Books I Read in 2022!

Yup, it's time for another run down of the books I've read this year.  I think I'm doing better at reading, lately, as I've really gotten more into it.  I'm not sure what's changed, but I'm actually looking forward to reading more than I have in the last several years.  In any case, I've got another stack of books to cover, so let's get into it!

Let's Talk About Trigun!

When I wrote my article talking about anime nearly two years ago, I was anticipating that I'd be writing reviews for some shows a few months later.  Obviously that didn't happen, as my current anime watching habits seem to be at a crawl.  However, I got it in my head to give a certain classic another shot (with some rather fortuitous timing, as it turn out), and so here we are: an entire article about Trigun!

I remember first seeing ads for it in anime magazines back in the early 2000s, as it had become something of a big hit for Pioneer, the licensor who had brought it to the US.  Somewhere along the way, I discovered the original manga by Yasuhiro Nightow in my local library, and before long, I had fallen in love with its unique western/sci-fi world, and more importantly, with its lead character: Vash the Stampede.

As humanity began exploring the stars for new worlds to colonize, sabotage on one of the ships causes many of them to crash land on a desert planet.  However, many of the hibernating humans survive the disaster, and begin eking out a barebones existence, largely thanks to a strange technology simply known as Plants, large light-bulb looking things that provide the basics for humanity, like water and food.  After about a century, the planet has become a weird wild west, with all kinds of outlaws wielding submachine guns and automatic rifles.  Between all the violence is Vash the Stampede, a strange gunman with a moral code that won't allow any killing.  And yet, he has a massive $$60 billion bounty on his head.  (Yes, that $$ is not a typo: money here is called double-dollars for some reason).  Despite Vash's pacifism, destruction seems to happen wherever he goes, so two girls from the Bernardelli Insurance Society, Meryl Strife and Milly Thompson, go after him in an effort to prevent him from causing their customers' premiums to go up.

The series essentially starts where the two girls finally catch up with Vash, only to be very confused, as the man in question seems to be something of a fool, and hardly worth the trouble that the massive bounty would seem to indicate.  However, as the girls start to learn about Vash's long and troubled past, they find out that he's a man who has sacrificed much to try and help as many people as he can, only to become haunted by a group of lethal bounty hunters called the Gung-Ho Guns, lead by a sociopathic killer named Knives, who is Vash's only brother.  And both them seem to be more than human.

After having read some of the manga, I was able to rent the anime on the individual DVD volumes from a local Blockbuster (remember those?).  The anime adapts a good chunk of the manga, but the manga hadn't finished by then, so the anime had to clearly come up with some stuff on its own.  As an adaptation, it's a little clunky.  At first, it seems to settle into an episodic flow, with the stakes being placed in the background quite often, and it even has a few anime-exclusive stories.  However, this allows the show to really focus on its themes, which mostly revolve around exploring and testing Vash's moral code.  It takes a while for everything to come together, but when it does, the ending few episodes really do have quite an emotional punch, resulting in a pretty satisfying finale.

The series also benefits from being made by one of the top studios in Japan: Madhouse.  While there are a few scenes where the animation looks a little weak (which is standard from most TV anime), most of it has held up pretty well, despite being over 20 years old.  The soundtrack by Tsuneo Imahori is also amazing, creating a peculiar mix of country blues and ambient electronic music.  Sometimes it's quirky and fun, sometimes it's alien and menacing, and sometimes it's nostalgic and comforting, and they're all used quite well throughout the episodes.  One of my favorite anime soundtracks for sure.

When I first watched the series, I was pretty down on it, as it wasn't quite a faithful adaptation of the manga.  However, when I watched it a second time, I wasn't quite so harsh and found plenty to like.  The characters are decently well-realized and the English dub mostly holds together.  My recent third watch (which inspired this article) confirmed what I already knew, but it's still a fun series and very recommendable.  I do think the pacing is a little all-over-the-place, especially since they make a big deal about the Gung-Ho Guns, and then they disappear for most of the middle stretch of the series, only for many of them to kind of crash in all at once towards the end.

