Whether intentionally or not, the comeback of Star Wars has been far stronger on television than it has in the movies. The Disney+ series The Mandalorian enthralled the public in a way that the disorganized sequel trilogy that wrapped up at the same time failed to. Baby Yoda merch outsold Rey and Kylo Ren toys by a gazillion-to-one margin. Consequently, there are a lot of Wars in the Stars coming to Disney+ but they’re still trying to figure out their next move on the big screen.
Of all the things that are arriving soon on the streaming channel, one of the coolest has to be Star Wars Visions, a series of short stories made by anime studios. The trailer made its debut during a panel at Anime Expo Lite this weekend, with producers Jacqui Lopez, James Waugh, Josh Rimes, Justin Leach, and Kanako Shirasaki in attendance. The show looks fantastic. We caught glimpses of established folks like Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt in the trailer, but there were also a lot of new faces we haven’t seen before.
Each episode was written, directed and animated by a different team of creators: Kamikaze Douga whipped up “The Duel,” Production IG produced “The Ninth Jedi,” and Studio Trigger is bringing us two, “The Twins” and “The Elder.” “Tatooine Rhapsody,” from Studio Colorido (Twin Engine), sounds the most peculiar, with director Taku Kimura describing it as a “rock opera” — a genre Star Wars hasn’t covered yet.
Kamikaze Douga – The Duel
Geno Studio (Twin Engine) – Lop and Ochō
Studio Colorido (Twin Engine) – Tatooine Rhapsody
Trigger – The Twins
Trigger – The Elder
Kinema Citrus – The Village Bride
Science Saru – Akakiri
Science Saru – T0-B1
Production IG – The Ninth Jedi
Star Wars Visions launches on Disney+ September 22. There will also be a tie-in novel related to the anthology called Ronin, written by Emma Mieko Candon, that will be released the following month.
