Gun X Sword



""It is a fairy tale...at the very bottom of the universe.""

On the planet Endless Illusion, a tall, lanky man in a tuxedo walks into a building. He sees a young girl with a gun fighting a group of thugs, up until one takes her down. The man grabs his belt, which turns into a sword as he removes it, and wipes the floor with the thugs one after the other.

And then he faints from hunger.

Thus begins Gun X Sword, a Space Western series produced by Goro Taniguchi (best known for Code Geass and Planetes), that uses a very different definition of the term - more of a Space Spaghetti Western.

The man in the tuxedo is known as Van (just Van, although he has a long list of nicknames). Three years ago, a man with a claw for a right arm killed Van's bride on his wedding day, and ever since Van has hunted him down. His tools for the job are his collapsible sword and a Humongous Mecha, Dann of Thursday, which comes down from space at his bidding.

The girl is Wendy Garret, and her older brother Michael was kidnapped by a gang at the Claw's behest. She promptly attaches herself to Van, much to his dismay, and accompanies him on his hunt for the Claw. She brings along her gun (given to her by Michael), her luggage, and a pink turtle named Kameo.

As it happens, they aren't alone for too long - an information broker named Carmen99 (real name Carul Mendoza, but don't call her that) soon insinuates herself into the group, at first for profit but then because It's Personal. Also latching onto their company is Joshua Lundgren, a mechanical prodigy with little in the way of social graces, whose older brother Ray also seeks to kill the Claw as vengeance for his wife's death.

Nothing is as simple as it seems, though, for The Claw has many allies and a great deal of power. And his plans reach into the very history and purpose of Endless Illusion itself.

While on first glance the series looks like (and is occasionally described as) "Trigun with giant robots", this is a grievous oversimplification. The series takes a few episodes to get started, but is amazingly well-constructed (with almost nothing in the way of Filler), and comes to an excellent conclusion. This is also one of the very, very few shows that the mecha board of 4chan (where a large number of the Humongous Mecha otaku gather) nearly unanimously have little to no complaints about.

Unfortunately for American viewers, the series was brought out by Geneon. While it was entirely released, anime fans had a hard time finding it for awhile. In 2010, FUNimation picked up the rights to the series. Subbed episodes are being released on their video portal, and the series has been re-released as a box set. It is also currently available online via Netflix.

Its name has absolutely nothing to do with shipping a Crack Pairing. Honest.

"Van (to The Claw): You're a dead man You're a dead man You're a dead man YOU'RE DEAD!!!"
 * Absolute Cleavage: Fasalina, though usually her hair covers it.
 * Carmen in her bathing suit also qualifies for this.
 * A-Cup Angst: Wendy. Gets teased about it by Carmen in the Beach Episode.
 * Action Girl: Priscilla and Carmen99, although the later is limited by her lack of an armor.
 * Affably Fucked Up In The Head: Gadved. Fasalina also keeps this up longer than the rest. But none came close with the affableness of The Claw.
 * Affectionate Parody: Van's ever-changing surname is a gentle poke at Vash the Stampede.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: This might explain why Van is such a Chick Magnet. Invoked by Wendy in the Omake Gun X Sword-san, when she observes that "girls are more attracted to bad boys."
 * All Men Are Perverts: Averted with Van, who doesn't even seem to notice when he's surrounded by extremely attractive and scantily clad women. Played straight with Joshua ("But what about the underwear?!").
 * Though averted with Joshua as well on most occasions, as he didn't realize he was doing anything wrong when he went into girls bathrooms to search for Wendy or when he pulled the curtain away from Pricilla while she was showering.
 * Alone with the Psycho:
 * Aloof Big Brother: Ray, oh so very much.
 * A Man Is Not a Virgin: Averted - Van is, and is actually fairly set on maintaining his chastity; the only major characters to get any are on the villain's side... and surprisingly graphically.
 * The announcer at one point even explicitly states the man who did have sex is a "boy" where Van is called a "man".
 * A Mech by Any Other Name: Armors.
 * An Axe to Grind: Diablo of Monday's special weapon is...an axe!
 * Not only that, its sleep mode is a GIANT FREAKEN AXE!.
 * Anti-Hero: Van, of course. Rather difficult to place on the sliding scale, but probably somewhere around a 3.
 * Ray also counts, but is definitely no lower than a level 4.
 * Both of these fellows fit the Byronic Hero archetype pretty well.
 * Attempted Rape: What Zakota seems to have planned for Wendy. Van arrives in time to prevent it. Leads to Falling Into His Arms.
 * Audible Sharpness: Whenever Van takes out his sword, it does a whip-crack "SHNICKT". Somewhat justified since it's normally pliable enough to be used as a belt and needs a charge run through it in order to become a functional weapon.
 * Ax Crazy: Van is a heroic version of this on a few occasions. For instance:

