Fresh from the success of The Mandalorian and its many upcoming spin-offs, Disney Plus is extending the Star Wars universe even more with the addition of a new collection of short films by some of Japan’s best anime artists.
Here’s all we know so far about Star Wars: Visions, including the release date, trailer, cast and crew.
What time does Star Wars: Visions release on Disney+?
All episodes of Star Wars: Visions are out now on Disney+.
You can find the link for it on Disney+ here.
Unlike The Mandalorian, all nine episodes are available to stream on release – clear your schedule for a binging session.
Star Wars: Visions, an Original Series of animated short films, celebrates the @StarWars galaxy through the lens of the world’s best Japanese anime creators. Coming in 2021 to @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/lmCZGSHEhY
— Star Wars (@starwars) December 10, 2020
Watch the trailer for Star Wars: Visions
The first full trailer is now here – take a look below:
There’s also a special look at Star Wars: Visions, which includes concept art of some familiar faces, as well as interviews with the crew. Take a look below:
There’s also the official poster for the series, with artwork from all the upcoming episodes:
Experience #StarWarsVisions , an Original Series, featuring stories from seven visionary Japanese anime studios, streaming September 22 on @disneyplus. pic.twitter.com/2qSozI54Uc
— Star Wars (@starwars) September 8, 2021
What is the plot of Star Wars: Visions?
Star Wars: Visions is an anthology series, and each instalment has its own individual arc and characters. This allowed the anime creators to explore the Star Wars universe without the shackles of a continuing storyline.
Each short has a completely unique art style, with one episode almost entirely in black and white.
Here’s the names of each film, and which studio produced them:
- Kamikaze Douga – The Duel
- Geno Studio (Twin Engine) – Lop and Ochō
- Studio Colorido (Twin Engine) – Tatooine Rhapsody
- Trigger – The Twins and The Elder
- Kinema Citrus – The Village Bride
- Science Saru – Akakiri and T0-B1
- Production IG – The Ninth Jedi
Some of the most exciting on that list include a chibi-style rock opera take on the franchise, an episode about twins born on the dark side (parallels of Luke and Leia) and an Astro Boy–inspired short. One of the episodes ties in with an upcoming official Star Wars novel, Ronin.
Star Wars has released some blog posts with information about the heroes and droids of the show.
The Ninth Jedi stars Kara, someone who has never been trained in the ways of the Force, even though her father is a legendary lightsaber-smith. However, these lightsabers are different to anything we’ve seen before. Kara has dreams of becoming a hero, but will need all the training she can get to achieve her goal.
Get to know some of the new heroes coming to Star Wars: Visions on @disneyplus later this month: https://t.co/yDcqqAfjih pic.twitter.com/oBM4EPHfgr
— Star Wars (@starwars) September 13, 2021
The same episode also includes the Steward Droid, who guards a temple and withholds answers to questions from Jedi who wish to explore it.
Karre and Am are siblings on the dark side from The Twins and The Elder. Karre wants to be free of the Order, and wishes the best for he and his sister. However, the two twins disagree on this subject. Karre and Am will also have their own personal droids – B-20N and R-DUO.
The Elder focuses on Dan, an impatient and sarcastic Jedi Padawan who wishes to learn from his master, Tajin. Meanwhile, The Village Bride follows a mysterious fallen Jedi known as F, someone who has a tragic past and must face it to save her village.
Ronin is the Jedi star of The Duel, a wanderer and anti-hero with a strong sense of right and wrong. He never talks about his past, but the episode in Visions will pit him on a journey of self-discovery.
Finally, T0-B1 is the hero of Akakiri and T0-B1 – a droid who has big dreams to be come a Jedi Knight, along with a childlike personality.
It’s safe to say that this is Star Wars like you’ve never seen it before.
Who are the cast and crew of Star Wars: Visions?
There are seven studios confirmed to be working on the shorts: Kamikaze Douga, Geno Studio (Twin Engine), Studio Colorido (Twin Engine), Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Science Saru and Production IG. All the scores are original, and the music for The Ninth Jedi is recorded at the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall.
The series is executively produced by Justin Leach, Jacqui Lopez, Josh Rimes, Kanako Shirasaki and James Waugh.
We’ve seen other anime compendiums appear in recent years, with the Netflix’s 2019 series Love, Death & Robots gathering a wide variety of stories and settings into an excellent 18-episode run that could be a template for Star Wars: Visions.
Of course, the new series joins other animated offerings as well as live-action ones on Disney Plus. These include Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which follows a group of super-soldiers that made their debut in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, who now make their living as mercenaries that take on the assignments too dangerous or difficult for anyone else.
There’s also more upcoming shows and films, including A Droid Story that will feature R2D2, C3PO and their new protégé, Rangers of the New Republic, plus the return of Mando (and hopefully baby Yoda) in season 3 of The Mandalorian.
Where can I watch Star Wars: Visions?
Star Wars: Visions is exclusive to Disney Plus, just as with the other entries in the new Star Wars canon. An account with Disney+ costs either £7.99/$7.99 per month, or £79.90/$79.99 per year. You can sign up for Disney+ here.
We outline all of the current offerings in our guide to Star Wars on Disney Plus UK: All the films and shows.
Related articles for further reading
Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews for Macworld and its sister site Tech Advisor.