The thing about kindness is that given to the right people, it will make someone’s day, if not week or month. But if given to the wrong kind of person, it will just enable their cruelty…
True. And the rela fly in the ontiment is figuring out who, when, where and how to use that kindness to produce the best results. And we often have noclear way of knowing the full cause and effect of our actions on event to come. In the end the most important is to continue to try to be kind, figuring it out as we live out this life.
If u would use this logic, the question would be - how to know, to whom to can be kind? That makes little sense to me, why do I need to care, what a persons does from my for excample "compliment". I did my part (I know sounds weird xD) but its not in my control to know what they will do after they receive it or how they handle it
It never is that simple. Tolkiens ℒℴ𝓇𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝒯𝒽ℯ ℛ𝒾𝓃𝓰𝓈 shows us for example how simple acts of kindness - like forgiving Gollum when you are clearly incentivised to kill him - despite not being immediately forseeable as good decisions, heck, they might even seem as unnecessary risk of your own life, lead up to the achievement of the only good path towards the end, that would otherwise be unachievable. We never know the full scope of the consequences of our decisions. Everything becomes clearer the smarter you are - understanding that the inability to fully falsify fundamentals of our knowledge, which directly renders *EVERYTHING* that people believe to be known by them as mere comforting illusion, opens up an entirely new spectrum of responsibility for the guiding values that seem to be imbedded in our cores and *is* *also* *a* *form* *of* *a* *curse* *and* *a* *blessing* at the same time. In other words: it becomes up to us to either selfishly choose our own comforts and safety, or to select such core rationalisms that perpetuate and enforce mutual suffering. There are choices being made and responsibility for the creation of our characters - the guiding principals which are to dominate our lives. So many people choose their own comfort/safety to the unjustified detriment of others… So many rationalisations for the simplest of evils. At the end of the day, hell is just other people, isn’t it? There is this video which I recommend to anyone interested: Utilitarianism: An Ethics of Failure by Zag the Raccon. It showcases some of my own wonderings about the whole subjects matter and not only the costs of kindness, but also what does it mean to be truly good in the first place. Go watch it, dear anyone that has sat through this rant and have these concepts burned through your skull - just as I am trying to have them burned through mine - might proove very useful, aspecially in these times..
in 2021, i was betrayed by my closest friends, they spread rumors, lies, said horrible things about me, it even got to the point where they tried to say i was not mentally stable and tried to put me in a mental hospital, in that period of time all i could feel was hate, and betrayal, i told my self that "i have seen the true colors of humanity" and that this was all connections with people and society had to offer, but even still, i made a choice, i realized that if i where to act on my hate, and do things i don't feel comfortable talking about here, id only be continuing the cycle, and i thought about how one day, that might lead to another person experiencing my pain, this video to me, is a real representation of that idea, and to me, that is something more special than words can describe since then, life has gotten so much better, i went to therapy for the damage they did to me, started talking to people again, got my first job, gained friends, set goals, accomplished goals, and do my best everyday to help push back against the cycle, even if its for nothing, and to that end ive found purpose in my life, and reclaimed my freedom, i am happy once again
This is so raw, I’m happy you shared your experience and are doing better. It gives me some much needed hope when other people can make it and rise above their circumstances.
As someone who’s experienced a small share of pain I would like to share my own perspective. I see life as a spiral and not a cycle. The world is so large and complicated that it’s bound to repeat itself and fall back into a familiar state of being, but with effort we can change it and we have changed it.
No, you saw the true colors of a narcissist type of person who feels you wronged them in the worst way. . That is a textbook narcissistic rage, it's literally when their mask comes off, all the pretending, all the acting goes away and you get to see what they really think, and that they are usually socially but sometimes physically predatory, and also horrendously insecure. Don't think all people are like this, but take it as a lesson, dissect what might have set them off, and remember her traits as a person so that new people you meet can be tested in a way, and thus keep your life free of these very potentially dangerous people. Hope you're doing better.
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.
Fair, I was a bit to trusting of the presentation of his scars as essentially visual only in the anime, and wasn't sure how much they could impact someone, that's entirely my bad. Although I think the balance at the end is tricky. I work with people every day who don't know the true me, but say people like me should be shot. Showing them kindness so they can become better is a burden I don't wish to bear. There has to be some input on their side. The balance might be giving a chance, but making clear it is one chance, and on them to be better
@@ProfessorViral I don't want to come off as self-righteous. A few years ago, I had two people try to break into my house while I was alone. That made me consider getting a gun for the first time. I don't know if it is right to kill others to defend yourself or others, still working on that one. As someone who does not know you, I hope you do not get shot. I hope those who do will gain some empathy. I will say that people who change tend to do a lot of good. I know it's not my place to tell you to take on that burden. Good luck we all need it.
@@MADCATMK3103 For security you can get some cameras and better door locks as imho its better to prevent than to defend. In most country's people die the most while being robbed only if they offer resistance. And believe me: your life is far more valuable than whatever they can steal you. Then there is the aftermath if you "win": if you killed the thief, how can be sure that its family wont try to take revenge? And if you dont and only injured him?
@@StarmenRock I know what a life or death situation is: I disarmed a guy that pointed his gun in the back of my head to steal me because I didn't believed it was a gun. Its a miracle that my brain is not splashed in some street and now I fully understand that in those situations you mostly react instead of really having time for thought. That is too the reason I know that in my country 1 of every 3 people that resists being stolen dies while people that just let the robbery happen have less than 1% of chance of being killed. Knowing the real statistics gave me a whole new perspective on how to think about what happened to me. I encourage you check the ones your country has, it may do the same.
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 mean one should get better in seeing through bs and choosing to whom to give kindness to. You can say everyone deserves kindness but you cant let the wrongs be reinforced and let the wrongs continue and get away with it. Sometimes tough kindness needs to be done and acknowledge. Theres a huge difference and I wish there was more talk about it.
@@ProfessorViralisn’t that the epitome of a virtue though? If this is to present the virtue of hope, and the hope of kindness and how the consequence of hope is on the hopeful, even when the ultimate outcome is what was hoped for.
I figured that Vash came to a sort of compromise between his and Wolfwood's philosophies at the end of the show. The fact he uses the punisher cross to save himself, is somewhat symbolic of this. But also I find it interesting Vash straight up shoots Knives, non-mortally, but its still not the way he usually deals with his opponents. He then proceeds to throw away his red coat, stating he will look to his own wisdom from then on. The red coat clearly represents his devotion to Rem, since it is the color of the flowers that she was associated with. Up until this point he had just blindly followed Rem's philosophy of kindness towards everyone regardless of the situation. But at the end of the show he decides to deal with things in his own way, not quite Rem's way, and not quite Wolfwood's way. Somewhere in between the two. At the end of the show after all his testing, he comes up with his own form of justice. At least this is my head cannon
Yo! Same! (Well I wondered!) I noticed the shots debilitating, but more aggressively so than usual. (Considered it maybe Knives can/needs to take harder hits) and the leaving the coat! I at first just thought that a finale thing, but wondered a bit more. The symbolism was key, and it was more the emblem of the show than the guns, despite the name. Coat hair and glasses! But I recall when he was ....Doug? Oh! ERIK! He got fkd up bad and got healed and seemed to have amnesia. COAT was absent then too. Sooo, I questioned the coats representing belief; even tho! He clearly chose bcuz of chrysanthemums, and a coat is a covering, a protection. Like Belief
I would say to read the manga. the source material is a lot more complex than simply "forgive even those who may not deserve forgiveness". Nightow, the creator and mangaka, is a Christian who, at the time of Trigun, was struggling with his faith, and it shows. Vash is also far more complicated a character than the '98 anime portrays. I would love to see your take on the story with the original source material taken in.
I think the christian ideology and faith struggle is most prevalent with the way Vash is superhuman, while everyone else is just human. Vash survives what no one else could and is protected by luck and plot armor for sure. He endures pain, but it's all pain that he is capable of surviving. The one human who attempts to follow him dies the one time he tries. The story inadvertently makes the point that humans are incapable of being ideally kind, incapable of making the third option. As much as we want to be like Vash or Christ, Trigun and the Bible both show that even the best of us fail to be good, and the one superhuman who is supposed to be good causes excessive levels of destruction in exchange for their good actions. The stories are filled from cover to cover with inescapable destruction for most people, but somehow we selectively remember only the finite scenarios where someone escaped by a miracle.
It makes so much sense that the author was a Christian. Only a Christian-or someone heavily influenced and inspired by Christianity-would put forward such a radical view of mercy and forgiveness. To anyone who doesn’t believe in God, I think such a philosophy would have to appear unforgivably naive.
@@AdrienMelody I don't think that's the case. a lot of atheists I know also struggle with this same dilemma: how to be kind in an unkind world, how to live with the acts that may be necessary for survival when the cost cost can be your own sense of morality or even the suffering of others. it's a struggle everyone goes through. in Trigun, humanity takes full advantage of the plants, fight over them, treat them like a neverending resource when they are not only finite but also have their own sentience which are largely represented between Vash and Knives. in reality, humans struggle with the fact that a lot of our comforts and products from shelter to food to even this particular form of entertainment comes at the expense of others as well. it's the same concept. the Christian angle is more the struggle one can have in knowing that we're born into this world with advantages and disadvantages (or, y'know "original sin") and there's not a whole lot 1 person can do to change it, though inevitable, people try (individually) to do what they can with the limited time they have in this world. for Christians, particularly if they're of a more Catholic bent, there's far more uncertainty and sometimes even fear about the actions taken in this world having impact in the next. and i think that's the area where Wolfwood struggles most. he only ever wanted to just go back home, protect his loved ones, but he had to become a monster and bloody his hands to do so and he doesn't believe he will be in line of salvation. Vash, by contrast, comes across wholly naive to the realities of the world around him, but the manga does reveal that he's not actually so naive. he understands the human condition and sees their struggles, but he doesn't necessarily forgive some of their past transgressions. he will fight to defend and not to kill to give humanity a chance to prove him wrong about why. he is "Christ-like" in the element of offering himself up as a martyr by letting himself be blame, targeted, and torn to pieces in the hopes that one day humanity will learn better. there's guilt driving him toward this behavior moreso than with Wolfwood, and yet Wolfwood's the one who is the actual martyr, who sacrifices himself for the sake of his loved ones, and who Vash continues to reflect back on similar to how he does with Rem. Christianity has a complicated history in Japan, so it's not surprising that Nightow would struggle as a Christian. Buddhism and Shintoism are very much centered around the concepts of "live in the knowledge that there is this one world you currently live in and you will suffer and inevitably, you will die and the meaning of your life is what you make it so live well" and y'know, the basic principle of "try to be a force of good in the world". Christianity has that second element far more than the first, but it also has a strong message of intervening when you see suffering in the world (or, at least, if you're following the actual teachings of Jesus Christ and not whatever fucked message modern day megachurch Evangelists get up to). but to do that will, inevitably, lead to conflict, which goes AGAINST that message as, at times, it can make the situation worse before it gets better. and I think that's where the struggle for him is. How Can It Be Okay To Cause Conflict In The Name Of Preventing Worse Conflict? Vash struggles with this, Wolfwood struggles with this. they have different answers but, in principle, they come to the same conclusion. anyway, tl;dr I think the reason Trigun can speak to more than just Christians and even straight up atheists is because people, inherently, struggle with the idea of "how much should I do in order to do what's right? how can I be the one to shed blood for my loved ones if it means some other person's loved ones are the casualties?" we all go through it. wanting to forgive, not being able to... these are also things people struggle with. understanding people from where they come from, the reasons why they act the way they do... doesn't always bring about forgiveness and some things cannot be forgiven. you can try to save those important to you, but you can't always save everyone and some people don't want to be saved--Vash learns this one the hard way, largely thanks to Wolfwood and Legato both. So. yeah.
@@jevana I suppose I haven’t come across those particular atheists. All of the intellectual, rationalist thinkers I’ve encountered would certainly consider Jesus’s kind of morality to be naive. You can’t come to the same conclusions He taught logically without assuming some higher power and purpose exists. But then again, I suppose most people aren’t very logical, and Christianity has so infiltrated our culture that most automatically think kind of like Christians, even if they don’t believe in God. So I guess you’re probably correct.
@AdrienMelody Mercy requires such a forward act of Forgivenes and GOD. And Jesus the only way to Forgiveness. If not for HIM, I'd be a .urderer. Ending those that hurt me. I get WOLFWOOD! 'NO MORE CHILDREN SUFFER!" I was one of those kids. And if I suspected bad behavior, they'd disappear like Wolfwood made so
Well done. I think you've drawn Insightful and honest but tough conclusions. What I find most fascinating is that modern game theory trials agree with you.
I agree with the message of atonement and think that you didn’t take it far enough to explain Vash with knives. He leaves the coat and leaves rems ideals behind, and even at his most peaceful until the last episode he seems to want to kill knives specifically. In my mind at least, Knives is not evil for the sake of it, Knives just can’t atone or admit to fault, and he doesn’t want to be left alone. Everything started from him wanting to get rid of one bad person who was hurting his brother and him, and then things went to shit and several people died, and humanity was screwed and Rem was dead. How do you as a kid take fault for that? You don’t, it’s too much to bear. So he decides he HAS to be right. And then his peace loving brother shoots and abandons him and as a result he first kills Rems relative and makes Vash destroy July, because if he removes that attachment to Rem and makes Vashes hands dirty too, doesn’t he have to accept him? I think that’s why atonement comes so late in the show from Vash, he’s realizing he has to atone to Knives. They never talked out the butterfly thing, even as kids with actual spiders Vash went to violence against Knives, Knives until now has been the exception to peace. I don’t know if I agree with Vash that he needs to atone considering, but I do think he realizes love and peace won’t always work, but that carrying Knives at the end like that is his atonement for leaving him behind before.