"Wendy: VAN! Van: What's wrong with you? Why do you keep getting caught?"
 * Badass: Van, natch.
 * Badass Cape: Ray's Armour (Vulcan) has one, in the 'shredded wraith-like' variety. See also Caped Mecha below for its functionality.
 * Badass Crew: The good guys and bad guys form one of each, though the good guy team takes a little longer to form.
 * Badass Longcoat: A swallowtail tuxedo, specifically.
 * Badass Spaniard: The El Dora V old guys.
 * Beach Episode: Episode 17, Follow the X-Spot, the women-only island Bokini/Misoughi where the only clothing worn is amazingly stretchy bathing suits.
 * Bedmate Reveal: Played with. Although the scene in question clearly invokes the image of a "morning after" scene --with Van waking up apparently alone, then shown to be sleeping next to Wendy-- it's subverted because they are in separate-but-adjacent beds, and it's clear that nothing sexual happened. The suggestiveness continues, though, because Van's waking up is followed up by a non-sexual version of.
 * The Berserker: Carossa, who easily surpasses Shinn Asuka in anger and stupidity.
 * And who is infinitely more justified, because he's a small child.
 * Berserk Button: Be careful about mentioning the Claw within earshot of Van.
 * Never mistreat women in front of Van, otherwise he will take time out to wreck your plans.
 * BFG: Let's just say the Vulcan packs some very heavy artillery...
 * BFS: Some of Dann's swords probably qualify, and Dann itself is shaped like a giant version of Van's sword when it comes down from orbit.
 * Or BF*Insert Weapon*. All of the Originals take the shape of a weapon when flying. They also brandish that sort weapon in mecha mode. Their pilots also use that sort of weapon to fight and to interface with the Armor.
 * Big Breasts, Big Deal: Carmen 99 is a case of type four. The 99 in her name is the measurement of her bust, 99 cm.
 * Big Damn Heroes: From orbit.
 * Big Eater: Van, to the point he regularly faints from hunger.
 * Not to mention that he apparently can't eat something unless it's buried under as many different condiments as possible.
 * Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Elena.
 * Book Ends: The end is a lot earlier than usual for a book end, but the first nickname Van goes by in the series is 'Van of the Dawn.' After going through a plethora of other nicknames, he finally settles on Van of the Dawn again at the end of episode 13, and it sticks.
 * The last episode bookends the pilot as well, in several ways. First, there's the fact that both episodes begin with a scene in a church (in one case, it's a flashback.)
 * Breather Episode: Episode 6 is notably lighter in tone than the others leading up to it. Justified in that Wendy deliberately brought Van to that particular town in an attempt to cheer him up, noticing that he had been on edge since meeting Ray.
 * Broken Bird:.
 * Buxom Is Better: Carmen 99 and Fasalina prove this.
 * By the Power of Grayskull: "Wake up, * insert Original Seven name here* "
 * Most other armor pilots also use a short catchphrase to activate their armor -- for instance, Ray's "Sanction's charge -- Vulcan."
 * Cannot Spit It Out: The last few episodes see several declarations of love. However, there's one character who turns down what appears to be the last chance for a confession.
 * Calling Your Attacks: Done to hell and back by the El Dorado team.
 * Caped Mecha: Bolkain/Vulcan has one, although it has a practical usage too: it can neutralise and absorb the lasers of the Original Seven's armour.
 * Caretaker Reversal: In the first Sick Episode, Wendy cares for Van while he suffers a fever. At the end of the episode she collapses, and he (fully-healed by that time) has to carry her back to shelter and put her to bed.
 * Cat Fight: Carmen and Fasalina have a few of these through the series.
 * Chekhov's Boomerang: Pretty much any character, plot element, or anything else you forget makes one more appearance.