After I had seen the anime the first time, I waiting eagerly for the rest of the manga to come out, and it eventually did.  There were some delays in its production, but it finally came to an end after 17 volumes, with an ending that surpasses the anime's ending in a few ways.  However, both the anime and the manga do a solid job of examining its themes and the focus on Vash's morality.  In all honestly, Vash the Stampede is one of my favorite characters of all time, as his dedication to helping others and using non-lethal methods in a world that shoots-first-and-asks-questions-never really shows the value of his virtue.  I do enjoy some good, unironic heroism, and Vash has that in spades.

The manga ended in 2007, with the US getting the final volume in 2008.  The creator Nightow had moved on to other projects, so it was with some surprise that a full-length movie came out in 2010.  Despite being such a big fan, even buying the movie on Blu-Ray, I hadn't watched it until after this recent re-watch of the anime series.  It's a shame I waited so long as I had blast watching it.

Unsurprisingly, it plays out like a lost episode of the TV series, but with a much bigger budget and more room to flesh out the new characters.  When a criminal named Gasback that Vash had saved 20 years ago suddenly comes back to threaten the town of Macca on a quest of robbery revenge, Vash and his regular companions find themselves in the usual amount of trouble, with Vash doing his best to make sure no one dies.  In the middle of this is a young, beautiful woman named Amelia who has her own history with Gasback getting caught up in the mix as well.  While the story isn't necessarily anything new, and there are a few sections that drag a little, it's told well enough to old the action together.

Right off, Madhouse is back with some incredible animation.  While there are a few bits of 3D work to help handle some of the more inorganic things, even the small characters and details are given plenty of fluid animation work, bringing the setting and stakes to life.  Tsuneo Imahori is back with another great soundtrack that easily drifts through its expected genres, with a great callback to the iconic opening theme of the TV show.  The voice cast of the TV show's English dub returns as well, and with the benefit of nearly 10 years of experience, they make the characters more vibrant than ever.  Overall, it was quite a fun ride full of great moments, all while still retaining the themes of pacifism and redemption that has made the series so unique over the years.

Funnily enough, right in the middle of my rewatch the anime series, a new Trigun anime was announced with the title of Trigun Stampede.  At first, I wasn't sure what to make of it.  The studio, known as Orange, is best known for their unique 3-D anime style.  I admit I've only seen a few trailers, but even based on that, this anime is going to look and feel quite different, and has even tweaked some of the characters and created new ones.  However, the creator Nightow is on board, so this remake will at least have his stamp of approval, despite the changes.  What the story will be isn't really known quite yet, but I know I'm going to be keeping an eye on this.  Trigun Stampede is set to start broadcasting in January 2023, which is just around the corner!

Overall, Trigun is a pretty unique franchise.  Despite being the anime made by a big name studio in Japan, it didn't get much traction until it made its way to American televisions in the 2000s, making it one of the few anime series that's more popular in the US than in its home country.  However, the manga seems to retain something of a cult following over there.  In 2011, in celebration of the anime movie, a compilation manga volume was made that featured fan art and even short manga stories from many big names across the manga industry.  In the US, I believe Trigun is fondly remembered by those of my generation as a solid and entertaining series, even if it did get largely overshadowed by Cowboy Bebop.

Trigun remains one of my favorite franchises, as it does more than what its setting would seem capable of.  What seems like a strange opportunity to blend Western-style storytelling with a science fiction background turns into a kind of morality play that checks to see if doing the right thing is still worth it, despite all the destruction and despair a desert planet would dump on its newfound colonizers.  Of course, these days, the anime community seems to be mainly focused on the latest shows, so a franchise from the 90s tends to be left by the wayside (though this new anime might change that).  However, I still think there are plenty of older fans like me who still have a soft spot for our donut-eating hero and his never-ending quest for love and peace.

Recently Watched - 2022, Part Three!

