Star Wars : Visions [Lucasfilm - 2021]

Nouvelle série animée l'année prochaine sur Disney+ :

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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 Disney+.

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Citation :

Star Wars: Visions

Presenting all-new, creative takes on the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: Visions will be a series of animated short films celebrating Star Wars through the lens of the world’s best anime creators. The anthology collection will bring 10 fantastic visions from several of the leading Japanese anime studios, offering a fresh and diverse cultural perspective to Star Wars.

Un premier aperçu de Star Wars : Visions sera dévoilé le 3 Juillet prochain à l'Anime Expo!

Le 3 juillet à 15h00 heure du Pacifique (soit minuit heure de Paris).

Durée de cet aperçu en avant-première : une demi-heure.

Citation :

EXPLORE STAR WARS: VISIONS AT ANIME EXPO LITE
GET A SNEAK PEEK AT THE ANIMATED ANTHOLOGY FROM RENOWNED ANIME CREATORS AND STORYTELLERS DURING A VIRTUAL PANEL THIS JULY.

Today, Anime Expo announced that Lucasfilm will bring a galaxy far, far away to Anime Expo Lite this July with the panel Star Wars: Visions – Sneak Preview.

Join host Chastity Vicencio and Lucasfilm executive producers Jacqui Lopez, James Waugh, and Josh Rimes, Qubic Pictures’ and co-executive producer Justin Leach, and producer Kanako Shirasaki for an inside look at Star Wars: Visions before the series debuts on Disney+ later this year.

Check out the full details below.

Star Wars: Visions – Sneak Preview
July 3, 2021 / 3 p.m. PST
Duration: 30 minutes

Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Visions is an upcoming anthology of animated shorts celebrating Star Wars through the lens of the world’s best anime creators and storytellers. Tune in for a sneak peek that will leave you excited for this all-new vision of the galaxy far, far away!

https://www.starwars.com/news/explore-star-wars-visions-at-anime-expo-lite

Star Wars : Visions arrive sur Disney+ le 22 Septembre!
Studio Colorido, Geno Studio, Kinema Citrus, Trigger, Science SARU, Production I.G et Kamikaze Douga seront les studios japonais ayant travaillé sur les courts-métrages.

Oh là là, je suis tellement hypée par ce projet!!
Pour moi qui adore l'animation japonaise, c'est un tel cadeau! En plus, la saga Star Wars ayant toujours été très imprégnée de la culture japonaise, c'est totalement approprié de voir une série revisiter cet univers avec le savoir-faire des animateurs japonais.
Et de ce qu'on voit, les images ont l'air sublimes, j'adore la bouille des personnages des différents court-métrages. Tous ces épisodes ont l'air très expressifs et très aboutis artistiquement.
Il me tarde de découvrir ça!

L'ensemble du panel consacré à la série Star Wars : Visions est disponible (ainsi que tous les panels de la convention, en direct et ensuite en rediffusion du 5 au 16 juillet 2021) sur le site officiel Anime-Expo. L'accès est payant.

https://lite.anime-expo.org/

Citation :

ANIME EXPO LITE: 20 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE STAR WARS: VISIONS PANEL

CATCH UP ON ALL THE NEW DETAILS REVEALED FOR THE UPCOMING DISNEY+ MASHUP OF STAR WARS AND ANIME

Anime and the Star Wars galaxy are (finally!) coming together. Star Wars: Visions, a new anthology of animated shorts celebrating Star Wars through the lens of some of the world’s best anime creators, is coming to Disney+. In a special panel today at Anime Expo Lite, Lucasfim pulled back the curtain on the series — and it looks to be a wholly unique collection of inventive, visually stunning, and personal Star Wars Hosted by Chastity Vicencio and featuring James Waugh (executive producer), Josh Rimes (executive producer), Jacqui Lopez (executive producer), Justin Leach (co-executive producer), and Kanako Shirasaki (producer), the panel showed concept art, revealed the studios and creators behind several shorts, and offered plot details for the diverse and creative stories on the way. Here are 20 things we learned.

1. Mark your calendars. We won’t have to wait long for the series: Star Wars: Visions will arrive September 22 on Disney+.

