Among the numerous anime announcements revealed during Anime Expo, Trigun Stampede was a major point of interest for me. The original is a classic, in my opinion, and a series that had me sobbing in front of my college TV screen during my Toonami evening lineup. I’m excited to see Vash again, and excited to watch a new generation of fans fall in love with him (and, probably, have their hearts broken by his story like mine was in the early 2000s). As Trigun author Yasuhiro Nightow says, “Trigun is coming. Not ‘coming back.’ It’s ‘coming.’ The typhoon that started 25 years ago never disappeared.”
During Anime Expo, the first trailer for the series was revealed along with information on the voice cast so far and who the director of the series is. Here’s everything we know.
A trailer breakdown
The trailer starts out a lot more serious than past trailers for Trigun. That’s not to say past trailers didn’t show the serious moments, but there was definitely an “I can’t believe THIS is The Humanoid Typhoon” vibe to them. The series delighted in doing that to us until we all realized that Vash was holding back on purpose.
The Trigun Stampede trailer starts with Rem making sure Vash and his twin brother, Knives, get on an escape pod. Rem stays behind to make sure they get to safety. After that, we cut to the future to see an older Vash, who mentions that he has a brother who is out there “in the far east.” We get shots of Vash’s wanted poster, him facing off against someone, and a look at the world where the series will take place. As an older Knives reflects on how Vash hasn’t changed and is still “lost in your dreams,” Vash says that he will never kill again.
If you’re familiar with the series, you know what all of this means, it’s just interesting to see how it’s being presented. Seeing Rem so early feels like giving away too much too soon, but the trailer is keeping quiet about some significant moments. Vash says he has a brother but doesn’t comment on his relationship with him. Knives also sounds fairly neutral when speaking to Vash… until you get to the part at the end where a young Knives sounds a bit unhinged.
None of the lightheartedness of the original is there, but at the same time, a lot of the original is filler, so I’m not sure how many of those fun vibes we’re going to get. I’ve never read the manga, so I don’t know how much of silly, doughnut-eating Vash is canon. I imagine some of it is, right? Since he doesn’t want to kill again and champions Rem’s peaceful teachings?
Honestly, it’d be kinda fun if they’re saving the reveal of “heartwarming goofball Vash” for later. Imagine, you see this cool dude in the slick red coat and find out he’s a disaster of a teddy bear who chants “love and peace” like the hippie uncle your mom rolls her eyes about when he comes into town. Though, maybe, this isn’t that Vash yet, as the studio tweeted a picture of his wanted poster to reveal that it’s a lower amount than it was in the original series. Maybe the first season will end with his bounty increasing to that iconic $$60,000,000.
Who’s working on the new series?
The director of Trigun Stampede is Kenji Muto. With him, we have Kouji Tajima (designer), Kiyotaka Waki (producer, Orange), Yoshihiro Watanabe (producer, Orange), and Katsuhiro Takei (producer, Toho). Currently, there are five Japanese voice actors announced for the series, as these are the characters we heard in the trailer. There’s no word on who else will be in the series yet.
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Vash Stampede
- Junya Ikeda as Knives Millions
- Tomoyo Kurosawa as Young Vash
- Yumiri Hanamori as Young Knives
- Maaya Sakamoto as Rem Saverem
When is the anime being released?
There’s no official release date for the series yet, but we do know that it’s coming in 2023 and will be available on Crunchyroll.
(Featured image: ©2023 Yasuhiro Nightow, SHONENGAHOSHA _ TRIGUN STAMPEDE Project)
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