Back in 2023, Studio Orange gave us Trigun Stampede, an alternate view of one of the all-time classic anime series. Stampede was a reboot in a sense, but also not a retelling. Instead of giving us the ’90s anime again, but animated in CGI this time, Orange set up a prequel of sorts.
By the final episode of Stampede, the next season of the Trigun reboot was gearing up to be closer to the 1998 Trigun. Vash is in hiding with his old haircut back, Meryl is back to being a girl boss, Robert De Niro is mercifully nowhere to be seen. In fact, at the Trigun panel at Anime Expo 2024, Orange’s team promise that the next installment of the series will be closer to the manga.
They also revealed the subtitle for the series: Trigun Stargaze. What’s more, Stargaze will be the grand finale of the Trigun reboot. It will all end here.
What’s the plot of Stargaze?
There are no trailers for Stargaze yet, but the Studio Orange team confirmed at Anime Expo 2024 that Stargaze will take place two and a half years after Stampede. After the JuLai incident at the end of Stampede, Vash’s massive bounty increase now means the “60 billion dollar man” moniker is hanging over his head.
Maybe even more importantly, Studio Orange shared some new “anniversary” artwork of Vash that seems to indicate he’ll have his old hair back! Will he rediscover his love of donuts and shouting “love and peace” as well?
As for the finer details of the plot—we don’t know yet. Studio Orange said that the plot will be closer to the manga, which means that Vash, Wolfwood, Meryl, and please god please Milly will be once again hunting down Vash’s brother Millions Knives, taking down his legions of Gung-Ho Guns along the way.
Whatever direction Studio Orange may take, the story of Vash the Stampede will end with Stargaze. Meaning we’ll get an even more fateful battle with Knives to conclude the series.
Characters and cast
There’s been no official comment yet, but Vash the Stampede, Meryl Stryfe, resident heart throb Nicolas D. Wolfwood, and Millions Knives are all but guaranteed to return for Trigun Stargaze. That means their respective voice actors are likely to return as well.
In Stampede Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Inosuke in Demon Slayer, Kirito in Sword Art Online) played Vash, Yoshimasa Hosoya (Reiner Braun in Attack on Titan) as Wolfwood, Sakura Ando (Legom in Beastars) as Meryl, and Junya Ikeda (Joe Kido in Digimon Adventure tri.) as Millions Knives.
The big question—and I mean big question—is whether or not the best character in the whole dang series, Milly Thompson, will be in season two. All signs point to yes, as does my heart, but there’s been no official word. Studio Orange knows what they’ve got on that front, though. They know they can keep fans in eager anticipation, announce Milly’s presence via the first trailer for the series, and have longtime Trigun fans go absolutely nuts. I miss her so much.
When will Stargaze come out?
Yasuhiro Nightow’s Trigun manga released its first chapter on March 25, 1995. That means 2025 will mark Trigun‘s 30th anniversary, because time is cruel and weird.
It also means that Trigun Stargaze is heavily expected to come out in 2025, as the cornerstone of Trigun‘s 30th anniversary celebrations. However, Studio Orange has neither confirmed or commented upon the matter.
The fact that they displayed only a logo and a title reveal at Anime Expo 2024 is more likely to debunk that theory than support it. Witch Hat Atelier‘s trailer debuted at the convention, alongside the reveal of a 2025 release. The fact that Studio Orange revealed neither a trailer nor a ballpark release date could mean that they’re very much still cooking.
Furthermore, Studio Orange is incredibly busy in the meantime. The first part of Beastars‘ final season kicks off in December of this year. Studio Orange has also announced an adaptation of Scott Westerfeld’s Levathian—and has announced that will come out in 2025.
My advice is to not hold your breath for a 2025 release date for Trigun Stargaze. The latter half of 2025 is maybe the absolute soonest the series could come out, but all things considered, 2026 feels more likely.
Maybe our collective Trigun 30th anniversary present will be the confirmation that Milly is in Stargaze. That would be an incredibly good present.
Published: Jul 15, 2024 11:53 am