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Trigun is a Japanese sci-fi western manga series created by Yasuhiro Nightow, which has grown into a long-running multimedia franchise including multiple anime adaptations, spin-off comics, and upcoming new animated projects, with a dedicated global fanbase.
Key moments
February 1995 – February 1997Original Trigun manga serialized in Japanese *Shōnen Captain* magazine, with 3 collected volumes released
1998Madhouse-produced TV anime *Trigun: Vash The Stampede* aired for 26 episodes; sequel manga Trigun Maximum began serialization
2007Trigun Maximum concluded its run, with 14 collected volumes published
20233D reboot anime *Trigun Stampede* released for modern audiences
October 2025Final chapter animated project *Trigun STARGAZE* announced for January 2026 release
Distinctive Creative Style
Trigun blends classic Western tropes with space western sci-fi worldbuilding, centered on Vash the Stampede, a legendary bounty hunter with a massive bounty and a strict non-killing vow. This contrast between his fearsome reputation and gentle, altruistic personality, paired with a mix of action, comedy, and dramatic themes of redemption, made it a standout work in 1990s shōnen manga.
Global Cultural Impact
The original 1998 anime gained widespread popularity in Western markets after airing on Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, helping introduce Japanese anime to mainstream Western audiences. The franchise has been localized for release across dozens of countries, and enduring fan interest has spurred the 2023 reboot and upcoming final chapter project.
Franchise Evolution
Starting as a short-run shōnen manga, the series expanded into a longer seinen sequel Trigun Maximum, then saw multiple anime adaptations. Each iteration has adjusted the story and tone to appeal to different audiences, while retaining the core themes and beloved central character of Vash the Stampede.
April 1, 1998
last
September 30, 1998
episodes
26
episode list
List of Trigun episodes
Trigun (トライガン) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow.It was first serialized in Tokuma Shoten's manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Captain from March 1995 to December 1996, at which time the magazine ceased publication. Its chapters were collected in three volumes. The series continued its publication in Shōnen Gahosha's manga magazine Young King OURs, under the title Trigun Maximum (トライガンマキシマム), from October 1997 to March 2007. Shōnen Gahosha republished the Trigun chapters in two volumes and collected the Trigun Maximum chapters in fourteen volumes. Set on the fictional planet known as No Man's Land, the plot follows Vash the Stampede, a famous gunman constantly fighting bounty hunters seeking the immense bounty on his head. Trigun originated from Nightow's fascination with Western movies with Vash standing out due to his pacifist nature.
Trigun was adapted into a 26-episode anime television series by Madhouse that aired on TV Tokyo from April to September 1998.An anime feature film, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, premiered in Japan in April 2010.A Orange a created a reboot titled Trigun Stampede, in 2023 which was followed by a sequel, Trigun Stargaze, in 2026.In North America, both manga series have been licensed by Dark Horse Comics.The anime series was first licensed by Geneon Entertainment and started broadcast in the United States as part of Cartoon Network'sAdult Swim programming block in 2003.The series was later licensed by Funimation.
In 2009, Trigun Maximum won the Best Comic category at the 40th Seiun Awards. Critical response to the manga has been generally positive, with praise for Vash and his friends' actions and relationships as well as the handling of action scenes. However, criticism has been directed at Vash's predicament with his pacifism and the comprehensibility of the plot. The anime series has been similarly positively received.
Plot
In a distant future, a man known as "Vash the Stampede" has earned a bounty of $60 billion ("double dollar") on his head and the nickname "The Humanoid Typhoon" (人間台風) after accidentally destroying a city with his supernatural powers. However, whenever he is attacked, Vash displays a pacifist personality, as noted by two Bernardelli Insurance Society employees, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, who follow him around to minimize the damages inevitably caused by his appearance. Most of the damage attributed to Vash is actually caused by bounty hunters in pursuit of his bounty. However, he cannot remember the incident due to retrograde amnesia, being able to recall only fragments of the destroyed city and memories of his childhood. Throughout his travels, Vash tries to save lives using non-lethal force. He is occasionally joined by a priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who, like Vash, is a superb gunfighter with a mysterious past. As the series progresses, more about Vash's past and the history of human civilization on the planet is revealed.
Vash and his twin brother Knives were originally two children with a slow-aging process found in a spaceship who escaped from Earth after mankind had exhausted all its resources. Rem raised them, but Knives became nihilistic and had most of the people in the ship disposed of. As a result, Vash lives to find his twin and have revenge. Vash is targeted by Legato Bluesummers from the Gung-ho Guns assassins who are followers of Knives. Vash and Knives both possess the Angel Arm, which Knives forced Vash to use to destroy the city of July, ending the Trigun manga in a cliffhanger as the true nature behind Vash's identity is questioned by Wolfwood after seeing the power.