 * How about Chekhov's Turtle? Kameo kinda saved Wendy's life at the beginning of the series. He then spends most of the series hanging around Wendy's neck not doing anything, but he intervenes at significant moments (alerting Van to Wendy's poisoning in episode 9, earning money in a casino in episode 15, helping win a race in episode 17), and he saves her life again in the finale.
 * Chick Magnet: Van, so very much. He manages to be engaged to Elena, gain Wendy's admiration enough to make her claim to be his fiancée, attract Carmen to fall in love with him even though he constantly forgets her name, and instantly attracts Pricilla into wanting to follow and marry him.
 * Clean Cut: along with the cockpit he was in is cut in half horizontally (arms included) this way, and there wasn't even any visible blood.
 * Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends:  goes from harboring a crush on   to being paired up with   in the space of a single battle.
 * Close-Call Haircut: Carmen lops off one of Fasalina's prodigious sidelocks with her Killer Yoyo. She then immediately apologizes. Hair is Serious Business?
 * Combining Mecha: The many forms of El Dorado.
 * Can also be done by Sin and Sen.
 * Comforting Comforter: Both Van and Ray reveal a softer side this way.
 * Coming of Age Story: For Wendy.
 * Conveniently an Orphan: Applies to many of the characters, as a surprisingly large number have lost their biological parents, and sometimes their surrogate parents, too. Examples include Wendy, Michael, Pricilla, Yukiko. Turns out that  never had parents to begin with, which explains a lot.
 * Cool Big Sis: Fasalina might be an evil version of this, what with her relationship with Michael. She's also the token Dark Action Girl.
 * Cordon Bleugh Chef: No matter the quality of the original dish, Vann uses all the condiments available on his meals, emptying the containers. The result looks foul, but Vann tends to shout with joy upon eating these abominations of garnishing.
 * Cue the Sun: Because one of the major themes of the series is hope dawning again in spite of the dark night of despair, sun-related symbolism is all over the series from beginning to end, but the best example is probably Van's epiphany in episode 16, when the sunlight hits the cross on his puzzle just as the bells begin to ring.
 * Dance Battler: Priscilla.
 * Fasalina's pole dancing moves count too.
 * Dark Messiah: The Claw.
 * Deadly Hug: The Claw kills a disobedient minion this way. First he cracks some bones with the strength of the hug and then he impales the guy through his back. It's not clear whether this was deliberate or accidental.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Played straight with Bucci from episode 3. Subverted in that this is what
 * Deliberate Injury Gambit: Van is not averse to letting Dann take a few flesh wounds if doing so opens up an opportunity to seize the upper hand.
 * Desert Skull: In the opening scene, Van looks down at an animal skull in the desert and questions why the creature isn't still alive for him to eat.
 * Distant Finale: Which only features . Also a Crowning Moment of Funny.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: Justified. Fasalina was a prostitute before joining with The Claw, so it would make sense that everything she does would reference something. Appropriately, she's equipped with a pole, and she uses that pole as her method of controlling her armor (i.e., poledancing) and as a regular weapon. Lampshaded by Van during his battle with her, stating that he really isn't attracted to her, and he cannot figure out if Fasalina is even serious about their battle. On the other hand, her tactics are able to remove every other enemy's concentration in the heat of battle.
 * Damsel in Distress: Wendy plays this role more than once at the beginning of the series. Lampshaded by Van in episode 2. (Ironically, she needs to be rescued not because she's passive but because she's foolhardy: the Councilman in ep. 2 would have returned her to safety if she hadn't insulted him.)

