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Review

by Allen Divers

Trigun

DVD Vol. 8 - High Noon

Synopsis:
Trigun - High Noon DVD

The remnants of humanity have washed up on a desert planet. With only their spirit and ancient technology to keep them alive, humanity struggles to survive. Amongst them walks a legend. This legend is considered a force of nature, a humanoid typhoon. Where he walks, destruction follows. Is this legend the end of the world, or ultimately the savior of humanity's new world?

After shooting a child to save Vash's life, Wolfwood finds himself at odds with Vash. Adding to this complication, Wolfwood's past catches up with him and his true mission comes to light: He must side with his heart or kill Vash! Meanwhile, Vash faces his own past and realizes he must challenge his own brother to save the world. Milly and Meryl's lives hang in the balance as he struggles with his choice of peace & love. In the end, Vash finally comes to understand Rem's last words to him, leading him to confront his brother Knives.

Review:

Trigun: High Noon is the 8th and final volume in the Trigun Series. It's been a long road for both Vash and the viewer to reach this point. Trigun is grouped in a sub-genre with 2 other recent anime series, Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star. Each brought the viewer a future world mixed with the ethics and lawlessness of America's wild west. While the others overplay the technology, Trigun remains rooted to humanity. Vash's quest to reconcile his own beliefs against his brothers comes to a head in this final volume. At the heart of the Trigun story is a struggle of morality. Each of the major characters faces their own morality in this final collection of episodes.

The technical aspects of the series remain of high quality all the way to the last frame. A lot of Trigun is simply the atmosphere presented, and the clarity of picture and sound on a DVD really brings it to light. Coloring remains sharp, with no noticeable bleeds or rainbows in the picture. This really accents the contrast between the characters and their backgrounds. Although they live in a harsh and colorless world, they remain bright.

The English Dub remains true to the original Japanese script, with only minor wording changes for timing reasons. The English voice cast does a good job of retaining much of the Japanese sound and feel to the characters. Both audio tracks use the same set of music, which really helps set the mood for the entire show. Both are also well mastered and balanced, meaning the viewer won't have to fumble for the remote to up the volume to hear the dialogue.

As with previous editions, the menu system on the DVD is animated. This time around it's set up as a newspaper with the menacing shot of Knives from the DVD cover. The extras remain on par with previous editions. There are 2 galleries, one of line art drawings concentrating on Vash and Knives and the other with the original Japanese laser disc covers. Episodes on this disc have a slightly different opening sequence, so it's included here without credits. The same goes for the closing credits of the last episode.

Trigun - High Noon does a good job of concluding this outstanding series. It's outstanding visuals, soul searching storyline, well developed storyline and constant action keep the viewer entertained all the way to the end. The last 4 episodes in this series do a great job of telling the story by not giving it all away too quickly. In the end, the moral of the story can come across a bit heavy-handed, but for those that enjoy a bit of philosophy with their entertainment it comes across quite clear.

Grade:
Overall : A
Overall (dub) : A
Overall (sub) : A
Animation : A
Art : A
Music : A

+ Outstanding back story developments keep the viewer coming back for more
The moral of the story may come across too sharply for some tastes

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Production Info:
Director: Satoshi Nishimura
Series Composition: Yōsuke Kuroda
Script: Yōsuke Kuroda
Storyboard:
Noriyuki Abe
Hideo Hayashi
Fuminori Kizaki
Katsuyuki Kodera
Yoshihide Kuriyama
Kou Matsuo
Kazunori Mizuno
Yūji Moriyama
Satoshi Nishimura
Yoshimitsu Ohashi
Kazuhiro Ozawa
Masayuki Ōzeki
Takuya Satō
Nanako Shimazaki
Shigehito Takayanagi
Shinichi Tōkairin
Shoji Yabushita
Tomio Yamauchi
Episode Director:
Shigeki Awai
Hideo Hayashi
Yoshihide Kuriyama
Kou Matsuo
Yūji Moriyama
Norihiko Nagahama
Satoshi Nishimura
Yoshimitsu Ohashi
Kazuhiro Ozawa
Nanako Shimazaki
Shigehito Takayanagi
Toshikatsu Tokoro
Shoji Yabushita
Mihiro Yamaguchi
Tomio Yamauchi
Unit Director: Shigehito Takayanagi
Music:
Tsuneo Akima
Tsuneo Imahori
Kiyoshi Kamata
Naruyoshi Kikuchi
Masafumi Minato
Hiroaki Mizutani
Gen Ogimi
Yūji Okiyama
Atsushi Sano
Udai Shika
Akira Sotoyama
Michiaki Suzuki
Hideyo Takakuwa
Masaki Tsurugi
Original Manga: Yasuhiro Nightow
Character Design: Takahiro Yoshimatsu
Art Director: Hidetoshi Kaneko
Animation Director:
Yūki Iwai
Akira Kano
Yuki Kinoshita
Makoto Koga
Naoyuki Konno
Shiro Kudaka
Yūji Moriyama
Masao Nakata
Masakazu Okada
Fujio Suzuki
Satoshi Tasaki
Yōichi Ueda
Takahiro Yoshimatsu
Mechanical design: Noriyuki Jinguji
Sound Director:
Yasunori Honda
Tomohiro Yoshida
Director of Photography: Hisao Shirai
Executive producer:
Shigeaki Komatsu
Masao Maruyama
Producer:
Shigeru Kitayama
Masao Morosawa
Licensed by: Geneon Entertainment Inc.

Full encyclopedia details about
Trigun (TV)

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