Trigun Vol. 1 - The $60,000,000,000 Man
Japanese anime--animated movies--have a reputation for being  ultraviolent and ultracool. And there's a lot of cool to be found inTrigun:  The $$60,000,000,000 Man(those two dollar signs aren't a typo--money, in theTrigunworld, is counted in double dollars). If you liked the way Nicolas Cage's coat flapped in the wind inFace/Off, you'll get plenty of that as Vash the Stampede, notorious ace gunman, walks through the desert landscape of an alien planet with two suns. Vash is so feared and famous that there's a $$60 billion price on his head. He's destroyed entire cities, yet no one has ever been killed in his rampages--though rumors paint him as a ruthless murderer. However, in truth, Vash is a goofy buffoon who can step out of the way of bullets (which may have inspiredThe Matrix) but who never actually shoots anyone--in fact, on several occasions, he pointedly chooses not to. The whole sensibility ofTrigunis surprisingly innocent; it's like a wildly hip Saturday morning cartoon. There's a fair amount of over-the-top violence, but it's pretty harmless, more silly than extreme. Most of the stories--for this isn't a single movie, but a collection of four episodes from an ongoing series--all have earnest morals, most of which are about peace, equality, and being humane. Besides, how can you not like a cartoon in which two main characters are Meryl Styfe and Milly Thompson, disaster investigators for the Bernardelli Insurance Society? Dubbed in English,Trigunis frivolous and very entertaining.--Bret Fetzer