Lagatos test for Vash is one of the best things iver ever seen in story telling. Especially because it was "kill me or let your friends die", not "kill that guy or lose this guy". It's so much more personal. And the fact that what Lagato really wants is for Vash to kill him is the cherry on top. Because that's even worse than if Vash lost his friends. He's lost people before, but he was always able to keep his soul pure by not killing anyone. Yeah, he might not always succeed in saving everyone, but at least he didn't murder anyone. But now he does. It's beautiful.
what also makes it great is legato didnt WANT to use millie and meryl, he captured them but even when pushed to his own death, pushed to the edge of "fight or die" vash sticks to his ideals and accepts his death rather then take a life, legato seeing the resolves hangs his head and brings forth the girls, and legato still goads him by having the controlled men take potshots at him, and you hear the conflict within his mind. and i think the main one is wolfwoods" dont push you ideals onto others" vash is more then welcome and personally strong enough to literally DIE for his ideals. however with 2 people i could have been anyone but legato used millie and merle cus they were there. vash would have killed legato if it was anyone in the town being held hostage, because by his own understanding of rems philosophy he has no right to control the life of another, yet hes at a wall and a decision must be made. he is the one in control in that scenario he holds 3 lives in his control and MUST choose if he doesnt act his decisions with cost the lives to 2 innocents who have done no wrong thus he will be responsible for taking their lives by his own ideals and philosophy. if he kills legato same thing hes responsible for taking the life of another its the perfect and cruelest test to make vash face "luck and persistence wont work forever" vash has never encountered or dealt with a foe like legato. and when faced with a force he cannot beat his way of avoiding killing he chooses death but he wont get off that easy. legato was instructed in bringing vash the ultimate suffering and he did by letting him live with the fact he CHOOSE to betray his ideals over his own wants, he saved his friends but killed his own soul. he willingly took a life to save anothers he choose the butterflies over the spider he made the same choice knives did he killed the wicked to save the innocent. he betrayed rems ideals and rems teachings and thus betrayed her least in vashs mind and therefore is no better then knives or other killers.
@@AL-lh2ht and it's still not enough, plus you are missing the point, besides i ain't discussing this over the internet with some 4head that only want to prove someone else wrong
@@elios7623 Well you're not exactly any different, coming here and proclaiming that kindness is starved in this day and age when slavery back then was the status quo and in the open air for everyone to see. You whine and complain like a man-child, saying its never enough but you lack the rationality and common sense to figure out what would happen if some crackhead head-in-the-clouds fuck would want a humanity full of kindness. THEIR version of kindness. How do we reach such a state? What do we sacrifice to achieve such a goal? What do we do to those who refuse to join the effort to spread kindess? You want to enforce kindness? Be a dictator and turn everyone into machines.
Your mistake is to use the tired old "nowadays" in there. Obviously you would get backlash for making such a half-assed statement. The past wasn't better, at any point in human history. Even if you just didn't think about what you said at all (very likely), you inherently imply that it was better before. Humanity is _still_ lacking kindness. It still needs to improve. This too will never change.
I don't agree. Mettle is. Being kind is easy. Acting on it is not. You have to have a strong sense of morality to express it oftentimes. Capitalism is, of course, why things are like this. I am of the opinion most people are kind but caught up in self preservation so badly they can't see how wild their behavior is.
I didn't interpret the message as "we must always show kindness and forgiveness", but plain and simple as it was stated: "no one can decide who deserves to die". If we are choosing to kill off bad people, that's completely subjective. Would we define it by harm caused? Then Vash could be justifiably killed due to the indirect consequences of his actions. Heck, wiping out humans could be justified if you care about other lifeforms. By harm prevented by killing them? We can't see the future - even if it's something that we think will immediately happen, like pulling a trigger, there will be wrong calls (was that man truly going to shoot, as the captain assumed, or was he not, as Rem believed?). By intention of harm? We can't determine that, and even if we could- once again Vash had once intended to kill a man before stopping himself, would that justify killing him in that moment his heart was set on murder? Or was it okay because the would-be victim was a murder himself? Isn't that just death penalty- in either of this criteria? But what standards should this penalty have? Are any innocent lives taken by judging mistakes be a justifiable sacrifice? And the not innocent lives taken, again, was it whoever decided's place to... decide? Would that actually decrease the bad in the world, when the life taken will also affect their loved ones? There are way too many complex situations- should one kill someone who was ready to kill their abusive partner? Should we kill someone innocent if it will save others who would otherwise die? If the answer is no to this, but yes to killing a criminal who would kill just as many people, then it's not really just about what saves the most people, is it? What if innocent person was actually partially guilty for the others' state, what % of guilt would it take for it to be okay to kill them to save the others? TLDR so far: Who decides and how is it decided who deserves to die to save more people, or who gets to live? Vash CAN'T be the one calling for execution because he operates on a planetary and centuries-long scale, divorced from human reality- as said in the video can his goal be considered good if it might not come to pass- but also, if the people alive today would have to suffer for an ideal hypothetical? This would go for any harm he intentionally caused, but the focus is on killing- because it takes the person's "blank ticket", and because it's one of the ultimate loss of autonomy - in most other situations someone could at least choose to die to escape their fate - and while you can always change your mind about sparing someone, you can't about killing them. He CAN be the one dishing out mercy because his body can withstand it- we can give anyone shit for not trying for the ideal outcome, but could anyone even reach it without the 1.5 century Vash has under his belt? With only a fraction of his constitution, gunsliging ability and accumulated knowledge? Wolfwood clearly couldn't and he was the human to be shown to be closest to Vash in terms of abilities out of the people trying to do some good. Vash only can have a body like his and be sent to the hospital so often because he can survive what would be a fatal encounter for others. Wolfwood CAN'T be always merciful, maybe he could get better, but not do what Vash does. He'd die, plain and simple, and die he did. He CAN go for a non-ideal solution, because the ideal will rarely be an option he can reach and we can't expect someone to do what they're literally unable to.
I think the phrase "only the strong can show mercy" is very applicable here. If you have the cards on your side, if you are capable of taking the pain and survive, if you can guarantee that a bad person will not do bad again, only then can you spare people without having to consider the consequences. It's kind of what our justice system is supposed to do in an ideal world. Put away criminals in jail and _reform_ them. Make them atone. It is more important to change people than to simply punish them. And death is the ultimate punishment. It's the zero sum game. Take away all a person's potential for evil, but also all their potential for good. The government and police are technically "strong" enough to force society to be coherent and for criminals to be showed mercy so they can reform. But the system is always too flawed for that to be sensible. We also don't have people like Vash who are strong enough to show mercy unilaterally. Most people aren't strong. And because we are weak we have to resort to the zero sum game as it is the only way to guarantee less suffering, even if not more happiness.
I thought the planet they were on was called Gunsmoke? One of the biggest problems with Vash's ideology is that he was the only one who could physically withstand the amount abuse needed to uphold his ideal. A normal human doesn't always have the third option.
It is Gunsmoke, but I believe at the end of the manga (Trigun Maximum) they rename it to No Man's Land, which is probably why Trigun Stampede calls the planet No Man's Land instead of gunsmoke as well
Trigun is, to this day, despite finding many other projects I love, my favorite anime. It tells us: don't stop being kind just because you commit a wrong. Do not commit wrongs because others do, don't stop hoping that doing the hard thing ensures others might also. Fight, not because it makes you look good but because you are doing something that gives us a better probability of good down the line. Maybe I'm wrong but the sacrifice of wolf wood and the pain of Vash tell me, doing good fixes lives, and even if it's one in a million, that's enough.
You could also look at it as no matter what actions you take, selfless or otherwise, for good or evil, or even doing nothing at all, there is a cost that comes with it and it is ultimately up to you to decide if that cost is worth it. In vash’s case “no good deed goes unpunished”
Kindness and atonement are ideas I've spent many hours agonizing over. This is a hard way to think your ideas are hard to swallow, but you put them elegantly, and you make your point clear. Keep up the good work i need to think on this.
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….
@@ExclusiveExcellence last one is mine. First two are from my random book of inspirational quotes and aren’t attributed because when looked up either found no one or a bunch of people.
The origin of Peter Parker/Spider-Man…and Uncle Ben. The conundrum is in not knowing the ramifications of giving second chances. The difference is that THIS world steers your morality to confront the real world questions. It speaks to the meaning of faith.
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.
Something that is worth pointing out is that forgiveness =/= acceptance of one's actions. That is a far too common misconception. Forgiveness is just the acknowledgement of a wrong and choosing to move on. That is why it is so powerful. You are CHOOSING to move on and not hold someone's wrongs over their heads (whether knowingly or unknowingly) and let them start anew in your eyes. And that quote you gave about forgiveness is an act of compassion perfectly exemplifies this point.
I enjoyed this thank you! I love how while we may arrive at different understandings and takes in regards to the kinds of messages we learn from the things we experience or consume, and how your videos certainly tell of your life and view. I dont think there's a right answer. never will be. But! I love that that. in how we are all varied and different, for better or worse. much like the difference of knives vs vash. they are the same, yet different. as with us all. all equally human, yet so vast and different. Heh I know thats not the point of the video necessarily, but more for me to say thank you for your view point and perspective in these videos you create. Even if your perspective clashes or aligns with others, thank you all the same.
Nothing is sequential in life, good doesn't necessarily lead to good. Bad lead to bad. People who have moral values / common sense are often laughed at and given the middle finger, looked at with absolute disgust like they are trash. Recently read a case where two people stopped 2 people trying to steal 125 dollars worth of groceries, the thieves get away while the 2 brave people get yelled at by the owner since reporting the crime to the police "damaged his store's image, no one wants to buy things from a store that was robbed". There are those who do crimes, for example driving over the speed limit and killing an innocent young woman and her 2 month old child. Although he was sentenced to prison as per the criminal justice system, people were like oh release him since he has his whole life ahead of him. He's young. Why? Simply because he was handsome, people didn't think he was capable of doing any hard or evil. A rich athletic young man who sexually assaulted a poor woman gets a light sentence, while the poor victim is looked down despite doing absolutely nothing wrong. Being rich and handsome since a young age, this "thing" decided to abuse it instead. This man is a rapist, end of story. Those who gaslight and abuse their victims psychologically get away, while the victims are left to suffer. Having to bare comments like "you crazy", "attention seeking" and "why didn't you run away or call for help?" Just my 2 cents
While I agree with Vash's ideals, there is something that people forget. Kindness cannot be mistaken for weakness. While we should be kind to everyone, as even the Bible calls for us to love your enemies, that shouldn't be abused to enable evil. Evil is very manipulative and seeks to misuse kindness to continue getting away with evil. In that case, ironically enough, the kindest thing to do in that scenario is the make the person face judgement. They need to understand that actions have consequences. Whether that be judgement of the courts, or in vash's case, the judgement of God. Even God, who has a bigger heart for people than even Vash, knows there is point in time when no matter how you try to love someone they'll choose to do evil continually.
25:15 I'm sorry but I wholeheartedly disagree with this take. Trigun isn't telling the audience to be tolerant to the intolerant. It's literally SHOWING US that Vash's philosophy is both physically and mentally painful for him, and that he is engaging in self harm. He believes he has to carry the sins of humanity all by himself. He believes he is not worthy of love because he has caused harm in the past. Vash is self destructive and he learns by the end of the anime to find his own path. Both Rem and Wolfwood are correct, but they exhibit extreme ends of the spectrum of morality. Trigun isn't telling the audience to forgive your abuser or to forgive Knives for genocide. It doesn't tell us to "forgive and forget," it's showing us why the cycle of violence perpetuates itself. It tries to teach us that kindness can go a long way, even if the people you give kindness to don't always deserve it. But who can really judge who does and doesn't deserve kindness after one interaction with a person? We should strive to be kind to everyone. I thought leftists believed in reformative justice? Who's to say that people don't deserve second chances? A lot of good people do bad things out of NECESSITY. Third, fourth, fifth, tenth, seventeenth chances? Maybe not. Not everyone is capable of changing for the better, but it usually takes a lot of time for someone to realize that about a person. We can only judge if a person doesn't deserve another chance unless they display repeated destructive or harmful behavior. But we can't be the judge of people we just met, thus we should strive to treat them with kindness even if it ends up hurting us later. Trigun is about restoring faith in humanity despite humanity's destructive tendancies. By the end of the anime, Vash uses Wolfwood's Punisher Cross to defeat Knives, but does so in a way that (hopefully) won't be fatal. He leaves his red coat and gun behind in the desert symbolizing that he will adopt his own sense of morality from then on. The red coat is symbolic of the ideals that Rem instilled into him from a young age, and how holding onto her ideals of extreme pacifism was causing himself and others harm in the long run. But he also realizes that giving up isn't an option either. Giving up on humanity will also cause a lot of pain and suffering. Both philosophies are correct. No one has the right to take the life of another, but no one has the right to take your life either, thus self preservation with the use of violence is valid. Vash understands this by the end of the anime and tries to forge his own path while honoring both Rem and Wolfwood respectively. 25:27 Yes that's very true! Good thing the anime actively shows us by the end that Vash realizes that Rem's centrist philosophy was dangerous! He chose a different path at the end of the story! I like to think that Vash didn't spare Knives because he wanted to rehabilitate him. I think he knew his brother was too far gone. But I think he wanted to contain Knives and "take care of him" like Rem wanted. He will do what he can to prevent Knives from causing further harm. I wish he had killed Knives at the end, as it would have been a much more satisfying conclusion, but I don't think he was trying to save Knives. I think he wanted to contain him and find a way to take away his power. Kinda like the ending of Avatar the Last Airbender. Aang doesn't kill Firelord Ozai, he takes away his power both physically and politically. I like to think that's what Vash was trying to do. I also hate the ending but I still think with some headcannon it works.
