is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. It was first serialized in

Tokuma Shoten is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...

's manga magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Captain'' from March 1995 to December 1996, until the magazine ceased its 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'', from October 1997 to March 2007. Shōnen Gahosha republished the ''Trigun'' chapters in two volumes, and collected the ''Trigun Maximum'' chapters in 14 volumes. Set on the fictional planet known as No Man's Land, the plot follows Vash the Stampede, a famous gunman who is constantly fighting bounty hunters seeking to obtain the immense bounty on his head. As the narrative progresses, Vash's past is explored. ''Trigun'' originated from Nightow's fascination with Western movies. Nightow wanted Vash to be different from cowboys in Western movies by avoiding killing enemies and instead exploring the characters involved in each

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

. ''Trigun'' was adapted into a 26-episode

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series by Madhouse; it aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Trigun: Badlands Rumble'', premiered in Japan in April 2010. A second anime television series adaptation produced by Orange, titled '' Trigun Stampede'', premiered in January 2023. In North America, both manga series have been licensed by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

. The anime series was first licensed by Geneon Entertainment and started broadcast in the United States, as part of Cartoon Network's

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

programming block, in 2003; the series was later licensed by

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

. In 2009, ''Trigun Maximum'' won the Best Comic category at the 40th

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fic ...

s. Critical response to the manga has been generally positive based on Vash and his friends' actions and relationships, as well as the handling of action scenes. However, critics disliked Vash's predicament in regards to his

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

and the plot being hard to understand. The anime series was similarly positively received.

Plot

In the 32nd century, a man known as " Vash the Stampede" has earned a bounty of $$60 billion ("double dollar") on his head and the nickname 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 in order 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 the sixty billion double-dollar bounty on Vash's head for the destruction of the city of July. However, he cannot remember the incident due to

retrograde amnesia In neurology, retrograde amnesia (RA) is the inability to access memories or information from before an injury or disease occurred. RA differs from a similar condition called anterograde amnesia (AA), which is the inability to form new memories f ...

, 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 that escaped from the planet 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. Wolfwood himself is a Gung-Ho Gun but was hired to make sure Vash does not die and instead suffer. Vash and Knives both possess the Angel Arm, which Knives forced Vash to use in the series' beginning to destroy the town. Vash eventually fights Knives, but is defeated. Wolfwood betrays Knives and saves Vash. In the aftermath, Wolfwood dies 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. Throughout his past battles that required him to use the Angel's Arm, Vash has transformed into a regular human signified by his blond hair now turned black. 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 last powers 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.

Production

After leaving college, Yasuhiro Nightow had gone to work 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 found it not seen in Japan by the time he started writing ''Trigun''. To contrast Vash from the typical heroes in

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

s, Nightow portrayed him as a pacifist since he did not want his lead character to be a murderer. 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?" Other elements of the manga were based on real life. 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. In order to create "warm" environments, Nightow drew several eating scenes. In the making of the manga, Nightow attempts to draw the fight scenes carefully as he has "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 uses a "logical and intuitive manner" as his in order to make readers being capable of following it. While Vash is the manga's protagonist, anime director Satoshi Nishimura used Meryl Stryfe as the main character. In the anime, she searches for the Humanoid Typhoon and initially does not believe it is Vash due to his childish behavior. To create suspense, writer

Yōsuke Kuroda is a Japanese anime screenwriter from Mie Prefecture, Japan. He has his own studio, Studio Orphee. Kuroda is noted for his work on authoring the scenario, screenplay, and story composition of the anime series ''Excel Saga'', '' Please Teacher!'' ...

suggested that Vash would not shoot a bullet until the fifth episode, which causes Meryl to realize he is the famous gunman.

Media

Manga

With the help of a publisher friend, Yasuhiro Nightow, first published a one-shot of ''Trigun'' in

's manga magazine ' 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. Tokuma Shoten collected the ''Trigun'' chapters in three volumes, released from April 25, 1996, to January 20, 1999; Shōnen Gahōsha republished the ''Trigun'' chapters in two volumes, released on June 2, 2000. 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. The manga resumed its publication in the magazine, under the title , in the October 1997 issue. 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. ''Trigun Maximum'' finished in March 2007. Shōnen Gahōsha collected its chapters in fourteen volumes, released from May 23, 1998, to February 27, 2008. In North America, the manga was licensed by

, who announced its publication in June 2003; they released the two volumes of ''Trigun'', based on the Shōnen Gahosha's edition, on October 15, 2003, and January 7, 2004. In March 2004, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would also publish ''Trigun Maximum''; the fourteen volumes were released from May 26, 2004, to April 8, 2009. In September 2012, ''Dark Horse Comics'' announced that they would release the series in an

omnibus edition An omnibus edition or omnibus is a book containing multiple creative works by the same or, more rarely, different authors. Commonly two or more of the works have been previously published as books, but a collection of shorter works, or shorter w ...

