Trigun Stampede

I watched all 3 currently released episodes of Trigun Stampede today and I'm disappointed to say the least. I know this is gonna be another "The original was better!!!!!1!" rants, but...I feel like they butchered the main girls...er...girl. Milly seems to be missing from the series thus far, which is a huge let down, honestly. Meryl is still one of the main characters, but she's watered down, her boisterous personality replaced with the "wide eyed inexperienced rookie" trope to better suit her new partner named Roberto, who is the "I've seen so much shit I'm not even surprised anymore, just drunk 24/7" trope of a personality. I desperately WANT to like him, but so far he doesn't really add anything to the series. I hope that changes in the future. 

Meryl no longer works in insurance claims, instead she is now a reporter chasing that big scoop with her partner, Roberto, who repeatedly refers to her as "Rookie" throughout the series (how will we know otherwise?). The two stumble across Vash all tied up by happenstance, lie to military police to hide him, hoping for an exclusive interview to put them at the top, and of course events ensue around his presence, dragging Meryl and Roberto along with it. We're also introduced to Millions Knives- Vash's brother's totally original character name do not steal, who's design reminded me of Doctor Octopus, but the tentacles are made of, you guessed it- millions of knives. He's was an insane child who killed an entire spacestation that the pair were living on, and is now an insane adult who's on a mission to steal what little plant life is left on Earth, which are a power source for surviving townships on the now-desert planet. We're treated to a few bloody scenes of Knives killing off some short-term characters and completely destroying a town before he disappears and Vash follows suit. 

Overall, my best opinion is "it's ok." In these first 3 episodes there's nothing particular that really stood out. The pacing is odd and feels too fast, but by the 3rd it seems ok. The animation is computer generated and looks almost slightly cell-shaded? I'm no expert, but it looks off somehow, and I found the character's movements to be jerky at times. The anime is sporting new music, which isn't bad, but I still miss the classic Carrot and Stick of the old OST. I feel this was a fairly good modern take on the show, but it feels forgettable. I hope to see more episodes with character development in the future.