"Baron: It's Mustache Time!"
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Everything Fasalina says in her fight with Van. Girl's got some crossed wires. Lampshaded by Van.
 * The Dog Was the Mastermind: Who is The Claw?
 * Do Not Call Me "Paul": Wendy constantly calls Carmen by her real name (Carul), even though Carmen doesn't want her to.
 * Does Not Like Shoes: An interesting use to the trope is some of the Armors of the Original Seven are barefooted.
 * Drink Order: A subverted version, as Badass Van typically drinks milk and can't handle alcohol. Similarly, Ray only drinks water; but it's not specified as to whether he's also a teetoler or if he really just wants a clear head.
 * Dulcinea Effect: Van might have a bone to pick with Lucky, but he explicitly states that he's going to defeat him for the sake of Wendy, whom he's only known a day.
 * Dynamic Entry: The El Dora interrupts the Van vs. Fasalina fight. It actually allows her to escape.
 * Dysfunction Junction: The new Original Seven - with the exception of Gadved.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending: Not a happy ending for all the characters, unfortunately.
 * Eleventh-Hour Superpower
 * The El Dorado team see Carlos as this. Even exclaiming that he might give them the boost they need in the eleventh hour.
 * Equal Opportunity Evil: The Original Seven contains two kids, a clinically insane man, a sane pastor with crazy philosophies, a former prostitute, and honestly, what kind of job experience does have?
 * It's justified in the fact that people like Woo and, along with the others, have natural ability when piloting the Original Seven which are not ordinary armours. Van and Gadved
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Woo takes this a bit further...
 * Evil Counterpart: Fasalina to Carmen 99.
 * Also Gadved to Van.
 * Evolving Credits: Before being introduced, characters are hidden by a violet silhouette. Upon death, they become black silhouettes. The second opening animation removes characters who died up to that point.
 * Exactly What I Aimed At: Ray, right before.
 * Eyes of Gold: Carmen and the twins.
 * Fade to White: In the finale, in conjunction with.
 * The Faceless: Shino, Elena.
 * Falling Into His Arms: In episode 4, Wendy faints (either from fear or over-exertion) and Van catches her; significantly, it's after this that he finally learns her name. In episode 14, Pricilla tumbles into his arms. Van catching her is one of the early clues that Pricilla is a potential love interest.
 * Fauxlosophic Narration: The voiceover at the start of every episode is a particularly fatuous example of this.
 * Fancy Dinner: Aboard the zeppelin in episode 15. It plays out like a truly disastrous date, with Wendy smearing her makeup and Van displaying his rough table manners at their worst.
 * Fan Service: The entirety of "Follow The X Spot", which was cleaned up a little for TV; it's not as bad as some, though. Also, Fasalina.....she controls her robot with a pole for chrissake!
 * Technically, it's a tri-section staff. But, given Fasalina's background...
 * Not to mention
 * Fan Service with a Smile: Pricilla and Fasalina both qualify for this.
 * Fastball Special: El Dora Dann! Naturally, made it into Super Robot Wars K.
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: All together now... Fasalina!
 * Fight Magnet: Van, at least at the beginning of the series.
 * First-Name Basis: Because Van can't remember names very well, when he DOES finally use someone's name rather than "Hey, You", it's a significant moment.
 * Five-Man Band: Two. Van's eventual True Companions, and the El Dorado Five.
 * The latter is actually four, but Yukiko fills in for her grandmother's place in spirit.
 * The Hero (Van)
 * The Lancer (Ray, Carmen)
 * The Smart Guy (Joshua)
 * The Big Guy (Any of the Eldora Five, Pricilla)
 * The Chick (Wendy)
 * Foreshadowing
 * Forgets to Eat: Van regularly passes out from hunger because he's so preoccupied with catching the Claw.
 * Fragile Speedster: Priscilla's Brownie.
 * Friend to All Living Things:
 * Gainax Ending: Episode 24 has congratulations written all over it. It does not help that it ends with Ray waking up from a dream.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Pretty much all of Joshua's and Van's dialogue at the end of ep 17.
