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Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow has opened up about the series’ success and being broadcast at “just the right time” to hit for U.S. and other international anime fans.
Speaking to Mantan Web during a recent appearance at Tokyo Comic-Con 2025, Nightow discussed the struggles he faced with the original Trigun manga early on, recalling, “Every time, I was drawing while teetering on the brink of death. What was difficult? Everything!”
Trigun Creator Yasuhiro Nightow on the Anime Series Becoming a U.S. Cartoon Network Hit
“I was drawing right up until the last minute, so I really caused a lot of trouble for the editors and the printing company,” Nightow continued. “There was even a time when I submitted the manuscript on the morning of the day I was supposed to go to Comic-Con in America, and then immediately boarded an international flight.”
Nightow went on to say of Trigun’s lasting success and impact on modern anime: “I’m so glad I created this work. It’s a work that has helped me so much. When I go abroad, I’m surprised that even people who aren’t anime fans know about it.” Nightow added, “It was broadcast on Cartoon Network in the U.S. at just the right time, and from there it spread and led me to so many places. It’s a work I’m truly grateful for.”
The original Trigun manga debuted in the pages of Monthly Shonen Captain in 1995, introducing readers to Vash the Stampede, aka the Humanoid Typhoon — a superpowered gunslinger on the run after accidentally destroying an entire city single-handedly. Despite his overtly dangerous reputation, Vash consistently proves himself to be a generally kind and amicable figure, going out of his way to avoid dealing any lethal blows to his opponents at every possible turn.
In 1998, Trigun was adapted into a hit anime series by studio Madhouse, giving the wider franchise the exact burst of popularity it was in desperate need of at the time. The 26-episode Trigun anime received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike at the time of its release, and continues to be a fan-favorite, currently boasting a perfect 100% “Fresh” score via review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Trigun’s New Anime Series Remake Returns to Stream on Crunchyroll This January
In 2023, a new anime adaptation titled Trigun Stampede was released, offering audiences a whole new take on Vash the Stampede’s unforgettable journey. Produced by studio Orange and licensed internationally by Crunchyroll, Trigun Stampede proved to be a similar success as its predecessor, sharing another 100% “Fresh” rating via Rotten Tomatoes, albeit alongside a marginally lower audience-generated 74% “Popcornmeter” approval rating compared to the original’s 89% audience approval rating.
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Currently, fans are awaiting the release of Trigun Stargaze, the hotly anticipated follow-up series set more than two years after the events of Trigun Stampede. Apart from giving fans more space-based neo-Western adventures to follow along with, Trigun Stargaze will expand the Trigun universe beyond any version of it that fans have seen before.
The official logline for Trigun Stargaze reads, “It’s been two and a half years since the Lost JuLai tragedy, which laid waste to an entire city and engulfed the whole planet in chaos. Meryl, now a senior journalist, continues her search for Vash with her new younger sidekick, Milly, and runs into Wolfwood along the way. As plant robberies begin taking place once again, they sense Millions Knives’s organization conspiring behind the scenes.”
Trigun
Created by Yasuhiro Nightow
First Film Trigun: Badlands Rumble
First TV Show Trigun
Upcoming TV Shows Trigun Stampede
First Episode Air Date April 1, 1998
Cast Johnny Yong Bosch, Lia Sargent, Dorothy Elias-Fahn
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