2. Star Wars: Visions storytelling didn’t have to fit in the timeline. In developing the series, Lucasfilm made the decision to let creators tell the stories they wanted to tell — whether they featured established or original characters — without a need to tie into the larger chronology. “We really wanted to give these creators a wide creative berth to explore all the imaginative potential of the Star Wars galaxy through the unique lens of anime,” James Waugh said. “We realized we wanted these to be as authentic as possible to the studios and creators who are making them, made through their unique process, in a medium they’re such experts at. So the idea was, this is their vision riffing off all the elements of the Star Wars galaxy that inspired them — hopefully to make a really incredible anthology series, unlike anything we’ve seen before in the Star Wars galaxy.”

3. The studios behind Star Wars: Visions make for an all-star anime lineup. In total, Lucasfilm confirmed seven studios and nine shorts for Star Wars: Visions, including:

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

As can be seen in the concept art shown during the panel, no two shorts have the same visual aesthetic or tell the same story. “What’s really exciting is how unique and special each one of these shorts are,” Josh Rimes said. “Each studio has different styles and tones.”

4. For Lucasfilm, Star Wars: Visions was a long time coming. Several panelists expressed their fandom for anime, while also noting the influence that Japanese culture has had on Star Wars since the beginning. “The combination of Star Wars and anime is something that I’ve really wanted for a really long time,” said Justin Leach. Waugh concurred. “Anime has influenced us in a huge way,” he said. “We’re all fans.”

5. It wasn’t a prerequisite, but the creators behind the Star Wars: Visions shorts are all Star Wars fans. “Each one of these studios jumped right in,” Jacqui Lopez said. “They were huge Star Wars fans. It was very easy for them to jump in and do what they do within our universe.”

6. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Star Wars: Visions met with some production hurdles. Lockdown forced a mostly remote production, making things especially complicated considering the differences in time zones and production pipelines. “It was not easy since we managed many shorts simultaneously during this challenging time,” confirmed Kanako Shirasaki.

7. The Duel from Kamikaze Douga infuses Star Wars with Japanese iconography. The concept art revealed for this short features Samurai-esque Jedi and Sith, an astromech droid with straw hat, and more that embraces Japanese culture. “It was just irresistible,” said Lopez. “We were all overwhelmed when we saw this artwork.”

8. Director Takanobu Mizuno had one goal with The Duel. “The thing he was really clear on was that he just wanted this to be a love letter to Star Wars,” Waugh said. “The core theme of this short ends up being such a Star Wars story.” The tale is ultimately about someone who must choose selflessness, a core Star Wars theme. As far as visuals, The Duel will be told in black and white with splashes for color for certain elements — like lightsabers.

9. For Geno Studio’s Lop and Ochō, the visuals reflect its messaging. “The design style on this short really focuses on the collision between natural beauty and encroaching industrialization,” said Lopez, with the Empire representing the march of technology.

10. Lop and Ochō features a space bunny-person. Her name is Lop and we love her already. “She is cute and expressive and completely unwavering in her devotion to good and family and loyalty,” Lopez said. “She’s awesome.”

11. Put down your blasters and grab a guitar for Studio Colorido’s Tatooine Rhapsody. Told through a more Chibi art style, Tatooine Rhapsody is heading into uncharted Star Wars waters. “It’s a Star Wars rock opera,” said Rimes of the story, about a band with a dream to make it big. “We took a chance and they just blew us away with the style and the characters and the tone, and really the heart of what is best in Star Wars about found family and the dream.” It’s also one of the few shorts to feature classic characters, as our heroic band will run into Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt.

12. Trigger’s The Twins and The Elder will offer new spins on hallmark Star Wars motifs. The Twins “subverts the idea of Luke and Leia and imagines a brand-new set of twins born into the dark side, and how far the brother will go to save his sister,” Leach said. This is even represented visually with a co-joined Star Destroyer. The Elder, however, takes a closer look at another kind of Star Wars bond. “The Elder is a homage to a classic Star Wars master and Padawan relationship,” said Shirasaki. “You’ll also find the dual meaning of the title after you watch the short.”

13. The Village Bride by Kinema Citrus follows a fallen Jedi, but not in a way you’d expect. The guardian of peace and justice observes a local tradition in a far-off village through the eyes of a bride on the eve of her wedding day, and an unexpected choice she must make to save her people. “It’s poetic, meditative, and romantically bittersweet,” Shirasaki said. “This short also approaches the Force in a really unique and surprising way, too.”

14. Science Saru’s two shorts, Akakiri and T0-B1, share a similar cartoonish style but differ in tone. “It’s a beautiful yet painful story about a princess,” Shirasaki said of Akakiri. TB-01, however, is more heartwarming fare. “It’s a cute and fun story of an adorable droid who dreams to be a Jedi.”