 * Godiva Hair: Fasalina's hair covers a good part of her cleavage and breasts.
 * Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Subverted - Van's eyes are damned narrow - and played straight - Ray's are narrower still; also, Wendy and Michael are very similar in appearance except that her eyes are a lot wider than his.
 * Gratuitous English: A lot of it. Take a bow, Keiji.
 * Ore wa Van za Naisu-Gai.
 * Gratuitous Spanish:AAAAADIOS! AAAAAAAAAA... MIIIIIIIIIIIIGO!
 * Green-Eyed Monster: Wendy seems to think that Van belongs to her, and is highly jealous when other women show interest in him. Carmen is similarly jealous towards Wendy when they first meet.
 * Growling Gut: Most noticeable in the first episode, just before Van collapses from hunger.
 * Half the Man He Used To Be:
 * Healing Factor: As a result of the symbiotic relationship with an Original Seven armor.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Carlos wakes up exactly twice. He pilots a giant robot more than twice.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: On the part of Melissa, a "villain". It doesn't help.
 * This doubles as a Tear Jerker because
 * And then near the end,
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Ray, to the point that he didn't mind becoming a monster himself.
 * Hey, You: Van rarely remembers names (using "you," "kid" or "that person" instead); when he does address characters by name, he rarely uses honorifics.
 * I Have Many Names: Van, to the point where he has trouble keeping track of them all. But, when he does remember one of them, Van sticks with it until he receives a better one.
 * He even gets one in Super Robot Wars K, courtesy of Dick from Gaiking: Legend of Daikyu Maryu: "Mr. GunSword", which Van sort of likes. The "Gun" that Dick is referring to, by the way, is Wendy's revolver.
 * Impossibly Cool Clothes: Ray, Joshua, Michael, Carmen, Pricilla...
 * Incurable Cough of Death: The Claw.
 * Improvised Weapon: Vulcan, which was originally a mining Armor.
 * Insistent Terminology: "Ms. Mendoza!" "Carmen 99!"
 * Instrumentality: The Claw Man's ultimate objective.
 * In the Name of the Moon: Done by the El Dorado team after the second time Carlos wakes up.
 * Is It Something You Eat?: The crews question to when Joshua when he was trying to explain Space to them.
 * Also Pricilla's question when trying to find out what a "virgin" was.
 * It's Personal: Between Carmen and Fasalina, but also between.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Van.
 * Kiai: Van is a proud user of the yell "CHESTOOOOOO!!!!"
 * Knight Templar: The Claw's Organization. Michael even exclaims he knows that the Claw might be seen as a dictator through his actions but still believe they are justified. Doesn't help that all of the evil seen in the show is always directly linked to his organization in someway.
 * Lady Land: Missoghi (Bokini in the dub) from episode 17. It is a silly place.
 * Laughing Mad: Van gets this for a moment when he finally catches a glimpse of the Claw Man.
 * Leave Your Quest Test: In Episode 7, Van and Wendy end up deserted on an island owned by a wonderful, kindly man who opens his luxurious mansion to them.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Carossa pulled this off.
 * Letting the Air Out of the Band: Happens with Dann's Theme during episode 6.
 * Likes Older Women:, although it's completely understandable given her appearance.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Kind of makes you wonder just what Wendy has in that big trunk she's always lugging around. A dozen exact copies of the same three outfits?
 * Love Confession: There's more than one, but  confession to Van is either priceless comedy or so embarrassing it's painful, given his reaction.
 * Love Epiphany: Wendy's narration at the end of episode 15 suggests that it was not until she was stranded with Van in the abandoned town that she realized that she genuinely loved him. (Unusual in that it comes long after she offered to marry him.) In episode 16, Van has an epiphany of his own about his continued love for Elena.
