Stampede And Maximum Spoilers!

Stampede and Maximum Spoilers!

Look this is kinda a negative (not totally but I wanna be polite and warn! ) look at Stampede and it's handling of the queer content in the source marital, if ur not in the mood for that, block me or scroll past plz 👌don't wanna be a downer for anyone so ye, thought I'd slap this uptop lol

Gonna be real, idk how I feel abt the last ep... Some of my fears are definitely coming true. The big one being that Wolfwood's role in the manga seems to be played by Meryl in Stampede.

The manga is so important to me because it lacks the typical anime/manga hetrosexual tropes.

They put these tropes back in when they made the 98 anime, and it feels like they're putting them back into Stampede.

Wolfwood is the one who saves Vash in the manga, he is Vash's reason to fight. I know Stampede is pretty much an AU of the manga, but they're hitting the major plot points in their own unique way. Not everything is in order, and it's different, which I don't mind.

What I do mind is the fact that they've cut out all the queer parts of Maximum.

From changing Elendira, the cannon trans woman (who wasn't perfect rep, but goddamn it a cannon transwoman who wasnt a joke at that time?! I fucking love her), to a lab grown loli (before you come at me, I know this is a prequel and that she'll age, but that's not the point, because it doesn't negate the fact that she is no longer trans. They could have updated her rep from the manga, but no.) To subbing in Meryl for Wolfwood in narrative moments he occupied in the manga, like saving Vash from Knives.

Narrative moments that would have been occupied by a female love interest in most manga were occupied by Wolfwood in TriMax, and intentional or not, TriMax is queer coded as shit. By switching him with Meryl in Stampede, that is gone.

This is what happens in the manga, in the Stampede Vash is saved by, and saves, Meryl instead. (Also black coat Vash is a reference to Vash from this fight in Maximum. It is the result of him fighting Legato and killing him to preserve Wolfwood's memory, ((he is taking on Wolfwood's color pallet in this fight, the layers in Maximum are insane)):

This isn't a ship post, not really, it's about stripping the queer aspects from TriMax, which are an integral part of TriMax's narrative, a major part what makes the work unique, especially for it's time, and straight-washing it in Stampede (which is taking a lot from Trimax... just not the queer stuff, hum). However, I'll entertain some ship talk.

People have been calling Vashwood the "yaoi flavor of the season" and in all honesty, to me, that's what Stampede Vashwood feels like. I KNOW it's the first season and this could change, but damn it, I feel like I'm allowed to be a little frustrated and worried about the direction they're going.

Vashwood in the manga is a queer relationship supported by COUNTLESS examples in the text, read as romantic or not,(personally, I think it should be read as romantic based on manga framing ((Wolfwood playing the role narratively reserved for the female love interest in most manga)) and textually (("I wanted to spend my tomorrows with him," just one of many examples of Vash's feeling about Wolfwood)) it is undeniable that they are integral to each other in a bone deep way. To the point where the only person as, or more, important as Wolfwood to Vash is Rem, his mother and guiding light.

This is absent in Stampede.

I'm trying not to be uncharitable, but I have a sinking suspicion that Meryl is going to be the one to find Vash after the timeskip, a role given to Wolfwood in TriMax. I wanna be proven wrong tho!

I DO like how Meryl and Wolfwood are getting more interactions in Stampede! They didn't get many in the manga and I love their dynamic. Honestly him grabbing her like a sack of potatoes and booking it outta there was the best part for me lol, I'm glad Milly is coming back too! Vash getting his spikes back also was rad af!!

I feel like I should also say, this isn't a ship hate post or anything. This isn't a Meryl hate post either, I don't kin characters myself but she's as close as they come for me, so I love the little lady. Plus, I've really been enjoying her Stampede design and character development, it's one of the best parts of the show imo!!

It's just the fact that the queer content from the original didn't make it in, while so many other things from TriMax did, that rubs me the wrong way.

I think I'm mostly just frustrated, I'm enjoying Stampede for what it is, but I'm a queer woman, and I can't help but feel cheated out of the faithful Maximum adaptation I've always dreamed of. How come every other manga gets a one for one adaptation, but Maximum, with all it's queer text, doesn't?! I'm frustrated. They always try to make Trigun more appealing, mass marketable, but damnit that's not why I love it. Idk, I just feel sad. With this new adaptation, idk if I'll ever see a faithful Maximum adaptation, which is a depressing thought for me.

Anyway, this became a vent post, sorry. I'm a longtime TriMax shill and I was really (and to be fair, still am to a degree) enjoying Stampede up until these last few eps. In some ways it feels like I'm watching watered down, more marketable Maximum and that just frustrates me.

I'm still holding out hope for season 2 though, I can't help it, even with the things I'm not personally into in Stampedes it's still Trigun, and if I'm not going to bat for Trigun, am I even me?