arts / 10

Animesque: Milly, Meryl,
and Mr. Moral high ground

» ‘Trigun’ brings the Old West to the Final Frontier

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

OOOO8

as the show that helped me
“get” anime. By that criteria, |
should have mentioned Trigun,
the first anime series I ever
watched from start to finish
and truly enjoyed. Adapted by

Nightow’s manga series, Trigun
blends comedy and tragedy
just as haphazardly as it does
American western tropes with
sci-fi.

In the distant future,
humanity has colonized a
desolate, Tatooine-like planet
called Gunsmoke and things are
very much like the Old West,
except with towering mutants
and automatic weapons. There
is a ludicrous 60-billion “double

force-of-nature outlaw named
Vash “The Stampede,” who
obliterates all in his path. Fed
up with making payouts to
Vash’s victims, the Bernardelli
Insurance Company assigns
watchdog representatives Milly
and Meryl to track Vash down.

What they find is a

: misunderstood goofball who,

: while an impossibly good shot,

: refuses to kill anyone regardless
: of the horrific wrong-place-

: wrong-time situations he

| ae credited Cowboy Bebop routinely blunders into. Forced

: to tag along and make sure he

: doesn’t cause any more financial
: carnage for their employer, the

: girls are strung along through

: gleefully twisted visions of every
: clichéd American western plot
Madhouse Studios from Yasuhiro : imaginable: bank robberies, train
: jobs, kidnappings, border towns

: endangered by bounty hunters,

: robber barons monopolizing

: the water supply, determined

: homesteaders imperilled by

: thieves, and more.

Trigun seems like a comedy

: western at first, but despite all

: the action, Vash’s near-childish
: belief in his morality becomes

: central. You don’t want to see

: him just kill the bad guys—no
, : matter how awful their deeds—
dollar” bounty on an unstoppable you want to believe vengeance
: solves nothing. Characters like
: the desperado priest, Nicholas
: Wolfwood, add thematic

: resonance to the show’s moral
: dilemmas, being mysteriously
: two-faced even in their best

: moments. Two words: Martyr.
: Complex.

The soundtrack is a quirky,

: alien mix of synth-rock and

: twanging acoustic guitar, playing

: well with the sci-fi/western

: setting. As the origins of both

: Vash and Gunsmoke are slowly

: revealed, the sci-fi elements

: gradually shift to the foreground,

: bringing early foreshadowing into
: sharper focus. The world becomes
: fuller and richer with each

: revelation, and its true nature is

: something far more than just a

: silly space western, much like the

: script of the show itself.

I’m not going to say that

: the dub is perfect, but it’s pretty
: good. This is the series that

: established Johnny Yong Bosch
: asavoice actor, and he’s been

: a mainstay in the industry ever

: since, most recently voicing Kung
: Jin in Mortal Kombat X. Sadly,

: other standouts like Jeff Nimoy
: and Lia Sargent haven't been as
: prosperous as their talent surely
: deserves.

Trigun’s quality is undeniable.

: Although some say the late

: ‘gos-era animation doesn’t stand

: the test of time, I was utterly

: absorbed by its attention to detail
: and low-rent charm. So if you're

: looking for an anime with brains,
: heart, and a spine, you can’t go

: wrong with Trigun.

theotherpress.ca

 

Image from Trigun

 

Crowded Bookshelf: Vampires, werewolves, and a grumpy wizard

» ‘The Dresden Files’ book series review

Duncan Fingarson
Contributor

arry Dresden is a wizard,

but unlike a lot of fantasy
wizards he doesn’t live in a world
of dwarves and elves. Instead he
lives in Chicago, a far cry from
J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth,
in Jim Butcher’s The Dresden
Files series. The novels follow
Dresden as he solves mysteries
with a distinctively paranormal
bend, often alongside Chicago PD
Lieutenant Karrin Murphy.

The first novel, Storm Front,
sets a good tone for the series.
Dresden is called in to help solve
a double murder that’s been
committed with black magic
and involves the bodyguard of
a prominent Chicago mob boss.
Unfortunately for Dresden, that
murder isn’t the last and before
long he finds his own name ona
shortlist of who’s next.

Butcher ties the plot threads
together wonderfully, and the
book’s climax is a real page-
turner. The rest of the books in
the series ramp up ina similar
way. For someone like myself, who

: already hasa hard time puttinga :
: book down, it’s almost impossible :
: to drop one of these once it starts
: heading into the climactic battle.

Of course, a good book needs

: to have good characters too,

: and Butcher delivers. Dresden

: is stubborn and hot-tempered,

: witha sardonic wit and strong

: moral compass. Murphy is a

: solid and upright defender of

: the law. Gentleman Johnny, the

: mob boss, is a slimeball, but a

: shrewd and intelligent slimeball.
: All the characters are separate

: and distinct, and all of them are

: likeable in their own way. In the

: case of the series’ villains, it’s

: often more “love to hate” than

: actually like, but then again a

: great villain is a good drive for any :
: story. :

A particular favourite

Files.

> asa character.

If you want to jump in and

: pick up the most recent book, it’s
: possible to do that. The stories

: are largely self-contained and

: important events of the previous
: books that are relevant to the

: current one are usually recapped
: in an efficient manner. However,

: [recommend starting at the

: beginning. The books do follow

: chronologically from each other,
: and things that happen in later

: books are often tied in some small
: way to the events of previous

: ones.

Storm Front is an excellent

book in its own right, even if
: you don’t go any further with the
: series. For those willing to follow

along with Dresden’s adventures,

: there’s a lot of depth and good,

: : strong world building to be found
: character of mine is Bob, a talking :
: skull, Dresden’s sarcastic verbal

: encyclopedia of magic. Bob’s

: usual role is exposition about

: whatever magical foe Dresden

: finds himself matched against

: that time, and it’s a credit to

: Butcher that he managed to make
: a literal talking head interesting

amongst the pages of The Dresden

If you're a fan of wizards and

: magic, or a fan of hardboiled

: detectives in the vein of Philip

: Marlowe and Sam Spade, Harry

: Dresden is a good addition to your
: bookshelf. I know I'm happy to

: have him on mine.

 

Ei

Reet
FRONT

a ee -8 ee) a0 2 2

Cover of ‘Storm Front’