In Trigun Maximum, Wolfwood finds the missing Vash and both continue their fight against the Gung-go Guns, which often causes the two clash with each other over Vash's obsession with pacifism. Gung-ho Guns Hoppered the Gauntlet, a survivor of July, seeks revenge on Vash, but is killed by his partners as Knives ordered them not to kill their target but tormenting him.
Production
After leaving college, Yasuhiro Nightow worked selling apartments for the housing corporation Sekisui House, but struggled to keep up with his manga drawing hobby.Reassured by some successes, including a serialized manga based on the popular video game franchise Samurai Spirits for Family Computer Magazine, he quit his job to draw full-time. The series was conceptualized as a mix between Western and science fiction, as Nightow realized it was a previous unseen combination of genres in Japan. To distinguish Vash from the typical heroes in action films, Nightow portrayed him as a pacifist since he did not want his lead character to be a murderer. As such, throughout the story, Vash avoids killing enemies by disarming them and avoids inflicting mortal wounds during combat. His cheerful personality was used to highlight this trait, with his catchphrase being: "Hey, sorry. Love and peace?"[3] Other elements of the manga were based on real life. For example, Wolfwood's name was taken from the lead singer as his image for the priest. He is also modeled on Tortoise Matsumoto from the band Ulfuls.[4] In order to create "warm" environments, Nightow drew several eating scenes.[5]
Media
Manga
With the help of a publisher friend, Yasuhiro Nightow first published a one-shot of Trigun in Tokuma Shoten's manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Captain on January 26, 1995; it began its regular serialization in the same magazine two months later on March 25.Monthly Shōnen Captain ceased publication on December 26, 1996, and the series was put on hiatus.[17] Tokuma Shoten collected the Trigun chapters in three volumes released from April 25, 1996,[18] to January 20, 1999;[19]Shōnen Gahōsha republished the Trigun chapters in two volumes released on June 2, 2000.[20][21]
Reception
Manga
Trigun Maximum won the Best Comic category at the 40th Seiun Awards in the 48th Japan Science Fiction Convention in 2009.[65] In October 2003, the manga's first volume by Digital Manga Publishing and Dark Horse Comics sold 30,000 units upon release in English regions, leading to a reprint of 15,000 copies.[66] The second volume concluded the original series early the next year, and went on to be the top-earning manga release of 2004.[67]
Critical response to the manga has been positive. Hannah King of Manga Life enjoyed the setting, comparing it to the American Midwest in the 1800s.They called the lead's characterization "fantastic" for the personality he displays when refusing to kill enemies.[68] Jason Thompson of Anime News Network
However, Wolfwood, revealed to be one of Knives' subordinates, betrays him and saves Vash.
In the aftermath, Wolfwood dies after using a drug while fighting one of the Gung-Hos; his friend, Livio, joins Vash's cause while grieving for his friend's death.
As Knives approaches the city with the "Ark", a floating ship designed to leave humans without any resources and end life on the planet, Knives begins dueling with Vash.
Following his past battles that required him to use the Angel's Arm, Vash has transformed into a regular human, as signified by his blond hair turning black.
Vash breaks his pacifist vow by killing Legato to protect Livio.
Knives also starts losing the powers he stored with the Ark through Vash's actions.
Vash then saves his brother from the vengeful ships from Earth.
Following his defeat, Knives uses his remaining power to help his weakened brother by creating a small fruit tree to feed him.
After his brother's death, Vash continues his travels on the planet with Meryl and Milly.