15. Science Saru founder Eunyoung Choi draws influence from many of the same sources as Star Wars. “I think it’s really interesting to see how the East and West influence each other, and there’s a cycle of creativity that goes back and forth,” Leach said. “It’s interesting to see her take on the classic [Akira] Kurosawa melded with the Star Wars mythology, then taking her own Science Saru expression and putting it all in this mix. It looks really great.”

16. Astro Boy fans, keep your ears open. The sound designer of the classic anime series is lending his talents to Akakiri.

17. Lucasfilm was especially excited to work with Production IG, makers of The Ninth Jedi. “They are true anime pioneers, from Ghost in the Shell to the anime sequence in Kill Bill,” Lopez said. “They have an amazing pedigree as innovators.”

18. The Ninth Jedi “is an absolutely epic story,” according to Rimes. But it actually began as two separate shorts. One was to be set in a time when Jedi have fallen into legend and need to come back as darkness threatens the galaxy, with the daughter of a lightsabersmith seeking out the Jedi and delivering their weapons. The other story was to be told from the point of view of eight warriors coming together, learning if they are indeed Force sensitive and can trust each other. Ultimately, the decision was made to combine the stories in order to achieve something on a grander scale. “We brought those two tales together to create something really epic and special,” Rimes said. “They had us at ‘lightsabersmith,’” added Lopez.

19. While all the shorts have original scores, there’s something extra special about the music for The Ninth Jedi. The score was recorded at the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, an acclaimed, modern venue.

20. Star Wars fans who don’t know anime, fear not. Lucasfilm is confident that you’ll find something to enjoy in Star Wars: Visions. “These things go together like peanut butter and chocolate,” Waugh said. “So hopefully they love this combination as much as everybody on this panel does.”

https://www.starwars.com/news/anime-expo-lite-star-wars-visions

Très curieux d'en découvrir plus, j'aime vraiment bien ces premiers visuels !

Bande-annonce!

Je suis très curieux de découvrir ces neuf épisodes.

J'ai bien envie de les regarder en japonais avec sous-titres (anglais ou français) avant des les regarder à nouveau, doublés cette fois.

On retrouve les codes des animés japonais (y compris l'audio), combiné à l'Univers Star Wars, cela donne un résultat assez intriguant.  

La bande-annonce doublée en anglais :

Oh là là, mais décidément, l'animation a l'air incroyable! Tous ces courts-métrages semblent tous posséder un incroyable sens du détail et de la mise en scène. Et puis, les personnages, qu'est-ce qu'ils sont expressifs!
Je ne pensais pas que ce serait à ce point quand le projet a été annoncé (même s'il m'a intriguée tout de suite), mais je m'attends à un vrai chef-d'oeuvre avec cette série.
Et on sait donc que la VO sera en japonais (j'avais un doute là-dessus; même si l'animation est faite au Japon, le voice acting pouvait être américain).

La distribution américaine a été dévoilée.


Et pour la version française :

A l'approche de la diffusion de la série Star Wars : Visions sur la plateforme Disney+, Lucasfilm nous présente quelques protagonistes de cette anthologie (attention spoilers!) :

Citation :

INSIDE STAR WARS: VISIONS: MEET THE HEROES

IN ADVANCE OF THE UPCOMING DISNEY+ ANIME ANTHOLOGY SERIES, STARWARS.COM SPEAKS WITH EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JOSH RIMES AND PRODUCER KANAKO SHIRASAKI FOR INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE NEW HEROES WE’LL ENCOUNTER.

Star Wars is going to a new galaxy of storytelling. Star Wars: Visions, an anime anthology featuring nine shorts from some of the world’s best anime creators, is set to debut September 22 on Disney+. With Inside Star Wars: Visions, StarWars.com will pull back the curtain on the series for exclusive early insights into what might await us. In this installment, StarWars.com finds out about some of the starring heroes.

When it comes to Star Wars: Visions, you must unlearn what you have learned.

Visions will present unique takes on the Star Wars galaxy from some of the anime world’s greatest talents — and with these visionary stories come all-new heroes. Some are similar to those we know yet just a little different, others seem like they’re from a galaxy even further away. StarWars.com caught up with executive producer Josh Rimes and producer Kanako Shirasaki of Lucasfilm to learn more about five of these future fan favorites, whose stories we’ll soon experience in a Star Wars series like no other.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses characters and story details from Star Wars: Visions.



