Himura and Vash

[Legato]

The first thing I thought when I started watching Rurouni Kenshin was that there is some kind of similarity between Vash from Trigun and Himura. They both live with an oath not to kill and have done some atrocious things in their past that they regret, they both have a joyful personality but can change to a very serious one when required, they also both are wanderers (well Himura eventually settles with Kaoru but stays a wandered in a way). On the other side they are far from being identical, of course the context of the anime makes a great difference and they have some differences in their personality as well.
What do you think? I'm not saying that Trigun was inspired by Kenshin although it might be the case a little bit but to me they are two characters worth comparing. If you disagree or have something to hdd, I'd appreciate some feedback and by the way which one do you prefer, if any, and why?

 

[Onmyoji]

Well, before I say what I think, let the record show that I think Trigun sucks and Kenshin is wonderful. That's just my opinion.

I think that Kenshin and Vash are definitely worth comparing. They are very very similar in many ways. The problem is that Vash actually ends up giving in and killing Legato (which doesn't seem to have any effect on his character... -.-) and Kenshin maintains his ways of defeating, yet not killing his enemies.

The big comparison between the two isn't between Kenshin and Vash though. I believe it's between the animated series themselves. Kenshin is ninety-five (or so) episodes with six brilliant OVAs that start and finish the story. Trigun is a flat 26 episodes. Both seek similar enough goals. My personal beef with Trigun is that the first six or so episodes were great, and then Vash has to deal with the 13 or so Gung-Ho Guns, usually defeating more than one in each episode, which ammounts to WAY TOO MUCH TIME WITHOUT PLOT ADVANCEMENT.

Now, I'm not saying Kenshin handles plot advancement any better outside of the OVAs, but at least the Kenshin series has a lot more room to deal with some seventy people that Kenshin has to defeat. It doesn't pit him against enemy after enemy to the point of nausea before resuming with the plot. I mean, I know there were times in Kenshin where it seemed like the enemies wouldn't end (like when they were infiltrating Shishio's headquarters), but it wasn't 13 or so people, one after the other. Also, Kenshin had to take time out for training with Hiko, and some other odd things like that (aka plot advancement).

Yeah - sorry about the added rant, but that's my opinion.


- Yoshiaki Abe

 

[noodle]

side note: there is a manga continuation of trigun called trigun maximum or something like that, supposedly it was to be animated, but i haven't heard anything recently.

with vash, i always felt that his mentality was that there was always another way to solve something (a way without killing).

i think kenshin's mentality was simply to protect in order to atone. his point was more to not kill for his own sake. whereas vash felt responsibility to all people because of what he was, and because of knives.

 

[Legato]

You have a valid point Onmyoji but about Vash killing Legato, Himura wasn't far from doing the same thing whenever he switched back to the battousai and also against Chou where if the holy sword hadn't been a reverse sword he would have died in a situation very similar to the death of Legato (for the sake of the hostage(s)). But regarding the lenght it's true that Trigun can't offer the same development and the manga is even shorter but that's a problem with many animes which are 26 or even 13 episodes long, still Rurouni Kenshin has this quality that can be very hard to match.

 

[Glenn]

You have a valid point Onmyoji but about Vash killing Legato, Himura wasn't far from doing the same thing whenever he switched back to the battousai and also against Chou where if the holy sword hadn't been a reverse sword he would have died in a situation very similar to the death of Legato (for the sake of the hostage(s)).

You're right. I was thinking the same thing, except that I was thinking about when Kenshin was fighting Jin'ei in episode 7 (I think). If it hadn't been for Kaoru breaking the shin no ippou (I believe that was what it was called), Kenshin would have killed Jin'ei as well. The only reason that Vash had to kill Legato was because everyone else, whom he cared for, would have died instead. The point about it not affecting his character is a good one, though. I never thought about that. I wonder what happened there?

On the point of the OVA's, the Reflection OVA's were (not just in my opinion) crap. The though of Kenshin just leaving Kaoru over and over again to go on little "missions" is just not in keeping with his character. Also, the manga ended with Kenshin and Kaoru living happily ever after. The last two OVA's were just made to make more money off of the series, like Dragonball GT.

[Edit]I just found the thread that I wanted to quote. Check out this post by noyhauser.

 

[Legato]

I'll add something about the difference in lenght. I'm watching Trigun once more, and I'm up to episode 18 you say that after six episodes the fight against the Gung-Ho Guns starts, well the first fight is in episode 12 I believe and after that there is a recapitulation whith a hint about Merryl's feelings and then 2 or 3 episodes where Vash defeats 3 of the GHG. After that there is the all explanation about Vash and Knives' past and connection and also how Humans ended on that planet, so if this is not good enough as a plot advancement it can at least be called a plot explanation which Rurouni Kenshin spends plenty of time on as well. Episode 18 as nothing to do with the GHG just a passage about Vash and his struggle with his moral. I don't remember what happens next but there is the explanation about Wolfwood's past and things like that, So I agree that RK spends more time on these things with, for exemple, a complete episode about soujiro and in that respect it's better than Trigun but still the two of them are equally good because while Trigun lacks the development of RK, on the other hand it doesn't spends so much time on things that are not critical to the plot advancement. So in the end Trigun and RK are just as good and that's why I like to find similarities, and in that respect I've just noticed that Legato reminded me (in some ways) Soujiro. Legato says about Vash: He has something that irritates me (his will not to kill) and the same goes about Soujiro, the comparison doesn't go much farther but since they are among my favorite characters I guess I try to find some similarities

 

[Duo]

I think that that Kenshin and Vash are fairly similar, is a fair comparison. My fave anime though is RK, also the OVA, although the last OVa and the Series do have some flaws, they are still overall very good. On another note, both Kenshin and Vash are in a way convinced not to kill because of a woman, Tomoe and Rem. The point where Legato dies is really sad. I think it's the sadest part of the whole anime. What I like about these characters is how pure they are and how that interacts with the rest of the environment in the anime. Ex, how Vash is wanted by everyone, though he still fights for humanity. I dunno why, but for me RK is still the best anime, it just has something special, perhaps the character development is just so good, it appeals more. Both Trigun and RK though seem to give off a similar optimistic message. THumbs up to both.