Trigun Stargaze Creative Team on Bringing Vash’s Story To Justice After 30 Years

Trigun stands tall as a high-octane gunslinger with sci-fi staples in the 32nd century. The foundational shonen series effortlessly rotates between genres as if they’re bullets being emptied from a gun, making waves in the ‘90s only to be reborn nearly 30 years later as Trigun Stampede, which chronicles the courageous and careful adventures of legendary outlaw Vash the Stampede. Trigun Stampede became one of Studio Orange’s most talked about anime and now they’re finally ready to bring their heightened action epic to its apex with Trigun Stargaze. 

Set two-and-a-half years after Trigun Stampede’s cryptic conclusion, Trigun Stargaze promises to give seasoned Trigun fans some of the franchise’s biggest moments, all while playing by its own subversive rules. Trigun’s original author, Yasuhiro Nightow, along with Studio Orange’s Yota Shirasu and Yoshiro Watanabe, and Trigun Stargaze director Masako Sato, break down this bold new chapter in the iconic action anime.

DEN OF GEEK: Yasuhiro Nightow, Trigun has been a part of your life for the past three decades. What has the experience been like to bring this “final phase” to life and finish the anime’s story?

Yasuhiro Nightow: For the final chapter of Trigun Stargaze I’m witnessing how the staff of Stargaze is shining their light onto Trigun, and how the silhouette is forming. I’m very excited for the viewers to see how this will conclude. For me personally, my storytelling of Trigun finished when I completed the manga, but this process of creating the Stargaze anime feels completely different than creating the manga.

The title “TRIGUN STARGAZE” is so interesting to me. Talk a little about this new title, what it represents, and why it was important to give it a different name and not just Trigun Stampede 2?

Yota Shirasu: When we came up with the name “Stargaze” for the title, we wanted to create a title that would describe Vash. Although we looked at many other words, “Stargaze” in particular stood out as describing the secret of stars, the secret of idealism, someone who’s looking for a dream that might not be easily accomplished, and we felt that this word very strongly describes Vash.

Yasuhiro, you crafted Trigun’s original story, but what level of involvement have you had with Trigun Stargaze? Have you contributed any original ideas or new concepts to the anime?

Yasuhiro Nightow: My involvement with Stargaze is somewhat hands-off. For example, whenever designs, stories, scripts, and other elements of Stargaze were submitted to me, I would give full-fledged acknowledgement. When we go into post production, I’m filled with immense happiness and appreciation with everyone’s efforts.

Masaka, you are a newcomer to the Trigun universe who didn’t previously direct on Trigun Stampede. How did you become involved with this production, why was it the right fit, and what does the Trigun brand mean to you?

Masako Sato: I got a phone call from the producer of Trigun, who asked me to be the director. At the time, Stampede was not even announced yet, so I was very surprised Stargaze was being animated. I became familiar with Trigun back in 2019, and when I was approached, I read it again. I had a lot of pressure on myself because this series has a lot of history and built up fans, and I now feel very passionate about the franchise.

Trigun’s music is such an important part of its DNA. Trigun Stampede’s musical score by Tatsuya Kato perfectly captured the anime’s energy. Has this sound and musical identity changed at all in Trigun Stargaze?

Masako Sato: At the very first meeting with composer Kato, we talked about whether we should go in the same or different direction. I also wanted to reutilize the music from the first season but at the same time wanted to do something new for the final season. This was quite challenging, however, composer Kato was super eager to take that different approach for the final season and we hope everyone enjoys it.

What were you able to learn from Trigun Stampede and how did that help aid and streamline production on Trigun Stargaze? Were you able to take any audience feedback into consideration before working on the series or did you head straight from production on Trigun Stampede into work on Trigun Stargaze?

Yota Shirasu: The production for Stargaze started in January 2022, and that was right in the middle of the production of Stampede. However, I challenged myself during the production of the Stampede to do the modeling of Stargaze at the same time. Already doing so was already a big challenge for Studio Orange. Overcoming that process definitely made us more confident. Because the production started in January 2022, before Stampede was even completed, we weren’t able to take any feedback into the production process. We ended up working on both projects simultaneously.

Trigun Stampede featured such incredible action sequences and visual spectacles. Was it a challenge to find ways to top those moments in Trigun Stargaze and create even bigger and more visually impressive setpieces?

Yota Shirasu: The intricacy of the special facial expressions and body expressions has evolved over the production of Stampede and Stargaze. As for the visual spectacles, we put a lot of time and effort into animation compositions to enhance it, and we hope fans will enjoy watching.

Trigun Stampede will be stream on Crunchyroll in early 2026.