In a cruel world, when should we be kind? And if we understand how, would humankind be able to rid the world of evil?
The 2023 release of Trigun Stampede got me interested in the classic anime, so I wanted to make a video essay analyzing the series core themes which seemed to be retained in the transition. The heart of Trigun’s message of course lies in the space between Vash the Stampede and Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Vash believes everyone can be saved, while Wolfwood believes every situation requires a sacrifice. In essence, one believes man is inherently good, the other not so much. While an analysis of Trigun would certainly seem to say Vash the Stampede is correct over Wolfwood, and that kindness is the only proper response even when it causes one to suffer, I think it’s worth discussing the implications of this, and if it’s something Trigun is saying that we shou;d truly follow. I think there may be something else more important, a concept brought up in both characters; atonement. If we atone for all our evil, can anyone be good? That will be the topic of today’s anime video essay, as we look for the cost of kindness.
The Cost of Kindness | A Trigun Anime Analysis Video Essay
#anime #trigun #videoessay #professorviral
35 comments
first
Second!
Bigolas is such a well-written character
oh we gaming
I just reached this spot on Trigun while I was sitting down to watch it completely in order. I love that timing.
Wait I thought the planet was called Gunsmoke?
Another great video Prof, I think trigun was a good pic. Makes me wonder how they might do the ending of the new one ☕☺️ maybe you can do a video on that one when it finishes
There was a thing on twitter recently about individuals that are generally thought as clever since they can articulate themselves yet are idiots. Fits here i'd say
Very glad you're on youtube. I watch all your videos. I hope you can continue to turn this into a career you deserve it. It's easy to see how much detail and time you put into these videos. Keep it up, my man.
RAHHH JUST FINISHED SO COOL !!1!1!1!1! and yea I totally agree, which (spoilers) I think the anime is actually the only trigun varient (I never watched the movie) where knives doesn’t die? Which I think is worth noting. But rlly cool video all around!!! I like to see it as like the spider man saying “with great power comes great responsibility,” saying how vash DOES have the power to help people and be kind, mans is the power-plant ultimate gun slinger after all lol. taking it as a “be kind when you are able” type of message in vash, mixing with rem’s massive optimism and wolf woods realism. but I’m just saying words, COOL VIDEO !!!1!1!1!
I'm disabled partly to scar tissue. Let me tell you, the pain from all those scars and wounds would be debilitating. I think you can look at it like Vash's "good" causes horrible physical pain, while the alternative causes horrible mental pain. People can and will break from both, the message is kindness is difficult/painful.
The final point it is important to show kindness to someone who is currently undeserving, to not take away their ability for later atonement.
The on point thumbnail of kneeling before a cross with the title "the cost of kindness."
I am excited to watch this but gotta wait til I’m home and can boohoo. I’m not that big a crier, but OG Trigun will do it!!
Just started the new one, and it has the same potential
7:31 subtle.
Engagement
The fact that the brother's name is, quite literally, "Millions Knives" will never not be funny to me
Dunno i got the sae from kubera, the last god that has a way better mangadex fantranslation.
Ok i would sssssssay we need kindness, and it is rewarding, if proably learn when to aply i guess. But kindess and carig and wanting better makesssss the world work and better, i just think ssssaying screw it all i am be the wiorst, makews neither , satissfying.
Ad caring good people need learn to set boundaries, selfcare and learn to not want everything, but whatever small int selfdecructive.
And yeah vash not really human, i tink wolfram is meant to be legit too.
Some thoughts: People are not inherently "evil" unless they are psychopaths (but those are more utilitarian than "evil") , we normally become misguided by our emotions, lack of understanding or/and lack of empathy (sometimes all at once). In that sense, because most of the times people dont have responsibilities about where they are born, how where they teached etc… they genuinely deserve to be helped to have the chance to redeem themselves or if that is not possible, to at least improve and become better: aspire at it. OFC that cant be done in a life or death situation (only martyrs do that) but when we know that there is no reasonable danger thats imho what we (mostly) should do.
If the world is uncaring, bad or cruel, that doesn't mean we cant or shouldn't change it. Even if we only change 0,01% of someones life for better, the world were we all live, including us becomes 0,01% better.
PS/edit: But why I said mostly? Because we are not always prepared to deal with our own problems, much less to solve others problems. Its not easy to help someone thats ill physically or mentally and thats why we need to understand if we are capable or not to help ourselves or guide that person to others help.
What a fascinating deep dive into rule utilitarianism!(or thats at least what i picked up from the vid🤣)
For me the main point to take away from Trigun is to never give up hope, that you can change a cruel world by being kind. It might be difficult and take self sacrifice but oftentimes people forget that it is an option. Vash is the personification of this hope and maybe an inspiration for our world too
I don’t really think any personal philosophy is inherently wrong or evil, so long as you understand what it is you believe in and are able to back it up.
“I should always be kind to others because kindness begets kindness, and it brings me joy to bring joy to others” is a fine stance to have, but “Everyone else should do the same regardless of personal cost” is less so.
“I will look out only for myself, because the things I need to do to survive will necessarily cause others harm” is fine, but “I will continue to harm others for my personal gain even when it is not necessary” is not.
“I refuse to engage with [minority group] because I have bad personal experiences and get painful flashbacks” is fine, but “I am therefore going to go out of my way to pile hate on them and vote against them” or “Actually I only refuse to engage because they make me kind of uncomfortable” are not.
Excellent analysis. I always enjoy your video essays.
If you haven't already, check out the Trigun manga. It addresses some of the flaws the 98 anime couldn't. It balances out Vash's, Wolfwood's, Legato's, and Knives' arguments much better. SPOILERS, but Knives has a better reason for hating humans than one guy beating him as a child. Wolfwood's death is for more heartfelt, and he is able to atone before he dies. Legato has a good reason for siding with Knives and hating humanity, as well as being willing to sacrifice his own life to torment Vash. Vash's reasons for killing Legato are not purely utilitarian as 98 portrays. As he's been sparing people selfishly (which he admits to WW earlier in the manga), he does finally kill selfishly. He saved lives because of love, and he eventually kills because of love.
Moreover, Vash isn't all that benevolent in the manga. He has a no kill rule, but that doesnt mean he can't use force and pain to get his way. At one point, he breaks all the fingers of one of the Gun Ho Guns. This is an act if cruelty, even if the Gun Ho Gun deserved it. He deals with anger and dealing out punishment much more frequently, and 98 sanitizing him of that made his stance less relatable/sympathetic.
Lastly, while the manga is not flawless, and is dated in some ways, it doesn't use violence against women as props to justify ethics and morality like 98 does. While i wouldnt necessarily call 98s Rem a centrist, her stances are incredibly tone deaf, and she's handled much better in the manga, even given the time it was written. It's based more on Vash feeling motherly love from her, and having extensive, reasoned talks with her, that makes him who he is.
I love Trigun 98. It has heart despite it's drawbacks. I'm glad most of those drawbacks were removed for Stampede. An update with modern sensibilies was sorely needed, and it shows that some insensitive themes and motifs just don't fly anymore.
The cost of kindness.. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on these weighty topics
i wish i could give you a hug 😅 Love your video, and hope you're staying safe!
tbh, i think the efforts of the show are rooted in the same efforts seen in many works from Japan post WW2; the effort to tell the pained masses that while what happened may hurt, it should not lead to violent retaliation, as, essentially, that's exactly the path that was taken which lead to all this hurt.
Not sure if that made sense, lemme try again: America hadn't done anything to Japan, but Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and America sent that pain back tenfold with two bombs. Thus, this show, like Chirin No Suzu and many others, in a way attempts to convince the watcher to break that cycle of hatred and violence.
