Thirteen CAV discs. JVLA-58021 through JVLA-58033. トライガン (Trigun), a 26-episode television series adapted from Yasuhiro Nightow's manga, animated by Madhouse and broadcast on TV Tokyo from April to September 1998. Victor Entertainment released the series across thirteen individual volumes on LaserDisc, two episodes per disc, CAV format, ¥5,000 for the first and last volumes, ¥5,800 for Stages 2 through 12. Each jacket carries a unique character illustration against a solid color border. Each volume includes a four-page liner insert called the MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — a fictional newspaper set on the series' desert planet, containing episode recaps written as in-universe journalism, production settei spreads, hand-drawn staff notes, producer columns, episode previews, and a rotating guest manga artist corner.
Vash the Stampede carries a $$60 billion bounty on his head. He wanders a desert planet — humanity's last colony after Earth became uninhabitable — wearing a red leather coat and carrying a silver revolver. Every town he enters gets destroyed. The insurance company Bernardelli sends two agents, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, to follow him and minimize the damage claims. What they find is a pacifist. Vash has never killed anyone. The destruction follows him because of what he is, not what he does. The series starts as slapstick comedy — a goofy gunslinger dodging bounty hunters — and darkens steadily as the Gung-Ho Guns, a group of assassins sent by Vash's twin brother Knives, force him toward the violence he refuses. By the final act, the comedy is gone.
Victor Entertainment's LaserDisc release tracked that tonal shift in real time. The MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — printed on newsprint-textured paper in a sepia-toned broadsheet format — ran for thirteen issues across thirteen volumes. Each issue's front page carries an English-language headline summarizing the episodes as if reported by the planet's press: 'Felnarl Region was attacked by Extra-large Humanoid Typhoon!!' in Stage 1 becomes 'Tragic Love Story in a Desert' by Stage 6, 'Mystery!? Every resident all of the town was spirited off.' by Stage 12. The headlines darken with the show. The newspaper doesn't know it's fiction.
Slipcase front. Vash the Stampede from the waist down — red leather coat, mechanical arm, revolver lowered. The TRIGUN logo cut diagonally across the top. No stage number, no border, no character framing device: just the coat and the robot arm and the gun. The image that greets you before you pull out any of the thirteen volumes.
Slipcase back. Vash's red coat and mechanical arm against a deep blue-black ground, the revolver at his side. The composition mirrors the front panel — the same figure, darker palette, lower position. The slipcase opens from coat to dark sky.
Stage 1 jacket front. Vash the Stampede — revolver raised, orange sunglasses, red leather coat. Red border. The character who defined late-1990s anime for a generation of Western fans. Victor Entertainment, JVLA-58021.
The Format
JVLA-58021. CAV, two sides, approximately 50 minutes — two broadcast episodes per disc. Thirteen volumes covering 26 episodes. The first and last volumes (Stages 1 and 13) priced at ¥5,000; Stages 2 through 12 at ¥5,800 each. Total set cost: ¥68,800. All thirteen pressed in CAV — frame-by-frame access to Madhouse's animation, which moves between broad slapstick in the early episodes and the detailed action choreography of the Gung-Ho Guns encounters. Every back cover carries the same English text in italic: 'We are all like raindrops falling from the sky, eventually landing on this sandy star and dirtying from the heat of the sun. Even is protected by a huge umbrella, we never know what tomorrow may bring. Someday we will be blown by the wind and dissolve into the sandy earth.'
Stage 1 back. JVLA-58021, CAV, 2面/35min, ¥5,000. Red cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第1話 '60億$$の男' (The $$60 Billion Man). SIDE 2: 第2話 'TRUTH OF MISTAKE.' Episode synopses, scene screenshots, staff and cast credits. The back cover template that all thirteen volumes follow.
Stage 2 — Meryl Stryfe. Purple border. Bernardelli Insurance agent, derringer pointed at the viewer. The first character the series uses to observe Vash from the outside. JVLA-58022.
Stage 2 back. JVLA-58022, ¥5,800. Purple cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第3話 'PEACE MAKER.' SIDE 2: 第4話 'LOVE&PEACE.' Episode synopses, scene screenshots from the Nebraska family arc and the sandsteamer sequence.
