Legendary 31-Year-Old Space Western Officially Returns With New Release

Published Nov 6, 2026, 7:06 PM EST

Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

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While the Western genre is experiencing a bit of a comeback on-screen with the likes of Taylor Sheridan putting a modern twist on the genre, the same can't really be said for the space western. Plenty of sci-fi titles still share some loose, pulpy roots with classic Westerns, but there aren't many that evoke the same vibes as something like Firefly, Outland, or the classic anime Cowboy Bebop. This year did, however, see The Mandalorian and Grogu premiere in theaters and continue Jon Favreau's Star Wars spin-off series with a standalone cinematic adventure following the titular bounty hunter on a new mission. A storied anime Western is also about to make a return to the genre in a new form.

Per Anime News Network, Shueisha's Jump SQ. RISE magazine announced the return of Trigun in its autumn issue on Thursday, with a new novel penned by the legendary manga's creator Yasuhiro Nightow in collaboration with Trigun Stampede writer Takehiko Oxi. Titled Trigun Manuscript, it's slated to take place in the same world and continuity as Stampede and the most recent television anime, Trigun Stargaze, which premiered back in January. Stargaze was billed as the "final phase" of Stampede, closing out the reimagining of the story told in the source material and the Studio Madhouse series. While it's connected specifically to the 2023 anime, Nightow is also providing new art on both the cover and interior of the new release.

As far as the translation goes, it's described as "the long-awaited novelization," suggesting that it'll be a retelling of the events of Stampede and Stargaze. Shueisha hasn't announced an exact release date other than a general window of this winter. Further details are slated to be announced at a later date. Expectations are, however, that there will be some changes to Vash the Stampede's adventures now that the anime is wrapped up.