Story
Taking place in the future, the setting of Trigun is of the Wild West rather than space. The world is a desert and Bounty Hunters wishing to collect the 60 Billion double dollar reward for his capture constantly hunt Vash the Stampede, aka Humanoid Typhoon. The only problem is, noone knows exactly what he looks like and when they encounter him, they either suffer injuries inflicted by themselves or don't believe that someone so pathetic could be Vash. Combining humor, guns, massive violence, and cute girls, Trigun is a great anime.

Packaging
I have to say that I have always been greatly impressed by the work Pioneer does in regards to the packaging. The cover is a holographic image of Vash holding his gun. The back contains various screen captures, but rather than just square images, the images seem like they tore a hole through the cover and jump out. The background image is of Vash walking against the sunset, which is a great image as well. The multi-language note is at the bottom of the back but highlighted with a black and white border. The back contains a short prologue of who Vash is as well as a short description of the show. After this come the titles to each of the 4 episodes on the DVD. Within the DVD package we are given 3 extras. One is a slip that allows you to join Pioneer's mailing list. The second is a contest entry form for you to win a Trigun guitar that actually looks pretty sweet. And finally the third is a guide to the sections of each episode and on the back of this slip is the homepage and mailing address of Pioneer for you to learn more about the series.

Menus
The same picture of Vash that appears on the cover is the image used for the title menu, although it is not holographic. At the side is a circling image of words that I did not sit and read; I'm sure they have something to do with the series. The problem I had with this DVD is that it goes straight to episode 1 instead of to the menu. I didn't like this since I prefer to be able to change things about the audio and such at the beginning before seeing any of the show. Each section of the menu contains a different image of Vash along with the circling words. The guitar theme music plays which I enjoyed.

English
The original musical score is kept in the dub as well as the dialogue with few changes. The voices are all pretty good, some of the very minor characters sounded a little annoying but they were able to cast someone to portray the dorkiness of Vash very well.

Japanese
Just like all Japanese versions of an anime, if you like the anime itself than the Japanese version is always perfect compared to other versions. The subtitles are yellow, but they contain a black border so the words are readable in all instances.

Extras
The extras on this DVD included an image gallery, character designs, and DVD credits. Each were entertaining the first time you watch them but not something you will find yourself accessing again. Also included is information about Pioneer and their various other titles, which they separate according to the parental guidelines ratings. (Or whatever it's called). This section is simply titled "Pioneer Info."

Final Thoughts
When I first purchased Trigun I had thought the series was just about gunslingers and a man with a huge bounty on his head. I wasn't expecting too much. But to my surprise, I loved the anime. Had the humor not been part of the show I probably would have trashed it, but making Vash a great fighter who hides behind stupidity made this anime one of the best I've ever seen. I highly recommend picking up a copy. Later minna!

© Eric.