Crunchyroll's 26-Episode Sci-Fi Anime Put a New Twist on the Classic Western

4 weeks ago 28

Vash the Stampede in Trigun holding up his gloved hand

Published Jul 5, 2026, 8:20 PM EDT

Jeffrey is a freelance features writer at Collider. He is an MPA-accredited entertainment journalist and a Tomatometer-approved critic based in the LA area. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Radio, TV, & Film and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater.

Trigun is undoubtedly one of the best, most beloved, and seminal anime series of all time. The legendary gateway anime show exemplifies why many American viewers became fans of the genre in the first place. Trigun has many amazing qualities, such as its indelible, memorable characters, tremendous storyline, fantastic music, and unique setting that mixes science fiction, fantasy, and the Old West. Trigun is interesting since it has many familiar hallmarks and a visual aesthetic that resembles the idealized view of the Wild West and Hollywood Westerns, but it also puts a unique spin on the Western through its sci-fi flourishes, along with its protagonist, Vash the Stampede (Johnny Yong Bosch). It’s time to look at how the Trigun series blended science fiction and the Western to create something completely brand-new.

’Trigun’s Vash the Stampede Is Similar to Western Heroes Portrayed by John Wayne and Clint Eastwood

At the heart of Trigun's story is its multi-faceted protagonist, Vash the Stampede. Vash is a subversion of the lone wandering gunman typically depicted in Western movies. The creator of the original Trigun manga series, Yasuhiro Nightow, created Vash as a pacifist. Throughout both the manga and anime series, Vash follows a strict code where he refuses to kill, even his deadliest enemies. Vash is a capable fighter and a skilled gunslinger, and he will always avoid taking a kill shot, although there are some exceptions to that no-killing rule.

Westerns are usually characterized by one or more gunslingers, be they heroes or antiheroes. Vash is a nomad and skilled gunman, and deep down, he does have a heart of gold. However, his personality is the inverse of the stoic and stern grimness of popular Western figures portrayed by the likes of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. While Vash arguably sometimes shares a similar nobility and code of honor to those of classic Western characters, he upholds his vow of pacifism and refusal to kill others, even his enemies. Western heroes may avoid killing or conflict in some cases, but more often than not, they are always driven to a duel or shootout with their enemies. Those conflicts usually end with someone dying, but Vash always looks for a non-lethal solution.

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Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt

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🏺Indiana Jones

🔧John McClane

🎭Ethan Hunt

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You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.

ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged.

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You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.

AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method.

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You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.

ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead.

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How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.

APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently.

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Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.

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ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it.

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What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had.

ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up.

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Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.

AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked.

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It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.

AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been.

REVEAL MY PARTNER →

Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…

Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.

Rambo

Your partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know.

James Bond

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John McClane

Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.

Ethan Hunt

Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

While typical Western heroes tend to be grim, stoic, dry, and rugged, Vash is the opposite. Vash likes to play the fool, and he tends to act very goofy, cowardly, and ridiculous. Sometimes he acts this way to trick his enemies, while at other times he wants to put others at ease due to his misunderstood reputation. Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Jeff Nimoy), Vash's friend, points out to Vash that he wears a fake smile, and he realizes that Vash may act the fool, but deep down, he hides a wellspring of pain and trauma. While Vash is not the monster many make him out to be, he still suffers deep emotional pain from the personal losses in his past. Another interesting aspect of Vash is his vulnerability and how he sometimes breaks down, showing his true emotions, which is rarely seen with Western protagonists.