Stage 3 — Milly Thompson. Gold border. Meryl's partner — cheerful, enormous stun gun, hat tilted. The warmest jacket in the set. JVLA-58023.
Stage 3 back. JVLA-58023, ¥5,800. Gold cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第5話 'HARD PUNCHER.' SIDE 2: 第6話 'LOST JULY.' The first appearance of Wolfwood, and the episode that reveals what Vash did to the city of July twenty years before.
Stage 4 — an armored figure in military helmet and jacket, oversized weapon raised. Green border. The bounty hunters are escalating. JVLA-58024.
Stage 4 back. JVLA-58024, ¥5,800. Green cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第7話 'B.D.N.' SIDE 2: 第8話 'そして荒野と空の隙を.' Two episodes of the sandsteamer arc — bounty hunters, Vash's history beginning to surface.
Stage 5 — Wolfwood again, now in civilian clothes, smoking, cross earring visible. Blue-grey border. A different side of the character — not the priest with the weapon, but the man underneath. JVLA-58025.
Stage 5 back. JVLA-58025, ¥5,800. Blue-grey cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第9話 'MURDER MACHINE.' SIDE 2: 第10話 'QUICK DRAW.' The Gung-Ho Guns begin to appear in force.
Stage 6 — Legato Bluesummers. Light blue border. The cross Punisher visible behind him, his artificial hand reaching toward the viewer. The series' first genuinely menacing presence. JVLA-58026.
Stage 6 back. JVLA-58026, ¥5,800. Light blue cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第11話 'ESCAPE FROM PAIN.' SIDE 2: 第12話 'DIABLO.' The Gung-Ho Guns' assassinations begin in earnest. The tonal descent is underway.
Thirteen Jackets, Thirteen Colors
Each volume's jacket pairs one character (or group) with a distinct border color. The sequence tracks the series' emotional arc. Stage 1: Vash in red — the bounty-hunted clown. Stage 2: Meryl in purple — the observer. Stage 3: Milly in gold — warmth. Stages 4 and 5: a bounty hunter in lime green, then Wolfwood in blue-grey — the companion who complicates Vash's pacifism. Stage 6: Legato Bluesummers in pale blue — the first real threat. Stage 7 onward: the Gung-Ho Guns in orange, pink, dark gold — the assassins who force the tonal shift. Stage 9: Vash, Meryl, and Wolfwood lying together in light blue — the last gentle image. Stage 12: the full main cast walking together in sage — the ensemble before the finale. Stage 13: Vash alone in black — the character stripped of comedy, revolver aimed at the viewer, one eye visible. The first jacket and the last jacket show the same character. They are not the same person.
Stage 7 — the Gung-Ho Guns ensemble. Orange border. Vash at center (grinning, open-mouthed) surrounded by the assassins who will systematically dismantle the comedy around him. JVLA-58027.
Stage 7 back. JVLA-58027, ¥5,800. Orange cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第13話 'ヴァッシュ・ザ・スタンピード.' SIDE 2: 第14話 'LITTLE ARCADIA.' The episode that bears Vash's own name — the show interrogating what that name means.
Stage 8 — two Gung-Ho Guns members, weapons drawn. Pink border. The villains are getting their own jackets now. The character focus has shifted from the heroes to what's hunting them. JVLA-58028.
Stage 8 back. JVLA-58028, ¥5,800. Pink cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第15話 'DEMONS EYE.' SIDE 2: 第16話 'FIFTH MOON.' The episode that ends with Vash destroying a moon — the moment the comedy is permanently over.
Stage 9 — Meryl, Wolfwood, and Vash lying together, eyes closed. Light blue border. The three companions at rest. The most intimate jacket in the set — no weapons, no action, no comedy. JVLA-58029.
Stage 9 back. JVLA-58029, ¥5,800. Light blue cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第17話 'レム・セイブレム.' SIDE 2: 第18話 '今は、さよなら.' The origin episode and the farewell — the two poles of what Vash is carrying.
Stage 10 — Midvalley the Hornfreak with his saxophone-weapon, Gung-Ho Guns behind him. Dark gold border. The assassin who weaponized jazz. JVLA-58030.
