Review of Trigun: Badlands Rumble (2010) by Daniel G — 17 Jan 2013

Trigun: Badlands Rumble is an anime movie tie-in/midquel to the 1998 classic anime series, Trigun. The plot takes place in between the quests of Vash the Stampede, a.k.a. The Humaniod Typhoon and the vagrant preist, Nicolas D. Wolfwood. Based on the manga series by Yashuhiro Nightow (Gungrave) and directed by Satoshi Nishimura (tv series Trigun).

Set on the fictional planet Gunsmoke-the setting of the tv show-a ruthless, sadistic outlaw named Gasback and his gang of outlaws attempt to pull a bank heist. Everything goes successful until Gasback faces betrayal by his own comrades and becomes hindered from dying by Vash's typically bumbling antics concerning donuts and pascifism. Twenty years later, Gasback recruits a new team with Nicolas D. Wolfwood as his temporary bodyguard and decides to storm Macca City to get revenge on the mayor and his accomplices-the original team that betrayed him. He then faces opposition from Vash, the agents of the Bernardelli Insurance Society: Meryl Strife and Milly Thompson, and a vengeful bounty hunter named Amelia.

Being a side story to the show, it does manage to please fans, such as myself, and does a nice job at maintaining the essence and spirit of the show. The characters are still very loveable, occassionally hilarious, and are in no way deprived of any of the human drama that they are known for. Unlike the show, the animation is of higher quality and has more liberal use of CG rendered objects and backgrounds, whereas, the show had no use of CG. The CG is pretty good for anime standards. Although, it's not as liberal with its use as the classic Blue Submarine No. 6.

The dubbing and voice acting was handled by Funimation Productions. Voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch (Wolf's Rain, Code Geass, Akira, Heat Guy J, and Adam Park in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) reprises his role as Vash the Stampede. Nicolas D. Wolfwood is voiced by Brad Hawkins. Luci Christian and Trina Nishimura voice Meryl and Milly. Gasback and Amelia are voiced by John Swasey and Colleen Clinkenbeard. The English dubbing to this movie is very solid. Although, for some reason the original voice actors for Nicolas, Meryl, and Milly didn't return for their roles. But like the show, the dubbing is still very well done.

If there are any problems that I have with Trigun: Badlands Rumble, it would be that most of the music is dull and forgetable. Being a tie-in to the show, I do wish that the story displayed more significance. While it's not bad and I'm admittedly proud to see the franchise continue I still felt that there was little accomplished. It didn't leave as heavy of an impact on me as Cowboy Bebop's movie tie-in did. Which affects the rewatch value for me in a way.

In conclusion, Trigun: Badlands Rumble is a very solid movie tie-in to an excellent show that's sure to please any fan wanting more of Vash's tragi-comic heroism and furious, anime-style, gun-toting action. I personally have mixed feelings about the ending of the show and it's nice to see the Trigun franchise make its comeback to its loyal fans. We may hopefully see some more tie-ins, or sequels to the show. But until that possibility, any anime fan will have other future anime classics to come and the new Berserk movie suquel to look forward to.