To make Vash's appearance distinctive, Nightow often changed the character's hair color throughout the serialization.[6] Although fans questioned if this was relevant to the story, Nightow chose not to reveal his reason for it. In the series' climax, it is revealed that Vash's blond hair turning black is a secondary effect of overusing his supernatural powers. Despite his efforts in the designs, Nightow regrets giving Vash and antagonist Legato Bluesummers detailed eyes because he drew them inconsistently in the manga.[7] In addition, Nightow had trouble designing Vash's gun as he aimed for it to look visually attractive and effective to use.Although he originally wanted to create a gun with unlimited bullets, he replaced it with a traditional one after consulting a picture of an upside-down barrel for inspiration. Besides Vash's guns, Nightow portrayed him as having a supernatural power known as the "Angel Arms," where his arms mutate to form a weapon. The Angel Arms adopt a feminine form and can create or give birth to matter.[8]
While making the manga, Nightow attempted to draw the fight scenes carefully as he had "all these images running through my head of characters moving this way and that, and contorting into all sort sorts of amazing action poses, but thinking about it and putting it to paper are always two different things". In regards to the narrative, Nightow used a "logical and intuitive manner" as his modus operandi to allow readers to follow it.[9] To create suspense, writer Yōsuke Kuroda suggested that Vash not shoot a bullet until the fifth episode, which causes Meryl to realize he is the famous gunman.[10]
When Nightow was approached by Shōnen Gahōsha's manga magazine Young King OURs, they were interested in him beginning a new work.Nightow, however, was troubled by the idea of leaving Trigun incomplete, and requested to be allowed to finish the series.[22] The manga resumed its publication in the magazine, under the title Trigun Maximum, in the October 1997 issue.[17][23] Nightow said that there was no difference in the story between the two titles, and that the only reason for the change was because of the switch of publishing house.[24] Trigun Maximum finished in March 2007.[25] Shōnen Gahōsha collected its chapters in fourteen volumes released from May 23, 1998,[26] to February 27, 2008.[27]
In North America, the manga was licensed by Dark Horse Comics, which announced its publication in June 2003;[28] they released the two volumes of Trigun, based on Shōnen Gahosha's edition, on October 15, 2003,[29] and January 7, 2004.[30] In March 2004, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would also publish Trigun Maximum;[31] the fourteen volumes were released from May 26, 2004,[32] to April 8, 2009.[33] In September 2012, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would release the series in an omnibus edition;[34] Trigun was released in a single volume on October 9, 2013;[35] Trigun Maximum was released in five volumes from November 21, 2012,[35] to November 5, 2014.[36]
An anthology manga titled Trigun: Multiple Bullets, featuring short stories written by manga artists such as Boichi, Masakazu Ishiguru, Satoshi Mizukami, Ark Performance, Yusuke Takeyama, Yuga Takauchi, and Akira Sagami, was released by Shōnen Gahosha in Japan on December 28, 2011.[37][38] The volume was released by Dark Horse Comics on March 6, 2013.[34][39]
In May 2023, Dark Horse Comics announced deluxe hardcover editions of Trigun and Trigun Maximum.[40][41] The volume collecting both volumes of Trigun was released on September 10, 2024,[42] while the first volume of Trigun Maximum was released on October 8 of the same year.[43]
Anime
1998 series
Trigun was adapted into an anime television series animated by Madhouse, with direction by Satoshi Nishimura, writing by Yōsuke Kuroda, and production by Shigeru Kitayama. The music was composed by Tsuneo Imahori. Twenty-six episodes aired on TV Tokyo from April 1 to September 30, 1998.[44] The episodes were collected in thirteen VHS cassettes, labeled as "Stages", from August 5, 1998, to August 4, 1999.[45]
In North America, the series was first licensed by Pioneer Entertainment (later Geneon USA) in 1999.[46] Eight DVDs were released from March 28, 2000,[47] to May 29, 2001.[48] A box set containing all the episodes was released on November 20, 2001.[49] The series premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block on March 31, 2003.[50] The series also premiered in Canada on G4techTV's Anime Current programming block in 2007.[51] In the same year, Geneon announced that they would cease their in-house distribution.[52] In 2008, Funimation announced that they had signed a deal with Geneon to distribute "select" titles from the company;[53] in 2010, they announced that they had licensed Trigun for a DVD and Blu-ray Disc home video release,[54] and launched it on October 26, 2010.[55] Following the announcement that Funimation would be unified under the Crunchyroll brand, the series began streaming on the platform in May 2022.[56]
Trigun Stampede
A second anime television series adaptation, animated by Orange and titled Trigun Stampede, aired from January 7 to March 25, 2023, on TV Tokyo and other networks.[57][58] A sequel, titled Trigun Stargaze, was broadcast from January 10 to March 28, 2026.[59][60]
1998 series
Trigun was adapted into an anime television series animated by Madhouse, with direction by Satoshi Nishimura, writing by Yōsuke Kuroda, and production by Shigeru Kitayama. The music was composed by Tsuneo Imahori. Twenty-six episodes aired on TV Tokyo from April 1 to September 30, 1998.[44] The episodes were collected in thirteen VHS cassettes, labeled as "Stages", from August 5, 1998, to August 4, 1999.[45]
In North America, the series was first licensed by Pioneer Entertainment (later Geneon USA) in 1999.[46] Eight DVDs were released from March 28, 2000,[47] to May 29, 2001.[48] A box set containing all the episodes was released on November 20, 2001.[49] The series premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block on March 31, 2003.[50] The series also premiered in Canada on G4techTV's Anime Current programming block in 2007.[51] In the same year, Geneon announced that they would cease their in-house distribution.[52] In 2008, Funimation announced that they had signed a deal with Geneon to distribute "select" titles from the company;[53] in 2010, they announced that they had licensed Trigun for a DVD and Blu-ray Disc home video release,[54] and launched it on October 26, 2010.[55] Following the announcement that Funimation would be unified under the Crunchyroll brand, the series began streaming on the platform in May 2022.[56]
Trigun Stampede
A second anime television series adaptation, animated by Orange and titled Trigun Stampede, aired from January 7 to March 25, 2023, on TV Tokyo and other networks.[57][58] A sequel, titled Trigun Stargaze, was broadcast from January 10 to March 28, 2026.[59][60]
Film
A Trigun film was originally announced in February 2008 to be released in 2009.[61] The film titled, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, opened in theaters in Japan on April 24, 2010, and was first shown to an American audience at the Sakura-Con 2010 in Seattle, Washington on April 2, 2010.[62] At Anime Expo 2010, Funimation announced that they had licensed the film and planned to release it into theaters.[63] The film made its US television premiere on Saturday, December 28, 2013, on Adult Swim's Toonami block.[64]
compared the series to
Rurouni Kenshin
, based on both series' pacifist messages and the challenge of these messages, which he opined were explored in a similar fashion to comic book hero
Batman
.