Stage 10 back. JVLA-58030, ¥5,800. Dark gold cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第19話 'HANG FIRE.' SIDE 2: 第20話 'FLYING SHIP.' The Gung-Ho Guns endgame accelerates — each assassin now a set piece built around a single lethal concept.
Stage 11 — Vash in his damaged coat, red scarf, the remaining Gung-Ho Guns looming behind. Teal border. The palette has darkened permanently. JVLA-58031.
Stage 11 back. JVLA-58031, ¥5,800. Teal cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第21話 'OUT OF TIME.' SIDE 2: 第22話 'ALTERNATIVE.' The series running out of road — both titles literal descriptions of where the story is.
Stage 12 — the full main cast walking together: Vash, Meryl, Wolfwood, Milly. Sage border. The only ensemble jacket. The last time the four share a frame. JVLA-58032.
Stage 12 back. JVLA-58032, ¥5,800. Sage cross-bar design. SIDE 1: 第23話 '重罪.' SIDE 2: 第24話 '罪.' The final two episodes before the climax — the ensemble jacket on a volume whose episode titles are just 'Crime' and 'Sin.'
Stage 13 — Vash the Stampede. Black border. Revolver aimed directly at the viewer. One blue eye visible, hair flattened, red coat replaced by dark leather. The same character as Stage 1. Not the same person. JVLA-58033.
Stage 13 back. JVLA-58033, CAV, ¥5,000. SIDE 1: 第25話 'LIVE THROUGH.' SIDE 2: 第26話 'こんにちも青い星のもとで' (Under This Blue Sky, Even Today). The final two episodes. The price returns to ¥5,000 — matching Stage 1. The same red cross-bar design as the first volume. The series closes where it opened.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 1, page 1. Headline: 'Felnarl Region was attacked by Extra-large Humanoid Typhoon!!' In-universe newspaper coverage of Episode 1's events, printed on sepia newsprint texture. Right column: 'ウスラ漫画家内藤のオレチェキA to Z' — manga artist Nightow's personal column. Bottom right: 'GOOD TALK by YOSUKE KURODA.'
The MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES
Every volume's liner insert is a four-page broadsheet newspaper called the MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — thirteen issues total, one per volume. Page 1 carries an English headline summarizing the episodes as in-universe news reportage, with Japanese-language articles recapping the plot as if written by journalists on the planet. Each issue includes scene photographs captioned in English ('A town sunk out of sight in a single night!?' / 'Lovers Who Were Killed by Vash' / 'A pastor was found dead in the church.'). The right column runs a recurring feature by Nightow himself — 'ウスラ漫画家内藤のオレチェキA to Z' — the original manga creator commenting on the adaptation in his own hand-drawn style. Bottom right: 'GOOD TALK by YOSUKE KURODA,' a column by the series' head writer. The headlines alone map the tonal descent: from tabloid excitement to tragedy to mystery to silence.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 2. 'The Citizens performed great exploits! Fought off robbers.' 'Because of the resentment 15years ago!?' — The Delighted Citizens. Nightow column at top right: hand-drawn commentary on the adaptation. The Planet Gunsmoke press is still treating Vash as a positive force.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 3. 'The Biggest Showdown of The Century!! The Evil Criminal VS. Humanoid Typhoon.' 'VASH THE STAMPEDE Shows up in INEPRILCITY!!' / 'INEPRILCITY Avoids The Crisis.' The headlines still read as adventure. The comedy is still intact.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 4. 'BUD-LAD Thieves Attack The SAND STEAM!' 'Glowing White Fierce God' / 'The Cultest Rouges!! Amounts to Dust in The Valor Floor.' The sandsteamer arc in tabloid headlines. Nightow column: hand-drawn Gung-Ho Guns teaser.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 5. 'A Mysterious Group Attacks A Bus!!' 'Is it The Result of Lost Technology?' / 'Humanoid Typhoon Shows Up At The Quick Draw Tournament.' The newspaper still framing Vash as spectacle. GOOD TALK column at bottom right.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 6. 'Tragic Love Story in a Desert.' The headline register has shifted. 'Lovers Who Were Killed by Vash' — the Stampede is no longer a joke. 'A Mysterious Man Attacks Vash While He is in Custody.' The newspaper is reporting a different kind of story now.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 7. 'An Oasis in The Desert.' 'An Old Couple Created The Oasis.' The headline has gone quiet. This issue's layout diverges from the template — settei panels embedded directly into the newspaper layout, the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION column running production art instead of journalism. The midpoint issue acknowledges the series is something other than news.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 8. 