When longtime anime fans hear the voice of Vash the Stampede in their heads they always think of Johnny Yong Bosch. He IS Vash as far as many are concerned.
So when Studio Orange announced a 2023 Trigun Stampede release date everyone assumed that Johnny would be returning for the Trigun reboot. In fact, Johnny himself was hyped up for the Trigun 2023 anime.
“If this is legit… I’m down. *love* & *Peace*!!” Johnny tweeted on June 8, 2022.
(Johnny is also known for voicing Code Geass’ Lelouch Lamperouge and Bleach’s Ichigo Kurosaki. So he should be busy with the upcoming Bleach Season 17: Thousand-Year Blood War anime and the Code Geass: Z of the Recapture anime.)
Johnny apparently hasn’t been contacted regarding whether or not he’ll have a role in the new Trigun Stampede anime. But now there is a concern that the Trigun Stampede English dub will not include Johnny.
On June 24, 2022, Johnny tweeted, “Apparently, it’s an ‘all-new cast’. *sad emoji* Looks like I’m out. #trigun #vash”. But is Johnny jumping to conclusions too early?
Will Crunchyroll’s Trigun Stampede English dub change the main cast?
Crunchyroll has already confirmed that it will be simulcast streaming the new Trigun TV show from Japan in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. That means Crunchyroll will be in charge of localization including the Trigun Stampede English dub.
However, Crunchyroll hasn’t announced who will be voicing main characters like Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Meryl Stryfe, and Milly Thompson.
As we said, Johnny might be jumping to conclusions since it’s only confirmed by the Studio Orange announcement that the Japanese audio dubbing will have an all-new cast. But the situation could be similar to the Fruits Basket reboot where the entire Japanese cast was changed but the English dub cast returned.
In responses to questions about this issue from Twitter users, Studio Orange producer Yoshihiro Watanabe stated that they aren’t involved in English localization so they don’t know if Johnny is returning as Vash the Stampede.
“Well, we’re not involved anyhow in English localization (other than providing term list) so we wouldn’t know,” tweeted Watanabe on June 16, 2022.
Crunchyroll’s English dub studio is reportedly hiring from within Texas
One issue is that Johnny currently resides in West Hills, California with his wife Amy. In 2022, Crunchyroll began switching from remote recording to in-studio recording again. Most of the work is reportedly done in their Texas studio.
The reason that Johnn’s location is a potential issue is that Anime News Network claimed in May 2022 that Crunchyroll “is not only bringing Texas talent in-house, but is focusing on casting Texas-based talent in its dubs.” To be clear, a Crunchyroll representative did not confirm that they are “actively avoiding hiring talent outside of Texas” and it’s not clear whether this alleged hiring preference would affect previously established major roles like Vash the Stampede.
Also, considering how anime fans identify Vash the Stampede with Johnny’s voice you would think that Crunchyroll would fly Johnny in for making the Trigun Stampede English dub.
Let’s just hope that Crunchyroll makes the right choice and brings Johnny Yong Bosch back for Vash’s return in Trigun Stampede. Stay tuned!