixed on a character showing their utter amazement and disbelief.

Dirt

04-10-2003, 01:12 PM

"Well, just for the record, the current lineup M-Th on CN is Trigun at 12AM, InuYasha at 12:30 (also good), Cowboy Bebop at 1:00 and Reign (by the creator of Aeon Flux) at 1:30. I have yet to stay awake for Reign."

VCR.

Dave Long

04-10-2003, 01:16 PM

Brad Grenz

04-10-2003, 02:24 PM

So maybe you guys can answer me this...Cowboy Bebop seems to be pretty popular, both here and I guess in Japan. Why only 26 episodes? Are these things planned that way? It's obviously not the same as television in Hollywood it would seem...

Lots of these anime series are planned for only single season runs, with a story arc that ends. Lots of the best shows only lasted a single season, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Trigun. Many just aren't set up to be open ended. At least we don't get those shows localized for the US market very often. That said the huge popularity of Cowboy Bebop did lead to the production of a great movie (set prior to the end of the series), and the creator has said he may do something more because the demand is so high.

Trigun's pretty cool. I'd only seen the first few episodes, so I'm finally getting into stuff I hadn't seen yet. Another show you guys might want to check out is Ruroni Kenshin which is shown as part of the Toonami block at 6:30. It's like Trigun, only set in Meiji era Japan, with a brilliantly skilled swordsman, who like Vash, doesn't like to kill people.

Dave Long

04-10-2003, 02:28 PM

I've wanted to watch Rurouni Kenshin, but the time slot is inappropriate for the little guys. It looks like it'd be too much for my boys.

--Dave

Brad Grenz

04-10-2003, 02:42 PM

It can be violent and scary, but also funny and cute. I get the feeling you don't know how to program your VCR... Maybe you need Tivo!

Dirt

04-10-2003, 02:55 PM

It's true though. There really isn't too much originality left in Anime. Vash is essentially City Hunter.

Don Quixote

04-10-2003, 02:58 PM

Yeah, we watched rented all the episodes of Trigun and loved every minute of it- and I'm not a fan of anime at all. People then told me that it had a lot in common with Cowboy Bebop, so we started renting them, too- after six or so episodes, realized that these were series that I was going to watch a few times, so paid out the money for DVD boxed sets.
Cool thing is- I found a boxed set of each on half.com for around $45 apiece (new)- rather than the $180 retail. They don't have any of the extras, but other than that, they're flawless.

Anonymous

04-10-2003, 03:01 PM

It can be violent and scary, but also funny and cute. I get the feeling you don't know how to program your VCR... Maybe you need Tivo!

Like I said...it's busted. :(

Mark Bussman

04-10-2003, 04:24 PM

It can be violent and scary, but also funny and cute. I get the feeling you don't know how to program your VCR... Maybe you need Tivo!

Like I said...it's busted. :(

At least you have cable... :(

(We'll probably get it this summer.)

How's this for torture: I put "Cowboy Bebop" near the bottom of the DVD section of my Christmas list (since I was thinking of the box set and wasn't expecting to get it) and received the "Best Sessions" DVD, which is cool, but just makes me want the whole thing even more...

Miramon

04-10-2003, 05:58 PM

Well, IMO the "best of" is probably all you really need. The quality of the series is quite variable, and frankly I found the final episodes to be rather weak, and sophomoric in the extreme.... I thought the episodes were a lot more fun when they at least seemed to be randomly traipsing around the system as opposed to being deeply involved in the story arc, which plot I thought was somewhat inane. However, the graphical style and soundtrack selections are solid in all the episodes.

Greenie

04-10-2003, 06:25 PM

So maybe you guys can answer me this...Cowboy Bebop seems to be pretty popular, both here and I guess in Japan. Why only 26 episodes? Are these things planned that way? It's obviously not the same as television in Hollywood it would seem...

There is also a Cowboy Bebop theatrical film - I think it's scheduled for release here in the USA sometime in June. IIRC, the film takes place between eps. 22 and 23.

Mike

Anonymous

04-10-2003, 08:40 PM

The Bebop movie is actually out now in select cities (ie: the big cities). It will be on DVD on June 24th.

www.cowboybebopthemovie.com

Greenie

04-10-2003, 09:15 PM

It's out already? That's cool - I guess I need to move to a bigger city so I can keep up with these things, huh? :D

Brad Grenz

04-10-2003, 11:22 PM

Cool thing is- I found a boxed set of each on half.com for around $45 apiece (new)- rather than the $180 retail. They don't have any of the extras, but other than that, they're flawless.

Yeah, just so you know, you bought an illegal Hong Kong bootleg.

Dave Long

04-11-2003, 06:14 AM

I got burned on the Ocarina of Time soundtracks by bootlegs too. Unless you pay attention to the part number, and know exactly which Japanese company released said soundtrack/DVD, you won't be able to tell. They're absolutely perfect reproductions of the original material. It's really kind of sad.

I actually never would've known if someone hadn't said in a separate thread at GA "If they're by Ever Anime International, they're bootlegs." with regard to the OoT soundtracks. ...and folks think piracy isn't a problem. :roll:

--Dave

Anonymous

04-11-2003, 08:54 AM

i'll start worrying about bootlegs when companies stop making profits off of my personal information.

FlamingSheep

04-11-2003, 05:25 PM

Ranulf

04-14-2003, 01:14 AM

Hmm, I guess I should stay up and suffer through Home Movies after futurama to see Trigun dubbed. I've seen some of it subbed and its pretty good. Bebop seems to be my exception in that I prefer its english dub usually but I'm not really picky. I can't stand the dubbed version of Inu Yasha though.

If any of you are fans of the Ghost in the Shell movie, check out the Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex series (its still being released in Japan but you can get the subbed ones off the net), its probably my favorite next to Bebop.

Starting April 20th we get Futurama and Family Guy back to back on CN tho!

Brad Grenz

04-14-2003, 01:29 AM

suffer through Home Movies

Take that back, you fiend! Home Movies is super-dee-duper! Funny as hell! We aren't talking about the Oblongs here...

Matthew Gallant

04-14-2003, 06:11 AM

Home Movies does require an uncommon sense of humor to fully appreciate. It's got sort of a "by comedians, for comedians" type of vibe.

For me, a favorite gag would be the reference sequitur from Strangers on a Train (or maybe Throw Momma from the Train) to Christopher Cross. Angie laughs loudest at Coach McGuirk using a highlighter to trace the veins on his leg during soccer practice, calling one the Tigris and the other the Euphrates.

What keeps everything together though is the concept of kids identifying, and using, cinematic and musical tropes so hapharzadly, and extending that precociousness to their elementary school life. It's a fantastic way to satirize adult habits and tastes.