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.
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.
@@justafish9618 The thing about psychopaths is that they abide to rules and decency only by fear of punishment. If they can evade punishment and profit by doing X thing they will 100% do it no matter what X entails, even if it is the most cruel thing in the universe. More than that, because they lack empathy there is no way to redeem or "change" themselves to become "better humans" in a humanitarian/social way. They cant and will never abide to "honor", "morals", "ethics", "love", "fraternity" or any non profit values. I wonder what "ProfessorViral" thinks about them. Should be think of them as humans because they can be good in appropriate social environments? Or should they be treated differently as they will forever be a burden to society because the moment they change to a bad environment they can be really dangerous?]
This video reminds me about the whole student loan debt crisis we currently have in the Netherlands. Just because people thought it wasn't fair the butcher also pays for the education for the son of the lawyer. So normally you get some money as a student in the Netherlands for your education. But that did change into a loan... Now we have abolished that system but now a whole generation is in depth. But we recognized that the system was not working and just because the current generation is in depth that should not mean the next generation also needs to be in to depth.
But still it left a generation in depth just because people didn't want to pay for the education of the rich.. and forgot that the tax money mostly used for norm and especially poor people so that we can recreate more upwards mobility. Because when you give both rich and poor 100 Euros it will make more impact than leave loans what affects the poor more.
this video got me at JUST the right time! thanks for this. I really like the concept of atonement as a way to make the world a better place without having to suffer through the actions of others. let me know if I understood that correctly, but in short form, that's what I heard. Thanks again, and have an awesome day!
Essentially. Working under an individualistic framework, if everyone is able to balance out any evil they do at the minimum, then things could always maintain a decent level at least
I think its message never forgets the important point you made about the difference between Vash and others. He is powerful. He has more to give and he knows that he has more to prove. That expectation was never levied on Meryl or Millie for example. People do suffer some consequences for their actions but not all, and that's just the sad fact that was prevalent when it was written and even now.
I really enjoy your take on these stories. Your thoughts are truly unique and certainly help me to understand these stories and concepts myself. I just watched your becoming what we hate video, and you mention how you trimmed over half of the script you wrote up working through your thoughts. I wanted to pitch this idea to you: posting all of what you're willing to share of your written scripts online for us to read. Your thoughts? I really would enjoy learning about some of your ideas that were cut for one reason or another. Plus it would be a fun way to get a glimpse of how you assemble the information in your videos and as well as concentrate your themes. Thanks for doing all you do!
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.
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
Not sure if anyone has said this already, but I think Vash was intended to be an allegory for Christ, who took everyone’s sins upon himself in order to save them. So rather than it being interpreted as “we need to do what Vash does” it’s more of a picture of what some believe has already been done for us.
This is a really well put together analysis that got me thinking more deeply about not only this show but how I view forgiveness and kindness personally. It is true that not everyone deserves forgiveness. There are people in my life who have caused me great pain and that I still feel anger toward. However, over time I have come to the conclusion that forgiveness is never for the person who wronged you. Forgiveness is your path to moving on from pain. Forgiveness is a kindness to yourself. Though I am still struggling with the anger part, the people who have wronged me are people I want to forgive. Not because they've earned it. They haven't. I want to forgive for my own sake because if I don't, the people who love me and treat me well will suffer for it. My heart would grow bitter and I would become the very evil I despise. I think, in Trigun, that's the reason why Vash killing Legato was so important for the story. Vash was ready to forgive everyone but himself. And ultimately, this challenge to his way of thinking forced him to realize why Rem said the things she said. We're all capable of great good and great evil. It's important to forgive simply because we all want forgiveness when we fall short. If we can't give it we shouldn't expect it when we do things undeserving of forgiveness ourselves. The desire to forgive should always be there even if that other person never apologizes or makes things right. If a person doesn't repent there's no reconciliation possible for them, but having an attitude of forgiveness in spite of that helps you, the person wronged, move on without the weight of their sins weighing you down. I think that's what makes Vash compelling even if he is naive about it. He never allows the cruelty he's well aware of thanks to the myriad of scars on his body to steal away his compassion or empathy. That's the mark of a truly strong person in my book. It's true that kindness doesn't always work, especially in the circumstances he was in. Kindness can lead to great pain, especially in situations where there's no good answer. As you said in this video, Vash wasn't wrong. Wolfwood wasn't wrong. The problem is that there was no real balance in their mindsets. You can't be kind all the time and you can't always take the most logical route in solving problems with people either. Some people are stubborn and require...a lot more patience. Sometimes they eventually come around to legitimate repentance but man does it take FOREVER!!! XD LOL Anyway, thank you for such an insightful video. It was a joy to watch! Trigun is such an interesting series and it's always cool to find videos like this where someone explores the themes of the show and their personal thoughts on it. :) Keep doing what you do! :) Best wishes and God bless you.💜
you know ive just finished watching alot of trigun videos and it kinda made me realize that vash is oblivious to those around him. he constantly tires to uphold the belief that killing is wrong because of his own reasoning and ideals and believes that if everyone else followed the same path then the world would be a better place. what he neglects to realizes is that to everyone else except him not killing someone could mean loosing everything including their own life. he believes that if hes able to live that way then everyone else should also be able to live that way, however he fails to consider his own advantages in life. he simply is not human, he lives longer than anyone else, has a better rate of survival and healing, and other abilities that allow him to dodge the consequences that normal people would face if they chose to uphold the same ideals. the amount of risk he faces is much lower than the amount of risk a normal person would face in the same situation making his reward much more trivial as he has to "pay" less. my point is that for vash the cost of kindness he pays pales in comparison to everyone, the amount of risk regular people face is greater and therefore so is the potential price they have to pay. he's privileged, plain and simple, and like everyone else who is privileged he doesnt recognize his own advantages.
I agree and disagree at the same time. Vash is oblivious and naive in some ways, but he fully understands that he is not a human. That's why he carries the sins of humanity with him by choosing not to heal himself. It's why he's covered in scars and has a robotic arm. I would argue that Vash suffers more physical and mental pain than all the humans on Gunsmoke put together, albeit by his own doing and refusal to change his pacifist beliefs. But by the end of the 98 anime, he chooses a different path. He decides to keep both Rem and Wolfwood's philosophies close to him, and he chooses to believe something in the middle of the two extremes. He recognizes that they are both right. No one deserves to take the life of another, but no one deserves to take your life either, and self preservation is valid. It took the death of Wolfwood for him to finally understand this. Wolfwood decided to embrace Vash's philosophy ONE TIME and he died for it. Using Wolfwood's Punisher cross to defeat Knives is great symbolism for Vash accepting Wolfwood's point of view. Leaving the red coat and gun behind in the desert was symbolic of Vash finding his own path seperate from Rem's pacifist philosophy after it caused him so much pain and torment. I think in that moment Vash finally learned how to forgive himself and keep having faith that some day things will change for the better, but he won't be able to change the world by himself.
As I have gotten older my views on forgiveness and atonement have evolved. I used to think nobody really deserved to be forgiven or have the ability to atone for truly heinous acts. Going so far as to think they didn't even deserve a trail. I now think that everyone deserves the chance to be forgiven and to atone. Everyone has different criteria for forgiveness and atonement; the calculus for this happens for every situation and is weighted differently each time. There will always be those who will never forgive, for one reason or another. That is their decision. For me as long as the person is trying their best to atone for past acts then I will forgive. I have a friend who spent time (4yrs of a 7yr sentence) in fed prison. When the story broke I went down a rabbit hole to figure out why he did what he did. What I found broke my heart. He is now out and doing everything in his power to better his life. He holds no ill towards his girlfriend who also is in fed prison (15yrs). Sometimes those who do evil are so broken they don't know what kindness is. I think with the pisode Sins Vash had to forgive himself before he could move forward... and you are the hardest on yourself.
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.
I'm glad you remade the video, because I don't think the show is trying to say self sacrifice is always the right thing to do. You eventually brought up the main point against that; Vash isn't human and has way more ability and agency to give as opposed to us who have far less to offer the world. The weight is heavier on him than on the average person, and his very existence has caused suffering so he's constantly trying to balance the scales. We shouldn't compare ourselves to Vash because we can never be him. In that regard Vash is flawed because he doesn't fully take this into account. His naive idealism is pushed on everyone around him. Through luck and his super human abilities it usually works out and he's capable of reminding humans how they SHOULD act, if they're capable of kindness, and if not then learn from their mistakes and do better next time. But when he's faced with Legatos no win scenario he finds himself just as fallible, and through grief he comes to terms with it and takes care of Knives accordingly. Yes, Knives is a villain, but he's above all a victim. His trauma on the ship directly carved out his opinion on humans. He was trying to save his kind from being used as a fuel source by humanity. He was also basically a child in regards to experience when he set the ships to crash. I'm obviously not saying what he did was right, but it makes sense in context. His contempt for Vash comes from Vashes staunch refusal to see things his way, or even to come to a compromise on morality. To me, it felt like Knives was subconsciously begging for Vash to understand where he was coming from. Knives has the same abilities as Vash so he could have wiped the humans out by now, but his driving motive is to prove Vashs idealism wrong. AND HE DOES! But through that Vash is capable of proving Knives wrong by showing compassion and effort despite having to kill someone to do it. He didn't give up and he didn't turn dark, but he attoned, like you said. Hopefully from there the two can compromise and use their abilities to make the world better. Also I don't think Wolfwood dies because of his sins exactly, he dies because he's human. Vash would have died a hundred times over if he were in Wolfwoods shoes. I think Wolfwoods death just underlines that this idealism is ultimately fatal, and while it might be worth trying to achieve failure is a likely outcome. His death is almost a warning, that if you die you'll never improve; better to learn from a mistake and grow from it than die a needless death. Then again Wolfwoods plan to spare Chapel DID work, but was rigged to fail by Legato to pull Vash further in. Losing his best friend should have made Vash see the light but instead he had to be forced to kill Legato instead. Basically all the gung ho guns are people who are manipulated into forcing Vash to accept that sometimes there's no alternative. Most of them just kill themselves out of hate or spite when they fail because they have nothing left to live for and the rest that could have been saved are just killed by Legato anyway. The whole thing is just rigged to put more and more blood indirectly on Vashes hands, first his enemies, then his friends. I'm sure Legato would have killed Millie and Meryl and would continue to kill innocents till Vash took the hint. And keep in mind Legato has his powers because he had Vashes arm grafted to him- so in a literal sense it's blood on Vashes hand. Sorry for rambling. I wrote an essay on this back in collage and this show means a lot to me. I love to see discourse on it. And it's very easy to see something overly idealistic in it if you don't pick at it so I try and dissuade that notion when I can, I feel the anime especially is much more complicated than that. Also, isn't it called Planet Gunsmoke? LOVE AND PEACE!
Personal take on Zazie the Beast in the anime, I believe that he is actually the same as in the manga, not the kid but the little thing that you called a device to control the worms, I believe that that is actually a little leech thing that is the true Zazie the Beast, the characters just don’t get the chance to really put that together fully, but the kid cried in his sleep and when Zazie unveils himself he has a different voice as well
Thank you for introducing another way for me to venerate Trigun (1980s). I love your interpretation and your theme seems aptly fitting as I feel that there's some prominent theme that's been reoccurring in the media I've been consuming recently. And the cost of kindness is something I feel is specially interesting in Japan's current manga/animescape: any work that lingers on the themes of bullying or empower a previously marginalized character (via isekai) runs with an undiscussed and potentially vicious rejection of mercy/kindness. Either way, your video was a total joy. Thanks for making this.
Idk If you don't get preachy to certain audiences the moral and theme gets lost in translation and the intention of the creation is diluted, so good on them. Very interesting analysis thank you for the culmination. Great work here.
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
Trigun is one of the best anime, top 5 to me. No one talks about it though. Which I understand the story doesn’t really start until about half way through. Still an amazing anime.
I think that delayed start is what made some anime of the late 90s era so good though. Trigun and Bebop both really begin around episode 5, where we see more to the actions the main characters take than the surface level entertainment it appeared to be. This gives them so much depth since we are led to uncover who they are naturally, rather than being told who they are. For any character putting up a false front, this is an exceptional strategy
Awesome video! I definitely believe what trigun was trying to say, was that you’d have to be a literal angel or inhuman in order to live with true altruism and kindness for all. But it’s saying as people we need to atleast try.
Vash is the ultimate christian. He's not Jesus, that's Rem Savrem in the show. Vash wants to save everyone, and he deals with guilt of not being able to do that, and the guilt (either directly or indirectly) of having killed so many. Vash's choice for kindness and "LOVE AND PEACE!!!" Isn't an easy one and it's not even an ideal that is always possible. Vash can go with successes for years and years and then something like zazi the beast or worse, legato happens, and then it's devastating. There's more to it too. Cruelty feeds cruelty ( the last story from requiem.from the darkness is a perfect example of this), and it's also why miasma and just collected negative feelings appear so much in anime. It's kind of tied to the native religions of japan. In a way, trigun may be ultra-Christian instead of shinto or buddhist, but kindness is an antidote to that sort of cycle. (Demon city Shinjuku has two scenes: one with the girl and the dog, and o e with the girl and the ghost. Both obstacles are overcome by kindness, and both are in a way, part of the cycle of pain and negative feelings). Trigub is unique in that Vash does not get away unscathed for his choices, and even the priest, wolfwood, finds his choices insane and incomprehensible. (And here's where understanding ultra-Christian proto-existentialist philosopher Kierkegaard comes in handy, but i've talked about him in comments on trigun so.much, and i don't want a 30 page comment which is long enough as is. Suffice to say, Vash's choice to stay true to his ideals is the embodiment of a leap in to faith: a willingness to accept and commit to a paradoxical and illogical truth in the name of "god". (In this case living blindly to the ideals of Rem Saverem).) Vash as a character resonates a lot with me, and i understand the kindness as well as the reasons why its so important. If you see a world full of cruelt, sometimes it can be so.much that you have to try and fix it. You have to attempt.something wholly radical to break the cycle and change things... Anyhow, great topic
Christian? No way. Christianity is a cesspit of hate based on the cult around a patriarchal self-contradictory father figure with the vagueness to allow all the evils in the world and justify them. The myth that a good Christian is a kind one defies everything the religion was based on and represents across history.