No Man's Land Takes Inspiration From Classic Western Settings

Another fun sci-fi spin of the Western in Trigun is its unique locale in the planet No Man’s Land, aka Gunsmoke, the setting for the action of both the anime and manga series. Trigun is set in a future time when Earth’s resources are depleted. The remnants of humanity take part in a deep-space colonization project called Project SEEDS. However, due to the meddling of Vash’s twin plant brother, Knives Million, the ships crashed on planet Gunsmoke, stranding the last vestiges of humankind. Gunsmoke is the perfect setting for Trigun. The whole planet is mostly a desolate wasteland, akin to many great Western or post-apocalyptic sci-fi features. Human society developed on what meager resources are available, with cities built around the crashed Plant generators from Project SEEDS. Society adapted to take on an 1800s Western style in terms of architecture, setting, and technology. While things like electricity and gas-powered vehicles do exist, they're not widespread due to the planet's lack of resources and infrastructure.

The look and visual style of Gunsmoke set the classic Western vibe and mood of Trigun. However, while the show does have a lot of traditional Western settings and locales, it also mixes in various fun sci-fi elements. Since horses are not available to humanity, the survivors adapted a species of native, docile pack animals dubbed "Thomas" as their new mounts. The planet is also native to a dangerous species of giant sandworms. The bad guys are all larger-than-life characters, with elaborate weapons and designs. The remnants of futuristic planet Earth from the crashed spaceships that litter No Man's Land are referred to as "lost technology." The way the series mixes sci-fi and alien creatures with more traditional Western settings and styles is part of the series’ charm.

Vash the Stampede Has a Colorful Rogues Gallery

Trigun offers a fun spin on the Western with its colorful cast of characters. Vash the Stampede has one of the more interesting and best-designed rogues galleries for any anime hero. Case in point, the Gung-Ho Guns, a gang of assassins organized by Vash's brother, Knives Millions, to torment him. Each member of the Gung-Ho Gun is uniquely designed and memorable. Some are more psychological than others, such as Zazie the Beast (Derek Stephen Prince) and Legato Bluesummers (Richard Cansino). Wolfwood, a traveling preacher and hired gun, forms a unique bond and friendship with Vash throughout the series, and becomes the story's deuteragonist. Wolfwood is an equally multi-faceted and layered character like Vash, becoming one of the series' most interesting characters.

The world of Trigun is a world of outlaws, bounty hunters, and cutthroats. What's fun about Trigun is that every single character looks unique and memorable, from the villains such as Knives, Legato, the Gung-Ho Guns, and even the Nebraska family, to the one-off supporting characters, such as Amelia Ann McFly and Gasback Gallon Getaway. The series’ penchant for cool and unique nicknames, which are always appropriately on the nose, is another point in the series' favor.

What Sets 'Trigun' Apart From Traditional Westerns Is What Makes It Work

close-up trigun's stampede wearing sunglassses and looking offscreen

What always makes Trigun so captivating is Vash's journey. As the storyline unpacks more of Vash's backstory, he grows into an even more empathetic and tragic character. Tragic backstories are something that Vash and many Western heroes have in common, whether it's Harmonica (Charles Bronson) in Once Upon a Time in the West, the Ringo Kid (Wayne) in Stagecoach, or even The Man With No Name in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy.

The main difference is that Vash technically isn’t a naturally born human. He’s an artificial being called a plant. He and his brother Knives were raised among humans during the interstellar Project SEEDS mission. Vash was heavily influenced by his human guardian, Rem Saverem, which is why he adopted his pacifist outlook and refuses to kill his enemies. The tragedy Vash experienced in losing Rem was emotional and heartbreaking, but Vash honors the memory of his guardian by living the life he believes she would respect. Most Western heroes do not think twice about dispatching their enemies, but for Vash, it is an emotional low point when he does finally kill.

Many anime shows mix together the genres of Western and sci-fi, but few do it as well as the original 1998 Trigun series. The show was highly influential as it aired on Adult Swim when the block was at its peak, and it became a gateway anime for many new fans. The 1998 anime series remains a fan favorite to this day. The full series and its 2010 spin-off movie Trigun: Badlands Rumble, are available to stream now, subbed and dubbed, on Crunchyroll. Trigun Stampede, the latest anime adaptation of Nightow's manga series, is also streaming now on Crunchyroll.