Yup, I finally got around to enough movies to pull together one final collection of movie reviews.  Perhaps some of these are not the most timely, but I admit I just haven't been watching movies as much as I used to.  There's definitely a pretty bizarre mix of films, this time, but I suppose that's going to happen if I continue to review them as I see them.  In any case, here's the latest batch.

Bullet Train (2022)

I have to admit that 2022 hasn't been a great year for movies.  While I've seen a few decent ones, nothing really blew me away as being a solid experience, until I saw Bullet Train.  This is a very dark comedy kind of action film that proceeds to be quite excellent at both, without bogging down or losing its tone.  Simply a blast from start to finish.

The story starts out with Brad Pitt playing a former assassin named Ladybug who is trying to turn himself around and do more tame jobs.  However, when tasked with picking up a case on a train, things go sideways in a hurry, especially as the train seems populated by all kinds of criminals eager to get their hands on that same case.  From there, the movie essentially jams about six different exploitation films at once, mixing in everything from the Mexicans to the Japanese to the British to the Russians.  At first, it almost feels like it's going to be too dense to really follow, but the comedic tone (and the nature of Ladybug's desire to not get involved despite all that's going on around him) ensures that the pace doesn't slow down or get too caught up in its own worldbuilding.  It also helps that the entire cast is completely game for this brand of nonsense, and they all play it to the hilt, with just enough camp to carry its tongue-in-cheek nature.

The result is a hilarious ride (no pun intended) that pulls no punches.  The action is top-notch and well-choreographed (not surprising with David Leitch in the director's chair), and while the dark humor and comical gore might not be for everyone, it nails the jokes well without wallowing in them.  If you thought the pacing and humor of Deadpool was good, but didn't care for the fourth-wall breaking shenanigans or infantile nature of the hero, then this movie is for you, because I think this outdoes either Deadpool movie, in my opinion.  This is a movie that knows exactly what it wants to be and does so with style.  The best movie of the year, without a doubt.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

Let me first of all say that I am a big Weird Al fan, since my friend Kason got me hooked on them in middle school.  He's always had fun, inventive lyrics, and while he's been rather quiet in the songwriting department, when I heard he was doing a biopic parody based on himself, I was pretty excited.

So it's with some trepidation that I say I found the film to be just okay.  While a good chunk of his humor is in here, there's also a pretty heavy dose of the awkwardness style of humor that I just don't care for.  (For example, I have never enjoyed The Office tv show; it's just too painful for me.)  A lot of it has to do with the film's dedication to matching the beats of the typical musical biography film, starting with parents that don't understand, and accordions being a symbol of hedonism and debauchery (I'm not kidding), making Weird Al this rebellious icon of music stardom.  At first, it gets pretty entertaining, especially when Dr. Demento shows up and the references start rolling in.  But it eventually starts going off the rails, especially when Weird Al starts killing a bunch of mercenaries in order to save his girlfriend Madonna from Pablo Escobar in the jungles of South America (I am not making that up).

Of course, taste in humor is subjective, and most folks may think this style of anxiety-based theatrics is the height of hilarity (Nacho Libre certainly comes to mind), though they may feel they're missing some of the deeper jokes.  There's also a chance that, when I watch this again (because I probably will), I'll find it funnier despite knowing what's coming.  Still, I kinda wish it did more than just the stuff of the 80s (aside from a handful of references and one major song), but there are plenty of easter eggs for fans to pick out.  As for me, it was generally entertaining but otherwise, rather underwhelming.

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)

When I had heard that Kevin Conroy had passed away, I was rather surprised.  Apparently he had been fighting cancer for a while, but I had no idea.  I generally consider him to be the best version of Batman across all mediums, as his voice was perfect for the role.  Not only could he handle the flamboyant playboy Bruce Wayne, but his tone as the Caped Crusader was iconic, and yet, never farcical or overly gritty.  As they continue to make cartoons of the character, his voice is going to loom over any voice actor to takes on the role for the next several generations (though I do think a few have done alright here and there already).