 * Love Triangle (if not an outright Love Dodecahedron): Develops as the series progresses. Towards the end, it looks like this: Van is still in love with Elena. Wendy and Pricilla  love Van. Joshua has a crush on Wendy. Yukiko seems to be developing feelings for one or both of the Lundgren brothers. The El Dora V aren't in a love triangle, but they seem to carry a torch for Yukiko's grandmother.
 * Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: El Dora Block.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father: It's implied in the series and outright stated in Super Robot Wars K that.
 * Luminescent Blush: Priscilla when the El Dora team suggest that Priscilla survive to marry Van.
 * Macross Missile Massacre: One of Volcain's attacks. Ray uses it at a much closer range than is normal for the trope.
 * Manipulative Bastard:.
 * Meaningful Rename: Carmen 99 has the number in her name because it represents the measurement of her bust, 99cm. Her real name is Carul Mendoza, but don't call her that..
 * Mind Screw: The Claw is the weirdest "villian" you will ever see, and his actions and kills (he does kill over the course of the anime) as described by the characters do not match up with how he's portrayed. Episode 12 is the weirdest Wham! Episode, because . It makes sense in written format, but the anime says completely otherwise.
 * Mook Face Turn: Done by The Claw's minions after they figured what Saudade of Sunday's functions were for.
 * Subverted in that they mistook the Claw for an Omnicidal Maniac and thinking that he wanted to commit genocide, when what he was really planning was Instrumentality.
 * Moral Myopia: The Claw's minions have no problem killing people for their goals, but go on revenge trips when any of their own are killed. They even go so far as to call Van a murderer for killing people who attacked him with no provocation. Not to mention that the only evils we see in the world are caused by these guys...
 * Motion Capture Mecha
 * Ms. Fanservice: Well there's Carmen and her 99 cm bust and her Impossibly Cool Clothes. Fasalina goes into the other territory. Then we have Priscilla, the Dance Battler.
 * My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: Not so much a whole life as the events covered by the series.
 * Nice Hat: Van has one.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Van is about to deliver the killing blow to a stunned Dahlia of Wednesday, when the Eldora Soul comes in, and kicks her out of the way of Van's sword.
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If Michael hadn't destroyed  Cue Michael's Oh Crap moment.
 * No Name Given: It's just "The Claw" or the "Comrade" the entire time.
 * Unless you're Banpresto, in which case his name is revealed, at the very end of the Gun x Sword plotline in his pilot data, to be . It's sort of implied in but it was never made explicit.
 * Woo even announces himself as the son of Kyroo Krying Koo but is easily missed.
 * Oedipus Rex:
 * Omake: "Gun X Sword-san"
 * One Bullet Left: Wendy's gun only has the one.
 * Only One Name: Pretty much the entire Original Seven (except Woo and ), Priscilla, the El Dorado V crew... actually, last names are more the exception rather than the rule in this series.
 * Opening Monologue: The specifics change, but it always refers to Endless Illusion as "at the bottom of the universe."
 * Outlaw Couple: Bunny and Klatt of episode 6. Their life of crime is short-lived and unsuccessful.
 * Penal Colony: The planet Endless Illusion.
 * Piggyback Cute: At the end of episode 16. This moment of potential sentimentality is given a comic turn when Van announces that he doesn't like turtles.
 * The Power of Love: Woo thinks he runs on this. Van, on the other hand, is running on this.
 * In Super Robot Wars K,  This might also double as a small Shout-Out to how Gainer overpowered Planeta's Overskill in Overman King Gainer.
 * Prehensile Hair: Baron Mayer Baron and his merry band of miscreants have some rather disturbing mustaches.
 * In Super Robot Wars K,  This might also double as a small Shout-Out to how Gainer overpowered Planeta's Overskill in Overman King Gainer.
 * Prehensile Hair: Baron Mayer Baron and his merry band of miscreants have some rather disturbing mustaches.