; ''Trigun'' was released in a single volume on October 9, 2013; ''Trigun Maximum'' was released in five volumes from November 21, 2012, to November 5, 2014. An anthology manga titled ''Trigun: Multiple Bullets'', featuring short stories written by several 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. The volume was released by Dark Horse Comics on March 6, 2013. In May 2023, Dark Horse Comics announced deluxe hardcover editions of ''Trigun'' and ''Trigun Maximum''. The volume collecting both volumes of ''Trigun'' was released on September 10, 2024, while the first volume of ''Trigun Maximum'' was released on October 8 of the same year.

Anime

1998 series

''Trigun'' was adapted into an

television series. It was animated by Madhouse and directed by Satoshi Nishimura, written by

, and produced by Shigeru Kitayama. The music was composed by Tsuneo Imahori. Twenty-six episodes aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Pioneer Entertainment (later Geneon USA) in 1999. Eight DVDs were released from March 28, 2000, to May 29, 2001. A

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

containing all the episodes was released on November 20, 2001. The series premiered on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

programming block on March 31, 2003. The series also premiered in Canada on G4techTV's Anime Current programming block in 2007. In the same year, Geneon announced that they would cease their in-house distribution, In 2008,

announced that they signed a deal with Geneon to distribute "select" titles from the company; in 2010, they announced that they had licensed ''Trigun'' for a DVD and

Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...

home video release, and launched it on October 26, 2010. Following the announcement that Funimation would be unified under the

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

brand, the series began streaming on the platform in May 2022.

''Trigun Stampede''

A second anime television series adaptation by Orange, titled ''Trigun Stampede'', premiered on January 7, 2023, on TV Tokyo and other networks.

Film

A ''Trigun'' film was originally announced in February 2008 to be released in 2009. 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. At

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

2010, Funimation announced that they had licensed the film as they had with the TV series and planned to release it into theaters. The film made its US television premiere on Saturday, December 28, 2013, on

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

block.

Reception

Manga

''Trigun Maximum'' won the Best Comic at the 40th

in the 48th Japan Science Fiction Convention in 2009. The second volume concluded the original series early the next year, and went on to be the top earning manga release of 2004. Critical response to the manga has been positive. ''Manga Life'' enjoyed the setting, comparing it to the

American Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern c ...

in the 1800s. They called the lead's characterization "fantastic" based on the personality he displays when facing enemies as he refuses to murder anybody. ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

'' compared the series to ''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against ...

'', based on both's pacifist messages to the audience and how challenging is this message explored in a similar fashion to comic book hero

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. He also praised the fight scenes' handling as well as villains' designs. The clash between him and his antagonist was also praised for his execution and artwork. However, ''Mania Entertainment'' said some events that happened to Vash might come across as repetitive because his pacifism keeps backfiring and no proper solution has yet been given. As Vash's philosophy was tested in the finale, ''Fandom Post'' praised the consequences of his actions. While Vash and Knives' was popular, to the point ''Mania'' referred to their final fight as "the stuff of legend." On the other hand, the book '' Manga: The Complete Guide'' provided criticism to some parts of the narrative, finding it difficult to follow but still enjoyable. The artwork was also praised in the character designs with Wolfwood being called as one of the most stylish manga and anime characters.

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", and '' The Los Angeles Times'' journalist Charles Solomon named the series' complete box set as the seventh-best anime release of 2010. 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 sold out shortly after release. Theron Martin of ''Anime News Network'' gave the anime adaptation a B+, praising the series' writing: "The series never wallows in the inherent to this format simply because the surprisingly high quality of its writing never allows that to happen." However, Martin was more critical of the anime's visuals, stating, "Character rendering regularly looks more like rough drafts than refined final products, with the artists often struggling just to stay on model." Mike Toole of ''Anime News Network'' named ''Trigun'' as one of the most important anime of the 1990s. '' Escapist Magazine'' columnist H.D. Russell reviewed the anime adaptation of the series in early 2016, as part of the "Good Old Anime Review" section focusing on popular anime of 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 ultimately gave ''Trigun'' a rank of four out of a five stars, stating: "''Trigun'' is very often overshadowed by its close cousin '' Cowboy Bebop'', which is sad, because it truly is a delight to watch. Despite having only decent voice acting (with a few exceptions), average music, and relatively static visuals, ''Trigun'' is an absolute blast that had me laughing and thinking the whole way. While it's not perfect, it is fun and it does ask the questions that will make viewers ponder for years to come without ever offering them an answer. ''Trigun'' is one that went straight from my backlog to my heart and is truly greater than the sum of its parts." ''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 on

in 2003, making it one of the rare examples of an anime that was more successful in the West than in its country of origin. Suggested causes of this disparity include the "old west" setting, European-style character names, and a lack of Japanese cultural elements.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Madhouse Action anime and manga Anime series based on manga Crunchyroll anime Cyborgs in anime and manga Dark Horse Comics titles Fiction about telepathy Geneon USA Madhouse (company) Madman Entertainment anime Madman Entertainment manga Post-apocalyptic anime and manga Robots in television Seinen manga Shōnen Gahōsha manga Shōnen manga Space Western anime and manga Television shows written by Yōsuke Kuroda Tokuma Shoten manga TV Tokyo original programming