I was finding a lot of Christian parallels too when watching the video. I found Vash failing to be fitting, as it shows that even the most devoted Christian can and will inevitably fall short.
I think its precisely because Vash is so powerful that he can be considered kind. Because if he didnt have the capacity to defend himself or kill people, then not killing them isn't kindness or mercy, he simply has no other choice.
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.
I do believe that anyone acting a way which places cost only on themself is free to do as they wish. I do think it can be taken in a dangerous route though, we have to really stress the personal aspect, as many will claim a "person choice" which is causing harm to others. I think you addressed it well, that's just my perspective on how I've witnessed it used in bad faith before
I honestly don't think Trigun is really meant to give a pat answer or Care Bear Stare. Vash does pay a price for his pacifism, and it's not only his own, sometimes it has been others' lives (Wolfwood's. Brad - in the anime). Vash wins some and he loses some. Same as Wolfwood's side of things. Then there's Knives... who honestly has a point in terms of his people being treated as livestock. I don't think the story is meant to give you a Saturday Morning 80s cartoon lesson, I think the goal of Trigun is to make you think about these complex ethical issues and to come to your own conclusions. So, I fail to see it as "problematic." I will continue to watch and love it and think over it, as I think that is what it is meant for. Also guns and explosions.
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!
@@marocat4749 yea I’m reading the manga rn. so I can’t confirm it, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that knives does die in it, which could help with the narrative of kindness and it’s limitations. Especially because the anime does do a lot of stuff right and beat for beat, but the manga just has so much more stuff and more elaborations.
I feel that's a big thing with this show and it's themes. In the case of the spider and butterfly, the issue is that both fight for survival. One's morals and values are not greater than the other's. However, that's where PEOPLE are different. Because we HAVE morals, we HAVE values. It varies across different people. It's part of why you AREN'T supposed to take Vash's philosophy as much as he does. He is NOT human. His scope and perspective are ultimately far beyond what is reasonable for people to follow, and even with that he STILL suffers greatly or nearly dies for it. Same with Knives. The two are effectively BUILT to be the ones who get away with rigid philosophy. Wolfwood and the rest of the supporting cast are supposed to be broad examples of the impact Kindness can have. Wolfwood is a good foil because he IS human. He is the one you're supposed to come to understand, and even Vash seemed to pick up that it was a mistake for Wolfwood to make the choice he did, though he couldn't bring himself to say it. Similar to the spider. If the spider was to live... It meant that he couldn't intervene. If Wolfwood stuck with his normal philosophies, sure he wouldn't have as much personal closure, but he'd be able to continue to find his own ways to atone. Being perceived as "wrong" impacts people more than anything, especially when that is so internalized. The spider isn't WRONG for wanting to live. Morals and Values? Our Philosophies? Vary SO wildly. Ultimately, on Wolfwood and Vash, both had different visions which allowed both to find reasoning in the other's ideas. It's all about reading the room. Sometimes, you just have to let the spider do its thing. Sometimes, you might need to step in and take action. Which is where the "evil" in humanity comes in, because visions vary so wildly, as ridiculous as some ideals may sound.
Look, i get it, i get the message , i get why that thing needed to happen. But i don't care. Imma write fixit Vashwood fanfics because i want a happy ending, even if those things don't happen in real life
Being kind is not about justice; that's why you're confused by the show's message. And saying you won't be kind until someone proves they deserve it is why people are not kind to each other. After all, why should they act that way toward you when you haven't proven it to them? You view Vash, being close to immortal, as a cop-out for him being able to take on more risks when the real narrative tool being presented is someone forced to always live with the consequences of their actions.
I believe this is actively trying to take my statement the wrong way. When its a video full of examples of how a normal person would have been killed over and over again for acts of kindness, me stating that I will show kindness to those who deserve it means those who do not actively, every single day, act unkind themselves. Being kind to them is akin to being a doormat. We have to acknowledge when two sides are not the same; someone who believes you should die as their political belief does not deserve your kindness- this is the inspiration behind my statement, and threat many people face every single day
@@ProfessorViral Vash does what he does because views like yours are so incredibly small. That's why you don't get it. Idk how to explain it to you either. Understanding come from experience.
The problem with videos like yours & others is singular. They are so good. There isn't much to cover by the time 3 or 4 channels have given their philosophical or emotional take on the show or topic from said show. 😔😁🍵
Rom. 12:17-19 "Return even for evil to no one. Take into consideration what is fine from the viewpoint of all men. If Possible, as far as it depends on you, be peaceable with all men. Do not avenge yourselves beloved, yield place to the wrath..." Turning other cheek and letting go of anger is always the healthier option. Let go of resentment and grudges. Forgive people who wrong you, because letting them take up space in your mind with hate isn't hurting them, only you. Otherwise Professor, don't be such and emo I mean, damn this video was like watching a 15 goth break down an anime.
Love Trigun so much, but I hate the misinterpretation that all killing is evil. I know it's different for Vash, every life on that planet is someone Rem died for. But it's not "Thou shalt not kill" the og interpretation is "Thou shalt not murder".
The show seems to be preaching Christian morality, in its earliest and truest form. It’s truly radical, which is why so few Christians have actually lived by it. And it’s based upon an unshakable faith in God, which is why it appears so irrational and idealistic. It reminds me of a story from Britain’s early history about vikings that invaded East Anglia. The vikings were initially defeated in battle, but the king showed mercy to the survivors, including the leaders of the invasion. He felt compelled by his Christian convictions to let them go, but when he did, they returned mere months later with new forces, and the same invaders to whom he showed mercy captured and tortured the king to death. You say that those who are unkind don’t deserve kindness, and that the cruel aren’t owed forgiveness. You’re completely right, but whether anyone deserves forgiveness or not isn’t the point. Technically, no one has a right to someone else’s forgiveness-forgiveness is something we give freely, by choice, because we want to take the highest road. In Christianity, showing radical forgiveness to the undeserving is an expression of faith that God will make everything right, so we don’t need to take justice into our own hands (“vengeance is Mine; I will repay”). Killing an evil person to prevent them from causing any more harm might be just, but it would also require us to directly take a human life. Showing mercy isn’t just about saving an evil person-it’s about saving ourselves from having to take another life. Showing radical compassion is also a way for Christians to “pay it forward”-to show others the same mercy and forgiveness we believe God showed us (“freely ye have received, freely give”). Of course, Jesus’s story shows us what happens to someone who practices this kind of radical forgiveness all the time. In the end, He was killed in the most terrible and unjust way imaginable. Following His example, the early church faced extraordinary persecution for the first few hundred years of its existence, even though they encouraged one another to submit to political authorities. From the outside, all these efforts would have looked like a losing battle from the beginning-a doomed cause based on a naive philosophy. But then Emperor Constantine was converted, Rome became the seat of the Church for all time, and Christianity went on to become the dominant religion of the world. Despite all odds, the movement Jesus started could never be stopped. But is it right to forgive the unforgivable? I’m not sure. Personally, I’d rather not end up like the East Anglian king, and I hope I would stop at nothing to keep barbaric invaders from harming my people and destroying my home. As usual, I suspect the truth is somewhere between the two extremes. In any case, it strikes me as profoundly interesting that this anime makes such a passionate and moving case for Jesus’s brand of morality.
I always saw the last Episode of Trigun as arguably the most monumental for Vash and Ironically I'd argue more or less the final few episodes validate your criticisms on the series because it ultimately agrees with your kindness all the time ultimately can't work. Vash is broken by Legatos Ultimatum and he felt he broke a promise to Rem the only thing left he had connected left to her. It wasn't until Meyral reminds him of Rem he regains hope but he is different now. I think at this point Vash is determined to Stop Knives by any means even if it does mean killing him Vash for once in his life is making this choice for himself not for the memory of Rem. Ultimately at the Vash Decision to Spare knives and try to rehabilitate him is done not out of a broken philosophy but it's done by Vash's own choice volition. From this point on Vash makes the choice of his own views of kindness and what's right and wrong. And while ultimately he does offer kindness to someone who doesn't deserve it. He accepts that there is cutlery in the world and he is no longer going to feel the guilt of not always being there to save someone. Vash is willing to accept that he may need to take a life if he needs to. That's just how I viewed the final episode of him leaving his coat and him talking to Rem in his head.
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.)
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.
I feel like you've hit upon a timeless question related to give and take; I'm not going to disagree with what you've come to, but I would like to say that it's up to first principles. Some people want, or desire morally to give up their freedom to take on the atonement of others; like Vash and his Brother's relationship. That is wildly unfair, but it's a choice Vash made freely. Furthermore though his brother might be rehabilitatable, I feel like it should be pointed out that his freedom was taken from him by Vash, though it was a 'kindness' to let him live the rehabilitation in question involves being a paraplegic, that is a form of violence, an exercise in power, I think the perfect middle ground for someone like Vash. I always saw it as less of victims must be responsible, and more of victims are the only ones who understand what it means to be a victim which means they are technically best equipped in making decisions that may or may not continue the cycle of violence (those decisions that create victims). I always thought the end was an example of coming to grips with your power again after becoming a victim, understanding the relationship between your power, violence committed against you, the violence you can commit onto other, and striving for the 'Virtue ethic' of a third way that doesn't involve creating victims of violence, or being a victim anymore. *in this case you bind your psychopathic brother to a wheel chair and serve him tea while discussing philosophy ((this is what I always imagined happened after the anime was over))
32:22 it's also impossible to bear the sins of someone else, no matter how much we want to. We can ascribe the belief that we are "doing that" and others are free to also believe...but even on a micro-cosmic scale, there will always be a small degree of Separation.
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.
You certainly have an interesting take on the morals of trigun but I have to disagree with you at the end. It certainly is our duty to suffer now so that the future will be better. And it will always be better, thanks to the indomitable human spirit. That's not to say that suffering in and of itself is the reason to seek tomorrow but that in our suffering, as necessary, we will naturally give way to a better future. Someone who suffers when it is not necessary suffers more than is necessary. As you have stated in your analysis forgiveness is not owed, and it never will be; however, without someone to break the cycle, it will never end. Yes there is a price to forgiveness, but that price will only go up, the longer you refuse to do so. It's up to the individual to decide when and where they should choose to forgive and it won't always be the correct choice. Without our ability to choose we are just machines, doing what we are programmed to do.
A compare and contrast with Vinland saga would be great with Trigun. I love Trigun but also saw the same issue. Vash has an ideal, a beautiful one, but one that is costly to it's practitioner. But while Wolfwood is just a man, a very talented man, but a man unlike Vash who is a near demigod...I don't see Vash's ideal of self sacrifice could ever be accomplished by regular people.
The thing about kindness is that given to the right people, it will make someone’s day, if not week or month.
But if given to the wrong kind of person, it will just enable their cruelty…
True. And the rela fly in the ontiment is figuring out who, when, where and how to use that kindness to produce the best results.
And we often have noclear way of knowing the full cause and effect of our actions on event to come.
In the end the most important is to continue to try to be kind, figuring it out as we live out this life.
If u would use this logic, the question would be - how to know, to whom to can be kind? That makes little sense to me, why do I need to care, what a persons does from my for excample "compliment". I did my part (I know sounds weird xD) but its not in my control to know what they will do after they receive it or how they handle it
It never is that simple.
Tolkiens ℒℴ𝓇𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝒯𝒽ℯ ℛ𝒾𝓃𝓰𝓈 shows us for example how simple acts of kindness - like forgiving Gollum when you are clearly incentivised to kill him - despite not being immediately forseeable as good decisions, heck, they might even seem as unnecessary risk of your own life, lead up to the achievement of the only good path towards the end, that would otherwise be unachievable.
We never know the full scope of the consequences of our decisions.
Everything becomes clearer the smarter you are - understanding that the inability to fully falsify fundamentals of our knowledge, which directly renders *EVERYTHING* that people believe to be known by them as mere comforting illusion, opens up an entirely new spectrum of responsibility for the guiding values that seem to be imbedded in our cores and *is* *also* *a* *form* *of* *a* *curse* *and* *a* *blessing* at the same time.
In other words: it becomes up to us to either selfishly choose our own comforts and safety, or to select such core rationalisms that perpetuate and enforce mutual suffering.
There are choices being made and responsibility for the creation of our characters - the guiding principals which are to dominate our lives.
So many people choose their own comfort/safety to the unjustified detriment of others…
So many rationalisations for the simplest of evils.
At the end of the day, hell is just other people, isn’t it?
There is this video which I recommend to anyone interested:
Utilitarianism: An Ethics of Failure
by Zag the Raccon.
It showcases some of my own wonderings about the whole subjects matter and not only the costs of kindness, but also what does it mean to be truly good in the first place.
Go watch it, dear anyone that has sat through this rant and have these concepts burned through your skull - just as I am trying to have them burned through mine - might proove very useful, aspecially in these times..
