The official X account for the Trigun Stargaze anime made a significant announcement on Saturday. Minami Takayama will now voice Zazie the Beast, replacing the late voice actress Tarako. The staff also revealed that Tarako had recorded dialogue for the first episode of the series before her passing.
Tarako passed away in March 2024 at the age of 63. The cause of her death was not disclosed.
The anime premiered on TV Tokyo and its affiliated channels on January 10 at 11:00 p.m. (9:00 a.m. EST) and is also available on various streaming services in Japan.
The anime features a mix of returning and new cast members. The new cast members include:
©2023 内藤泰弘・少年画報社／「TRIGUN STAMPEDE」製作委員会
Trigun Stargaze is the previously announced “final phase” of the overall Trigun Stampede story, set 2.5 years after the end of the previous anime.
Crunchyroll had previously stated it would stream the “final phase” when it airs.
Masako Sato is directing the anime at Orange. Takehiko Oxi returns from Trigun Stampede for the original story. Kazuyuki Fudeyasu is writing and supervising the series’ scripts. Kouji Tajima is returning from Trigun Stampede as the original character designer and concept artist. Kiyotaka Oshiyama, who helmed the recent critically acclaimed film Look Back, is the animation character designer for the anime.
Trigun Stampede premiered in Japan in January 2023. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired and is also streaming an English dub.
The story follows the misadventures of Vash the Stampede, a gunman on the lam with a “60 billion double dollar” bounty on his head. Vash earned his “Stampede” nickname thanks to the destruction that zealous bounty hunters wreak on any town he visits.
Kenji Mutō directed the anime at Orange. Kouji Tajima was the concept designer and was credited with the character concept. Takehiko Oxi was credited with the story draft, and Tatsurō Inamoto, Shin Okashima, and Yoshihisa Ueda oversaw and wrote the scripts. Nao Ootsu was the chief designer, and character designers included Kōdai Watanabe, Tetsurō Moronuki, Takahiko Abiru, Akiko Satō, Sōji Ninomiya, and Yumihiko Amano. Tatsuya Katō composed the music.
Madhouse’s previous television anime adaptation aired for 26 episodes in Japan in 1998. The anime launched in North America for home video in 2000. Geneon Entertainment (formerly Pioneer) originally released the series on DVD, but Funimation has since licensed the series and released it on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. The series is now streaming on Crunchyroll following Sony’s Funimation Global Group’s acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T. Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block aired the anime in 2003.
The Trigun anime adapts Yasuhiro Nightow’s manga of the same name. The manga ran in Tokuma Shoten’s Monthly Shonen Captain magazine from 1995 to 1997. The manga returned with Trigun Maximum in Shonengahosha’s Young King Ours magazine later in 1997 and ran until 2007. Dark Horse Comics has released the manga in English.
The Trigun: Badlands Rumble anime film debuted in April 2010 and was the first new Trigun animation in over a decade.
News Source: Animenewsnetwork.com
