REVIEW: ‘Trigun Stampede,’ Episode 2 — “The Running Man”

With the most recent batch of bounty hunters looking to score big on Vash’s bounty defeated and the town safe, things seem to have a chance to quiet down. But things can never stay too quiet for Vash, and there is always a new danger right around the corner in Trigun Stampede Episode 2.

Coming out of the last episode, I was carrying a significant worry about the direction of Trigun Stampede. With the reveal that Knives was actively looking for Vash, and indeed one of his spies had caught up to him during that episode’s story, I was worried that every episode of the series from here on out would be focusing squarely on the sibling struggle between Vash and Knives. This would disappoint me as a large part of Vash’s original story grew the character through his interactions with random people his journey would lead him to. Trigun Stampede Episode 2 settled my concerns a lot as this episode focuses on a much more random encounter than anything involving Knives and focuses the story squarely on expanding on who Vash is.

Throughout this episode’s two interwoven challenges that are set before our hero, one core element is brought to the forefront. How much Vash wants to help, rather than hurt, people. The lengths he will go to protect and preserve life are truly bizarre. His level of tolerance for the actions of others would feel utterly implausible for even the most kind-hearted of anime characters. Thanks to Vash’s unique blend of goofiness and incredible skill, however, the lengths he goes to avoid conflict manage not to break the suspension of disbelief as much as it feels like it ought to.

Trigun Stampede Episode 2 also utilizes this side adventure to continue to build up the growing dynamic between Vash and his two new hangers-on, Meryl and Roberto. I really like the way the series sets up the dynamic between these three. There is an excellent balance between them that has lots of room to grow. I’m still missing Milly, but I think this mix of personalities will deliver if the series continues to build them up as it has so far.

To wrap up our look at Trigun Stampede Episode 2, let’s talk about the action. We get to see Vash having to keep himself out of harm’s way a bit more in this episode. He continues to be a master of the artful dodge as we see him surviving, escaping, and sometimes outrightly defeating opponents with virtually no thought to the cannon on his hip. The animation style that Orange is utilizing to bring these sequences to life felt a bit off for me in the first outing, but I find them growing on me now. While Vash’s movements have a substantially increased amount of flair to them now, they are a blast to watch and keep the action feeling fun.

Trigun Stampede Episode 2 proves to be a strong second outing for the series. With the core players already introduced, this entry lets them grow into their roles a bit while providing lots of action and fun.

Trigun Stampede Episode 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll Saturday, January 14th, with weekly episodes to follow.