@@fanboy7718 bc kindess has a cost
in 2021, i was betrayed by my closest friends, they spread rumors, lies, said horrible things about me, it even got to the point where they tried to say i was not mentally stable and tried to put me in a mental hospital, in that period of time all i could feel was hate, and betrayal, i told my self that "i have seen the true colors of humanity" and that this was all connections with people and society had to offer, but even still, i made a choice, i realized that if i where to act on my hate, and do things i don't feel comfortable talking about here, id only be continuing the cycle, and i thought about how one day, that might lead to another person experiencing my pain, this video to me, is a real representation of that idea, and to me, that is something more special than words can describe
since then, life has gotten so much better, i went to therapy for the damage they did to me, started talking to people again, got my first job, gained friends, set goals, accomplished goals, and do my best everyday to help push back against the cycle, even if its for nothing, and to that end ive found purpose in my life, and reclaimed my freedom, i am happy once again
This is so raw, I’m happy you shared your experience and are doing better. It gives me some much needed hope when other people can make it and rise above their circumstances.
As someone who’s experienced a small share of pain I would like to share my own perspective. I see life as a spiral and not a cycle. The world is so large and complicated that it’s bound to repeat itself and fall back into a familiar state of being, but with effort we can change it and we have changed it.
No, you saw the true colors of a narcissist type of person who feels you wronged them in the worst way. . That is a textbook narcissistic rage, it's literally when their mask comes off, all the pretending, all the acting goes away and you get to see what they really think, and that they are usually socially but sometimes physically predatory, and also horrendously insecure. Don't think all people are like this, but take it as a lesson, dissect what might have set them off, and remember her traits as a person so that new people you meet can be tested in a way, and thus keep your life free of these very potentially dangerous people.
Hope you're doing better.
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.
Fair, I was a bit to trusting of the presentation of his scars as essentially visual only in the anime, and wasn't sure how much they could impact someone, that's entirely my bad. Although I think the balance at the end is tricky. I work with people every day who don't know the true me, but say people like me should be shot. Showing them kindness so they can become better is a burden I don't wish to bear. There has to be some input on their side. The balance might be giving a chance, but making clear it is one chance, and on them to be better
@@ProfessorViral I don't want to come off as self-righteous. A few years ago, I had two people try to break into my house while I was alone. That made me consider getting a gun for the first time. I don't know if it is right to kill others to defend yourself or others, still working on that one. As someone who does not know you, I hope you do not get shot. I hope those who do will gain some empathy. I will say that people who change tend to do a lot of good. I know it's not my place to tell you to take on that burden. Good luck we all need it.
@@MADCATMK3103 For security you can get some cameras and better door locks as imho its better to prevent than to defend.
In most country's people die the most while being robbed only if they offer resistance. And believe me: your life is far more valuable than whatever they can steal you. Then there is the aftermath if you "win": if you killed the thief, how can be sure that its family wont try to take revenge? And if you dont and only injured him?
@juancarlos7216 Bruh that's not how the real world works. You cant rely on anyone other than yourself in life or death situations.
@@StarmenRock I know what a life or death situation is: I disarmed a guy that pointed his gun in the back of my head to steal me because I didn't believed it was a gun. Its a miracle that my brain is not splashed in some street and now I fully understand that in those situations you mostly react instead of really having time for thought. That is too the reason I know that in my country 1 of every 3 people that resists being stolen dies while people that just let the robbery happen have less than 1% of chance of being killed. Knowing the real statistics gave me a whole new perspective on how to think about what happened to me. I encourage you check the ones your country has, it may do the same.
The on point thumbnail of kneeling before a cross with the title "the cost of kindness."
Trigun isn't subtle haha
@@ProfessorViral boys love Jesus. Men live like Him.
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 think that is the overall intent, but it gets a bit dragged down by the presentation of that hope as a forgiveness that solves every situation
@@ProfessorViral Yes, I do agree
I mean one should get better in seeing through bs and choosing to whom to give kindness to. You can say everyone deserves kindness but you cant let the wrongs be reinforced and let the wrongs continue and get away with it. Sometimes tough kindness needs to be done and acknowledge. Theres a huge difference and I wish there was more talk about it.
Call out the bs if you know its bs
@@ProfessorViralisn’t that the epitome of a virtue though? If this is to present the virtue of hope, and the hope of kindness and how the consequence of hope is on the hopeful, even when the ultimate outcome is what was hoped for.
I figured that Vash came to a sort of compromise between his and Wolfwood's philosophies at the end of the show. The fact he uses the punisher cross to save himself, is somewhat symbolic of this. But also I find it interesting Vash straight up shoots Knives, non-mortally, but its still not the way he usually deals with his opponents. He then proceeds to throw away his red coat, stating he will look to his own wisdom from then on. The red coat clearly represents his devotion to Rem, since it is the color of the flowers that she was associated with. Up until this point he had just blindly followed Rem's philosophy of kindness towards everyone regardless of the situation. But at the end of the show he decides to deal with things in his own way, not quite Rem's way, and not quite Wolfwood's way. Somewhere in between the two. At the end of the show after all his testing, he comes up with his own form of justice. At least this is my head cannon
Nah, that's a pretty accurate take if you ask me...
Aced
A beautiful comment. I didnt catch the symbolism of the coat. This isnt justhead cannon, this is clearly the intended message.
Yo! Same! (Well I wondered!) I noticed the shots debilitating, but more aggressively so than usual. (Considered it maybe Knives can/needs to take harder hits) and the leaving the coat! I at first just thought that a finale thing, but wondered a bit more. The symbolism was key, and it was more the emblem of the show than the guns, despite the name. Coat hair and glasses! But I recall when he was ....Doug? Oh! ERIK! He got fkd up bad and got healed and seemed to have amnesia. COAT was absent then too. Sooo, I questioned the coats representing belief; even tho! He clearly chose bcuz of chrysanthemums, and a coat is a covering, a protection. Like Belief
This synopsis fits me and my life!😂
I would say to read the manga. the source material is a lot more complex than simply "forgive even those who may not deserve forgiveness". Nightow, the creator and mangaka, is a Christian who, at the time of Trigun, was struggling with his faith, and it shows. Vash is also far more complicated a character than the '98 anime portrays. I would love to see your take on the story with the original source material taken in.
I think the christian ideology and faith struggle is most prevalent with the way Vash is superhuman, while everyone else is just human. Vash survives what no one else could and is protected by luck and plot armor for sure. He endures pain, but it's all pain that he is capable of surviving. The one human who attempts to follow him dies the one time he tries. The story inadvertently makes the point that humans are incapable of being ideally kind, incapable of making the third option. As much as we want to be like Vash or Christ, Trigun and the Bible both show that even the best of us fail to be good, and the one superhuman who is supposed to be good causes excessive levels of destruction in exchange for their good actions. The stories are filled from cover to cover with inescapable destruction for most people, but somehow we selectively remember only the finite scenarios where someone escaped by a miracle.
It makes so much sense that the author was a Christian. Only a Christian-or someone heavily influenced and inspired by Christianity-would put forward such a radical view of mercy and forgiveness. To anyone who doesn’t believe in God, I think such a philosophy would have to appear unforgivably naive.
@@AdrienMelody I don't think that's the case. a lot of atheists I know also struggle with this same dilemma: how to be kind in an unkind world, how to live with the acts that may be necessary for survival when the cost cost can be your own sense of morality or even the suffering of others. it's a struggle everyone goes through. in Trigun, humanity takes full advantage of the plants, fight over them, treat them like a neverending resource when they are not only finite but also have their own sentience which are largely represented between Vash and Knives. in reality, humans struggle with the fact that a lot of our comforts and products from shelter to food to even this particular form of entertainment comes at the expense of others as well. it's the same concept.
the Christian angle is more the struggle one can have in knowing that we're born into this world with advantages and disadvantages (or, y'know "original sin") and there's not a whole lot 1 person can do to change it, though inevitable, people try (individually) to do what they can with the limited time they have in this world. for Christians, particularly if they're of a more Catholic bent, there's far more uncertainty and sometimes even fear about the actions taken in this world having impact in the next. and i think that's the area where Wolfwood struggles most. he only ever wanted to just go back home, protect his loved ones, but he had to become a monster and bloody his hands to do so and he doesn't believe he will be in line of salvation. Vash, by contrast, comes across wholly naive to the realities of the world around him, but the manga does reveal that he's not actually so naive.
he understands the human condition and sees their struggles, but he doesn't necessarily forgive some of their past transgressions. he will fight to defend and not to kill to give humanity a chance to prove him wrong about why. he is "Christ-like" in the element of offering himself up as a martyr by letting himself be blame, targeted, and torn to pieces in the hopes that one day humanity will learn better. there's guilt driving him toward this behavior moreso than with Wolfwood, and yet Wolfwood's the one who is the actual martyr, who sacrifices himself for the sake of his loved ones, and who Vash continues to reflect back on similar to how he does with Rem.
Christianity has a complicated history in Japan, so it's not surprising that Nightow would struggle as a Christian. Buddhism and Shintoism are very much centered around the concepts of "live in the knowledge that there is this one world you currently live in and you will suffer and inevitably, you will die and the meaning of your life is what you make it so live well" and y'know, the basic principle of "try to be a force of good in the world". Christianity has that second element far more than the first, but it also has a strong message of intervening when you see suffering in the world (or, at least, if you're following the actual teachings of Jesus Christ and not whatever fucked message modern day megachurch Evangelists get up to). but to do that will, inevitably, lead to conflict, which goes AGAINST that message as, at times, it can make the situation worse before it gets better. and I think that's where the struggle for him is. How Can It Be Okay To Cause Conflict In The Name Of Preventing Worse Conflict? Vash struggles with this, Wolfwood struggles with this. they have different answers but, in principle, they come to the same conclusion.
anyway, tl;dr I think the reason Trigun can speak to more than just Christians and even straight up atheists is because people, inherently, struggle with the idea of "how much should I do in order to do what's right? how can I be the one to shed blood for my loved ones if it means some other person's loved ones are the casualties?" we all go through it. wanting to forgive, not being able to... these are also things people struggle with. understanding people from where they come from, the reasons why they act the way they do... doesn't always bring about forgiveness and some things cannot be forgiven. you can try to save those important to you, but you can't always save everyone and some people don't want to be saved--Vash learns this one the hard way, largely thanks to Wolfwood and Legato both. So. yeah.
@@jevana I suppose I haven’t come across those particular atheists. All of the intellectual, rationalist thinkers I’ve encountered would certainly consider Jesus’s kind of morality to be naive. You can’t come to the same conclusions He taught logically without assuming some higher power and purpose exists. But then again, I suppose most people aren’t very logical, and Christianity has so infiltrated our culture that most automatically think kind of like Christians, even if they don’t believe in God. So I guess you’re probably correct.
@AdrienMelody Mercy requires such a forward act of Forgivenes and GOD. And Jesus the only way to Forgiveness. If not for HIM, I'd be a .urderer. Ending those that hurt me. I get WOLFWOOD! 'NO MORE CHILDREN SUFFER!" I was one of those kids. And if I suspected bad behavior, they'd disappear like Wolfwood made so
Well done. I think you've drawn Insightful and honest but tough conclusions. What I find most fascinating is that modern game theory trials agree with you.
I agree with the message of atonement and think that you didn’t take it far enough to explain Vash with knives. He leaves the coat and leaves rems ideals behind, and even at his most peaceful until the last episode he seems to want to kill knives specifically. In my mind at least, Knives is not evil for the sake of it, Knives just can’t atone or admit to fault, and he doesn’t want to be left alone. Everything started from him wanting to get rid of one bad person who was hurting his brother and him, and then things went to shit and several people died, and humanity was screwed and Rem was dead. How do you as a kid take fault for that? You don’t, it’s too much to bear. So he decides he HAS to be right. And then his peace loving brother shoots and abandons him and as a result he first kills Rems relative and makes Vash destroy July, because if he removes that attachment to Rem and makes Vashes hands dirty too, doesn’t he have to accept him? I think that’s why atonement comes so late in the show from Vash, he’s realizing he has to atone to Knives. They never talked out the butterfly thing, even as kids with actual spiders Vash went to violence against Knives, Knives until now has been the exception to peace. I don’t know if I agree with Vash that he needs to atone considering, but I do think he realizes love and peace won’t always work, but that carrying Knives at the end like that is his atonement for leaving him behind before.
Lagatos test for Vash is one of the best things iver ever seen in story telling. Especially because it was "kill me or let your friends die", not "kill that guy or lose this guy". It's so much more personal. And the fact that what Lagato really wants is for Vash to kill him is the cherry on top. Because that's even worse than if Vash lost his friends. He's lost people before, but he was always able to keep his soul pure by not killing anyone. Yeah, he might not always succeed in saving everyone, but at least he didn't murder anyone. But now he does. It's beautiful.
Legato tortures vash even in death
what also makes it great is legato didnt WANT to use millie and meryl, he captured them but even when pushed to his own death, pushed to the edge of "fight or die" vash sticks to his ideals and accepts his death rather then take a life, legato seeing the resolves hangs his head and brings forth the girls, and legato still goads him by having the controlled men take potshots at him, and you hear the conflict within his mind. and i think the main one is wolfwoods" dont push you ideals onto others" vash is more then welcome and personally strong enough to literally DIE for his ideals.
however with 2 people i could have been anyone but legato used millie and merle cus they were there. vash would have killed legato if it was anyone in the town being held hostage, because by his own understanding of rems philosophy he has no right to control the life of another, yet hes at a wall and a decision must be made.
he is the one in control in that scenario he holds 3 lives in his control and MUST choose if he doesnt act his decisions with cost the lives to 2 innocents who have done no wrong thus he will be responsible for taking their lives by his own ideals and philosophy. if he kills legato same thing hes responsible for taking the life of another its the perfect and cruelest test to make vash face "luck and persistence wont work forever" vash has never encountered or dealt with a foe like legato. and when faced with a force he cannot beat his way of avoiding killing he chooses death but he wont get off that easy.
legato was instructed in bringing vash the ultimate suffering and he did by letting him live with the fact he CHOOSE to betray his ideals over his own wants, he saved his friends but killed his own soul. he willingly took a life to save anothers he choose the butterflies over the spider he made the same choice knives did he killed the wicked to save the innocent. he betrayed rems ideals and rems teachings and thus betrayed her least in vashs mind and therefore is no better then knives or other killers.
