Episode 15: Demons Eye

Review by Dale

August 13, 2000

Meryl and Milly are enjoying the ride to the city of Jeneorarock in their "car", which is actually Vash. When he complains about having to carry what's left of the car, the agents remind him that he shouldn't destroyed it in the first place. Inside the city, the Rodrick gang enters a bar to relax after a nights' pillage, which includes several girls. They harass the patrons and waiters until Legato, sitting at the bar, catches their eye. None of them saw him enter. One of the girls can't stop staring at Legato and this makes her captor angry, causing him to beat her to the floor. The thug is further angered by Legato's indifference and shoots the tip off his fork. When Legato asks to be brought another, a hail of bullets are fired around him. He tells the gang that he will be taking care of all humans sooner or later, and they should not be in a rush to die. When they don't take him seriously, he makes an example out of one thug by twisting him into a bloody mess on the floor, without even moving a finger. The rest of the gang draw their guns at Legato, but fire on themselves. The ones that are left alive are forced to point their guns at each other. As Legato walks out, they fire simultaneously. Vash and the agents finally arrive and he merrily enters the bar. Upon encountering the bodies, he quickly shuts the door to prevent the agents from noticing. Back at Rodrick's headquarters, Legato confronts an army of gang members who demand to know their men were killed. The leader tells him that the gang's reputation is more important than their lives, but he is stopped from shooting when Legato mentally causes another member to pull the gun away. Legato states that he wants half of them dead, half alive.

Suddenly, a saxophone player who was in the background at the bar sweeps through and mass carnage ensues. Bullets seem to come from nowhere. Since the gang was more important than their lives, Legato says, he left half of them alive to clean up the corpses. We are next introduced to Legato's henchmen, the Gung-Ho-Guns. Legato notices a man named "Chapel" is missing, but isn't concerned since the he is a known drifter. Back in the city, Vash is running around trying to find someone who can tell him who killed the men in the bar. He confirms it is Legato when he sees him standing on a mountain. Upon reaching the top, Vash is horrified at the pile of bodies. Dominique the Cyclops, one of the Gung-Ho-Guns, appears out of nowhere and claims she could have already killed Vash three times. Buttons suddenly fall from Vash's suit. Vash tells her that in the time they were speaking, she could have been five times fondled, and buttons likewise fall to the floor from her shirt. Like a flash, she seemingly teleports behind Vash and fires. He is barely able to get out of the way in time. On the third try, she actually grazes his chin. Vash is running out of energy, but has figured out her trick. He closes his eyes and concentrates on his pain. The next time she attacks, he has the advantage and blows out her eyepiece, which was actually a hypnotic device. Vash jokes that she should not be cleaning up humans, but rooms of men like him. The agents arrive, unaware what had just transpired, and Meryl strikes him across the face for being so sexist. Later that night, Vash decides to part ways with the agents, telling them the road ahead is too dangerous. Now alone, he vows to get Legato at any cost.

This is the darkest episode so far. Vash has many worries since he is not up just against Legato, but his team of expert gunmen as well. From Legato's derogatory talk about humans, it seems he have connections beyond this world. Due to his fascination with Vash, it may also be true that Vash is not of this world. The missing man named Chapel leaves me a bit curious as to who he could be. The parting of ways with the agents was very unexpected. I hope they're not out of the series completely, as the comic relief may go with them. If they are gone for good, I at least hope Nicholas makes another appearance. Due to the large number of Gung-Ho-Guns remaining, the next episodes should prove to be quite action packed.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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