'Is This Reappearance of JULY? Mysterious Flash in AUGUSTA.' 'The Mysterious Flash Destroys The City Makes a Big Hole in The Moon.' / 'The Group of Thieves Called ROADWRECK is Destroyed in GENEORAROCK.' The Fifth Moon aftermath, reported as catastrophe.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 9. 'Two Survivors From The Secret Base of Operation.' 'VASH is seen in the city of CASTEED.' / 'The truth of the Starship's Tragedy is Revealed.' Origin story as headline: the newspaper covers what the show is revealing about Vash's past.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 10. 'The battle for the SATELLITE between the POLO family and the FLEECE family intensifies.' 'SANDSTEAM stormed into the building of the POLO family.' / 'A huge and mysterious shadow appears in the sky of NEW OREGON.' The planetary political backdrop, reported as local news.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 11. 'It was almost a tragedy. The spaceship crashed in the suburbs of New Oregon.' 'The spaceship crashed outside of the city.' / 'Worms from the desert attack the city.' The tone is catastrophe now — no adventure framing remains.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 12. 'Mystery!? Every resident all of the town was spirited off.' 'A pastor was found dead in the church.' / 'Vash comes!! Many injured left.' The newspaper has arrived at horror. GOOD TALK column: 'Kuroda's column reflecting on the series' final arc.
MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES — Stage 13. 'Reach the water vein!' The final issue. 'People are pleased with spouting water.' / 'Residents of the town lynched Vash!?' VASH THE GALLERY corner: 伊藤明弘 (manga artist). The last headline the newspaper will ever print.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 1, pages 2–3. Full settei spread: character turnarounds, prop designs, vehicle references, weapon details, costume breakdowns. CREDITS column at left. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION column at right. Thirteen of these spreads across thirteen volumes — a complete production design archive distributed two pages at a time.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 2, pages 2–3. CREDITS column at left. Character and mecha settei for the Nebraska arc: the giant robot humanoid, supporting characters, vehicles. The ADDITIONAL INFORMATION column cites background reference materials. Each spread methodically catalogs the production design decisions behind the last two episodes.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 3, pages 2–3. Settei for the Inepril City arc: townspeople designs, crowd formations, environmental layouts. The production's characteristic approach — even minor characters receive multiple-angle turnarounds. The cross-hatch of CREDITS and ADDITIONAL INFORMATION columns flanking the central grid.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 4, pages 2–3. Sandsteamer arc settei: the mechanical passengers, armored figures, vehicle cross-sections, prop designs. The mecha detail in these pages reflects the animation team's engineering investment in the desert planet's technology.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 5, pages 2–3. Cross Punisher weapon breakdowns, Wolfwood costume turnaround, Gung-Ho Guns preliminary designs. The weapon that is also a coffin receives its own engineering diagram spread.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 6, pages 2–3. Gung-Ho Guns character sheets — the assassins' full ensemble, each with costume variations and expression sets. Legato Bluesummers design notes. The production systematically documenting the threat that is assembling around Vash.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 8, pages 2–3. Gung-Ho Guns member designs: costume turnarounds, weapon specs, expression sheets for the assassins introduced in Episodes 15–16. The 'Fifth Moon' episode's visual design — the crater and the aftermath — as production documentation.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 9, pages 2–3. Origin-arc settei: the colony ship environment, flashback character designs, Rem Saverem costume and expression turnaround. The visual design of Vash's past — the bright, clean world before the desert planet.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 10, pages 2–3. Midvalley the Hornfreak settei, saxophone weapon specs, Gung-Ho Guns endgame character sheets. The production's catalogue of assassin designs running toward its conclusion.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 11, pages 2–3. Mecha and environment designs for the New Oregon arc: the crashed spaceship, worm creatures, military vehicles. The desert planet's infrastructure under assault — background art reference sheets for the penultimate act.
