The Winter 2023 Anime Preview Guide

Trigun Stampede

Vash the Stampede's a joyful gunslinging pacifist, so why does he have a $$6 million bounty on his head? That's what's puzzling rookie reporter Meryl Stryfe and her jaded veteran partner when looking into the vigilante only to find someone who hates blood. But their investigation uncovers something heinous—his evil twin brother, Millions Knives.

Trigun Stampede is based on Yasuhiro Nightow's Trigun manga and streams on Crunchyroll and Hulu on Saturdays.

Caitlin Moore
Rating:

I watched Trigun in high school on Adult Swim. I spent several years attending Anime Expo in the early-to-mid '00s, the halls of which were positively crawling with Vashes, Wolfwoods, and Meryls… plus the occasional Milly, though she was never as popular a cosplay choice. As an otaku of a certain era, Trigun is practically imprinted on my DNA alongside its cohorts, Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star. Between the CG, Vash's new look, and Milly being replaced by a gruff alcoholic, I could easily have dismissed Stampede as a travesty, a dishonor on Trigun's name.

But I won't, because Vash looks adorable, the CG is fantastic, and… well, there's no excuse for replacing Milly. In fact, I'm taking a full star off the score because I WILL NOT REST UNTIL THERE IS JUSTICE FOR MILLY.

But aside from that, I cannot deny that I had a lot of fun here. Listen, if you're not satisfied with the CG in this episode, you should probably go ahead and accept that you'll never like 3D anime and just stick to the hand-animated stuff. Orange is the best in the business when it comes to this stuff, and that's all there is to it. The faces completely lack the “painted on” feeling that a lot of CG anime have had in the past, nor are they stiff and inexpressive like a lot of rigs tend to be. Their expressions squash and stretch, which is great, because it is essential to bringing Vash to life in all his goofy glory. But at the same time, the character acting is as subtle as it needs to be, showing the necessary shifts in body language. The backgrounds at times are positively painterly, and yet everything remains well-composited throughout. If you look at that and say, “That's ugly,” then nothing will satisfy you.

As a longtime fan, it's hard not to compare the approach Stampede takes to the original. Meryl is now a plucky, idealistic young journalist instead of a no-nonsense journalist. Vash's backstory is revealed from the very beginning instead of midway through the series. There aren't a lot of mysteries about the world to unveil, because the storytelling is much less cagey. I can't be mad about any of these though, because it's still just so much fun to watch. I can relate to Meryl's hope to use journalism to make the world a more just place, and I think her naivete will work well with Vash's worldview in the long run. The only change I didn't care for was Roberto, not just because he replaced Milly, but because I'm tired of cynical old men who mock their callow partners.

Never bet against Studio Orange. For years now, Orange has proven time and time again that they're at the top of their game when it comes to CG animation for television productions, and Trigun Stampede may be the most stunning work they've ever put together (except, perhaps, for that stop-motion OP for BEASTARS' first season). Even if this show didn't come with the Trigun pedigree, my excitement for the series would have still been off the charts after that opening sequence of Vash's traumatizing planetfall, and the premiere never lets up from there. The facial animations are gloriously exaggerated and expressive, the action scenes are sublime, and the entire story is given an injection of pure, unadulterated fun. It all comes down to how much Orange uses Trigun Stampede to celebrate everything unique about the medium of animation. If you put this show on as a double feature with Chainsaw Man, you'd essentially have a perfect encapsulation of what anime studios are capable of when they're operating at their maximum potential.

Even better is that we also have that Trigun name attached to the series, which is, I'm told, an excellent thing! I'll be honest, though: despite growing up firmly entrenched in the Toonami Tsunami at the peak of the programming block's cultural powers, the original Trigun mostly passed me by and existed primarily as a collection of clips from those badass adverts that Peter Cullen did the VO for. All of this is to say that I have virtually no expectations or preconceived notions about what the Trigun story is supposed to be. However, I can tell you that this premiere sets up its particular take on this world quite nicely. Meryl is a delightfully charming perspective character who plays excellently off Vash's zany antics. I am one hundred percent down for the space-western vibes this franchise is famous for. Roberto de Niro is also a fine foil for Meryl, and I can't complain much about the guy when his name is, you know, Roberto Di Nero.