As someone who grew up surrounded by people who hated me for an event none of us were even alive for, i understand what it's like to get beaten down so many times that you snap and you do something you never thought you would or even could. I was raised to be gentle and kind, to turn the other cheek and not fight back, but nowadays i realize that there HAS to be a stopping point.
Some people are just irredeemable trash that really don't deserve the kindness they refuse to offer to others, and while that might be a hard pill to swallow, it is something i have made peace with.
Loss is inevitable. Regret is not.
There are mountains of sorrow we cannot move and, one way or another, we will all kneel there.
Shame is the dirt we must filter from the water of guilt which grows our better natures….
kindness is something humanity is really lacking nowadays
There is another way always, its hard, its impossible to see. We cant avoid pain and conflict but kindness can mend it. I respect vashs ideal but it doesnt work all the time even kindness must be flexible cus the world will try to break and warp it.
You have slowly been becoming my favourite YouTuber
Thanks for retraumatising me about Wolfwood's death and staining how I view the message of the series that changed my entire outlook on the world ( ; ヮ ; ) /j
(Seriously enjoyed the video! I've been thinking about Trigun a lot recently again ever since I watched Trigun Stampede. Since you are a fan of the 1998 Trigun anime, I would love to hear your opinion on Trigun Stampede! Hearing what other fans of the 98 anime think of Tristamp is really interesting since they seem to either love it or hate it.)
It's a tightrope to walk as one could easily follow this same reasoning and determine that empathy is itself dangerous or to be disregarded. While we can't sacrifice too much of ourselves for another when that other is not acting in good faith, at the same time the ability to choose compassion over condemnation even when that condemnation would be seen as justified can be a powerful engine of positive change. To quote one of my favorite shows; "Forgiveness is an act of compassion, we don't choose to give it because it is earned. We give it because it is needed."
While it is true there are no shortage of cruel people who would exploit such a gift given, it is also true that there are people whose entire life changed for the better because they were offered that chance, that clemency from someone and in that support found what they needed to heal and be better.
I don't think any version of the story did enough to justify trying to redeem knives. A lot of anime does this thing in their redemption arches were they forget to make the villain actually redeemable. I think there was a potential path for knives that needed to be fleshed out more. In all three versions it's Knives who believes that plants and humans can get along first and Vash is the one who needed convincing. Then some tragedy damages knives' faith and he changes his mind. In Tristamp and Trimax the tragedy is better explained and knives' evil more justified but that works against his redemption.
In 98 Knives low tolerance for pain is super interesting to me. Knives acts like the more mature "older" brother but he is the one who is easily hurt and easily swayed. The 98 could have had the best knives redemption if they tugged on that thread and paired it with his love for Vash a little more. But the show just ends with us having to imagine how it went.
Time for my therapy session 🥲
Idk. I prefer the Manga and Stamped over the 98 Version. Yes, it had some good stuff, Vash state after killing Legato is great. But beside that I wasn't the biggest fan of the 98 Anime 🤔. Specially how how both Wolfwood and Knives characters Stories/Arcs are done.
But is ok, The Anime was done before the Manga ended so they have to invent a lot.
But The one that suffered the most in the 98 Version was Knives, his motivation and why he is how he is and his ideal are explained later in the Manga and makes him a better character.
Still nice video. Trigun is all about perspectives and about how far can someone go to survive or to save those they care about.
The different perspective and ways of acting in extreme situations
Interacting in every way i can to promote the channel
Hello! What song did you use in The Real Danger in Steins; Gate video. I enjoyed the song in that vid but could not find it. Plus, please do more vids about Steins; Gate. One of my favorite parts in Steins; Gate 0 is when Okabe trains Ruka, and we see him turn from being feminine to turning a 360 to being totally masculine like Gigachad in the future. It was awesome character development, plus his relationship with his friends seem's to be stronger. Ruka and Mayori would make a great pair I must say.