The planet known as No Man’s Land (or Gunsmoke in the 1998Trigun) is the site of all the happeningsin theTRIGUN STAMPEDEuniverse, and it is an incredibly harsh, unforgiving wasteland unfit for human life. However, despite the major difficulties, humanity has somehow managed to thrive on No Man’s Land, with seven major settlements being established by humanity since its crash-landing on the planet over 150 years prior to the events of the first episode.
How was the human race able to overcome the inhospitable conditions of No Man’s Land and even able to go as far as to create the bastions of civilization known as The Seven Cities? What are they, really?
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History
The Seven Cities are the major settlements where the majority of the human population of No Man’s Land resides, forming the major cultural and political hubs on the planet. It is highly likely that each of them was formed around the remains of SEEDS ships that crashed on the surface of the planet in the incident known as The Great Fall, the overall damage of which was only minimally thwarted due to the bravery andsacrifice of a woman named Rem Saverem. In essence, the Seven Cities are the proof of humanity’s existence and tenacity, and the legacy of Rem. The reason for humanity settling around the crash sites of the SEEDS fleet is due to the presence of intact Plants, which are the life force of every human settlement inTRIGUN STAMPEDE.Many of the cities are named after months of the year and of this number, the city of July is the most notable one for it is the site where Vash The Stampede earned his epithet: “Humanoid Typhoon”.
The seven cities include April; May City; Jeneora Rock; July, otherwise known as “the Lost City”; Augusta; Octovern and December. In the original anime, July is referred to as “the Lost City” due to the incident that took place on Star Date 17-07-2025, at 13:06 in which Vash The Stampede’s Angel Arm annihilated the entire settlement and its inhabitants. That incident also led to the creation of a permanent crater on the fifth moon of No Man’s Land due to the sheer destructive power of the Angel Arm ability. InTRIGUN STAMPEDE; however, Vash’s Angel Arm was cut off by Millions Knives before he could fire; thus, the events ofTRIGUN STAMPEDE, including the current final encounter between Vash and Knives, happen prior to the destruction of July that was the main incident that in turn produced the narrative ofthe originalTrigunanime.
Places of Interest
The harsh landscape of No Man’s Land features a “Great Sand Ocean” where there’d be water on Earth, and this massive expanse between the western locations of Jeneora Rock and the Windmill Village and the easterly cities of December and July, the furthest city east on the No Man’s Land map. While the Seven Cities are the largest human settlements around, No Man’s Land still features several other settlements, such as the Windmill Village,Hopeland Orphanage located in December, as well as places of interest like the Terminal, where the Humpback Sand Steamer can be boarded for trans-desert travel. The original anime saw the main characters explore many small towns and areas of less significance, but inSTAMPEDE, the majority of the developments occur either on the way towards, or during their stay in a place of major significance like Jeneora Rock.
July
InTRIGUN STAMPEDE, the city of July is the largest human settlement on No Man’s Land, a location described by Wolfwood as an opulent city that has a monopoly on water-producing plants and is therefore a thriving metropolis reminiscent of the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. This is also where the base of the Security Officers is found, and thus, one of the safest places for someone like Millions Knives to scheme. With its huge skyline and overwhelming views, July is definitelya kind of Shangri-Lain the inhospitable landscape of No Man’s Land. The lair of Knives and his crew can be found looming high above the tallest buildings in a structure that is at first reminiscent of the Tokyo Sky Tree before it assumes the literal appearance of a tree-like structure the shape of which served as foreshadowing towards the developments between the twin brothers over the course of episodes 10 and 11, and Knives desire to fully remove Vash from his memories.
In the original anime, Vash and Knives do in fact meet in July City about 130 or so years after the Big Fall and their subsequent separation, leading to the conflict that saw Knives manipulate Vash’s Angel Arm and cause the destruction of not only the entire city and the majority of its inhabitants, but also left a damning crater on the moon, giving rise to the first recorded mention of the calamity known as “Vash The Stampede”. July is the most significant location in the series for various reasons, with part of its significance being owed to the fact thatthe Big Fall took place in the month of July. In the series finale ofTRIGUN STAMPEDE, the final fight between Vash The Stampede and Millions Knives leads to the formation of a “Super Angel Arm” used when Vash resonates with the various Plants assembled by Knives. Vash’s decision to have the Angel Arm fire off into space was a successful failure as he managed to wrestle his brother away from the powerful weapon, only for the energy of the impact of his crash-landing in July City with the intact core of the Angel Arm leading to the cataclysmic incident for which Vash The Stampede is from thenceforth, truly vilified.
