LOST JULY

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"LOST JULY" is the sixth episode of Trigun (1998 anime).

LOST JULY
Series	Trigun (1998 anime)
Japanese Name	LOST JULY
English Name
English Name (Pioneer)
English Name (Funimation)	Lost July
Season
Episode No.	6
Original Airdate	May 5, 1998
US Airdate	April 8, 2003
Writer
Director
Previous Episode	HARD PUNCHER
Next Episode	B. D. N.

Synopsis

The episode opens with a man who has just finished putting up a "Wanted" poster for the Nebraska Family being told to take it back down. He's astonished when he is told that the entire city of Inepril are the ones who caught them, and only five hours after the warrant was issued, too. He wonders if the town is full of macho types.

The "Wanted" poster peels away to reveal Vash the Stampede happily eating a sandwich while the townsfolk ask him if he's sure he wants to pass on the reward for the Nebraska Family's capture, which is $$700,000. It turns out that Vash has chosen to give the reward money to the town despite the fact that they all tried to kill or capture him in the previous episode. He claims that money like that would only hinder him as a drifter, and that at least this way he can have all the sandwiches he wants. Milly says she's kind of jealous, while Meryl huffs and says he could've just bought all the sandwich factories with that kind of money. She then turns to Vash's table, asking if the conversation is over and reminding the other men that Vash is an infamous outlaw before lamenting the fact that Vash really is the affable dork from the previous five episodes.

Meryl and Milly escort Vash through the town, with Meryl announcing his presence while being annoyed the entire time. The townspeople are thrilled to see him, though, and greet him enthusiastically. This only seems to annoy Meryl more, while Vash asks how long the insurance girls plan to follow him. Milly informs him that they always have to follow him as long as he's generating damage that needs to be mitigated. He does not like that answer. Meryl rounds on him and demands to know what he has to be upset about, considering how much money his "crap" has cost the insurance company.

Just then, a child's voice rings out and suction cup darts sail through the air. Vash artfully uses the insurance girls to shield himself as he's confronted by some of the town's children, who were playing a game with him. He has a laugh at the girls' expense, which makes Meryl finally snap and draw her guns. Milly rushes to calm her down as a rumbling fills the town - a sand steamer has arrived. The townspeople holler for joy and head for the docks. Astonished, Meryl notes that the steamer is a Humpback-class while Milly states that it's the largest steamer she's ever seen. It is then that they realize Vash has managed to slip away. They wonder what they should do next as the town's business with the steamer commences.

Elsewhere on the docks, a kid moves from place to place looking for work while the town leaders stand on the dock with a "Welcome" sign watching passengers disembark. They are waiting for the plant technician sent by the Kantacle Technical Industrial Union, who is supposed to be onboard. It is not long before they see a gorgeous woman in a purple hat and dress emerge. Everyone is gobsmacked - one man even wrecks his car due to being focused on her instead of the road. She walks up to the town officials and presumably greets them.

That evening, Vash stands on a platform that is part of the scaffolding overlooking the bulb housing the town's plant. He pours out a bottle of Wild Turkey in its honor. Just then, the woman from earlier appears. She recites Vash's dossier before fully entering the room. When Vash sees her, he becomes infatuated and proposes marriage. She asks if he wants to know anything about her first before handing him her card and introducing herself as Elizabeth, the Chief Engineer of the Marius-Bresken-Kantacle Industrial Technical Union Work Dispatch Team. She then asks Vash if he knows anything about Plants, and tells him that they are "systems which can achieve production beyond all theoretical law." She says that they are what allow people to survive on their inhospitable desert world, and that she is there to fix Inepril's plant so that its residents don't have to give up hope. Vash asks if he can marry her afterward. She talks him into becoming her bodyguard.

Night has fallen, and Meryl and Milly are still looking for Vash among the people on the docks. A random guy stops and tries to hit on Meryl, who shuts him down. Just then, Vash appears. Meryl starts to chide him before noticing Elizabeth and asking who she is. Elizabeth tells Meryl that Vash is her bodyguard while she fixes the plant, and then calls to him like a dog. Meryl is disgusted to see him obey. Some time later, Vash has escorted Elizabeth to a local inn, where she tells him that they are sleeping in separate rooms (much to his dismay). He steps into his room only to be confronted by a mysterious assassin, causing him to quip that he doesn't like sleeping with men - especially ugly ones. Vash asks the assassin to leave, and to his surprise the assassin obeys. Unfortunately, it's because he's left a grenade behind in his stead. The grenade blows out Vash's whole room, leaving him on his bed on the pavement. He appeals to Elizabeth to let him sleep in her room, but is unsuccessful.

