Anime’s most lovable outlaw is finally making a comeback. It’s been a few years since the Trigun franchise had its last installment with the anime feature, Trigun: Badlands Rumble in 2010. Now, twelve years later, the cult-classic anime is returning for another series, Trigun Stampede, set for release in 2023.Recently announced for distribution with Crunchyroll and Toho, Trigun Stampede is currently awaiting new details at Anime Expo 2022, at which the series producers are set to unveil major details, alongside Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow, who is fully involved in the project. Animation for the series is set to be produced by Studio Orange, the production company behind series including BEASTARS, Godzilla Singular Point, and Land of the Lustrous.
The forthcoming panel at Anime Expo will feature Nightow, producers from Toho and Orange, and art designer Kouji Tajima. Crunchyroll has confirmed that the series is utilizing an all-new cast for the voices in this new iteration, and it remains to be seen if the English-dub voices will be reprising their roles for the dub.
The fact that Orange is an anime studio primarily known for its work in the 3D CGI anime space is also of interest. While CGI has already been used in Trigun: Badlands Rumble during certain action sequences (animated by Madhouse), the stylistic CGI touch of the studio may offer potential clues for this upcoming project. While anime is often beloved for its 2D touch, Orange is very skilled in adapting that aesthetic to CGI animation while retaining the visual soul of anime.
While many details on the new series’ specific plot are under-wraps until that time, the name is likely a reference to the main character, the infamous space-western outlaw Vash the Stampede. The series has a mostly-Japanese language teaser website live, although the bulk of the information on this exciting project is still upcoming. It's very possible that this new series could continue adapting events related to the manga's Trigun Maximum iteration (which lasted longer than the original Trigun manga due to publishing reasons), or if it may be an entirely new storyline set in the Trigun universe.
Set in a sci-fi western environment, Trigun follows the notoriously skilled yet peace-loving outlaw Vash the Stampede. The original manga series ran in two iterations, Trigun and Trigun Maximum, from 1996 to 2009. The 26-episode anime series was released in 1998, with a feature film in 2010.