Trigun Stargaze takes us to the anime world of Trigun, a high-octane show available now on Crunchyroll.
The synopsis for the show is “Vash the Stampede is a joyful gunslinging pacifist, so why does he have a “$$6 million bounty” on his head? That’s what is puzzling rookie reporter Meryl Stryfe and her jaded veteran partner when they look into the fugitive only to find someone who hates blood. But their investigation uncovers something heinous.”
We caught up with the show’s English dub stars. Alexis Tipton plays Milly Thompson (the actor is also known for Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, Fire Force) and David Matranga plays Nicholas D. Wolfwood ( the actor is also known for My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan) to find out more.
What is your elevator pitch for the show?
David: Space Battle Western. Humanity is trying to survive, and the characters that are at the forefront of trying to help them survive are dealing with their own morality that bumps into each other and gets in the way as they try to save the planet.
Alexis: if I was going to add anything, I might just mention, like, great music, great animation, yeah, right, timeless themes that anybody can, can be entertained by and or relate to. There’s a little something for everybody. So it would be a good show for anybody to check out, because it stands to reason that there is something in it for everybody.
What was your first day recording compared to your last day of recording this show?
Alexis: We actually don’t really get any time to prepare. Sometimes we know we’re coming in to record. Sometimes don’t even tell us what we’re coming in for. They told us for this. But when we come in, everything we do is what’s called cold reading, which means that we’re seeing the script for the very first time. And there’s a lot in that process that helps us find the character, find our performance, figure out what the scenes need as we go through them, but yeah, the first day, it was just, it was that that just like nervous excitement of, oooh, new project, and I know what this is, and this is really fun. As the show and the title progresses get to learn more about these characters.
David: If you watch, you know, your favourite television show, let’s say, and you watch the pilot, and then you watch the season finale, or a series finale, you can see that the character almost deepen with the actor’s relationship to that character. Seamless transitions, those things deepen as it goes for me. You create the voice right there in that first session. And I’m a pretty physical actor, just in general. When I’m working with Wolf, would you know, my posture changes a little bit. My shoulders are held a little differently just because of who he is and his kind of aura. And so that you know that first session you’re trying those things on, you lock something in, but then you know, all to the last session, all of that stuff is second nature. It’s not even you don’t even know you’re doing it anymore and the performance is just right at your fingertips.
What do you draw on as actors to get into the zone?
David: I think no matter how, and I’ve seen this with other media, no matter how futuristic something is, it comes down to those basic human needs of validation and love and friendship and community, and those things are so apparent in this show.
So, you know, it’s, it’s not like I have to imagine myself or something in a futuristic world. I think, I do think about, you know, what would it be like if things were more dire than I feel they are for me now. It really is about how you take on those given circumstances of the world, whatever those are, and then you play the truth of the character in those moments. And if you do that, I feel like the journey will always sort of calibrate itself well
Alexis: And we’re also very lucky with this title, that there are so many amazing storytelling elements present. And so when we preview all the lines in Japanese first, before we lay down the English track, and we get to hear the music, and we get to hear what the Japanese has done, like if there’s a big action sequence happening and or there’s a bunch of people screaming, or there’s something really emotional happening. You can really lock into those emotions of the preview, and it really does translate to feeling it in your own body.
If you could take one thing from the show, like it’s a power or a piece of technology or something like that, and have it for yourselves, what would it be?
Alexis: I mean the space travel is pretty great. I mean being able to travel farther in space than we can currently,
David: Being able to operate with like, acrobatic ease. That or a gun that is in the shape of a cross that’s got like, two different ends to it. That would be really cool. That would be really cool. I don’t think you could take it to a traditional shooting range or anything.
You can catch the show on Crunchyroll here.
Based on the original popular manga created by Yasuhiro Nightow, TRIGUN STAMPEDE and TRIGUN STARGAZE are produced by Studio Orange (BEASTARS, Leviathan). TRIGUN STAMPEDE was directed by Kenji Muto (Land of the Lustrous episode director), and TRIGUN STARGAZE is directed by Masako Sato (HAIKYU!! TO THE TOP). Additional credits for both include scripts based on Takehiko Oki’s concepts and concept art and character designs by Kouji Tajima (GANTZ:0 character artist).
Official TRIGUN STARGAZE Synopsis
It’s been two and a half years since the Lost JuLai tragedy laid waste to an entire city and engulfed the whole planet in chaos. Meryl continues her search for Vash with her new younger sidekick, Milly, and runs into Wolfwood along the way. Meanwhile, Vash has taken the new name Eriks and is living in hiding in a backwater town. When he receives an abrupt visit and SOS from the third ship they call home, he acts swiftly in order to protect those dear to him. However, as soon as the planet receives good news from the far reaches of outer space, the one-winged angel returns to wreak havoc and despair. Fates collide to forge a final conclusion for the panicked planet. TRIGUN STARGAZE is the second season and final journey of TRIGUN STAMPEDE.
