Episode 6: Lost July

Review by Dale

July 15, 2000

Vash is questioned by the Sheriff's men who put up the reward for capturing the Nebraska family. He explains he gave up the bounty because he has no need for money, and prefers the all you can eat hospitality of the town. Meryl and Milly stick to Vash like glue, warning the townspeople to stay away from such a dangerous man. A kid fires a volley of darts at them from behind, but Vash ducks behind the agents, causing them to get a face full. Meryl pulls real guns, and Milly has to calm her down. A deep rumble fills the air as an enormous sand steamer enters town. A woman so beautiful she literally causes traffic accidents exists the steamer, and is lusted after by just about every bandit in town. Fortunately, she has a large bodyguard to keep them at a safe distance. She heads straight for Vash and confronts him. He proposes marriage to her on the spot, but she has other plans. We learn a little more about the plants powering the cities during her conversation with Vash. They are technology from a hundred years ago, and the wastelands could not survive without them. She introduces herself as Elizabeth, chief of an engineering team. She promises Vash anything he wants if he will perform a yet unexplained deed. As they walk back through the city, she explains to the agents that Vash is her bodyguard, even though she treats him more like a pet named "Poochi." They have to wake up early for plant maintenance, so Vash goes to sleep in a separate room. Not more than a few seconds after he enters, a masked villain with blades on his arms bursts in and begins taking swipes at Vash. When Vash pulls his gun and instructs him to leave, he does, and puts a bomb on the floor on the way out. When the bomb goes off, Vash's bed hits the sidewalk before him, and he lands on it. From the ground, Vash finds out Elizabeth had switched rooms with him. When Vash asks to come up to her room, she replies that he has a bed down there.

The next morning, the agents show up to assess the damage, and get a very annoyed expression on their faces when they find out Vash caused it. In the plant, Elizabeth tells Vash that she is a target because she knows about the lost technology that it needs. The agents storm in and confront Vash about the damage. They are all interrupted as trouble is reported in section three. The power levels are rising and can't be stopped. Vash and Elizabeth run to the site, and Vash is the first to enter. He is again confronted by the masked villain, but has little trouble shooting him to the ground. In a totally unexpected twist, Elizabeth locks Vash in. It is the anniversary of his record as an outlaw, and she plans to kill him in vengeance for the destruction of her hometown of July. When she was very young, the city was destroyed completely. People lost everything they owned and fought amongst each other. Meanwhile, if the power continues to rise at such an extreme, it could take out the whole city. Elizabeth orders an evacuation, and the agents inquire as to the whereabouts of Vash. They don't buy her explanation of him "staying until the end." They want to save him, but have no choice but to leave. As light is burning all around him, Vash climbs to the center of the platform and places his hands skyward. Outside, the power level finally drops, and Vash walks out without a scratch. He walks straight to Elizabeth and apologizes for not dying, because he couldn't allow the whole town to be taken out with him. She pulls a gun on him, but he claims to have no memory of the July incident. His earliest memory was of waking up in the destroyed city. We see a flashback of a man who embraced Elizabeth after her parents died, and it surely looks like Vash. She is still sure this is the same man. The episode closes with Vash and Elizabeth both breaking into tears and embracing each other

As predicted, this episode is a continuation to the last one. The beginning hinted at a comedy theme, but the rest made it the most serious to date. Even though I enjoyed the humor of previous episodes, I was glad to see one that dove head first into the plot, complete with a nice twist at the end. For the first time, we get some solid back story on the cities and Vash himself. It is unknown to him or the audience if he really committed the evil deeds he's accused of, because of his memory loss. It will be interesting to see where this new theme leads in episode 7 as we learn more about his mysterious past.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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