The next day, Meryl and Milly talk to the hotel owner and find out who was sleeping in the ruined room. At the plant facility, Elizabeth speculates that someone must be trying to kill her because of her knowledge on how to use Lost Technology. She says that usually she has an escort when she does field work, but not this time. Just then, Meryl comes marching into the control room. She gives Vash an earful while Milly pretends to cry, and then tells him that he's not even supposed to be in there. Elizabeth objects, saying she needs him there. Meryl starts to counter-argue when a technician yells to Elizabeth that there's a malfunction occurring. They try to shut down the main control, but it doesn't work. Milly suggests to Meryl that they leave and take shelter while Elizabeth grabs Vash and heads down to the access door for Section 3.They both step in, only to be confronted by the assassin from earlier. Vash hustles Elizabeth out of the room before fighting with him. He manages to get the assassin anchored to the floor with his own blades before removing his mask and teasing that he's "actually kinda cute".

With the assassin seemingly defeated, Elizabeth reveals her true motives by locking Vash in the room and telling him she wants him dead for what he did to the city of July on Stardate 0104. July was her hometown, and although no one was killed, all the city's infrastructure was obliterated. The survivors devolved into anarchy, and Elizabeth lost her parents in the aftermath. She tells Vash that she is going to avenge her parents by killing him. Elizabeth leaves as the plant begins to overload. Upstairs in the control room, she orders an evacuation. Meryl asks where Vash is, and is told he stayed behind. She starts to go after him, but is stopped by Milly. Back in Section 3, the plant opens up, causing the assassin to curse Elizabeth for leaving him there. Vash stands beneath the bulb, closing his eyes and raising his hands to it. The assassin, watching all of this with a mixture of awe and terror, wonders aloud what Vash is.

Outside, the townspeople watch from the sidelines as the plant threatens to explode. The town's leaders lament their rotten luck, and some of the townspeople begin to leave for safety's sake. Milly starts to get Meryl to leave, but Meryl notices that the plant is beginning to calm down. Elizabeth is surprised as well. A door opens at the base of the plant building to reveal Vash, alive and intact. The townspeople cheer for joy, as he has saved them yet again. Meryl begins to step forward to approach him, but backs off when she sees Elizabeth get there first. Vash apologizes for not dying, and says he couldn't allow the city to be destroyed. This makes Elizabeth livid and she pulls out a gun. Vash gently points out that if she let the plant blow up the city, then she'd be no better than him. Vash then reveals that he has no memory of blowing up July - the first and last things he remembers seeing of it were the piles of rubble. Elizabeth still wants vengeance, but Vash embraces her. She then realizes a horrifying truth: the man embracing her now was the same one who comforted her in the rubble of July as a child. She cannot accept this and completely falls apart. Vash lowers her to the ground and lets her cry.

Characters

In order of appearance:

• Vash the Stampede
• Meryl Stryfe
• Milly Thompson
• Henry
• Chairman
• Grams
• Tonis
• Sandie
• Kaite Trevisick
• Sodom
• Kesskass
• Elizabeth
• Kuroneko-sama
• Tonis' Mother
• Monica

Manga

While the majority of this episode's story is original to the anime, several scenes are adapted from Trigun's prologue chapter, "HIGH NOON AT JULY", and the chapter "BANG!BANG!", with the following major differences:

• Vash's conversation about the Nebraska Family's bounty money is with the chairman and Henry while Meryl and Milly sit at the nearby counter, listening in. In the manga, the chairman and Henry not present in this scene. Instead, Vash has the conversation with Meryl and Milly.
• Milly does not sneak a tracking device in Vash's food as she does in the manga.
  • However, this scene was adapted later on in the anime, occurring in episode 20 when Milly reveals she slipped a tracking device into Vash's food at the inn after he disappears.

Super Sonic Sodom shares his name with a character from the side story chapter "DAY IN DAY OUT".

Elizabeth would later make a brief cameo appearance in the Trigun Maximum chapter "THE END OF THE JOURNEY AND THE ECHOES OF BREATHING".

Gallery

See subpage Gallery

Notes

Trivia

• The Monthly Satellite Times headline for this episode reads "INEPRILCITY Avoids The Crisis"

• The design of the liquor bottle Vash pours appears to be based on the real-world brand Austin Nichols Wild Turkey.

Errors

Dub

• In the English dub, Elizabeth incorrectly says that July was destroyed at 2:06 PM instead of 2:06 AM. 2:06 AM would be the correct time to line up with the time of "1:06 PM. Third City July, 11 hours after destruction" stated in the prologue chapter.

Animation

The wanted poster for "Nabraska Gofsef".

Vash with 2 earrings.

• The wanted poster for the Nebraska Family misspells Gofsef's name as "Nabraska Gofsef". Interestingly, Professor Nebraska's name, printed directly next to it, is spelled correctly.
• Sodom's bottom lip is colored inconsistently.

• Vash is mistakenly drawn with earrings in both ears when pouring out the bottle of liquor for the Plant.
  • Additionally, his mole is drawn on the opposite side. This may not be an error, necessarily, as this scene may be meant to be his reflection on the Plant bulb.
• The design and text on the liquor bottle Vash pours for the Plant changes throughout the scene.

Credits

See subpage Credits