Bigolas is such a well-written character
HAHAHA BIGOLAS
What an unfortunate name, from the latin american perspective.
long live bigolas dickolas
kindness is something humanity is really lacking nowadays
Literally the most given to charity right now in the entirety or humanity. Literally the most peaceful era of history.
@@AL-lh2ht and it's still not enough, plus you are missing the point, besides i ain't discussing this over the internet with some 4head that only want to prove someone else wrong
@@elios7623 Well you're not exactly any different, coming here and proclaiming that kindness is starved in this day and age when slavery back then was the status quo and in the open air for everyone to see.
You whine and complain like a man-child, saying its never enough but you lack the rationality and common sense to figure out what would happen if some crackhead head-in-the-clouds fuck would want a humanity full of kindness. THEIR version of kindness. How do we reach such a state? What do we sacrifice to achieve such a goal? What do we do to those who refuse to join the effort to spread kindess?
You want to enforce kindness? Be a dictator and turn everyone into machines.
Your mistake is to use the tired old "nowadays" in there. Obviously you would get backlash for making such a half-assed statement. The past wasn't better, at any point in human history. Even if you just didn't think about what you said at all (very likely), you inherently imply that it was better before.
Humanity is _still_ lacking kindness. It still needs to improve. This too will never change.
I don't agree. Mettle is. Being kind is easy. Acting on it is not. You have to have a strong sense of morality to express it oftentimes.
Capitalism is, of course, why things are like this. I am of the opinion most people are kind but caught up in self preservation so badly they can't see how wild their behavior is.
I didn't interpret the message as "we must always show kindness and forgiveness", but plain and simple as it was stated: "no one can decide who deserves to die". If we are choosing to kill off bad people, that's completely subjective. Would we define it by harm caused? Then Vash could be justifiably killed due to the indirect consequences of his actions. Heck, wiping out humans could be justified if you care about other lifeforms. By harm prevented by killing them? We can't see the future - even if it's something that we think will immediately happen, like pulling a trigger, there will be wrong calls (was that man truly going to shoot, as the captain assumed, or was he not, as Rem believed?). By intention of harm? We can't determine that, and even if we could- once again Vash had once intended to kill a man before stopping himself, would that justify killing him in that moment his heart was set on murder? Or was it okay because the would-be victim was a murder himself? Isn't that just death penalty- in either of this criteria? But what standards should this penalty have? Are any innocent lives taken by judging mistakes be a justifiable sacrifice? And the not innocent lives taken, again, was it whoever decided's place to... decide? Would that actually decrease the bad in the world, when the life taken will also affect their loved ones? There are way too many complex situations- should one kill someone who was ready to kill their abusive partner? Should we kill someone innocent if it will save others who would otherwise die? If the answer is no to this, but yes to killing a criminal who would kill just as many people, then it's not really just about what saves the most people, is it? What if innocent person was actually partially guilty for the others' state, what % of guilt would it take for it to be okay to kill them to save the others?
TLDR so far: Who decides and how is it decided who deserves to die to save more people, or who gets to live?
Vash CAN'T be the one calling for execution because he operates on a planetary and centuries-long scale, divorced from human reality- as said in the video can his goal be considered good if it might not come to pass- but also, if the people alive today would have to suffer for an ideal hypothetical? This would go for any harm he intentionally caused, but the focus is on killing- because it takes the person's "blank ticket", and because it's one of the ultimate loss of autonomy - in most other situations someone could at least choose to die to escape their fate - and while you can always change your mind about sparing someone, you can't about killing them. He CAN be the one dishing out mercy because his body can withstand it- we can give anyone shit for not trying for the ideal outcome, but could anyone even reach it without the 1.5 century Vash has under his belt? With only a fraction of his constitution, gunsliging ability and accumulated knowledge? Wolfwood clearly couldn't and he was the human to be shown to be closest to Vash in terms of abilities out of the people trying to do some good. Vash only can have a body like his and be sent to the hospital so often because he can survive what would be a fatal encounter for others.
Wolfwood CAN'T be always merciful, maybe he could get better, but not do what Vash does. He'd die, plain and simple, and die he did. He CAN go for a non-ideal solution, because the ideal will rarely be an option he can reach and we can't expect someone to do what they're literally unable to.
I think the phrase "only the strong can show mercy" is very applicable here.
If you have the cards on your side, if you are capable of taking the pain and survive, if you can guarantee that a bad person will not do bad again, only then can you spare people without having to consider the consequences. It's kind of what our justice system is supposed to do in an ideal world. Put away criminals in jail and _reform_ them. Make them atone. It is more important to change people than to simply punish them. And death is the ultimate punishment. It's the zero sum game. Take away all a person's potential for evil, but also all their potential for good.
The government and police are technically "strong" enough to force society to be coherent and for criminals to be showed mercy so they can reform. But the system is always too flawed for that to be sensible. We also don't have people like Vash who are strong enough to show mercy unilaterally. Most people aren't strong. And because we are weak we have to resort to the zero sum game as it is the only way to guarantee less suffering, even if not more happiness.
I’m so glad Trigun is still getting recognition to this day. Absolute masterpiece.
I thought the planet they were on was called Gunsmoke?
One of the biggest problems with Vash's ideology is that he was the only one who could physically withstand the amount abuse needed to uphold his ideal. A normal human doesn't always have the third option.
not really he is girl just died and he need to andure the abuse
It is Gunsmoke, but I believe at the end of the manga (Trigun Maximum) they rename it to No Man's Land, which is probably why Trigun Stampede calls the planet No Man's Land instead of gunsmoke as well
“Gunsmoke” was the Dark Horse English manga translation. The correct Japanese name for the planet is “No Man’s Land.”
@@AaronMosmeyer
I was sure even the anime called it that.
@@AaronMosmeyer ohhhh gotcha. both names are really cool honestly
Trigun is, to this day, despite finding many other projects I love, my favorite anime. It tells us: don't stop being kind just because you commit a wrong. Do not commit wrongs because others do, don't stop hoping that doing the hard thing ensures others might also. Fight, not because it makes you look good but because you are doing something that gives us a better probability of good down the line. Maybe I'm wrong but the sacrifice of wolf wood and the pain of Vash tell me, doing good fixes lives, and even if it's one in a million, that's enough.
You could also look at it as no matter what actions you take, selfless or otherwise, for good or evil, or even doing nothing at all, there is a cost that comes with it and it is ultimately up to you to decide if that cost is worth it. In vash’s case “no good deed goes unpunished”
Kindness and atonement are ideas I've spent many hours agonizing over. This is a hard way to think your ideas are hard to swallow, but you put them elegantly, and you make your point clear. Keep up the good work i need to think on this.
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….
This is a absolute bar. What’s this quote from originally, or are you it’s author?
@@ExclusiveExcellence last one is mine. First two are from my random book of inspirational quotes and aren’t attributed because when looked up either found no one or a bunch of people.
The origin of Peter Parker/Spider-Man…and Uncle Ben.
The conundrum is in not knowing the ramifications of giving second chances.
The difference is that THIS world steers your morality to confront the real world questions. It speaks to the meaning of faith.
We cant atone. But we should have that Heart. We need someone greater than ourselves to fix all the fd up things weve done.
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.
Something that is worth pointing out is that forgiveness =/= acceptance of one's actions. That is a far too common misconception. Forgiveness is just the acknowledgement of a wrong and choosing to move on. That is why it is so powerful. You are CHOOSING to move on and not hold someone's wrongs over their heads (whether knowingly or unknowingly) and let them start anew in your eyes. And that quote you gave about forgiveness is an act of compassion perfectly exemplifies this point.
I just reached this spot on Trigun while I was sitting down to watch it completely in order. I love that timing.
Trigun laid the foundation for my life of pain in the search of love and peace, external and internal.
I enjoyed this thank you! I love how while we may arrive at different understandings and takes in regards to the kinds of messages we learn from the things we experience or consume, and how your videos certainly tell of your life and view. I dont think there's a right answer. never will be. But! I love that that. in how we are all varied and different, for better or worse. much like the difference of knives vs vash. they are the same, yet different. as with us all. all equally human, yet so vast and different. Heh I know thats not the point of the video necessarily, but more for me to say thank you for your view point and perspective in these videos you create. Even if your perspective clashes or aligns with others, thank you all the same.
Nothing is sequential in life, good doesn't necessarily lead to good. Bad lead to bad.
People who have moral values / common sense are often laughed at and given the middle finger, looked at with absolute disgust like they are trash. Recently read a case where two people stopped 2 people trying to steal 125 dollars worth of groceries, the thieves get away while the 2 brave people get yelled at by the owner since reporting the crime to the police "damaged his store's image, no one wants to buy things from a store that was robbed".
There are those who do crimes, for example driving over the speed limit and killing an innocent young woman and her 2 month old child. Although he was sentenced to prison as per the criminal justice system, people were like oh release him since he has his whole life ahead of him. He's young. Why? Simply because he was handsome, people didn't think he was capable of doing any hard or evil.
A rich athletic young man who sexually assaulted a poor woman gets a light sentence, while the poor victim is looked down despite doing absolutely nothing wrong. Being rich and handsome since a young age, this "thing" decided to abuse it instead. This man is a rapist, end of story.
Those who gaslight and abuse their victims psychologically get away, while the victims are left to suffer. Having to bare comments like "you crazy", "attention seeking" and "why didn't you run away or call for help?"
Just my 2 cents
While I agree with Vash's ideals, there is something that people forget. Kindness cannot be mistaken for weakness. While we should be kind to everyone, as even the Bible calls for us to love your enemies, that shouldn't be abused to enable evil. Evil is very manipulative and seeks to misuse kindness to continue getting away with evil. In that case, ironically enough, the kindest thing to do in that scenario is the make the person face judgement. They need to understand that actions have consequences. Whether that be judgement of the courts, or in vash's case, the judgement of God. Even God, who has a bigger heart for people than even Vash, knows there is point in time when no matter how you try to love someone they'll choose to do evil continually.
25:15 I'm sorry but I wholeheartedly disagree with this take. Trigun isn't telling the audience to be tolerant to the intolerant. It's literally SHOWING US that Vash's philosophy is both physically and mentally painful for him, and that he is engaging in self harm. He believes he has to carry the sins of humanity all by himself. He believes he is not worthy of love because he has caused harm in the past. Vash is self destructive and he learns by the end of the anime to find his own path. Both Rem and Wolfwood are correct, but they exhibit extreme ends of the spectrum of morality.
Trigun isn't telling the audience to forgive your abuser or to forgive Knives for genocide. It doesn't tell us to "forgive and forget," it's showing us why the cycle of violence perpetuates itself. It tries to teach us that kindness can go a long way, even if the people you give kindness to don't always deserve it. But who can really judge who does and doesn't deserve kindness after one interaction with a person? We should strive to be kind to everyone. I thought leftists believed in reformative justice? Who's to say that people don't deserve second chances? A lot of good people do bad things out of NECESSITY. Third, fourth, fifth, tenth, seventeenth chances? Maybe not. Not everyone is capable of changing for the better, but it usually takes a lot of time for someone to realize that about a person. We can only judge if a person doesn't deserve another chance unless they display repeated destructive or harmful behavior. But we can't be the judge of people we just met, thus we should strive to treat them with kindness even if it ends up hurting us later. Trigun is about restoring faith in humanity despite humanity's destructive tendancies.
By the end of the anime, Vash uses Wolfwood's Punisher Cross to defeat Knives, but does so in a way that (hopefully) won't be fatal. He leaves his red coat and gun behind in the desert symbolizing that he will adopt his own sense of morality from then on. The red coat is symbolic of the ideals that Rem instilled into him from a young age, and how holding onto her ideals of extreme pacifism was causing himself and others harm in the long run. But he also realizes that giving up isn't an option either. Giving up on humanity will also cause a lot of pain and suffering. Both philosophies are correct. No one has the right to take the life of another, but no one has the right to take your life either, thus self preservation with the use of violence is valid. Vash understands this by the end of the anime and tries to forge his own path while honoring both Rem and Wolfwood respectively.
25:27 Yes that's very true! Good thing the anime actively shows us by the end that Vash realizes that Rem's centrist philosophy was dangerous! He chose a different path at the end of the story! I like to think that Vash didn't spare Knives because he wanted to rehabilitate him. I think he knew his brother was too far gone. But I think he wanted to contain Knives and "take care of him" like Rem wanted. He will do what he can to prevent Knives from causing further harm. I wish he had killed Knives at the end, as it would have been a much more satisfying conclusion, but I don't think he was trying to save Knives. I think he wanted to contain him and find a way to take away his power. Kinda like the ending of Avatar the Last Airbender. Aang doesn't kill Firelord Ozai, he takes away his power both physically and politically. I like to think that's what Vash was trying to do. I also hate the ending but I still think with some headcannon it works.
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.
Thank you very much. I'm glad I have suck kind support behind me 💙
Agreed! I love how reflective his videos are and how they really make you think. ^^
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.
I don't think we can say psychopaths are inherently evil, some are very self aware and still abide by decency.
@@justafish9618 The thing about psychopaths is that they abide to rules and decency only by fear of punishment. If they can evade punishment and profit by doing X thing they will 100% do it no matter what X entails, even if it is the most cruel thing in the universe. More than that, because they lack empathy there is no way to redeem or "change" themselves to become "better humans" in a humanitarian/social way. They cant and will never abide to "honor", "morals", "ethics", "love", "fraternity" or any non profit values.
I wonder what "ProfessorViral" thinks about them. Should be think of them as humans because they can be good in appropriate social environments? Or should they be treated differently as they will forever be a burden to society because the moment they change to a bad environment they can be really dangerous?]
You have slowly been becoming my favourite RUclipsr
The cost of kindness.. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on these weighty topics
Amazing analysis. Thank you for posting.
This video reminds me about the whole student loan debt crisis we currently have in the Netherlands. Just because people thought it wasn't fair the butcher also pays for the education for the son of the lawyer. So normally you get some money as a student in the Netherlands for your education. But that did change into a loan... Now we have abolished that system but now a whole generation is in depth. But we recognized that the system was not working and just because the current generation is in depth that should not mean the next generation also needs to be in to depth.
But still it left a generation in depth just because people didn't want to pay for the education of the rich.. and forgot that the tax money mostly used for norm and especially poor people so that we can recreate more upwards mobility.
Because when you give both rich and poor 100 Euros it will make more impact than leave loans what affects the poor more.
this video got me at JUST the right time! thanks for this. I really like the concept of atonement as a way to make the world a better place without having to suffer through the actions of others. let me know if I understood that correctly, but in short form, that's what I heard. Thanks again, and have an awesome day!
Essentially. Working under an individualistic framework, if everyone is able to balance out any evil they do at the minimum, then things could always maintain a decent level at least
I think its message never forgets the important point you made about the difference between Vash and others. He is powerful.
He has more to give and he knows that he has more to prove. That expectation was never levied on Meryl or Millie for example.
People do suffer some consequences for their actions but not all, and that's just the sad fact that was prevalent when it was written and even now.
I really enjoy your take on these stories. Your thoughts are truly unique and certainly help me to understand these stories and concepts myself. I just watched your becoming what we hate video, and you mention how you trimmed over half of the script you wrote up working through your thoughts. I wanted to pitch this idea to you: posting all of what you're willing to share of your written scripts online for us to read. Your thoughts? I really would enjoy learning about some of your ideas that were cut for one reason or another. Plus it would be a fun way to get a glimpse of how you assemble the information in your videos and as well as concentrate your themes. Thanks for doing all you do!
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.
i like to think it's because Vash is not human he's the only one able to take on such a heavy burden
love and peace ✌️
00:21 in and I hit the like button...thats how confident I am 😎 that this will be good.
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
You got a great style mate, thank you for sharing. You got yourself a sub.
Not sure if anyone has said this already, but I think Vash was intended to be an allegory for Christ, who took everyone’s sins upon himself in order to save them. So rather than it being interpreted as “we need to do what Vash does” it’s more of a picture of what some believe has already been done for us.
Kindness demands Sacrifices and Adjustments.
This is a really well put together analysis that got me thinking more deeply about not only this show but how I view forgiveness and kindness personally. It is true that not everyone deserves forgiveness. There are people in my life who have caused me great pain and that I still feel anger toward. However, over time I have come to the conclusion that forgiveness is never for the person who wronged you. Forgiveness is your path to moving on from pain. Forgiveness is a kindness to yourself. Though I am still struggling with the anger part, the people who have wronged me are people I want to forgive. Not because they've earned it. They haven't. I want to forgive for my own sake because if I don't, the people who love me and treat me well will suffer for it. My heart would grow bitter and I would become the very evil I despise. I think, in Trigun, that's the reason why Vash killing Legato was so important for the story. Vash was ready to forgive everyone but himself. And ultimately, this challenge to his way of thinking forced him to realize why Rem said the things she said. We're all capable of great good and great evil. It's important to forgive simply because we all want forgiveness when we fall short. If we can't give it we shouldn't expect it when we do things undeserving of forgiveness ourselves. The desire to forgive should always be there even if that other person never apologizes or makes things right. If a person doesn't repent there's no reconciliation possible for them, but having an attitude of forgiveness in spite of that helps you, the person wronged, move on without the weight of their sins weighing you down. I think that's what makes Vash compelling even if he is naive about it. He never allows the cruelty he's well aware of thanks to the myriad of scars on his body to steal away his compassion or empathy. That's the mark of a truly strong person in my book. It's true that kindness doesn't always work, especially in the circumstances he was in. Kindness can lead to great pain, especially in situations where there's no good answer. As you said in this video, Vash wasn't wrong. Wolfwood wasn't wrong. The problem is that there was no real balance in their mindsets. You can't be kind all the time and you can't always take the most logical route in solving problems with people either. Some people are stubborn and require...a lot more patience. Sometimes they eventually come around to legitimate repentance but man does it take FOREVER!!! XD LOL
Anyway, thank you for such an insightful video. It was a joy to watch! Trigun is such an interesting series and it's always cool to find videos like this where someone explores the themes of the show and their personal thoughts on it. :) Keep doing what you do! :) Best wishes and God bless you.💜
2:36 I am so glad you brought up this episode. I've had it on my mind a lot lately!
The fact that the brother's name is, quite literally, "Millions Knives" will never not be funny to me
Trigun is not subtle evidence file 82 lol
It's funny, but honestly the guy is fucking terrifying, especially in that one scene with the three ladies in Stampede.
@@ProfessorViralwhat is the name of the guitar music background?
you know ive just finished watching alot of trigun videos and it kinda made me realize that vash is oblivious to those around him. he constantly tires to uphold the belief that killing is wrong because of his own reasoning and ideals and believes that if everyone else followed the same path then the world would be a better place. what he neglects to realizes is that to everyone else except him not killing someone could mean loosing everything including their own life. he believes that if hes able to live that way then everyone else should also be able to live that way, however he fails to consider his own advantages in life. he simply is not human, he lives longer than anyone else, has a better rate of survival and healing, and other abilities that allow him to dodge the consequences that normal people would face if they chose to uphold the same ideals. the amount of risk he faces is much lower than the amount of risk a normal person would face in the same situation making his reward much more trivial as he has to "pay" less. my point is that for vash the cost of kindness he pays pales in comparison to everyone, the amount of risk regular people face is greater and therefore so is the potential price they have to pay. he's privileged, plain and simple, and like everyone else who is privileged he doesnt recognize his own advantages.
I agree and disagree at the same time. Vash is oblivious and naive in some ways, but he fully understands that he is not a human. That's why he carries the sins of humanity with him by choosing not to heal himself. It's why he's covered in scars and has a robotic arm. I would argue that Vash suffers more physical and mental pain than all the humans on Gunsmoke put together, albeit by his own doing and refusal to change his pacifist beliefs. But by the end of the 98 anime, he chooses a different path. He decides to keep both Rem and Wolfwood's philosophies close to him, and he chooses to believe something in the middle of the two extremes. He recognizes that they are both right. No one deserves to take the life of another, but no one deserves to take your life either, and self preservation is valid. It took the death of Wolfwood for him to finally understand this. Wolfwood decided to embrace Vash's philosophy ONE TIME and he died for it. Using Wolfwood's Punisher cross to defeat Knives is great symbolism for Vash accepting Wolfwood's point of view. Leaving the red coat and gun behind in the desert was symbolic of Vash finding his own path seperate from Rem's pacifist philosophy after it caused him so much pain and torment. I think in that moment Vash finally learned how to forgive himself and keep having faith that some day things will change for the better, but he won't be able to change the world by himself.
As I have gotten older my views on forgiveness and atonement have evolved. I used to think nobody really deserved to be forgiven or have the ability to atone for truly heinous acts. Going so far as to think they didn't even deserve a trail.
I now think that everyone deserves the chance to be forgiven and to atone. Everyone has different criteria for forgiveness and atonement; the calculus for this happens for every situation and is weighted differently each time. There will always be those who will never forgive, for one reason or another. That is their decision.
For me as long as the person is trying their best to atone for past acts then I will forgive.
I have a friend who spent time (4yrs of a 7yr sentence) in fed prison. When the story broke I went down a rabbit hole to figure out why he did what he did. What I found broke my heart. He is now out and doing everything in his power to better his life. He holds no ill towards his girlfriend who also is in fed prison (15yrs).
Sometimes those who do evil are so broken they don't know what kindness is.
I think with the pisode Sins Vash had to forgive himself before he could move forward... and you are the hardest on yourself.
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.
I didn't read much to avoid spoilers, but it's one I would for sure like to read in its proper form one day. Thanks!
I'm glad you remade the video, because I don't think the show is trying to say self sacrifice is always the right thing to do. You eventually brought up the main point against that; Vash isn't human and has way more ability and agency to give as opposed to us who have far less to offer the world. The weight is heavier on him than on the average person, and his very existence has caused suffering so he's constantly trying to balance the scales. We shouldn't compare ourselves to Vash because we can never be him.
In that regard Vash is flawed because he doesn't fully take this into account. His naive idealism is pushed on everyone around him. Through luck and his super human abilities it usually works out and he's capable of reminding humans how they SHOULD act, if they're capable of kindness, and if not then learn from their mistakes and do better next time. But when he's faced with Legatos no win scenario he finds himself just as fallible, and through grief he comes to terms with it and takes care of Knives accordingly.
Yes, Knives is a villain, but he's above all a victim. His trauma on the ship directly carved out his opinion on humans. He was trying to save his kind from being used as a fuel source by humanity. He was also basically a child in regards to experience when he set the ships to crash. I'm obviously not saying what he did was right, but it makes sense in context. His contempt for Vash comes from Vashes staunch refusal to see things his way, or even to come to a compromise on morality. To me, it felt like Knives was subconsciously begging for Vash to understand where he was coming from. Knives has the same abilities as Vash so he could have wiped the humans out by now, but his driving motive is to prove Vashs idealism wrong.
AND HE DOES! But through that Vash is capable of proving Knives wrong by showing compassion and effort despite having to kill someone to do it. He didn't give up and he didn't turn dark, but he attoned, like you said. Hopefully from there the two can compromise and use their abilities to make the world better.
Also I don't think Wolfwood dies because of his sins exactly, he dies because he's human. Vash would have died a hundred times over if he were in Wolfwoods shoes. I think Wolfwoods death just underlines that this idealism is ultimately fatal, and while it might be worth trying to achieve failure is a likely outcome. His death is almost a warning, that if you die you'll never improve; better to learn from a mistake and grow from it than die a needless death.
Then again Wolfwoods plan to spare Chapel DID work, but was rigged to fail by Legato to pull Vash further in. Losing his best friend should have made Vash see the light but instead he had to be forced to kill Legato instead. Basically all the gung ho guns are people who are manipulated into forcing Vash to accept that sometimes there's no alternative. Most of them just kill themselves out of hate or spite when they fail because they have nothing left to live for and the rest that could have been saved are just killed by Legato anyway. The whole thing is just rigged to put more and more blood indirectly on Vashes hands, first his enemies, then his friends. I'm sure Legato would have killed Millie and Meryl and would continue to kill innocents till Vash took the hint. And keep in mind Legato has his powers because he had Vashes arm grafted to him- so in a literal sense it's blood on Vashes hand.
Sorry for rambling. I wrote an essay on this back in collage and this show means a lot to me. I love to see discourse on it. And it's very easy to see something overly idealistic in it if you don't pick at it so I try and dissuade that notion when I can, I feel the anime especially is much more complicated than that.
Also, isn't it called Planet Gunsmoke?
LOVE AND PEACE!
Personal take on Zazie the Beast in the anime, I believe that he is actually the same as in the manga, not the kid but the little thing that you called a device to control the worms, I believe that that is actually a little leech thing that is the true Zazie the Beast, the characters just don’t get the chance to really put that together fully, but the kid cried in his sleep and when Zazie unveils himself he has a different voice as well
Thank you for introducing another way for me to venerate Trigun (1980s). I love your interpretation and your theme seems aptly fitting as I feel that there's some prominent theme that's been reoccurring in the media I've been consuming recently. And the cost of kindness is something I feel is specially interesting in Japan's current manga/animescape: any work that lingers on the themes of bullying or empower a previously marginalized character (via isekai) runs with an undiscussed and potentially vicious rejection of mercy/kindness. Either way, your video was a total joy. Thanks for making this.
i love the original Trigun
Idk If you don't get preachy to certain audiences the moral and theme gets lost in translation and the intention of the creation is diluted, so good on them. Very interesting analysis thank you for the culmination. Great work here.
I was gonna say…still definitely wanted to see ~that Trigun video~ and here we are.
Criminally underrated analysis
Always forgive.
Just also carry plenty of ammo.
You'll need both.
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
Trigun is one of the best anime, top 5 to me. No one talks about it though. Which I understand the story doesn’t really start until about half way through. Still an amazing anime.
I think that delayed start is what made some anime of the late 90s era so good though. Trigun and Bebop both really begin around episode 5, where we see more to the actions the main characters take than the surface level entertainment it appeared to be. This gives them so much depth since we are led to uncover who they are naturally, rather than being told who they are. For any character putting up a false front, this is an exceptional strategy
Awesome video! I definitely believe what trigun was trying to say, was that you’d have to be a literal angel or inhuman in order to live with true altruism and kindness for all. But it’s saying as people we need to atleast try.
Vash is the ultimate christian. He's not Jesus, that's Rem Savrem in the show.
Vash wants to save everyone, and he deals with guilt of not being able to do that, and the guilt (either directly or indirectly) of having killed so many.
Vash's choice for kindness and "LOVE AND PEACE!!!" Isn't an easy one and it's not even an ideal that is always possible. Vash can go with successes for years and years and then something like zazi the beast or worse, legato happens, and then it's devastating.
There's more to it too. Cruelty feeds cruelty ( the last story from requiem.from the darkness is a perfect example of this), and it's also why miasma and just collected negative feelings appear so much in anime. It's kind of tied to the native religions of japan.
In a way, trigun may be ultra-Christian instead of shinto or buddhist, but kindness is an antidote to that sort of cycle. (Demon city Shinjuku has two scenes: one with the girl and the dog, and o e with the girl and the ghost. Both obstacles are overcome by kindness, and both are in a way, part of the cycle of pain and negative feelings).
