Guest Author - The Futile Existence

In the second episode of Trigun, Vash falls for a lovely blonde, and learns a lesson about the true meaning of beauty. With the main characters now established, the show has the freedom to get into its more funny moments and give its characters some brilliant lines.

Vash has taken a job at a local water-horder's mansion. The owner, Mr. Cliff, doesn't actually believe Vash is the real gunslinger, but is using the reputation of the name to drive away his enemies. In the house is the object of Vash's desire, a beautiful blonde woman named MaryAnne.

Along come Meryl and Milly, who stagger into town, dying of thirst. They see the black cat being led on a leash by a backpacking father, who is leaving town! Reaching the mansion, Meryl loudly denounces Vash and the pair sign up to guard the house in order to catch the "real" Vash. This leads to some hilarious scenes with the gullible Vash swooning over MaryAnne, the loud Meryl harassing him and Milly sweetly playing the foil to the jokes.

One of the best lines is when Meryl starts to become suspicous of MaryAnne's sweetness. Vash valiantly defends her, and when Meryl asks why, little stars appear around his head while he says "from the moment I saw her, from the look in her eyes, Miss MaryAnne has a beautiful heart." This bizarre love-the-body-ignore-the-mind sentiment would be standard in many anime - but here it's laughed at while Meryl points out that what MaryAnne is LIKE has nothing to do with her LOOKS.

They find a secret entrance to the underwater reservoirs, where Mr. Cliff is thrasing MaryAnne, who turns out to be a marshall out to get evidence of the water theft. And with Matrix-like skill, Vash dodges all the bullets as he runs and saves the day. Now the town floods with water, and all seems well.

Unfortunately for Vash, MaryAnne's Marshall sensibilities stands between then. MaryAnne points out that, if she discovered he really was Vash, she'd have to arrest him. Vash smiles and says nothing. As Vash walks off into the sunset, MaryAnne looks after him and says "There goes for the bodyguard with no name. I could really fall for that guy. He's a real man." To which Meryl throws a tantrum :)

Kuroneko-sama Sighting
He's being dragged along as a pet on a leash by the backpacking father.



Vash the Stampede Information

Buy Vash the Stampede - Set 1