What happens if you put the Trolley Problem in front of Vash the Stampede? I think there’s no debating the answer. That man will stop the trolley. He won’t let it keep moving, and he definitely won’t pull the lever. He will jump in, stop the damn thing, and then save everyone on the tracks. To some, that might be cheap. To some, that might look like it is missing the point of the problem. By all means, it is. It is both of those things. And at the same time, in my opinion, it is beautiful. Above all, it is human.

Trigun Stargaze has left me confused in a lot of ways, but mostly in a good way. When I first started watching Stampede after reading the manga and watching the original anime, I wasn’t ready for how good this retelling was. It was a great remake of the original that made enough changes to stay fresh, while still telling the same story. But it was with Stargaze that I think I understand Orange’s true vision with this series. It is not a remake, and it is not meant to be a replacement to the original. Stampede and Stargaze, put simply, are the Golden Route of Trigun.

With their version of the story, Orange is not trying to reanimate Yasuhiro Nightow’s masterpiece. They are trying to question its choices and morality. They are trying to ask if sacrifices are so important when you’re trying to walk the path of kindness. If Vash really needs to kill Legato in order to fulfill his wish, or if Wolfwood really needs to lose his life to let his friend get there. Because if they do, then what is the point of their ideals? Why struggle so much, only to see it crumble in the end and fall to your knees?

Once you’ve already been through the trauma and sadness of the original, Stargaze lets you see the Good Ending to this story. The one where Vash did not need to compromise on his ideals. The one in which Wolfwood lived, and most of the Gung Ho Guns found peace. The one where Vash was not forced to bend down to the world, but made the world bend down to his honest, simple ideals. In any other story, the lack of death lowers the stake. In Stargaze, the goal that nobody should die is the highest the stakes could possibly be.

Does this mean the story is perfect, though? Of course not. Having a completely pacifist, happy retelling of Trigun does not mean it is not a better story. It is a better message, and a better moral, but one that accepts the caveats that come with it. That is why this show confuses me in a good way. Because it allows me to review a season so perfectly realized that it becomes its own worst enemy in terms of pacing. Stargaze is not best read as a story of Vash vs. Knives. It is a story of technicality vs. artistic intent.

Stargaze's greatest strength is also, unfortunately, its greatest weakness. And that is a little thread that they started all the way back in Stampede Episode 2. The idea that there can be a retelling of Trigun in which things just end up going well for most people involved was there, but constantly challenged by Knives' presence. Every step that Vash took in the right direction was countered by a very active, very hostile antagonist.

In Stargaze, however, they decided to let this antagonist take a back seat. Thematically, it allows them to put Knives in the same position as Vash. Alone, misunderstood, and traumatized by his past. On paper, that is a brilliant idea. It helps the parallels between the brothers come across much more easily. At the same time, technically, it is a pacing nightmare. You cannot take away the main threat of your story in its final chapter and expect things to be fun. Because all you have left is a rinse and repeat formula of Vash and Wolfwood confronting a new member of the Gung Ho Guns and bringing about a change of heart. Over. And over. And over.

Once more, thematically, it resonates better than TriMax. If Vash is genuinely saving these people instead of defeating them, his philosophy and stance is stronger. He isn't just a pacifist in name only, but also in action. He genuinely wants to connect to people and bring about a world where everyone can live in harmony. And once more, technically, it takes away all tension and lowers the objective, violent stakes. The story goes from a struggle to maintain your ideals, to a struggle to win with them.

And so, when you've now saved and befriended every villain from the original Trigun, you start realizing that these are two totally different stories. As I said, this is still Trigun, but the Golden Route. A universe in which the protagonist is not hindered by a world trying to change him, but by a world so rotten to its core that it takes all of his efforts to purify it. But it is also a story of a world that is not rotten in intention, but in execution. It is people who start with good ideas, but lose their way along the path. Stargaze is not a Good vs. Evil story. It is a Good Which Perseveres vs. Good Which Gives Up story.

I think this comes across best in the many, many religious themes Stargaze has. There is no correct side on this chess board. There are different people who grew up in different worlds, with different knowledge, and forgot how to be kind. It is an honest reflection of the real world, but then fictionalized by Vash's presence. A soul who understands that we cannot be the same, but tries his best to look past binaries and save everyone involved. How else do you possibly tell the story of a true pacifist, if not like this? How else, if not via a story that does not just stay true to itself, but imposes that idealism on the entire universe?

There is not much else left to say. The music is hauntingly beautiful. The animation is probably Studio Orange at their very best. Every other episode has the quality and vison of Stampede's finale. And the final episode is...special, to say the least. I've been dying to see the final battle of TriMax adapted in a visually satisfying manner, and they really, really, really delivered on that front. It might be the one of the grandest anime finales I've ever witnessed, and still one of the most subtle and humble.

Stargaze's thematic prowess cannot overpower or hide its glaring technical issues. It is undeniable that a price had to be paid to create a story that is so honest and true to the heart of its source material. So much so that it is forced to sacrifice its own technical competence (and a more faithful adaptation) to achieve it. In fact, I'd argue that Stargaze has a more Vash-like protagonist than the original manga, and that's saying something.

Either way, I can't tell you to hate it or love it. After all, that would go against the very essence of this retelling. You are free to think what you want. So as to say, with a much more cohesive and deep understanding of the phrase - the ticket to your future is always blank.

Love and Peace!