The ending animation of Trigun Stampede is a secret hidden in plain sight

It’s been talked about a lot triangle stampede. Studio Orange’s New CG Anime (Land of the Shining, beasts) based on Yasuhiro Nightow’s beloved space western manga premiered earlier this month and has garnered both positive and… not that many attitudes. Wherever your feelings fall regarding this new iteration of Trigun, one thing is unmistakable: triangle stampede has one of the most beautiful end credits sequences of any anime this season.

Many impressive anime credits aired this season, from Vinland saga season 2 moving ode through the liberating power of love to colorful wheat porridge Mural-inspired aesthetic

from The fire hunterCredit sequence from . For my money I would say that triangle stampede‘s Endanimation ED (“EnDing song”) easily ranks among the most mysterious, moving, and memorable end sequences of this anime season.

An animated scene of stars arranged to resemble two smiling short haired anime boys facing each other.

Appears for the first time at the end of triangle stampede‘s second episode, the series’ closing credits sequence, takes on a stellarium aesthetic, with chalk-drawn constellations marching and flickering across a black-and-blue watercolor background. The sequence begins with an image of a younger version of series protagonist Vash the Stampede smiling at his twin brother Nai before their likeness melts into a tableau of shooting stars and darting trails of light.

Set to an original song composed by Haruka Nakamura and sung by Japanese singer-songwriter Salyu, the scene gradually transforms as the stars become grainy lines of sand that ebb and flow like the symmetrical patterns of a Chladni record experiment before collapsing dissolve and form a new constellation. For a moment, the stars briefly form a dots and dashes pattern similar to Japanese Morse code (which some eagle-eyed redditors

managed to roughly translate to “Welcome Home”) before dissipating again.

A morse code sequence hovering against a blue and black watercolor background

A cluster of stars arranged to resemble a red geranium flower against a black and blue watercolor background.

The credits culminate in an array of stars resembling a red geranium (a flower with deep symbolic meaning in the universe of triangle), which then morphs into a pattern resembling one of the biomechanical “plants” seen throughout the series, before morphing back into an image of Vash the Stampede as a child. For those familiar with Yasuhiro Nightow’s original 1995 manga or Madhouse’s 1998 anime adaptation, the animation is as understatedly beautiful as it is deeply moving. For everyone else new to the series, it’s still a brilliant and creative sequence.

While the director and storyboard artists behind the sequence have not yet been announced, the sequence bears a striking resemblance to Miyo Sato’s paint-on-glass animation (Mob Psycho 100) and the impressive animation of Yoko Kunowho previously worked as a key animator on both Land of the Shining And beasts.

triangle stampede can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu.