I had the pleasure of meeting Trigun and Gungrave creator Yasuhiro Nightow during Anime Central 2007. I participated in a round table discussion with Mr. Nightow and character designer Noriyuki Zinguji, who has worked on Trigun, sCRYED and Hellsing. Both guests were very pleasant, thoughtful and provided very detailed answers to the questions that we asked.
Mr. Nightow has worked in a variety of creative fields. When he’s not working on the Trigun Maximum manga (which continues Vash’s story), he’s either designing action figures, working on games or assisting with anime production.
I asked Mr. Nightow if there was a drastically different way he works between the manga and videogame world. He said that one of the main differences is that for videogames (specifically Gungrave), he approached the design of the characters from the back first. His reason for doing things this way were due to the fact that in the Gungrave game, you’re playing as Beyond the Grave, so the player would see over his shoulder. Then he began working on the backgrounds and environments. When asked if there was anything he would change about the game, he said “No”. 
Inspiration for Trigun was a mixture of ideas that Mr. Nightow had bubbling around in his head. He liked the contrast between cybertech and western, but the main concept of Vash stems from his desire to tell a story of a character with a strong sense of virtue. Some of the themes he wanted to explore included ideas on life and anti-violence. Some of those concepts have darkened over the years, but his ideas are constantly changing, so a lot of those original ideas show up from time to time.
His favorite ‘western’ (and possibly some inspiration for Trigun) is ‘Wild Wild West’. Or ‘The Wild Bunch’.
He is very inspired when he sees people cosplay as his characters. He once asked a cosplayer why they would go though so much trouble to make a costume for such a complex character design. The fan told him that his work is so inspiring, he had to make it work. So Mr. Nightow is a big fan of people who cosplayer as characters from his creations.
A few questions were asked about some of the ‘non work-related’ things he does. Some of Mr. Nightow’s favorite videogames are God of War and Tomb Raider (for Playstation).
Mr. Nightow would like to tell aspiring artists to “draw every day – practice/practice/practice!” He also said that “no one ever becomes a manga artist without first creating their own manga!”
Overall it was really great to meet such talented creators from Japan. I really appreciate both of their work and am greatful that they took the time out of their day to answer questions.
THANKS for the interview bits!!!
Yasuhiro Nightow is a god! =D
I love Trigun anime/manga and Gungrave is also awesome!
lops – No problem! I agree – Trigun and Gungrave are both awesome. I’ve completed both anime series but have yet to read the Trigun/Trigun Maximum manga or play the two Gungrave games for Playstation 2 (I’m behind in my manga reading).
You know, it’s funny. I can’t stand Trigun, but I love Gungrave. Which one do you prefer, Dave?
And: Finals are finally over!!
Had to get that out of my system.
Chris – Congrats on surviving finals! Regarding Trigun/Gungrave – while I really liked Gungrave, Trigun is where it’s at for me. I think the humor and zaniness of it all combined with a serious undertone really hooked me. While Brandon Heat was cool and all as “Beyone the Grave”, I couldn’t relate to him in quite the same way I related to Vash.
Thanks! Yah, that was actually the main problem I had with Vash. I like my heroes either deathly serious, or completely bonkers. Not too much in-between. Vash was just a little too goofy. I really enjoyed the story in Gungrave though. It was almost two shows in one. At the end of the show I really did care about Brandon Heat, Harry McDowell, and their doomed friendship. Powerful stuff.
To Chris, yeah I know what you mean. I prefer my characters in the same manner. Really whacky or so serious they’ll bend the earth if they have to. But sometimes, a good mix of serious and crazy is good. I guess thats why really serious characters have a ’side kick’ sometimes… you know to lighten up the tone.
But yeah, I love gungrave.
Thanks a heap,
Sergio
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Chris – Yeah, their doomed friendship was pretty powerful. It created a lot of tension during the last half of the series.
Sergio – Sidekicks are good for lightening things up…unless they’re too goofy. Then they’re just annoying lol.
I was wondering me and a friend of mine are having a debate in which Shonen Jump the creator of DBZ and many other animes had any hand in this, although by looking at this page it does not seem likely that he did. Do you mind clearing this up for me? Thank you
AWESOME!!!!! I Feel Much Better About Myself Starting Right out With My own Stuff, Unlike Some Who Start With Other’s Things.:D
It Was Sooooo Cool to Hear Just what Inspired Mr.Nightow To Make Vash The Stampede Up^^