Anime Vash the Stampede?

[Lo Bastido]

[spoiler]Apparently Vash did destroy July, effectively sentencing the inhabitants to misery and barbarism even though they survived the initial blast.

In I think Episode 6, Vash saves a town's plant from being destroyed; it's said that if he hadn't done so the town would have been reduced to a crater. So even if the townspeople could get far enough away in time to escape the explosion (it seemed to me like they were acting like they were toast because they couldn't), the town would have been wrecked.[/spoiler]

[DeathBug]

Vash is Jesus Christ.


Did that get your attention? =) Good. I'll explain.

[spoiler] The more I think about it, the cleaer it becomes: Vash is, intentional or no, akin to Jesus. Rem called he and Knives "angels". Knives is clearly Lucifer, the Fallen Angel. Knives also acts as Satan did to Jesus, as the Temptor. Like in the Bible, Vash rejects the temptation.

Rem is the Virgin Mary. She is a maternal figure to Vash, yet she is completely "pure"; she had a true love, but he's dead, so she is physically untouched.

Meryl is Mary Magdoline. MM followed Jesus as the only female disciple, similar to how Meryl follows Vash. At first, it's her job, but it eventually takes on a deeper meaning for her.

Similar to Jesus, Vash wanders a dessert, alone, helping others. sometimes, he exorcises "demons" and performs miricles. In most of the early episodes, Vash helps someone in need, usually turning their life around. In the episode where Vash is declared a natural disaster, and we see the flash of faces that he's helped: those are his "disciples." He saved them either from external or internal danger. (Yes, even BDN.)

Legato Bluesummers represents Damien, the Anti-Christ. (Yes, I'm aware that Damien isn't Biblicle, but it works.) Legato is Knives' most devoted follower, and represnts what Vash *could have* become, had he allowed his brother to corrupt him.

(There's another Biblicle comparison, to Cain and Able, but it isn't nearly as extensive or accurate as this.)

The Gung-Ho Guns are, several times, referred to as "demons", and thus they are. Whereas the lesser crooks represnted minor evil spirits who possessed pigs and such, these are the real deal.

As an article on otaku.com pointed out, Vash & Knives grew up in a garden. (Eden)

The plants on Gunsmoke keep the citizens alive; Vash has the power to repair them. In the Bible, faith sustains people, abnd Jesus repairs it.

I am positive that Wolfwood, Milly, the SEEDS ships and the city in the sky have Biblical counterparts, but I do not know enough of the New Testement to draw parallels. Anyone wanna' help out? :) Also, if there's anything I've missed, do tell.

(I believe that each Gung-Ho Gun might also represent something specific, but again, I don't know enough to be sure.) [\spoiler]

So, am I onto something, or completely off-base?

[SuperSJ3]

This is... uncalled for. What made you post something like this. I know this is you opinion or something like that, but you should watch what you say.
Well may opinion is this: this post is way over the top. Vash is nothing like God, but the Gung Ho Guns are like demons and Knive is close to the Satan but is nothing like him. Again just chill with thing like that someone may be offended by it. I don't know if I'm offended or not, but that is just weird.
You sound like a very religious person so why would you compare Trigun or any other anime for that matter to the Lord or the Bible? I know I'm all off the subject but I had to do this.

[DeathBug]

I did not voice any personal religious veiwpoints, nor was I looking for religious symbolism when watching the show. I simply presented a way it appeared, after consideration given. I am not equating Vash to the Lord, I am saying that he may have been written with intentional parallels to him.

It is entirely possible that the writers of Trigun intentionally drew upon the Bible, just as the movie "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" is an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. Clearly the two are very different, but many of the basic similarities and themes remain.

I simply wished to present a new view of the work. It's not as if I myself were writing a story and equjating it to the Bible; the story, one of my favorite, already exists. I'm simply examining it in a new light. Many animes (and works of fiction in general) reference the Bible; why not Trigun?

I would be the first to say that, as people, (one real, one fictional), Vash and Jesus have very little in common in the way of personalities. They shared a similar moral code; however, Vash, being mortal, had flaws. Jesus had none. the point I wished to make was that their situations and the events surrounding them were very similar.

