The following contains spoilers for TRIGUN STAMPEDE episode 1, "Noman's Land" now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The first episode of TRIGUN STAMPEDE premiered on January 7th, and it is one of the first shows to usher in the Winter 2023 anime season. This reboot of Yasuhiro Nightow's Trigun is a whole new approach to the franchise, and is the first Trigun anime project since Trigun: Badlands Rumble, the animated film which was released in 2010.
With a different approach to the visuals, the storyline and various other aspects, Yasuhiro Nightow's involvement in the TRIGUN STAMPEDE project implies an observation of the author's vision for the series. The series' new paint-job has been the point of controversy for fans of the original series, which first aired for 26 episodes from April to September 1998; however, if the first episode is anything to go by, TRIGUN STAMPEDE is not an anime to be missed this season, but some die-hard fans might have a hard time digesting this one.
Rough Beginnings
TRIGUN STAMPEDE begins with sweeping establishing shots of a spaceship of some kind journeying through space. Aboard the ship are a pair of blonde-haired children, twin boys, who are accompanied by a young woman they refer to by name but are clearly attached to emotionally.
This opening sequence doesn't hide its intention – at least not from a fan of the original Trigun series; who invariably comes to be aware of the significance of seeing a young Vash The Stampede and a brief glimpse into where he came from. If one compares this to the original series' introduction of Vash The Stampede, it becomes clear that this series is focused on fleshing out Vash The Stampede as a character, and bringing him into conflict with someone who is himself but not himself – his equal and opposite: his brother, Knives Millions. The original series took far longer to build "Vash The Stampede" beyond his identity as an outlaw, and there are several things this new approach to Trigun does far differently to the original anime series.
Vash is first seen talking to the cryogenically frozen bodies of what can be assumed to be the ship's crew before he hears the sound from the impact of some kind of missile or artillery. With the ship's hallways beginning to be engulfed in flames, Vash goes back to his room to find his brother and their guardian, but runs into them as they attempt to evacuate the burning vessel. They land on a mysterious planet, but we don't see what happened to the two young boys dressed in intricate spacesuits marked with the iconography of an organization known as SEEDS, because the series introduces its true main character in the following scenes.
Stryfe and Discord
Fast-forward to some point in the future, a reporter named Meryl Stryfe is in hot pursuit of one of the most notorious criminals in history, a dangerous man called Vash The Stampede, also known to many as "The Human Typhoon". He has a bounty of 60 billion double Dollars on his head, so anyone who catches this criminal is bound to be set for life. Accompanying Meryl on this hunt is her jaded senior, Roberto De Niro, who seems committed only to drinking and belittling Meryl.
On this planet known as Noman's Land, conditions are tough and only the strongest people survive, not to mention the inhabitants' propensity for violence, which Meryl comes to understand when she finds three dead bodies suspended upside-down out in the arid conditions of the desert. One of them is actually still alive, and he asks for her help.
A few police officers hot on Vash's trail arrive soon after Meryl and De Niro, and ask them a few questions about the very Vash The Stampede they just helped down from a trap. Meryl sends the officers on a wild goose chase, sending them searching for him in the opposite direction.
Despite the fact that he looks just like the guy on Vash The Stampede's wanted poster, the man Meryl saved seems to be nothing like a vicious, murdering criminal. Seeing how goofy and gentle the man is, but not wanting to give up having captured someone so elusive, Meryl and De Niro end up taking Vash along with them. Since it's scorching hot, Meryl decides she wants to get some water from a nearby establishment. The owner is standoffish at first, but upon seeing Vash with them, she becomes more receptive to Meryl and De Niro, citing that he happens to be the little town's hero.
Something in the Water
When the water Meryl ordered arrives tinged an unsettling shade of brown, the owner spots the concern in her eyes and tells her that the town has been having issues with their water purification. The last time such a thing happened, Vash helped them out, but their purifier is broken again with no one having the financial means to fix it. Vash offers to have a look and see what he can do, further exhibiting his caring and helpful nature to his captors/new acquaintances.
At the same time, looking at the water purification unit, the police officers from earlier raid the bar and disrupt the scene, using violence to subdue Vash The Stampede despite his being unarmed. They start taking him away before De Niro, absolutely drunk out of his mind, gets into the lead police officer's head, using the brutality he and his men inflicted upon an unarmed man as the inroads he needed. He claims that it isn't very manly to win like that, and drunkenly suggests that Vash and his pursuer engage in a no-holds-barred duel – winner takes all. Obviously, the police officer has no intention of losing and uses underhanded methods like giving Vash an unloaded gun to use, and using a missile launcher to threaten the people in the area along with Vash.
This is where the first episode climaxes as the missile splits into 22 separate harbingers of destruction, and despite his hilarious begging and pleading, Vash is only able to get his hands on a single bullet thanks to Meryl, but those who know Trigun know that a single bullet for Vash The Stampede is all he needs. However, the policeman won't make it easy as he fires a highly accurate round at the bullet just as Vash is about to catch it, creating a scramble for the bullet that allows Studio Orange to show off a little more of what they can do with intense, dynamic scenes. Vash uses his metal arm to grab a huge chunk of rock before throwing it upwards and blasting at his new, singular target.
The resulting debris manages to knock each of the missiles off course and cause them to explode, creating a scene almost as dazzling as the destruction of the ship in the episode's initial stages, but also reminiscent of something else: the first sight Vash saw after crash-landing on this forsaken planet – towering flames surrounding a huge natural pillar upon which his brother stood, staring at the countless shooting stars making their descent at that moment. His brother stood there, laughing.
Dioscuri
After he saves the town once again, Meryl and De Niro are shocked at the fact that they're still alive. Meryl, despite seeing the incredible gunmanship of her new acquaintance, still can't see him as the big bad criminal that they've been looking for, but it's clear that her intuition is tugging at her.
Vash tries to cover up his identity by pretending that his heroic actions, as well as intense fight against the police were all just the result of his immense luck. By the end of it, the first episode is in an interesting place having introduced Vash and shown various aspects about his character that weren't so quickly revealed in the original anime; however, the combination of great visuals, highly expressive characters and the set-up of Vash and his brother, Knives Millions as polar opposites makes TRIGUN STAMPEDE episode 1 a big leap from the approach taken in the original Trigun anime, but it's an approach that is definitely worth checking out; whether you're an oldhead or an anime fan new to the franchise.