Anime Expo 2022 - Interview with the Staff of Trigun Stampede

Animation Studio Orange surprised fans worldwide with their announcement of a new Trigun anime series two weeks before their panel at Anime Expo 2022. Longtime fans of Trigun reacted with excitement to the teaser trailer, and eagerly await the story behind Vash's inflation-adjusted bounty.

After the Lock 'n Load Panel, ANN spoke to Katsuhiro Takei (producer, TOHO), Kiyotaka Waki (animation producer, Orange), Yasuhiro Nightow (author), and Yoshihiro Watanabe (producer, Orange) about the effort that goes into building the world of Stampede. Watanabe also provided the translations during the interview. Although 2023 seems like a long time away for Trigun Stampede's release, the staff at Orange is diligently working to exceed expectations.

How are you planning to reach new fans who have never heard of Trigun?

Takei: As we mentioned in the panel, the word "coming" is very important, which Nightow also emphasized. Vash is not “coming back;” he's “coming.” When creating a new Trigun, there's also the aspect of presenting it to new fans. I figured what is important to show new fans is how easy it is to come into the series. As a producer, personally, I'm very attached to the old Trigun—which is also very legendary—but also, I don't want people to feel alienated. I don't want new viewers to think that it's something harder to come into because it's an already known and existing series. I want it to be easy for people to come in. That's why I try to be creative about the promotion of it. From the production perspective, Waki is thinking about that as well. Director Muto is also very concerned about it being entertaining, and it's one of his priorities.

There's a common misconception that CGI is cheaper than hand-drawn animation. CGI can be more expensive and is a big investment, but it can yield greater detail into expression and movement. How long did it take to make just the trailer?

Takei: In terms of CGI, it's hard to say when development started. This is because everything relates to everything else in the production flow. The project itself started five years ago, which is when the concept art was drawn.

Waki: CG modeling started about three to four years ago, which was necessary in order to make the trailer. You could say that it started from four years ago, but we didn't start animating at that time. We started animating about 1.5 years ago and all these factors relate to putting the trailer together.

In the trailer, the music is incredibly intense and it's clear the team wanted to focus on the drama in the story. Why did the team choose to start the trailer with Rem sending off Knives and Vash away in their pod?

Takei: The project was announced publicly about two weeks ago from today with the title Trigun Stampede. We saw that people were wondering what Stampede is and asked why it is not just simply Trigun. We saw that concern, and we wanted to show more and shed some direction in the teaser. In every adaptation, as well as in the original manga, the story is always centered around Vash. Vash is the main character. But in Trigun Stampede, we really want to focus on the depth of Vash. That's why we decided to go with the origin of Vash, his memories, and the time he spent with Rem and Knives.

In the trailer, there's a moment where Vash says, “I will never kill again.” This is referencing his commitment to pacifism in the face of violence, which is what his brother Knives tries to push him towards. For Nightow, why was it important to include that phrase?

Nightow: I'm actually not involved in creating the trailer itself, but of course I'm involved in the development of the script. If there's any discrepancies, I'll comment on them. That was my involvement for when they were developing the script for the trailer. Because we worked together on the finished script that they use to make the trailer, there won't be any discrepancies. However, I didn't pick that phrase specifically to be used in the trailer.

In the 90s anime soundtrack, Tsuneo Imahori was the composer for Trigun: The First Donuts. The music was a mix of jazz, swing, etc. What will be the mood for the music in Trigun Stampede?

Takei: Personally, I really love the original anime soundtrack. But when we're developing the new Trigun, we're developing it with a new script and concept art. I thought, “well it's a new Trigun so there's the option to use new music as well.” Yet, as we were developing the script and concept art, I felt that there's actually no option to use the old one because it doesn't suit the world we're building. Especially when I saw Tajima's amazing concept art, which has an entire world contained within itself. It means that it has its own atmosphere, air, space, and its own music there as well. I could hear the music in it, but I couldn't make out exactly what it was when I first heard it. However, as we were developing the anime, that music became clearer.

How did producer Waki work together with the concept artist, Kouji Tajima, to build out the environment of Gunsmoke and the cities in it?

Waki: Tajima is the concept artist, but he also has another credit. He also did the character concept art. To make this kind of concept art, Tajima read the manga created by Nightow. In his way, he interpreted the manga to create the concept art. From there, Director Muto was the one who took that concept art and reflected on what he wanted to do. The concept itself has some abstractness and does not have all the details there. Filling in details was more of the later process.

Trigun is known for its weapons design. For example in the trailer you can see Vash's arm and his brother's gun. Which weapon is Nightow most excited to see animated in the new series? Like the Punisher, or even the saxophone?

Nightow: Rather than the individual designs of the weapons, I'm really looking forward to how these weapons are being going to be used. Muto is very talented in coming up with ideas.

How did the Studio Orange team balance the high expectations and opinions of the 90s Trigun anime when they were making the new series?

Waki: Our company focuses a lot on how to convey the emotions of the characters to the audience. That's our CEO's primary focus, and he looked closely into how the previous Trigun series did that. That's one of the things that we value as a company.