"Van: I'm sorry, but that seat is...wait, we've met somewhere before, haven't we? Wendy: Stop making fun of me."
 * Promotion to Parent: Michael Garret cared for Wendy since their parents' death some years before the series began. It's a little mind boggling if you consider how young he must have been when they died.
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: Inverted with the guys from El Dorado. They be heroes, but they still qualify in spades for this.
 * Quivering Eyes: Wendy, at emotional moments.
 * Ramming Always Works: Justified. Dann is a giant sword in Sleep Mode Size.
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * Rescue Romance: Van rescues Wendy twice in the pilot, although the first rescue, which might also count as Meet Cute, appears to have been unintentional. He continues to rescue her from various perils throughout the first half of the series. She's pretty quickly smitten.
 * Revenge:The motivation of most of the heroes; this is possibly the only anime where this isn't presented in an always-negative light. The treatment of revenge in Gun X Sword is complicated: Ray's pursuit of revenge is depicted as destructive and self-destructive, since he does what he thinks he needs to regardless of the cost. This contrasts Ray with Van, who despite gunning for the same man for the same reason has some standards, such as not ruining properties or killing innocents. It's also worth noting that Joshua remains opposed to vengeance throughout the series, and he.
 * Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: Appears to be played straight with, but the radio drama released after the series ended has   though who knows if that's actually meant to be taken as canon.
 * Rose-Haired Girl: Pricilla.
 * Running Gag: "...and all the condiments you have."; also, Van's ever-rotating nickname.
 * Van breaking his deadpan voice and loudly exclaiming how good/bad said condiment-imbued food was.
 * Second Love: The episode "For Whose Sake?" raises the question of which one of the girls pursuing Van--if any--will be this.
 * Sex as Rite-of-Passage: Invoked by the narrator, who says "When no one was looking, a boy became a man." Interestingly enough, this is averted in a later narration;  (who at the very least had sex once) is referred to as a boy, while Van (still a virgin) is referred to as a man.
 * Shadow Archetype: Ray to Van. While they're both out for revenge, Van will follow certain standards while Ray will do whatever's necessary in order to achieve it.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Wendy, to the point that Van doesn't recognize her without her normal Girlish Pigtails.


