The Anime Perfect For Fallout Fans Looking For Their Next Binge

Trigun is set in the 32nd century on a desert planet where space colonists are trying to establish a new home for humanity. It follows the adventures of pacifist gun slinger Vash the Stampede, who has been declared a human natural disaster after inadvertently destroying a city. He travels the planet, joined by the assassin Wolfwood and a pair of insurance agents, searching for his evil brother Knives. 

The desert planet setting of Trigun, called Gunsmoke or No Man’s Land, is reminiscent of Fallout’s wasteland. No Man’s Land is just as dangerous, waterless, and bandit-filled as the wastelands. I find the harsh environment, where water is scarce and giant monsters roam, more frightening than any villain in both shows.

My favorite thing about Trigun, and another similarity with Fallout, is the sense of style it brings to its desolate setting. Drawing on the aesthetic of the Western genre, Vash’s trench coat and revolver are iconic, and The Ghoul would fit right next to him with his cowboy hat and duster. It also features my favorite fictional gun, the cross-shaped Punisher, with a built-in rocket launcher and a machine gun similar to Fallout’s minigun. 

Thematically, Trigun and Fallout are both largely about the struggle to maintain morality in an unforgiving world. Vash is defined by his pacifism, refusing to kill despite the great physical and emotional toll it puts him under. While less extreme Lucy’s idealism and reluctance to kill immediately reminded me of Vash. 

Trigun has fantastic characters who share details and personality traits with the protagonists in Fallout. Vash and his brother Knives are immortal survivors of a cataclysmic disaster, making them conceptually similar to The Ghoul. Trigun also features one of anime’s greatest antiheroes in Nicholas Wolfwood, the assassin trying to save his orphanage. He is similar in personality to both the jaded Ghoul and conflicted Maximus. 

Trigun does take its sci-fi elements much further than Fallout. Vash and his brother are genetically engineered super beings capable of leveling cities with immense power, and the major cities are built around Plants, which are powered by interdimensional energy. Despite these fantastical elements, the show remained grounded in its human drama.

REVIEW SCORE

Triguin is an almost perfect anime series with great visuals and writing. Its blend of space-western aesthetics and gorgeous animation makes it a visual masterpiece. My only real complaint is that the pacing falls apart in the final episode, trying to fit several episode’s worth of story into half an hour.

I’ve been a fan of Tigun for decades, coming back to it regularly, and I’m surprised at how well it always holds up. It makes for a perfect companion piece to Fallout, aesthetically and thematically. All 26 episodes of Trigun are available to stream on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Disney+ (with Hulu).