The return of Trigun. One of the biggest events leading up to and during the biggest anime convention in North America, the new details revealed at the “Trigun Stampede: Lock & Load!” Panel electrified fans in-person and online alike.
Now, in an exclusive interview with GameRant, mangaka Yasuhiro Nightow sat down along with producers from Studio Orange and Toho Animation to discuss all the newest info and what fans can look forward to in the new series coming out next year. In a lively talk, discussion ranged everywhere from the techniques bringing the new animation to life, to Yasuhiro Nightow’s Hollywood inspirations, and promises for an all-new side of Vash the Stampede.
GameRant: The “Lock & Load!” Panel definitely hyped up the audience at Anime Expo Saturday night, to say the least. With this new series coming out next year, is there any info you can give on the format of Trigun: Stampede?
Trigun Producers: While we still can’t discuss how many episodes this new series can be, or how long the episode lengths will be, what we want people to understand is that we are consciously using our boundaries for how we can best appeal to our fans and tell this story in the right way. The episode count and the amount of space we’ve been given is something we are very pleased with.
GameRant: At the panel last night, you mentioned hoping to bring back the classic feel of 80s and 90s anime, renewed with state-of-the-art technology. What are some things we can expect from the animation, and elaborating on that a little?
Trigun Producers: Yes. Last night at the panel we were referring to the feel of a lot of classic anime, like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell as reference points for the feel of Trigun: Stampede, not just for its aesthetic but for its storytelling. When we look at what we’re able to do here at Orange, we see ourselves less as a technology company and more on the acting and performance of the show, with the technology in service of that. On Land of the Lustrous, we did a lot of motion capture to get the essence of the movement, and on BEASTARS we really worked a lot with facial motion capture in the CGI. Now for Trigun, we’re really pushing things to a new level on both of those previous fronts, really aiming to capture the feel and emotion of classic anime, and how we can bring that to this new chapter for the franchise.
GameRant: Definitely. One of the most exciting things about getting to use CGI for a project like this is the exploration of camera movements, and how its strengths in movement can really come out for things like action shots, and vehicles and movements in a way that really helps to convey a more epic scope. We’ve already seen a little of that in the hybrid CGI used in the Trigun: Badlands Rumble feature, but what can we expect from a new fully CGI production?
Trigun Producers: The CGI movements in Badlands Rumble were actually handled by Orange as well, so that definitely primed us a bit for the more involved CGI processes of Stampede. The freedom of the camera is something that’s much more open in CGI. So much of the aesthetic of the original 2D comes from its animating on 2s and 3s for the movement frames, and the specifics of capturing that style of movement within the digital animation is something we are very passionate about as well.
GameRant: So this new series is planning to capture the same feeling of movement found in the original?
Trigun Producers: Yes. The biggest new change with this animation is that we’re working with the potential for even more characters and an even larger scope, as well as the chance to have longer shots, which in turn impacts everything from editing the shots together to the best way of implementing sound and music. These are all things we’re very conscious about, and all things that have been in our minds right down to the initial story envisioned by Yasuhiro Nightow and how we can best realize that.
GameRant: Interesting. And on that, let’s take a second to learn a bit more about this new series’ music. What can we expect from the soundtrack?
Yasuhiro Nightow: I think that film, classic cinema, has a very strong influence on the feel we’re going for with this new series in both the visuals and the sound and music. The ability to real leave something that the audience will remember, that’s what we’re going for.
Trigun Producers: When we were developing the show, I was looking at [concept artist Kouji] Tajima’s concept art and felt this feeling that we needed to do something new with the music. So, the new show is going to feature some new music, but new music that serves the broader goal of exploring a new side of Trigun.
GameRant: You can really get the sense that this new series is focused on showing new sides of the Trigun universe. Let’s take a second to talk about the story. From what we’ve seen with the character interactions between Vash, Rem, and Knives it seems like this aspect of the passing of time and growth is a strong thematic motivator for the new show. What do you think this new story will add to the broader world and storytelling we’ve seen?
Yasuhiro Nightow: We’ve been watching the fan reactions since the trailer launch last night, and we’ve definitely seen from the fans both the excitement as well as the questions around what we’re going to be doing. This isn’t going to be just a retread of what’s already been done in the manga and anime. There might be a different side of Vash, a different perspective we see. There’s more that we can’t wait to unveil a little bit later, and I really want people to watch the show and see what they feel about it.
GameRant: This idea of being cinematic seems to be a goal of the new series, from both our discussion as well as the panel last night. At the panel, it was mentioned that Nightow had been influenced by a variety of Hollywood films and such, telling the writers and [episode director Kenji] Muto to watch things and take notes and inspirations. We’re very curious—what are some of the big Hollywood influences?
Yasuhiro Nightow: Well, when I tend to suggest things, I tend to just go at a rapid pace of everything, “next one, next one, next one” that I want everyone to look into, that sometimes I even can’t keep track of it all. [laughs] When I make these recommendations, it’s always less about story elements and more about the atmosphere, and the structure of plotting and showing things on a technical level, having these things in mind for the director and staff to think about. One of the big things I remember discussing and having in mind when saying that at the panel was definitely Daredevil, the television series. Another one I keep finding myself coming back to is Spiderman media. Also, Back to the Future is a really big one. Back to the Future really gets the comedy and the action, that’s the sort of thing we want to make.
GameRant: Interesting. Out of the Back to the Future trilogy, which one would you call your favorite?
Yasuhiro Nightow: [laughs] I don’t see it as a trilogy. I see it all as one six-hour film.
GameRant: Very nice. Well, I think that this new series sounds like something fans should be looking forward to, and we’re definitely looking forward to when more details come soon!
Yasuhiro Nightow: Yes. Believe me, we are looking forward to it as well! The interview above was organized by Crunchyroll, distributor of the upcoming Trigun: Stampede, conducted with manga author Yasuhiro Nightow, Studio Orange producer Kiyotaka Waki, Toho Animation producer Katsuhiro Takei, and additional notes and translation assistance from Studio Orange producer Yoshihiro Watanabe. Trigun: Stampede is set to be released in 2023.
GameRant has been pleased to present full coverage of all of the various announcements, screenings, events, and fandom from Anime Expo 2022. For full coverage of the event, check GameRant’s anime section.