Trigun and Trigun Stampede: Sub or Dub?

Trigun asks the language question about two separate productions: the 1998 television series made at Madhouse, and Trigun Stampede (2023) with its conclusion Trigun Stargaze (2026), made at Orange. They have different Japanese casts. The English side has a constant: Anime News Network credits Johnny Yong Bosch as Vash in the English dubs of both. Which production to start with is a separate question, answered in our Trigun watch order; this page keeps the two apart. It does not judge performances itself; where it describes them, it names the critic.

The short answer

For each production, ANN's critics graded the two tracks level. Theron Martin gave the 1998 series' dub and sub each a B+ in his 2010 review of the complete series; James Beckett gave Stampede's dub and sub each an A in his 2024 review of the limited-edition Blu-ray. If continuity of voice matters to you across both productions, the English track has it for Vash and the Japanese track does not: Vash is Masaya Onosaka in the 1998 Japanese cast and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka in Stampede's.

The 1998 series

ANN's encyclopedia lists 26 episodes, directed by Satoshi Nishimura at Madhouse and broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 1 to September 30, 1998. The English dub was produced by Animaze with ZRO Limit Productions, and the entry credits Joe Romersa and Lia Sargent as directors of the English version. ANN later reported that the dub was commissioned by Pioneer Entertainment, the company later known as Geneon, in 1999. It aired on Adult Swim from March 31 to May 13, 2003, according to the encyclopedia, which lists Geneon's license as expired and FUNimation as licensor from 2010.

1998 series: principal cast credited by ANN

Character	Japanese	English
Vash the Stampede	Masaya Onosaka	Johnny Yong Bosch
Meryl Stryfe	Hiromi Tsuru	Dorothy Melendrez
Milly Thompson	Satsuki Yukino	Lia Sargent
Nicholas D. Wolfwood	Show Hayami	Jeff Nimoy
Millions Knives	Tōru Furusawa	Bo Williams (adult)
Rem Saverem	Aya Hisakawa	Ruby Marlowe

In his 2010 review, Martin wrote that "The English dub, courtesy of Animaze, suits the production well." He said Bosch "pulls off Vash's quick transitions between goofy and serious moods without a hitch", praised the supporting work of Melendrez, Nimoy "and especially Lia Sargent as Milly", and reported on the adaptation that "The script also stays very tight, making only minimal changes in wording." Sargent therefore appears in ANN's credits twice, as Milly and as one of the dub's directors.

The 2010 film Trigun: Badlands Rumble was also made at Madhouse with Nishimura directing and Onosaka as the Japanese Vash, according to ANN's film entry, which credits Zach Bolton as English ADR director. When Funimation announced a partial English cast in 2011, ANN reported Bosch returning as Vash with Luci Christian as Meryl, Trina Nishimura as Milly and Brad Hawkins as Wolfwood, and noted that of that list only Bosch had performed in the original television dub.

Trigun Stampede and Trigun Stargaze

ANN's Stampede entry lists 12 episodes directed by Kenji Mutō at Orange. The series premiered on TV Tokyo and other channels on January 7, 2023, and Crunchyroll announced that Bosch would return from the 1998 anime as Vash, with the English dub debuting on January 21 and Jeremy Inman directing it. Crunchyroll's cast announcement named most of the principal dub cast, and David Matranga's casting as Wolfwood was revealed in February 2023.

For Stargaze, which ANN describes as the "final phase" of Stampede, the encyclopedia credits Masako Sato as director at Orange. It premiered in Japan on January 10, 2026, and ANN reported that Crunchyroll would begin streaming the English dub on Saturday, January 24, with Inman directing again. That dub adds Alexis Tipton as Milly, whom ANN describes as a character who appeared in the original 1998 anime but not in Trigun Stampede. Among the principal roles, the Japanese Knives changed between the two titles: ANN credits Junya Ikeda as Knives in Stampede and Ryūji Satō in Stargaze, while the English Knives is Austin Tindle in both.

Stampede and Stargaze: principal cast credited by ANN

Character	Japanese	English
Vash the Stampede	Yoshitsugu Matsuoka	Johnny Yong Bosch
Meryl Stryfe	Sakura Andō	Sarah Roach
Nicholas D. Wolfwood	Yoshimasa Hosoya	David Matranga
Millions Knives	Junya Ikeda (Stampede), Ryūji Satō (Stargaze)	Austin Tindle
Rem Saverem	Maaya Sakamoto	Emily Fajardo
Roberto de Niro (Stampede)	Kenji Matsuda	Ben Bryant
Milly Thompson (Stargaze)	Chika Ayamori	Alexis Tipton

Beckett's review of Crunchyroll's limited edition called it "the excellent English dub that brought back franchise mainstay Johnny Yong Bosch" and graded both tracks A. That review covers Stampede only; it was written before Stargaze aired.

Where each track streams

In January 2026, ANN reported that Crunchyroll was streaming Stargaze as it aired and was also streaming an English dub of Stampede, and that the 1998 series was streaming on Crunchyroll as well. We could not load Crunchyroll's own pages on October 7, 2026 to confirm the current audio options, and catalogs differ by country and change, so check your own service before choosing.

Lines from both productions are on our verified Trigun quotes page and in the Trigun quote archive, each recording its source; those pages contain spoilers, so read them once you have finished a line.