(Yes, I grew up with only 12 channels of garbage to watch. They considered cable to be a "luxury" and not worth the extra monthly expense. Call me a deprived child; but really you have no idea.)
When I was about sixteen, I decided to put all my loose leaf sketches on scrap paper into a 3-ring binder, and label it "Anime Drawings." I still have this book, and the last time I added anything to it was August 2002.
Here is one of the last drawings I did but never showed anyone, dated sometime in late 2001: (click to enlarge)
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| This was done in response to the endless debates I heard in the cafeteria, study halls and after-school art club about what was cooler, Dragonball Z (or Shonen Jump fighting anime in general) or the Gundam style (giant mecha-robots in space). So I drew the two opponents having a face-off. This is also the only drawing I ever tried to do in the "Chibi" style, which means dwarf-sized characters with exaggerated and caricature like features. Not everybody gets the joke behind this image, but I find it pretty funny. |
Well, apparently I do. I honestly forgot how much fun it is to draw this stuff.
I plan to make another picture expressing his more serious side. This is the silly one.
Vash is my all-around favorite male protagonist from an anime show, and he reminds me of myself in so many ways, but I'll list10 of them:
1. He has spiky hair and glasses, and looks somehow cool and dorky at the same time.
2. He is some sort of freak, an alien, or some genetically engineered experiment run amok (how I feel sometimes)
3. He has a very sad, dark and scary past he doesn't like to remember.
4. He has scars from injuries all over his body, some of them medical but most of them accidental.
5. He is a goofy comic-relief sort of character, but can be serious when he has to be.
6. His emotions really come forth when he's hurt or upset, but in general he's much stronger than anyone gives him credit for.
7. He doesn't try to make friends. But rather it just sort of "happens" when people accidentally get thrown into the same situation with him.
8. He always seems to screw everything up, but he isn't actually clumsy. He just has bad luck.
9. He is truly loved by his friends and thoroughly hated by his enemies.
and last but not least...
10. He really sucks at talking to women, and has pleasant manners but really bad social skills.
BRIEF CHARACTER BIO:
Vash tries to keep his true identity a secret. We never do learn what his true name is, and his only response in one episode is a long and rambling one along the lines of "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt." I have trouble remembering this name he gives to someone, but I think it goes like Valentinez Alkalinela Xifax Sicida Boheretz Gambicobella Blue Stradivari Talentrent-Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovichi Baldeus-George Deutzelkaiser the Third...or something. Obviously, these are all fictional and meaningless titles.
He has been given the fearsome nicknames "Vash The Stampede" and "The Humanoid Typhoon" by others because everywhere he goes, incredible chaos and destruction follows in his wake. He once completely destroyed an entire town and doesn't even remember the incident, which resulted a sixteen billion (16,000,000,000) double dollar price being put on his head. So now all the toughest assassins in the galaxy are after this poor guy and he has no idea how he became regarded as so dangerous.
He is treated as a fugitive everywhere he goes and is constantly on the run from gunslingers, crime bosses and the local law enforcement; respected and feared by his enemies. Civilians are afraid to be seen around him because of the reputation he brings wherever he goes. An entire planet considers him the most dangerous man alive, but he really is not the brutal and remorseless killer that most imagine him to be. In fact he's a pacifist and doesn't like to hurt people. He's really a big softie on the inside, and has a goofy and silly demeanor like that of a child. His life is constantly being threatened by people who step up to challenge him, and he has managed to develop his skills to the point of disabling and incapacitating his opponents without killing them, or in some cases even injuring them. Most of the hit men, bounty hunters and thugs who come after him end up "crawling away in defeat with multiple injuries, usually self-inflicted, or staggering away in disbelief that such a dork could possibly be the man they are looking for!"
Trigun is a great series, and it mixes serious action and combat with the quirky, offbeat humor that has since become a trademark in modern shows. Unlike some which seem dated by today's standards, this one really has stood the test of time and remained a classic.
