Trigun Stampede Episode 12 Discussion

Now that I've had some time to let things sink in, I really dislike how this episode re-used some of the dialogue from the manga in a far less effective way that it actually hurts Vash's character.

In the manga, when Knives asks Vash for his answer, Vash answers for both of them. He specifically posits a solution wherein if the humans hunted them both down, both Vash and Knives could lie low, and through time and longevity as Plants, they could start over and make attempts to reach out to humans. Vash posits that this process can be repeated time and again due to their prolonged life as Plants. In the manga, it was the culmination of Vash's maturity as a person, since he actually offers a solution for both himself AND Knives. Knives being the immature one rejects this and basically prefers to keep himself in a bubble.

Stampede reuses this same dialogue exchange but slightly alters it in such a way that it actually hurts Vash's argument. Vash disowns Knives as his brother (saying he doesn't recognize him anymore) and this betrays the entire point of Rem's final gesture in asking Vash to look after Knives during her farewell. With Vash establishing this distance between himself and Knives, he gives his answer only for himself, saying how he'd pick the side of humans over Knives even when they're hunting him down, elaborating that as time goes on, he'd always run back to them and take their side. This reuses key argumentative points from the manga dialogue but it changes some of the context in a way that it turns Vash's mature solution into something far more similar to Stockholm Syndrome. 

Where the manga/98 anime depicts Vash's various adventures in different towns, Stampede almost entirely skips out on Vash's experiences with humans save for his stay in Jeneora Rock. It makes Vash's argument really weak and unsubstantiated compared to the manga where he answers for both himself and Knives due to his many experiences.

It's one of the emblematic things that I really dislike about Stampede: it reuses scenes and elements from the 98 anime and the manga but it alters them in small ways that the dialogue/scene in question become far less effective in execution. When past versions have tackled the same scenes/dialogue far more effectively and maturely, you're basically left with a watered down version of the same story beats.