Trigun is, without question, an anime classic. It has endearing characters, and intriguing storyline, and interesting world, and a wonderful ascetic. It is a show that I recommend to anyone as they start their journey into anime fandom, and it is an excellent example of what anime can be, even without today’s animation standards. Trigun Maximum, however, is one of the very few times that I enjoyed the adaption better than the original.

Trigun Maximum is a continuation of the original Trigun manga that was cut short. It follows the further adventures of Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, and the Bernadelli Insurance girls as they travel across the planet Gunsmoke and attempt to stop Knives from destroying the human race, 2 years after the events of the end of the first Trigun manga. It expands the Trigun universe to some very interesting places, but at the same time offers ridiculousness on a scale that’s often unnecessary. As much as I enjoyed the amount of backstory certain characters got, I was often annoyed with plot devices or twists that just seemed lazy, rather than creative.

The disjointed narrative combined with the art often made the book hard to understand. I found myself questioning what was going on at pretty much every fight scene and most chapter changes (and often in the middle of a chapter, when the scene would change almost randomly). The art is often gorgeous, but I had some trouble telling characters apart and making out what was happening in the midst of the incredibly detailed fights.

Despite all of this, Trigun Maximum was an enjoyable series and an interesting expansion of the story. The manga is completely separate from the anime, so it is something that every Trigun fan would enjoy. I do, however, feel as though I would much rather see an animated adaption of Maximum, rather than read a story that obviously needs to be moving.

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