 * Shirtless Scene: Van has a few of them.
 * Shower Scene: There's a relatively modest one for Wendy in episode 2. Pricilla gets a more revealing one later in the series.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal:
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Carossa and Melissa.
 * Sick Episode: Two of them, actually. In ep. 4, Wendy tries to care for a fevered Van, demonstrating her ability to cope on her own. In ep.16, Wendy gets soaked with snow and overexerted dragging Van to shelter after he gets curb stomped by Woo. He wakes up just in time to see her fall over from fever. Both episodes contain significant relationship development.
 * Sickeningly Sweethearts: Episode 6 features such a couple that tries to steal Dann of Thursday in order to purchase a five-minute wedding.
 * Slasher Smile: Van when he finally sees the claw. It's truly disturbing.
 * Space Is Noisy: Averted. The space sequences, save for some clips from within a satellite, are soundless.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": How DO you spell the name of Ray's Armor? "Volcain"? "Vulkain"? "Vulcan"? "Bolking?"
 * Spoiler Opening: Sometimes the Evolving Credits don't quite work.
 * Standard Hero Reward: Sort of. There's no kingdom involved, but Wendy offers Van her hand in marriage if he'll save the town of Evergreen.
 * Stockholm Syndrome:
 * Stripperiffic: The women in "Follow the X Spot" and Priscilla's piloting suit. And while Fasalina's clothes cover a good portion of her body... she uses a goddamn pole.
 * Suggestive Collision: In episode 14, Pricilla ends up on top of Van in a very suggestive position.
 * Submarine Pirates: "Thank You Ocean"
 * Super Prototype: Vulcan (Ray's armour) was a prototype of the Original Seven, and has so far survived battles with each one it's come across. At least one aspect of Vulcan's development (The laser weapons) has been put into the Original Seven, allowing Ray to absorb/neutralise all laser weapons fired at him.
 * Super Robot Wars: Appears in K. It even goes as far as
 * Surprisingly Good English: The closing theme was written by a native speaker.
 * Also, most of the English text, on computer screens or otherwise, is grammatically correct.
 * Except for "Execution", where "Execute" would've been expected.
 * Swiss Army Weapon: Subverted with Ray's weapon, which looks like it might be a katana with a pistol built into the hilt, but in fact is never used as anything other than a firearm. Perhaps the "sheath" is actually just a really big magazine?
 * It would explain why there's a second "sheath" in his belt.
 * Symbolic Blood: The blue fluid would be High-Pressure Blood in any other setting.
 * Synchronization: Anyone reconstructed so that they can use an Original Seven mecha has this problem.
 * Talking in Your Sleep: In episode 4: "Elena . . . Elena . . ."
 * Tastes Like Diabetes: The whole love skit with the two teens in Episode 6.
 * Team Mom: Yukiko fulfills this for the El Dora team, and continues when they all make a team with Van, Wendy and Carmen.
 * Teens Are Short: Joshua and Michael seem to be in their mid-to-late teens, but are both depicted as much shorter than the adult men around them, though they ought to be nearing their adult height. This is particularly obvious when Joshua stands next to Ray.
 * That's No Moon: Endless Illusion's 'moon' is actually
 * Theme Music Power-Up: It happens pretty rarely, but if you hear the title theme playing during the show, you know something epic is about to go down.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Why Van and Ray never really get along -- they both consider it their personal right to be the one to kill the Claw Man.
 * Through His Stomach: How Wendy attempts to woo Van. It's not very successful the first time she tries it.
 * Title Drop: The name of Dann's and Volcain's combination attack in Super Robot Wars K.
 * Together in Death:
 * Also
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Van loves his milk. And condiments. All of them.
 * Utopia Justifies the Means: The Claw's reasoning for his Instrumentality plan. Then again, what other reasoning does anyone ever have for such a plan?
 * Villain Episode
 * Villainous Breakdown: Being a member of the Claw's team contractually requires you to have one of these, but the most striking is And it is sweet.
 * Wendy Garret Is About To Shoot You: The opening.
 * Wham! Episode: Episodes 12 and 13.
 * Episode 24, big time.  Just to ratchet up the tension a bit, it averts Trailers Always Spoil, since there isn't one.
 * Where Were You Last Night?? What Wendy wants to know after Van stays out drinking (against his will) with the El Dora V. (At least he didn't end up in jail.)
 * A World Half Full: Wendy, at least, concludes that the Endless Illusion is this.
 * X Meets Y: And no, not just for the title, as fitting a title as it may be; often called "Trigun with giant robots" as noted in the main article.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Carmen 99 has dark blue hair.
 * You Need to Get Laid:
 * You Were Trying Too Hard: Van and the little puzzle. It was only when he faced the idea of giving up that he understood what he'd really lose in the process, and thus could solve it.
 * Zeppelins from Another World: Well, it's the future not an alternate universe, but Van and Wendy ride on one in episode 15.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Priscilla's piloting suit.
 * Zeppelins from Another World: Well, it's the future not an alternate universe, but Van and Wendy ride on one in episode 15.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Priscilla's piloting suit.