Star Wars: Visionshas been a success in my opinion. Seeing Japanese animation studios get to make original Star Wars stories is long overdue. I think it’s quite obvious that there is Japanese influence on Star Wars. After three volumes, I was surprised that Production I.G.’s The Ninth Jedi was the first one to spin off into its own series. Under the Star Wars: Visions Presents The Ninth Jedi follows on from the entries we saw in volume one and volume three. Lah Kara is still on her quest with Margrave Juro, Ethan, Homen, and droid 99-99 to save her father Lah Zhima and restore the Jedi Order versus a new threat – Nawaam.
(L-R) Homen, Kawana, Margrave Juro, and Lah Kara in a scene from Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm
After the earlier two shorts, the first two episodes of this series were slow. I was very much worried that maybe this should’ve stayed shorts in each volume. The pacing killed me, and it was just full of exposition that made me, in some ways, doubt what I remembered from the earlier chapters. While the designs and animation were good, I was having flashbacks to the first halves of Episodes 1 and 2 and The Force Awakens. Just plodding boredom.
(L-R) 99-99 and Ethan in a scene from Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm
Everything changed once we got to episode 3 of the series, as things started to get really active. Things start moving, and we got to see the series shift more into the tone of OVA anime series from late 90s/early 2000s. The lightsaber duels start to really excel as the show starts to take more influence from Samurai films and anime, and even legends like Miyamoto Musashi and Muramasa. Using these elements in Star Wars brought me into the story more in this setting, far after the times we know the stories usually take place.
Most of the story is not one of the Sith vs the Jedi but more about different ideologies of the Jedi and how to bring about peace and order. Focused more on martial arts ideas, you’re thrown off when the big bad dark knight samurai ends up not having a red saber and isn’t controlled by rage and emotion. In this show, it adds something interesting: what would happen to a force-using, lightsaber-wielding warrior if they get to a point of nothingness? How does that change the lightsaber and the abilities of the person?
Lah Zhima in a scene from Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm
In the series, a lot of this is because of Lah Zhima, voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki in Japanese and Simu Liu in English. Not only is he the sabersmith that’s wanted by Nawaam for those skills at making lightsabers, but it’s also that he got so good with a saber that he stopped being a Jedi and wielding a saber, but he also reached a height no others have in this time. They hype him up, but they do pay it off. Some of the strongest scenes are with him in flashback, and a lot of philosophical heft is through him. Both voice actors do a great job as this character, bringing about this peaceful confidence. Each time you see him, it’s like “don’t push me, you have no chance at defeating me”.
Lah Kara in a scene from Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm
Lah Kara, voiced by Chinatsu Akasakiin Japanese and Kimiko Glenn in English, fills the role of hopeful, plucky anime girl protagonist well, as she’s so dedicated to saving her father and saving the galaxy. She is perfectly suited to becoming the heart of the group with Juro, voiced by Tetsuo Kanao and Andrew Kishino as the well-worn mentor. They end up having interesting inner conflicts with Kara in this that give shades of The Acolytewith a seasoning of Sasuke in Naruto. Margrave Juro works well as the classic master Jedi, while they still have Zhima as something beyond what we’ve seen in Star Wars regarding a Jedi Master. Juro, though, ends up being that figure that brings about a fellowship of these scattered Jedi who must come together to face this challenge.
Homen in a scene from Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm
As I said earlier, this series does have very apparent influences, and the use of elements from The Seven Samurai is very strong in this, especially as you watch it to the last two episodes. The whole group coming together to stop the big space laser, because, of course, there is a huge space laser that can destroy things. It’s Star Wars. Yet it feels different than what we’ve seen in the sequel trilogy or the original one. The different fronts and groups making their effort to get through the forces with blasters and lightsabers going off everywhere as the ships battle in space was a ton of fun and might be worth watching twice to make sure you know everything that’s happening.
A scene from Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd
Nawaam, voiced by Nao Ōmoriand Young Mazino, is an interesting antagonist as he uses visual Sith Lord tropes even though he’s not a Sith and an anime bad guy with him being a white-haired pretty boy under the suit. He’s very perfectly arrogant and snobbish in his views and is a perfect foil for Kara. His design is fantastic, and he’s sleek and mixes the Samurai look and Star Wars bad guy aesthetic very well. He’s a character that I hope gets made into a figure; he’s that fire of a design.
So while it had a slow start, I think Directors Kenji Kamiyama and Shunsuke Tada, along with screenwriter Mitsuyasu Sakai, crafted a perfect mix of the two cultures into a fresh take on such a huge franchise. Seeing the people from the culture that inspires so much in Star Wars take it and reform it using those elements to make a new and fresh take on the franchise has me hoping that Lucasfilm should let Star Wars exist in more anime series from other studios and continue this one. With live-action shows on Disney+ probably ending for a while, maybe letting Japanese studios like Production I.G. take it in new places, Star Wars can find a new way forward in the future.
Rating: B
Level of Enthusiasm: %