Trigub is unique in that Vash does not get away unscathed for his choices, and even the priest, wolfwood, finds his choices insane and incomprehensible. (And here's where understanding ultra-Christian proto-existentialist philosopher Kierkegaard comes in handy, but i've talked about him in comments on trigun so.much, and i don't want a 30 page comment which is long enough as is. Suffice to say, Vash's choice to stay true to his ideals is the embodiment of a leap in to faith: a willingness to accept and commit to a paradoxical and illogical truth in the name of "god". (In this case living blindly to the ideals of Rem Saverem).)
Vash as a character resonates a lot with me, and i understand the kindness as well as the reasons why its so important. If you see a world full of cruelt, sometimes it can be so.much that you have to try and fix it. You have to attempt.something wholly radical to break the cycle and change things...
Anyhow, great topic
Christian? No way. Christianity is a cesspit of hate based on the cult around a patriarchal self-contradictory father figure with the vagueness to allow all the evils in the world and justify them. The myth that a good Christian is a kind one defies everything the religion was based on and represents across history.
I was finding a lot of Christian parallels too when watching the video. I found Vash failing to be fitting, as it shows that even the most devoted Christian can and will inevitably fall short.
I think its precisely because Vash is so powerful that he can be considered kind. Because if he didnt have the capacity to defend himself or kill people, then not killing them isn't kindness or mercy, he simply has no other choice.
True, he has the option to do one or the other, where many never would. That's an interesting relationship between kindness and power
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.
I do believe that anyone acting a way which places cost only on themself is free to do as they wish. I do think it can be taken in a dangerous route though, we have to really stress the personal aspect, as many will claim a "person choice" which is causing harm to others. I think you addressed it well, that's just my perspective on how I've witnessed it used in bad faith before
I honestly don't think Trigun is really meant to give a pat answer or Care Bear Stare. Vash does pay a price for his pacifism, and it's not only his own, sometimes it has been others' lives (Wolfwood's. Brad - in the anime). Vash wins some and he loses some. Same as Wolfwood's side of things. Then there's Knives... who honestly has a point in terms of his people being treated as livestock. I don't think the story is meant to give you a Saturday Morning 80s cartoon lesson, I think the goal of Trigun is to make you think about these complex ethical issues and to come to your own conclusions.
So, I fail to see it as "problematic." I will continue to watch and love it and think over it, as I think that is what it is meant for.
Also guns and explosions.
"Kindness Is the beginning of cruelty" Frank Herbert
An excellent video essay sir 😎
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!
There is the manga thats different. It originally comes from a similar but different manga,.
@@marocat4749 yea I’m reading the manga rn. so I can’t confirm it, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that knives does die in it, which could help with the narrative of kindness and it’s limitations. Especially because the anime does do a lot of stuff right and beat for beat, but the manga just has so much more stuff and more elaborations.
@@marocat4749 unless you mean an entirely different manga then from trigun + trimax, cause that’s the only manga I’ve heard of for trigun lol
I love this anime
I saw Wolfwood and clicked
I feel that's a big thing with this show and it's themes. In the case of the spider and butterfly, the issue is that both fight for survival. One's morals and values are not greater than the other's. However, that's where PEOPLE are different. Because we HAVE morals, we HAVE values. It varies across different people. It's part of why you AREN'T supposed to take Vash's philosophy as much as he does. He is NOT human. His scope and perspective are ultimately far beyond what is reasonable for people to follow, and even with that he STILL suffers greatly or nearly dies for it. Same with Knives. The two are effectively BUILT to be the ones who get away with rigid philosophy.
Wolfwood and the rest of the supporting cast are supposed to be broad examples of the impact Kindness can have. Wolfwood is a good foil because he IS human. He is the one you're supposed to come to understand, and even Vash seemed to pick up that it was a mistake for Wolfwood to make the choice he did, though he couldn't bring himself to say it. Similar to the spider. If the spider was to live... It meant that he couldn't intervene. If Wolfwood stuck with his normal philosophies, sure he wouldn't have as much personal closure, but he'd be able to continue to find his own ways to atone. Being perceived as "wrong" impacts people more than anything, especially when that is so internalized. The spider isn't WRONG for wanting to live. Morals and Values? Our Philosophies? Vary SO wildly. Ultimately, on Wolfwood and Vash, both had different visions which allowed both to find reasoning in the other's ideas. It's all about reading the room. Sometimes, you just have to let the spider do its thing. Sometimes, you might need to step in and take action. Which is where the "evil" in humanity comes in, because visions vary so wildly, as ridiculous as some ideals may sound.
Take care of your house plants and one day house plants will take care of us
The true lesson of Trigun
Being kind always hurts... no matter how you slice it.
Look, i get it, i get the message , i get why that thing needed to happen.
But i don't care.
Imma write fixit Vashwood fanfics because i want a happy ending, even if those things don't happen in real life
There is such thing as free, there is always a cost.
Being kind is not about justice; that's why you're confused by the show's message. And saying you won't be kind until someone proves they deserve it is why people are not kind to each other. After all, why should they act that way toward you when you haven't proven it to them?
You view Vash, being close to immortal, as a cop-out for him being able to take on more risks when the real narrative tool being presented is someone forced to always live with the consequences of their actions.
I believe this is actively trying to take my statement the wrong way. When its a video full of examples of how a normal person would have been killed over and over again for acts of kindness, me stating that I will show kindness to those who deserve it means those who do not actively, every single day, act unkind themselves. Being kind to them is akin to being a doormat. We have to acknowledge when two sides are not the same; someone who believes you should die as their political belief does not deserve your kindness- this is the inspiration behind my statement, and threat many people face every single day
@@ProfessorViral Vash does what he does because views like yours are so incredibly small. That's why you don't get it. Idk how to explain it to you either. Understanding come from experience.
And you stop making me cry please?!
Maybe it's not so much about prescriptive morality as it is about bearing the weight of the echoes of our actions.
The problem with videos like yours & others is singular. They are so good. There isn't much to cover by the time 3 or 4 channels have given their philosophical or emotional take on the show or topic from said show. 😔😁🍵
With the heat here in Texas, I'm starting to think Trigun is a little prophetic. It's 112°F
I like being nice but most take it for weakness and i think that's really weird
Rom. 12:17-19 "Return even for evil to no one. Take into consideration what is fine from the viewpoint of all men. If Possible, as far as it depends on you, be peaceable with all men. Do not avenge yourselves beloved, yield place to the wrath..." Turning other cheek and letting go of anger is always the healthier option. Let go of resentment and grudges. Forgive people who wrong you, because letting them take up space in your mind with hate isn't hurting them, only you. Otherwise Professor, don't be such and emo I mean, damn this video was like watching a 15 goth break down an anime.
Love Trigun so much, but I hate the misinterpretation that all killing is evil. I know it's different for Vash, every life on that planet is someone Rem died for. But it's not "Thou shalt not kill" the og interpretation is "Thou shalt not murder".
The show seems to be preaching Christian morality, in its earliest and truest form. It’s truly radical, which is why so few Christians have actually lived by it. And it’s based upon an unshakable faith in God, which is why it appears so irrational and idealistic.
It reminds me of a story from Britain’s early history about vikings that invaded East Anglia. The vikings were initially defeated in battle, but the king showed mercy to the survivors, including the leaders of the invasion. He felt compelled by his Christian convictions to let them go, but when he did, they returned mere months later with new forces, and the same invaders to whom he showed mercy captured and tortured the king to death.
You say that those who are unkind don’t deserve kindness, and that the cruel aren’t owed forgiveness. You’re completely right, but whether anyone deserves forgiveness or not isn’t the point. Technically, no one has a right to someone else’s forgiveness-forgiveness is something we give freely, by choice, because we want to take the highest road.
In Christianity, showing radical forgiveness to the undeserving is an expression of faith that God will make everything right, so we don’t need to take justice into our own hands (“vengeance is Mine; I will repay”). Killing an evil person to prevent them from causing any more harm might be just, but it would also require us to directly take a human life. Showing mercy isn’t just about saving an evil person-it’s about saving ourselves from having to take another life. Showing radical compassion is also a way for Christians to “pay it forward”-to show others the same mercy and forgiveness we believe God showed us (“freely ye have received, freely give”).
Of course, Jesus’s story shows us what happens to someone who practices this kind of radical forgiveness all the time. In the end, He was killed in the most terrible and unjust way imaginable. Following His example, the early church faced extraordinary persecution for the first few hundred years of its existence, even though they encouraged one another to submit to political authorities. From the outside, all these efforts would have looked like a losing battle from the beginning-a doomed cause based on a naive philosophy. But then Emperor Constantine was converted, Rome became the seat of the Church for all time, and Christianity went on to become the dominant religion of the world. Despite all odds, the movement Jesus started could never be stopped.
But is it right to forgive the unforgivable? I’m not sure. Personally, I’d rather not end up like the East Anglian king, and I hope I would stop at nothing to keep barbaric invaders from harming my people and destroying my home. As usual, I suspect the truth is somewhere between the two extremes. In any case, it strikes me as profoundly interesting that this anime makes such a passionate and moving case for Jesus’s brand of morality.
A good review.
Thanks 👍
@@ProfessorViral You derseved it. I wish you sucess.
It's very telling that you're reviewing the OG Trigun, and not even mentioning the new Trigun that simply missed completely what Trigun is all about.
I always saw the last Episode of Trigun as arguably the most monumental for Vash and Ironically I'd argue more or less the final few episodes validate your criticisms on the series because it ultimately agrees with your kindness all the time ultimately can't work.
Vash is broken by Legatos Ultimatum and he felt he broke a promise to Rem the only thing left he had connected left to her. It wasn't until Meyral reminds him of Rem he regains hope but he is different now.
I think at this point Vash is determined to Stop Knives by any means even if it does mean killing him Vash for once in his life is making this choice for himself not for the memory of Rem.
Ultimately at the Vash Decision to Spare knives and try to rehabilitate him is done not out of a broken philosophy but it's done by Vash's own choice volition.
From this point on Vash makes the choice of his own views of kindness and what's right and wrong. And while ultimately he does offer kindness to someone who doesn't deserve it. He accepts that there is cutlery in the world and he is no longer going to feel the guilt of not always being there to save someone.
Vash is willing to accept that he may need to take a life if he needs to.
That's just how I viewed the final episode of him leaving his coat and him talking to Rem in his head.
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.)
His death destroyed me
Is Walter from spies in disguise we get along so similar philosophies if a non-lethal technology developed I think bash would be very interested
The Trigun anime is a bit nieve, but I think the manga is way less nieve, you should check it out.
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.
Cam you please tell me what is the name of the music background?
I feel like you've hit upon a timeless question related to give and take; I'm not going to disagree with what you've come to, but I would like to say that it's up to first principles. Some people want, or desire morally to give up their freedom to take on the atonement of others; like Vash and his Brother's relationship. That is wildly unfair, but it's a choice Vash made freely. Furthermore though his brother might be rehabilitatable, I feel like it should be pointed out that his freedom was taken from him by Vash, though it was a 'kindness' to let him live the rehabilitation in question involves being a paraplegic, that is a form of violence, an exercise in power, I think the perfect middle ground for someone like Vash.
I always saw it as less of victims must be responsible, and more of victims are the only ones who understand what it means to be a victim which means they are technically best equipped in making decisions that may or may not continue the cycle of violence (those decisions that create victims). I always thought the end was an example of coming to grips with your power again after becoming a victim, understanding the relationship between your power, violence committed against you, the violence you can commit onto other, and striving for the 'Virtue ethic' of a third way that doesn't involve creating victims of violence, or being a victim anymore.
*in this case you bind your psychopathic brother to a wheel chair and serve him tea while discussing philosophy ((this is what I always imagined happened after the anime was over))
32:22 it's also impossible to bear the sins of someone else, no matter how much we want to.
We can ascribe the belief that we are "doing that" and others are free to also believe...but even on a micro-cosmic scale, there will always be a small degree of Separation.
What is the song at the beginning of the video? Can someone pls tell me since its not in the description
If you find it let me know y goes so well with the video
@@Whattheheckdude02 not 100% sure its it but Trigun OST - Rakuen (Paradise)
Found it! The Name of the Song is: "The Woods" from Silent Partner. It's from the RUclips Audio Library :)
@@bbenji478 ohhh damn thank u
Vash could only do it like this because he had the Power to.
Exactly, thats my issue with the message if we take it just as "kindness always." Only he could live that
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.
Bro I thought this was a philosophical analysis of the human condition but it's about Vash The Stampede.😂
It's both.
What’s the background music?
Found it! The Name of the Song is: "The Woods" from Silent Partner. It's from the RUclips Audio Library :)
@@bbenji478 thanks sm!
You certainly have an interesting take on the morals of trigun but I have to disagree with you at the end.
It certainly is our duty to suffer now so that the future will be better. And it will always be better, thanks to the indomitable human spirit.
That's not to say that suffering in and of itself is the reason to seek tomorrow but that in our suffering, as necessary, we will naturally give way to a better future.
Someone who suffers when it is not necessary suffers more than is necessary. As you have stated in your analysis forgiveness is not owed, and it never will be; however, without someone to break the cycle, it will never end.
Yes there is a price to forgiveness, but that price will only go up, the longer you refuse to do so.
It's up to the individual to decide when and where they should choose to forgive and it won't always be the correct choice. Without our ability to choose we are just machines, doing what we are programmed to do.
A compare and contrast with Vinland saga would be great with Trigun. I love Trigun but also saw the same issue. Vash has an ideal, a beautiful one, but one that is costly to it's practitioner. But while Wolfwood is just a man, a very talented man, but a man unlike Vash who is a near demigod...I don't see Vash's ideal of self sacrifice could ever be accomplished by regular people.
If life is pain anyway regardless if doing good or evil, why not just do good?