Nevertheless, when I heard the news, I thought I would take the time to watch some of Kevin Conroy's work, and then I remembered that I had gotten Mystery of the Batwoman on Blu-Ray, but had never watched it.  Released at the height of the Justice League cartoon, the movie takes us back to the perpetual noir twilight of Gotham and it's vigilantes.  While the movie generally plays like an extended episode of the 90s Batman cartoons with a much bigger budget, that's certainly not a bad thing, as the show was generally high quality stuff.  Here, we see our caped crusader wrangling with the appearance of a new costumed hero very heavily inspired on his motif, only to have a handful of potential femme fatales enter his life that qualify for the role.  As Batman works his way around the ladies, the Batwoman seems obsessed with stopping the Penguin and Rupert Thorne's plan of selling high-powered weapons to foreign powers, and they even bring in Bane to deal with their multiplying Bat problem.

For fans of the original cartoon, there really aren't many surprises, though there are a few continuity nods here and there.  The story seems to drift from plot point to plot point, and while the mystery is mostly interesting, once it's revealed, the movie basically becomes an action-driven explosion fest.  If there is a problem, it's that the Batwoman character feels kind of shallow, once all the cards are on the table.  She has an interesting gimmick, but I feel like more could have been done with it other than to complicate the story more than necessary. Nevertheless, it's all fairly well done, with the excellent B:TAS cast coming back to fill many of the roles.  While I do think both Mask of the Phantasm and Sub-Zero are probably better, it still serves as decent extension to the DCAU legacy.

Violent Night (2022)

When I first saw the trailer for this, I was expecting some pretty tacky, over-the-top violent nonsense.  Given that David Leitch was involved, I was looking forward to a Christmas-themed John Wick experience.  Unfortunately, what's out in theaters is quite the mess of a movie.

The plot is relatively straight-forward.  The wealthy but dysfunctional Lightstone family is getting together for the holidays, when a group of robbers, led by John Leguizamo, decide to invade their house as caterers in an effort to steal a ton of money from a highly secure vault on Christmas Eve.  Just at that moment, a very disgruntled Santa Claus (played by David Harbour), disenchanted by how much greed has taken over the Christmas season, sees the scared grand-daughter of the Lightstone family still believes in Santa, and then notices how all the bad guys are on his "naughty list," he decides to take matters into his hands and give them their just desserts.

Right off, the action is actually pretty solid, albeit quite gory (though that wasn't a surprise).  You wouldn't think Santa wielding a sledgehammer would go so well together, but this movie makes it work.  However, the problems happen when the movie decides to deviate from the action.  First, we end up spending a little too much time with the Lightstone and their bargain-bin soap opera melodramatics.  There's maybe one neat little twist towards the end, but it doesn't really change things much.  Second, a subplot revolving around whether or not Santa still believes in Christmas drags things down.  Sure, it's cute that he gets inspired by the hopes of a little girl, but it does feel like a low-rent Miracle on 34th Street knockoff.  Even a potential interesting section that teases Santa's past gets cut short.

It's almost as if the creators didn't have enough conviction in their central idea and felt like they had to squeeze in all these other ideas.  Maybe they're meant to be a parody of other Christmas films, but it's all played so straight, it just comes across as cheesy, and not in a good way.  Harbour is definitely having fun, and Leguizamo hams it up pretty well, explaining how Christmas ruined his life.  However, overall, it just ends up being rather unsatisfying.  Maybe rent it for a lark, but otherwise, if the main gimmick didn't sell you, then you can safely pass on it.

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As we're getting to the end of the year, you can expect a few more articles from me.  While I don't think I'll be doing any kind of Top 5 or recap for movies (though Bullet Train really was the best of the year), I do plan on doing my regular recap of books I had read, as well as my Anticipated Films list for next year.  I also have one other article that's close to being done that should come out before the end of the month.  Otherwise, I hope you're all staying safe this holiday season, and if you're nice, then maybe you won't get a violent Kris Kringle showing up at your door!