As for offending other people...there is no tactful way of putting this; any way I say it will sound cold, so I'll just say it: I don't care if I do. There are, at last count, six billion human beings on the planet, all of whom have different ways of thinking. i'm bound to offend some of them no matter what I do.

Left with such unfathomable odds, there is only one logical course of action: I must do what I would normally do, and not worry about whether or not I offend people. THat is not to say that I don't care about other people's feelings; there are just simply too many other people to please them all.

If you would seriously like to discuss or debate the issue on its intellectual merits, please do so. However, if this offends you, I invite, nay, encourage you to use youir God-given free will to not read it at all.

[IloveBebop]

You definitely brought up some good points there. There are way too many people in this world to please. Something someone does might always be offensive to another.

There are also a lot of views to take Trigun for, you can choose which one you see as the most simalarities or anything else and make your view upon it.

We all have the free will to speak about this, and speak about your way. Unless it's pointless or spammy, you can speak your mind.

[SuperSJ3]

Yes people do have the right to speak their minds. I'm not saying that you can't speak you mind. I'm saying what DeathBug said was really weird. Why would anyone see anime as
anything but anime.

It's true, you can't please every one in the world. And you will from time to time hurt someones feeling. It's
natural, everyone has a different opinion and point of views. And that was mine.

IloveBebop do you agree with DeathBug's first post? What did you mean when you said "There are also a lot of views to take Trigun for,", like what? What's your view of Trigun?

I think anime is amine and that's all it is. I see Trigun as an anime about Vash the Stampede. A genetically altered plan or human or something like that. He is mistaken as a trouble maker, a man that should be feared, and is very dangerous. When he is not.

I can?t compare that to anything else. I just don?t get what Vash and the bible have in common or similar or whatever you were trying to say DeathBug.

[DeathBug]

The beauty of literature, (including but not limited to anime, but you can speak about *all* literature in this fashion), is that it can have different meanings on different levels.

Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" is a great example of this. On the one hand, it's a sad story of a guy who turns into a big bug and is rejected by his family. Yet is has many different layers. It's also a commentary of the social addiction to work and progress. It also psychologically deleves into the basic question of identity. It also explores the foundations of familial relationships. It also explores man's relationship with God and the universe in general.

However, you don't have to know all of that in order to understand Metamorphosis as a seally tragic, if somewhat bizzare, story. Stories are like ogres, which are like onions: they have layers. You can enjoy something on one level, and not care about any other level, and that's fine.

Trigun is an awesome anime. I fell in love with it as it was presented on the surface: a story of a more-than-human hero plagued by manipulations beyond his control, who just wants to enjoy life. It wasn't until long after I had seen the entire series that the possibility of Trigun as a religious allegory ocurred to me.

If you don't like this line of thought, and want your anime to be jusyt anime, that's cool. I'm just talking to the people who look onto some of the others layers it might posess. It's certainly not for everyone, I admit. But I still think it merits discussion among those who enjoy discussing such things.

And now that I've gone totally off-topic in defense of myself, does anyone have anything to say regarding my original post in the first place?

[IloveBebop]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by SuperSJ3 [/i]
[B] IloveBebop do you agree with DeathBug's first post? What did you mean when you said "There are also a lot of views to take Trigun for,", like what? What's your view of Trigun? [/B][/QUOTE]

Yes, I agree with Deathbug's post. I don't really have a view on Trigun, I just know that there are a lot of things that you can compare Trigun to. One view might be offensive to another person, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that that person has enough intelligence to make a view of it.

[SuperSJ3]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i]
[B]Trigun is an awesome anime. I fell in love with it as it was presented on the surface: a
story of a more-than-human hero plagued by manipulations beyond his control, who just
wants to enjoy life. [/B][/QUOTE]

I couldn't have said it better my self. That is how i see Trigun. You see Trigun on a totally
different level on which I cannot comprehend.:confused: It's ok with me how you see it I
was just stating my opinion.

Well life and let life, think and let think, Be you and I'll be me too. Sorry if I did anything
to make you mad or anything else. My apologies. Let bygone be bygones.

LAYERS??? What are these layers ya'll keep talking about. Oh and what is Kafka's "The
Metamorphosis"? Never heard of it before.

IloveBebop your say there are many things to compare Trigun to like
what? You don't have to answer that at if you don't want to.

If you want to drop the subject we can just let me know. If you still want to make you
point that's fine to.