Trigun Stampede (2023)- Episode 1, "No Man's Land" Thoughts.

So, the time has finally come. The first episode of Trigun Stampede, entitled "No Man's Land" has finally released and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it's not the complete trash fire I was worried about it being. On the other, I also don't think it's very good. The anime could go anywhere from here; but it's got an uphill battle on its hands. Let's explore why, and there will be spoilers; if you care about that.

Courtesy: Crunchyroll/Toho/ORANGE

First, the positives- as reboots of beloved classics go, this isn't the worst thing ever even as it's far from the best. I would put this above the 2020 Digimon Adventure and the infamous 2016 Berserk; but a smidge below the 2021 Shaman King. The fact that I have this metric is definitely an indicator of where we are. The voice acting is relatively solid on the whole, and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Inosuke from Demon Slayer and Raihan from Pokémon Journeys, among many others) is at least a decent fit for what they're attempting to do.

That's not to say that this is completely without flaws either. Far from it- I was never onboard the hype train for this reboot; and was honestly baffled to why there was one to begin with. I always felt it appeared average; and now that I've seen it, at least in the pilot's case: I consider it to be average. 

The biggest points of contention are definitely the CGI and changes from the source material. I acknowledge that the style ORANGE has is distinctive, but while it works for Land of the Lustrous and for BEASTARS; I don't think it was the best fit for Trigun. Again, it's not as bad as the aforementioned 2016 Berserk; but it's also got this sheen like a video game cutscene (and not a cinematic one like Horizon, Elden Ring or Jedi Fallen Order). The original had impact and grit in nearly every frame, this reboot feels weightless; and everything looks too clean for a fictional universe that shares DNA with everything from the Mad Max series to spaghetti Western films. There's a scene where they're served allegedly dirty water; but I've had cups of Pepsi at Taco Bell that were murkier than the water in that scene. Honestly: I think Lupin III The First did a much better job at making 2D anime traits work in CGI.

I also want to make clear that I'm not against the idea of making changes for an adaptation or reboot, otherwise there wouldn't be that much point in doing one at all. The problem is that a fair amount of people would have preferred a direct adaptation of the manga (which wasn't finished when the original anime aired) or an adaptation of Maximum; and we got this instead. They're trying, but the energy just seems... off in this show. It doesn't help that attempting to open on Vash and Knives being sent to "No Man's Land" by their surrogate mother Rem ends up being less impactful than the original, since the buildup isn't there for the audience to get invested.

Then there's the character changes. Out of all the switches made, the omission of Milly Thompson (at least at this stage) is the one that upset me and others the most. Given how the character made a good contrast to Meryl Strife in both looks and personality; her removal didn't make any sense to me, or others. While I'm on the subject; I am very much not a fan of the changes made to Meryl's character; either in looks or personality. The inclusion of new character Roberto also doesn't do it for me in terms of making up for the aforementioned changes. Call me crazy, but I'm not buying Vash crying over reloading his weapon when his counterpart was able to; on occasions in the original, ward off attackers with some tomato juice, a kid's toy popgun that shoots rubber darts; and even his own finger.

In one infamous case, fan backlash to giving Wolfwood a lollipop instead of his cigarettes caused the change to be reverted (honestly got 4Kids One Piece flashbacks from that). Which begs one question- if you're willing to acknowledge that some fans aren't onboard for this kind of change in a reboot; why do it? Why not just do a more direct adaptation of the manga or Maximum? Admittedly, the anime could go in any direction from here, but for now; it's got an uphill battle on its hands.

I'm also not buying the claim of there not being a market for homages to past styles. I may not be into Megalobox; but that was lauded for how it used modern techniques to honor its source material. Heck, Lupin Zero is exactly the anime I wanted this to be; showing how cunning a thief he was even in his school days; and how he started working with Jigen and Fujiko. Best of all, its art direction is gleefully retro; coming directly from the anime that it acts as a precursor to.

The promotional campaign also did not help matters- it's one of the most baffling and confusing rollouts I've seen in this decade so far; and I've seen the preview campaign for Sonic Frontiers (I do like that game for the record, and post-launch ads have been much better). I'll have a clearer idea of how I feel another time; but for now, it's a very middle of the road update on a bonafide classic (one I put on the same pedestal as Cowboy Bebop).

If you are familiar with the material, definitely tread carefully as I have. If you are on the fence like I was, and haven't been exposed to the series beforehand; I strongly recommend reading the manga and watching the original anime first (all 26 episodes and the Badlands Rumble movie). I won't be doing a full review before the anime finishes, so it could take any trajectory from here. That will be all for now, so if you'll excuse me; I'm going back to the original anime.