If it wasn't obvious, Trigun Stampede is ridiculously fun and cool. I recommend you check it out ASAP, even if you harbor reservations about the animation style. If this stunning effort from Studio Orange doesn't convert you, then I doubt anything will, and you'll have to live the rest of your life missing out on some of the most cutting-edge anime out there. That would be very sad, so I guess your only option is to give Trigun Stampede a chance instead.

I gotta hand it to Stampede. In an era where it seems like any revival of a classic needs to be as predictable as possible, it takes some guts to not only reboot a beloved manga – with an equally beloved, if vastly different, adaptation – and not just go with the FMA: Brotherhood approach. But through some black magic, we've got a new, even more different entry in the Trigun canon, and while existing fans might chafe at the idea of a new spin on such an iconic work of the 90s, I think this new show is off to a pretty solid start.

A big part of that comes down to presentation. While the move to a fully 3DCG production might put off some folks, this first episode makes phenomenal use of its medium, delivering not just some of the best character animation Studio Orange has produced but even creating visuals I never thought I'd see in a TV anime. The opening sequence of Vash and Knives' escape pod hurtling through a sea of exploding space debris is thrilling in a way I've only experienced with the best ship battles in Star Wars, and the rest of the episode is no slouch. The new designs for Vash and Meryl strike a strong balance between familiarity and modernity and are brought to life by that aforementioned phenomenal animation, bridging the gap between high-flying action and zany slapstick without ever missing a beat. Characters are expressive, capable of both subtle facial expressions and exaggerated physical comedy in equal measure, and it keeps the whole premiere moving with infectious energy. Unless you are a diehard denier of all things CG in anime, you'll find some serious eye candy here.

On shakier ground is our story, which is a much bigger question mark. By the end of the episode, we have a general impression of the main characters' fun personalities. Still, there's no sure idea of what direction the story is going in besides knowing Vash has an evil brother up to some dastardly plotting. New viewers also might find themselves a little lost with the generally sparse worldbuilding, especially with the many mysterious implications of the cold open. Ironically those weren't problems in the original anime since that intro told us nothing about Vash or the world at all, outside of both operating on cartoon Western logic. But here, there's been a concerted effort to meld the more serious ideas of Trigun's later story with the zany gun-slinging of the early bits, and that results in some odd tensions during the episode's climax. Thanks to the bombastic animation, it ultimately holds together through the end credits. Still, I imagine some people will be lost when the generally ominous sci-fi vibes zag into Tex Avery shenanigans and the episode's villain pulls a bazooka out of thin air in the middle of a pistol duel.

Still, Stampede manages to maintain just enough of the right kind of energy to make that work. It's sure to be a contentious title, and there are a million ways it could trip over its ambitions along the way, but this premiere is enough to convince me it's worth sticking around for.

Richard Eisenbeis
Rating:

The original Trigun anime is one of those shows that holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the few series I was able to collect the series in the time before high-speed internet, where tapes with three episodes cost $35 a piece and almost no anime appeared on TV. Needless to say, I've seen it more times than I can count. So, with my apparent love of Trigun, you'd think I'd be one of the people who most enjoy this new reimagining. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

I spent almost an entire day pondering why I disliked this first episode of Trigun Stampede so much before coming to one simple answer: it kills the mystery. The original Trigun anime is a slow burn. Through Vash's one-off adventures, we learn little by little what this world is, why it is this way, and Vash's connection to it. On the other hand, the first episode of Trigun Stampede throws 90% of the series' big reveals out there right in the first episode. The planet they're on isn't Earth. Vash is the survivor of a colony fleet crash landing. He has a brother who was the cause of the crash. Vash can fix the “plants” that make life possible. Vash has a cybernetic arm. Vash isn't a lucky, bumbling idiot and is actually a skilled gunfighter. All of these were significant revelations in the original and had the proper buildup to ensure each one felt impactful. Now they're just exposition laid bare.

When I remove all my previous knowledge of Trigun and watch this episode with fresh eyes, I can at least say I feel that the story of this first episode made sense. And the animation, while not what I am used to, was surprisingly expressive and had some genuinely beautiful shots. But honestly, I'm not sure if I'll continue watching this one. Trigun Stampede is just so different from the show I loved that I feel almost as if I am watching a just-this-side-of-legal knockoff...Well, that or maybe I'm just pissed off they replaced Milly with an alcoholic, jaded, middle-aged man.