I have seen a lot of reviews of the show blaming the og fans for not being happy with the reboot. I've first watched Trigun about 10 years ago or so, so I guess you can call me an og fan. But, I really tried to enjoy the show. Honestly, there's nothing better for an og fan than to return to their favorite characters and story. However, I believe that most of the og fans are frustrated with the show because of the quality and not because they wanted a carbon copy of the '98 show.
To be fair to the show, as said countless times before, it's a beautiful show. The new animation style gives a lot of life to the world. It makes action look dynamic. A lot of the scenes look and feel cinematic. They did an amazing job with it.
Another compliment I have is - I actually liked the ideas they added to expand the world and the story. I liked the new characters, I think they contribute a lot to the world building. (I can't say much about it without spoiling the show)
However, I struggled to finish the show. Every couple of episodes I would have to convince myself to continue. And it made me very sad. I do think the creators tried to make an enjoyable show.
However, the show struggles with its storytelling. And here's where comparison comes in. The og show was a great character driven story with memorable characters (sorry for the repetition). Hell, I watched it 10 years ago and the main thing I remember are characters. The reboot looses the sight of characters completely. They forgot that to make us believe in the bonds the characters develop with each other, we need to see them bond. We are not just here for the action or the story progression, we need to see character arcs. Especially, for Vash. He carries the story, his struggle with his morality in a harsh world, with humanity and humility and overcoming constant challenges associated with that is basically what the story is, I think at least. Every single character is so surface level it hurts.
But my main issue with the show, what made me want to rage quit every other episode, is the exposition dumps. Every single episode we have someone explain in a lengthy monologue what the viewer needs to know. And I hate that. Especially because in certain episodes, mainly flashbacks, we get to see things happen and not hear about it. Probably, my favorite episode is the one with the silent movie styled flashback. It does show that the creators were capable of telling a story in a visual medium in a compelling and effective way. And btw, I think it was brilliant. So much of the exposition could have been done through interacting with the world, rather than describing it. And the last few episodes suffer the most with it.
Pacing is another huge issue and is intertwined with my previous point. You can cut so much fat off (much of which are the exposition dumps) and show so much more. I understand that the 12 episode season doesn't present the luxury of the original in terms of time. But, just the fact that we spend the first three episodes in one town is insane. It's slow, it doesn't develop characters much, we don't see much of the world at all. And then all of a sudden we're at a breakneck pace to episode 8 where we come to a sluggish pace again full of exposition dumps. Why?
Also, short one - it lacks humour. I like the darker tones they take with certain elements, but we also need to breathe. Just a touch of lightheartedness would do wonders, I think.
Just for the sake of it, after finishing the reboot I went back and rewatched just the first episode of the original '98 show. And I was bewildered with how effectively the og used the 20 minutes. We get the main premise, a great very distinctive introduction to the main characters, glimpse at the world and the conflict. The first episode of the reboot just left me confused.
I can ramble on and on about my frustrations with the reboot, but I would still watch season 2. It probably doesn't seem like it, from how much I complained about the reboot, but I think it introduced enough of intriguing new ideas I would like to see explored. Plus, there's always a chance for the second season to right a lot of wrongs of the first, so I'm hopeful.
And I would recommend this show if the exposition dumps don't bother you much. I think anything is worth exploring and seeing for yourself whether you like it or not :)
