Studio Orange, famously known for its unique 3D style in Beastars and Houseki no Kuni, shocked the world by announcing Trigun Stampede in 2022. Trigun Stampede is a reboot of the beloved Trigun anime, which ran for 26 episodes in Japan in 1998 and in the US in 2003.
Like any new retelling, Trigun Stampede deviates from the source material. The original Trigun anime veered significantly from the manga, with many episodes unrelated to the source material’s plot.
Here are 13 ways Trigun Stampede differs from the original anime.
Milly Swapped for Roberto
The most significant change to the plot is taking out Milly, Meryl’s less experienced coworker at the insurance company. She is replaced by a new character, Roberto De Niro, who, as you may have noticed, is named after the famous American actor Robert De Niro.
The show lacks a lot of humor without the overly beefy Milly and her giant gun. However, while Roberto isn’t as strong as Milly, he helps Vash and Meryl in his way.
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Trigun Stampede Is Shorter
Like many anime these days, Trigun isn’t given 24-40 episodes for its first season. With only 12 episodes, Trigun Stampede is forced to move the plot faster than the original anime.
This change in length also means Trigun Stampede doesn’t include the filler episodes from the original anime, like “Truth of Mistake.” Rather, Trigun Stampede mashes several plot points together or has many things occur in one location.
Kuroneko Is Missing
Kuroneko, meaning “black cat,” was a recurring character in the Trigun series. The original Trigun anime fans will remember seeing a cheeky cat in every episode. Trying to spot the black cat was like a game for show fans. Kuroneko would also feature in the manga every once in a while. However, the recurring Easter egg hasn’t appeared in the first six episodes of the reboot.
Everyone Gets a New Look
When the trailer dropped, fans were shocked to see Vash’s signature hairstyle missing. However, he isn’t the only one with a new look. Nick’s hooked nose is toned down, and he’s given more mischievous yet boyish features. Zazie the Beast is now tan with a wicked side bang. Meryl has a new hat, different eye color and straighter edges.
Even unimportant villains like the Nebraska family or townspeople look entirely different.
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Goodbye, Giant Gofsef
Speaking of the Nebraska family getting new looks, there was no change more drastic than the giants of the family. Most notably, Gofsef. In the original Trigun anime and the manga, Gofsef is massive. His arrest warrant measures him as 34 feet and 16 inches (Technically 35 feet and 4 inches, but who am I to nitpick?).
However, when he appears in the new anime, he is not much taller than a regular man. While he still carries his dad around, he no longer towers over the townspeople as he did before.
Meryl Has a Career Change
There have been many changes to Meryl’s character. One of the most notable ones is that she is no longer the senior staff member of an insurance company but rather a rookie journalist working under the more seasoned journalist, Roberto.
Vash Isn’t the Tease He Was
In the original Trigun anime, Vash was the type of guy to heat the pot up without ever drinking the tea. He would flirt with most female characters but never put out, earning the title of “Casanova Wannabe” by TV Tropes.
However, in the new Trigun Stampede, we don’t see many flirting interactions at all. This is a massive contrast to the last show, where Vash was literally barking for women, like in episode six when Elizabeth treated him like a guard dog.
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Vash Isn’t Worth 60 Billion
The number “60 billion” was echoed repeatedly in the original anime. It was a big deal that Vash was worth that much. He was constantly attracting bounty hunters as a result. In Trigun Stampede, the reward is lowered to 6 billion, as seen on his wanted poster in the first episode. Instead of bounty hunters, we see police or regular townsfolk after the reward for Vash. I guess you’ve got to be worth more than 6 billion to attract the cowboy bounty hunters we saw in the original anime.
WARNING: From this point forward, there will be heavy spoilers for the new and old anime and the manga. Now is your chance to turn back if you haven’t seen either and return once you’ve caught up. With that in mind, proceed with caution.
Nick Is Back at the Orphanage
In the manga, the character Nick Wolfwood was raised in an orphanage. However, in the original anime, he was raised by an abusive guardian and later adopted by a man named Chapel the Evergreen.
While Nick wasn’t from an orphanage in the original Trigun, he was a priest who founded one. Being in charge of an orphanage is a big part of his character in that iteration, as it explains he only kills to get money for the orphanage.
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In Trigun Stampede, the orphanage origin story from the manga is brought back. Instead of being a priest who kills orphans, Nick is once again an orphan forced to kill as the Punisher. There are slight changes, like the age at which Nick was adopted, who adopted him and some of the events that have led him to his life as the Punisher.
Vash’s Missing Arm Is Revealed Right Away
In the original Trigun, we don’t find out about Vash’s strange arm until later in the series when he surprises us with a gun built right into it. However, in Trigun Stampede, we see during Vash’s first encounter with Meryl and Roberto that Vash’s arm isn’t human but completely mechanical. This arm hasn’t been revealed to double as a secret weapon yet.
Characters From the Manga Make a Return/Exit
With the return of Nick’s orphanage origin story, we also see Livio again. Livio is a minor villain who grew up alongside Nick Wolfwood. When Nick’s origin story was changed in the original Trigun anime, Livio was written out of the show.
Unlike the manga, the man who adopts Nick/Livio, Chapel, is replaced with a mysterious doctor.
New Deaths
While death wasn’t a foreign concept in the original Trigun, Trigun Stampede takes it to a new level. Minor villains like Gofsef die in explosions. Side characters thought safe in the last show, like little Tonsil, are left to die in their mother’s arms in the reboot. This leaves viewers on edge, as we never know who could be next.
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Monev Is Given a Tragic Backstory
In the manga and original Trigun anime, Monev is a minor villain specially trained to kill Vash. After slaughtering an entire town, Vash gets extremely serious and violent, a rare sight for the lighthearted anime.
Vash doesn’t have the same attitude when he meets Monev in Trigun Stampede. In the new series, Monev is given the name Rollo. Unlike the original Monev, Vash and Rollo had a history. Vash was even present in his early life and is seen holding him as a baby in a photo.
Rollo’s town belonged to a religion that believed in sacrificing children and tried to offer Rollo to bring wind back to their village. Instead of dying, Rollo is taken in by a mysterious doctor who runs experiments on Rollo, turning him into the man we know as Monev. Rollo destroys the town, like Monev in the original anime, but years before Vash finds him.
When Vash does locate Rollo, Vash is filled with guilt and remorse rather than rage. It is Nick and not Vash who defeats Monev/Rollo in this version of Trigun. However, Nick goes further than the pacifist Vash did in the original anime and kills Monev instead of sparing him.
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That’s All for Now
Trigun Stampede takes a different approach than the original anime. With more Trigun Stampede to come, look for any changes in future episodes.
Did you notice a change we didn’t catch? Are there things you wish were altered? Let us know in the comments.
Trigun Stampede drops new episodes weekly on Hulu.
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