He also praised the fight scenes' handling as well as the villains' character designs.[69] The clash between him and the antagonist was also praised for his execution and artwork.[70] However, Eduardo Chavez of Mania Entertainment felt that some events that happened to Vash might come across as repetitive because of his pacifism constantly backfiring and the lack of a clear resolution.[71] As Vash's philosophy was tested in the finale, Fandom Post praised the consequences of his actions.[72] Vash and Knives were popular[73][74] to the point Mania referred to their final fight as "the stuff of legend."[75]
On the other hand, the book Manga: The Complete Guide criticized some parts of the narrative, finding it difficult to follow albeit still enjoyable.[76] Anime News Network also found the art hard to see, stating that dialogue boxes can be hard to distinguish, and lamented how Milly and Meryl's characters do not have major roles in the manga compared with the adaptations.[77] Nevertheless, Mania felt Nightow was skilled at drawing fight scenes in the finale,[75] while Manga Life also praised the art, particularly the detailed outfit Vash wears that contrasts with the manga's setting.[68]
Elena M. Aponte from Bowling Green State University said that while Vash is constantly escaping from violence, he is responsible for creating major chaos with his Angel Arm, which she compared with the nuclear bomb used to end World War II.Vash's values about wanting to protect others regardless of danger are challenged by Wolfwood, and it is not only until the manga's climax that Vash decides to use violence for the first time in his life to kill a person in order to protect Livio from Legato.[78] Furthermore, Wolfwood continually insinuates confession is part of his purpose, his primary occupation is a Christian priest, and his clothes and main weapon are of Christian themes.Nightow is generally known as one of the few successful Christian manga artists.Most of the Japanese population is not Christian, but Trigun itself is full of themes and ideas that have connections to Christianity.[79]
Anime
The anime series is frequently listed as one of the best anime series of all time; in 2001, Wizard's Anime Magazine listed Trigun as the 38th-best series on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America" list, and The Los Angeles Times journalist Charles Solomon named the series' complete box set as the seventh-best anime release of 2010.[80][81] The success of the animated series increased the popularity of the original manga source material, with the US release's first volume run of 35,000 selling out shortly after release.[82] Theron Martin of Anime News Network gave the anime adaptation a B+, praising the series' writing and opining that it avoided clichés inherent to this format.However, Martin was more critical of the anime's visuals, writing that sometimes characters are off-modeled.[83] Mike Toole of Anime News Network named Trigun as one of the most important anime of the 1990s.[84]
Escapist Magazine columnist H.D. Russell reviewed the anime adaptation of the series in early 2016, as part of a "Good Old Anime Review" column focusing on popular anime from the 1990s to early 2000s. Russell felt that the series' animation and English voice acting quality had aged poorly, but also argued that the depth of the characters and moral themes of the series more than compensate for its faults. He concluded that despite being overshadowed by Cowboy Bebop, the production values are at least average and the series is funny and thoughtful due to its direction and narrative.[85] Trigun failed to garner a large audience in Japan during its original showing in 1998, but gained a substantial fan base following its United States premiere, making it one of the rare examples of an anime that was more successful in the West than in its country of origin.[86] Suggested causes of this disparity include the "old west" setting, European-style character names, and a lack of Japanese cultural elements.[87]
Ramen Para Dos, July 20, 2011, retrieved March 8, 2020