PRODUCTION PREVIEW — Stage 12, pages 2–3. Final arc character and prop sheets — Knives designs, endgame mecha, the antagonist's visual identity as the series approaches its conclusion. The last production preview before Stage 13 replaces the format entirely with the roundtable.
PRODUCTION NOTE — Thirteen Faces
Page 4 of each issue carries a PRODUCTION NOTE section labeled with a face number — FACE-1 through FACE-13. Each features a different staff member's hand-drawn contribution: personal essays, doodles, technical diagrams, manga strips. FACE-1: director Nishimura Satoshi. FACE-2: character designer Yoshimatsu Takahiro, with a hand-drawn manga strip titled 'サムシングまぁぁのごめんね王国.' FACE-3: a full technical diagram of Vash's revolver — 'GUN講座' (Gun Tutorial) — labeling every component with annotations. FACE-5: head writer Kuroda Yosuke's manga strip '祝置場おめでたぁ〜 ニコ兄！' FACE-6: the music staff's guitar tablature tutorial for playing the opening theme 'H.T.' FACE-8: an animator's account of seeing the 'anime gods' at Studio Gainax. FACE-9: background art director Kaneko Hidetoshi, with a detailed pencil sketch of a cluttered production desk. FACE-10: a page written entirely in flowing brush calligraphy — 'とらいがん' in broad strokes. FACE-13: director Nishimura returns for the finale. Thirteen staff members, thirteen hand-made pages. No two alike.
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-1 — director Nishimura Satoshi. Hand-drawn production diary with staff caricatures and speech bubbles documenting early production life. PRODUCER FILE column below. COMING SOON previewing episodes 3 'PEACE MAKER' and 4 'LOVE&PEACE.' Bottom right: 'VASH THE GALLERY' corner with 松本嘉壹 (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-2 — character designer Yoshimatsu Takahiro. A hand-drawn manga strip: 'サムシングまぁぁのごめんね王国' — four panels of production-floor comedy, hand-lettered dialogue, Yoshimatsu's loose confident line. The character designer's contribution drawn in the same style as the character designs. Below: PRODUCER FILE. Bottom right: VASH THE GALLERY with やまむらはじめ (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-3. 'GUN講座' — Gun Tutorial. A full technical diagram of Vash's revolver with labeled components: barrel, cylinder, grip, trigger mechanism, sights. Drawn by a staff member who treated a fictional weapon as an engineering document. Below: PRODUCER FILE and COMING SOON episode previews. Bottom right: 'VASH THE GALLERY' — guest manga artist corner with うしだゆうじ (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-4 — 大橋篤光. Hand-drawn diagram titled 'あなたの知らない世界' — a chaotic flowchart of the production schedule, annotated with '今回も場合 製作費ない' and interconnected arrows showing the cascading dependencies of anime production. PRODUCER FILE: '悪びれない悪役たちの小気味好き.' VASH THE GALLERY: 松本嘉春 (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-5 — head writer Kuroda Yosuke. A congratulatory manga strip: '祝置場おめでたぁ〜 ニコ兄！' — celebrating the introduction of Wolfwood (ニコ兄), drawn in Kuroda's loose handwriting and illustration style. Right side: '#5 バトスじゃGo's 地' — another strip riffing on the episodes. PRODUCER FILE: '四になった「ありがとうアニメネタ、今度は本気でついてきなよ」.' VASH THE GALLERY: 岡崎武士 (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-6. '♪ オープニング 'H.T.' の弾き方 ♪' — How to play the opening theme 'H.T.' Guitar chord diagrams, amp settings ('真空管Amp'), and performance instructions by the music staff. A LaserDisc liner note that teaches you to play the show's theme song. VASH THE GALLERY: 和月宏宣 (manga artist, creator of Rurouni Kenshin).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-7 — アーツプロ production staff. A collective hand-drawn page with multiple contributors: short notes on production hardships, small sketches, running commentary on working on Trigun's middle arc. The page is dense with different handwriting styles — a group effort rather than a single voice. GOOD TALK column runs in the lower left. VASH THE GALLERY: いづなよしつな (manga artist/game designer).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-8 — ISO (studio animator). 