The Trigun Stargaze Star Voice Cast on Meeting Fans, Iconic Moments, and the Series Finale
The English-language cast talk about putting their own spin on the popular anime series.
The Trigun series and the current installment, Trigun Stargaze, are among Crunchyroll’s most highly rated and popular anime series, with the latter coming to a conclusion in just a couple weeks. This season serves as a sequel to Trigun Stampede and picks up two and a half years after a catastrophic event that laid waste to an entire city and threw the planet into chaos. After this time jump, we find Meryl Strife now working as a senior journalist, continuing her search for Vash the Stampede alongside her new partner, Milly Thompson. Along the way, the two cross paths with a series favorite, Nicholas D. Wolfwood. As in previous iterations of the story, plant robberies begin, and the looming presence of the Millions Knives organization makes itself felt. Fans of the series will feel right at home with the sharp dialogue and futuristic Western setting.
The Japanese version concluded on March 28, with the English dub finale premiering on April 11 on Crunchyroll. We recently sat down with the English voice cast to talk about the conclusion of the series and their incredible multi-season journey. We chatted with Johnny Yong Bosch, who plays Vash the Stampede; David Matranga, who plays Nicholas D. Wolfwood; Sarah Roach, who plays Meryl Stryfe; and Alexis Tipton, who voices Milly Thompson. Trigun has built an enormous following among anime fans, whether they came for Vash the Stampede, the legendary gunman known as the Humanoid Typhoon, or for Meryl Strife, the tenacious reporter from the Bernardelli Insurance Society who has been relentlessly chasing the story of Vash’s fight to save the world. Fans are finding this finale to be not only the conclusion they have been waiting for, but a fitting end to a long-running saga.
During our chat, the cast shared some of their favorite lines from the series, reflected on what it’s like working as voice actors, recognized a Trigun fan when one approached them, and discussed what it means to balance their performances with the work set by the Japanese voice cast.
Read on for our chat with the English Voice cast of Trigun Stargaze.
Jacqueline Coley for Rotten Tomatoes: Trigun is one of the highest-rated shows on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s still at 100%. This is the first time you’re really getting out and about with it since it came out during COVID. Have you felt the fan reaction?
David Matranga: Yeah, that’s great. I love that. We care about the story, and it’s good to know that, obviously, other people do as well. Whenever I get the pleasure to talk to people about this story, the fans are always really intense about it, and there are really great conversations. I just have to attribute that to what the story is, what it symbolizes and embodies. People are passionate. It’s cool.
Johnny Yong Bosch: It’s pretty awesome. It’s pretty awesome to be part of something that resonates with fans so wonderfully.
RT: What’s been your best fan reaction when people are specifically talking about Trigun?
Sarah Roach: I’ve had multiple Meryls come up to my table, and they’re always so excited, and I’m always so excited to see them. When we’re recording, it’s just us in the booth with the director and the engineer. So it’s great to see, after the fact, how people have responded, how much they love it, how much it means to them. Getting to talk to people at conventions is a really great way to make connections.
RT: Can you tell what someone is recognizing you from when they walk up?
Roach: Cosplay is a pretty easy giveaway. (laughs)
Matranga: Usually, people just blurt out what they’re there for. You never know what it’s going to be, but somehow, there is something about Trigun that people want to talk about rather than just treat it as a trend. They really want to have a chat. And I love that because I love the series.
RT: What is it about the futuristic Western feel that’s so appealing, especially in the English dub?
Alexis Tipton: I’m a big fan of anytime someone experiments with what feels like different time periods. That Old West vibe with the futuristic sci-fi – it’s so fun, and in this instance it really, really works. There’s so much in Wild West iconography that you could absolutely turn sci-fi. And then you have the desert planet and No Man’s Land and everything.
Matranga: That mashup is what is so attractive to me about the world. In a Western, the tempo is different much of the time, but then the sci-fi fighting is full-on, big-screen. And then you’ve got ships. I love it.
Roach: The combination of sci-fi and Western is a classic combination, and it works so well. It’s so interesting to have that past-type setting alongside the future-type setting, and to see how they combine and interact.
Bosch: I do hear from fans that they love the space Western thing, but I think that’s what draws so many people to it, you can be a fan of sci-fi, a fan of Westerns, anything in between, and it comes together because of the characters and the story. It’s unique.
RT: The visuals are outstanding. What was a moment where you were flabbergasted when all the pieces came together?
Tipton: We record solo all the time, so I’m just talking to myself, doing the best I can. But it’s really fun to go back and hear how the scene worked between characters, hearing how David’s responding or how Sarah’s responding. Honestly, just going back and watching the entirety of episode 1 of Trigun Stargaze, so much information was injected into that episode, and it had been some time. It was just really cool. Like, “Oh, we are back, baby.”
Matranga: Episode 8 in particular. I did that before many people had recorded. I typically watch the Japanese version before I record, then watch it as I’m recording. And sometimes we do different takes, and I don’t know which one they’re going to use. So when they do the review before it goes to mix, I love to go back and see, “Oh, they went with that read, that take.” Getting to hear episode 8 fully come to life with everybody in there, that was great.
RT: What does it feel like knowing this is the wrap-up, and that this may be the first, and maybe last, time all four of you are together in the same place?
Matranga: It just really makes me want to do more. I want more of the show, more of this. We haven’t done something like this for Trigun yet and I’ve known Alexis for years. We’ve done other things, we see each other at conventions. But yeah, it could be. I want more.
RT: You’re still recording the new series. What are you hoping fans are going to get out of this last part?
Bosch: I hope that by the end of it, fans will be satisfied yet still want more, they’ll watch it again, or they’ll bug them to do another season.
RT: How does dubbing over completed animation change how you approach your performance compared to the original animation?
Bosch: It is very different from original animation, where you freely make choices, and they animate them. Here, the choices have been made, it’s laid out for you, but you still have to put your color on it. Sometimes I’ll just “chase” it: I’ll see the scene, see my lines, and once I hit the beeps, I just start acting in the space. I can hear if I’m locked in, or notice something like, “that character is far away, I’ve got to shout this line.” The writers are really good, too. They know the spacing, the timing, the lip flaps, and where to put pauses.
Roach: There’s already animation and the Japanese performances that certainly inform what you’re doing, but you put your own spin on it. It’s a balancing act. And there’s the added challenge of making sure the timing is right while still having all the right feelings. It’s certainly a different animal.
RT: Favorite line or most iconic moment from the series?
Bosch: “Love and Peace” was very iconic in Stampede. For Stargaze, we haven’t quite finished yet, but from Stampede — that last episode where Vash is fighting Knives and Knives can’t believe why he cares for them so much. And Vash says, “I won’t stop until they believe in me.”
Roach: Probably the first episode of Stampede, where Meryl has just met Vash, and she’s not sure about him. Then there’s the fight scene where he holds his own, and as they’re walking out, she says, “You sure know how to use a gun.”
Matranga: Anything where I get to say “needle noggin” or call him “Blondie.” Those are fun because there’s so much meaning in them. There’s something so cinematic about Trigun Stargaze and Stampede that it’s hard to even choose one line or one moment. I have moments when I get to do a scene with Johnny, and it’s just this wonderful, nuanced conversation. It feels more like filmic acting. The animation is so beautiful that’s another reason I don’t want it to end.
Tipton: It’s not really a specific line, but anytime there’s worms involved, and Milly is so excited about it, and Meryl is horrified, that’s a running gag. It’s like two kinds of people. Anytime that happens is really funny.
The English dub finale of Trigun Stargaze streams on Crunchyroll on April 11, 2026.