'トライガン アニメの神様を見た!!' — 'I saw the anime gods in Trigun!!' A hand-written account of visiting Studio Gainax and encountering a different level of animation production. '1999年1/11 ISO.' PRODUCER FILE: '美少女アニメが見失った女の子の可愛さって、むしろちゃんとメリル・ストライフを語る.' The producer on Meryl as character. VASH THE GALLERY: たもりだだ (manga artist/illustrator).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-9 — background art director Kaneko Hidetoshi (盆子美英). A detailed pencil illustration of a cluttered production desk: bottles, reference books, tools, shelving. The lived-in workspace that grounds the desert planet's visual identity. Title: '背景監督 作業机之図.' Below: PRODUCER FILE — 'ファミレスとコンビニの日々' (Days of Family Restaurants and Convenience Stores). VASH THE GALLERY: 米村孝一郎 (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-10 — 岩瀬敬介 (background painter). The entire page is a single calligraphy exercise: 'とらいがん' written in large flowing brushstrokes, with '・ゆ・か・た・武・道・' in smaller script above. A background artist's response to the assignment — not a drawing, not a diagram, just a name written as if it were worth writing beautifully. PRODUCER FILE: '無名戦士に花束を.' VASH THE GALLERY: 森美夏 (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-11 — 弁上裕智子 (voice director / 音響監督). A collective page titled 'レコーディングのたのし。' — 'The joy of recording.' Multiple voice cast members contribute short hand-written notes: messages from the recording booth, illustrated with stick figures and speech bubbles. PRODUCER FILE: '皆様のおハガキから.' Reader postcards commentary. VASH THE GALLERY: 谷川哲子 (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-12 — 北山茂 (producer). 'プロデューサーSはのメルル萌え萌え♡' — the producer's illustrated declaration of devotion to Meryl Stryfe, rendered as a hand-drawn manga page. A full spread of Meryl Stryfe sketches with the producer's handwritten commentary on 実話その1 and 実話その2 — true stories from production. PRODUCER FILE: 'ふたりの男の死にざま.' VASH THE GALLERY: 西崎祥 (manga artist).
PRODUCTION NOTE FACE-13 — director Nishimura Satoshi (西村聡). The finale. A densely hand-written personal essay in small script, filling the entire upper half — Nishimura reflecting on the full production from start to finish. '1994年2月の末にソウルを訪れた昔.' The director who opened the production notes in Stage 1 closes them here. Below: PRODUCER FILE — '誰もなれるまま、日暮らし.' COMING SOON previewing the first episodes, as if the series is starting over. GOOD TALK: Kuroda Yosuke's final column. VASH THE GALLERY: 伊藤明弘 (manga artist).
TRIGUN ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION — Stage 7 mid-series edition, pages 2–3. At the series' midpoint (Episodes 13–14 of 26), the PRODUCTION PREVIEW spread is replaced by a staff roundtable: photographs of the production team, dense columns of conversation. The sepia broadsheet format runs a real production document halfway through the run. The newspaper drops the fiction briefly, then resumes it for six more issues.
TRIGUN ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION — Stage 13 finale edition, pages 2–3. The final volume replaces the PRODUCTION PREVIEW settei spread with the full series post-mortem roundtable: photographs of the production team around a table, followed by dense columns of conversation. The newspaper format that spent twelve issues maintaining the fiction drops the mask for good. The ADDITIONAL INFORMATION column runs a final settei sheet rather than production notes. The series closes where it opened — but the document has changed.
The Geneon DVD release collected the 26 episodes across nine discs. It did not include the MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES. No fictional newspaper tracked the tonal descent through headlines that shifted from tabloid slapstick to elegy. No page taught you how to play the opening theme on guitar or diagrammed Vash's revolver as if it were a real weapon.
Victor Entertainment's thirteen CAV volumes document the original broadcast-era production as it happened, two episodes at a time, through a liner insert format that treated each release as an issue of a magazine nobody subscribed to. The MONTHLY SATELLITE TIMES ran for thirteen issues across thirteen volumes, from April 1998 to March 1999.
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