Kara, “The Ninth Jedi”

“The Ninth Jedi” from Production I.G. imagines a galaxy in which the Jedi Order is long gone, but a mysterious master named Juro hopes to revive it. And central to this possible Jedi renaissance is Kara, who has never been trained in the ways of the Force but still holds a connection to the guardians of peace and justice. “Kara’s father is a legendary lightsaber-smith, which is totally unique to this tale,” Rimes tells StarWars.com. “The lightsabers he makes are also different from anything we’ve seen before in Star Wars. Writer/director Kenji Kamiyama really leaned into this new and different vision of what a lightsaber can be and how it can reflect the nature of those who might wield it. Of course, Kara is in awe of her father and his very important job, and feels that one day she’ll have what it takes to wield a lightsaber and learn the ways of the Jedi.”

For Rimes, Kara follows in a tradition that’s key to Star Wars — but with a Visions twist. “Thematically, Kara has familiar hopes and dreams as heroes like Luke or Rey. She longs for more, wishes to become a hero and get off her tundra planet where great harpoon cannons farm for kyber crystals from the asteroids above,” he says. “What’s new, though, is that Kara has a stable, loving relationship to her father. He’s everything to her and she’s everything to him. He has an important job and when trouble comes she must take up her father’s mission and become the hero she’s meant to be — but despite her natural skill, she realizes this adventure is only the beginning and will need all the training she can get as she becomes a part of a group with a mission that’s bigger than herself.”

“She’s gifted with the use of a sword” adds Shirasaki, “but she’s not aware of her hidden power.”

When it comes to design, one of Kara’s looks takes direct influence from Leia — but not the famous hair-buns.

“Kamiyama-san took inspiration from the anime stories that have excited him and the staff at Production I.G, but the Return of the Jedi speeder chase was such a huge influence on the creative team for a big action set piece,” Rimes teases. “You’ll see that Kara wears a helmet and poncho that uses similar design language to Leia’s garb in that iconic Return of the Jedi action sequence.”

In “The Ninth Jedi,” the stakes will be high for both the galaxy and Kara. Rimes and Shirasaki promise it will be an adventure long remembered.

“Kara’s journey is an epic one that brims with the scale and excitement one would expect from a feature film,” Rimes says. “The score is sumptuous, the battles are epic, and Kara’s ultimate destiny hangs in the balance.”

“Kara suddenly gets caught up in an unexpected destiny,” says Shirasaki, “and faces the ultimate cho ice of her life.”



Karre, “The Twins”  

Trigger’s “The Twins” follows dark side siblings Karre and Am, an almost flip-version of the Skywalker saga’s well-known brother and sister. This is no hero’s journey, however. When the story begins, the twins already hold great power. Still, always in motion is the future, especially for Karre. “Along with his sister Am, Karre was created by dark side forces who plan for the powerful twins to rule the galaxy,” Shirasaki says. “However, Karre makes his own choice to free himself from a life that had been designed by the people around him.”

“Imaishi-san at Trigger really dug into his own style and the ‘twin’ themes with Luke and Leia to create dark-side twins Karre and Am,” adds Rimes. “While this set of twins has a destiny that is seemingly already written, with them both sitting up on their thrones on a giant Twin Star Destroyer, Karre has a crisis of conscience born out of love for his sister that drives his choice.”

Indeed, the conflict for Karre forms the heart of “The Twins.” And by inverting a classic Star Wars motif to follow protagonists aligned with the dark side, storytelling possibilities opened up.

“Karre brings a whole new point of view to Star Wars, but it also feels so familiar,” says Rimes. “He’s fighting for Am, the only family member he’s ever loved or known — and she is against it with every fiber of her being. Karre’s drive to protect and hold onto those he loves can be traced back to Anakin with his love for his mother or for Padmé, and Luke when it comes to his love for his friends and his ultimate forgiveness of his father. He’s making a choice that will forever shape his destiny. What’s really unique is that he’s doing it from an all-powerful position that’s set against a wild, exaggerated, burst of sound and fury and color. But it’s all because he wants his sister to live.”

In terms of design, Karre continues the Star Wars Sith tradition of looking, to put it plainly, incredibly cool. He sports very Vader-esque black armor, complete with flowing cape, chest box, and mask. But underneath it all is a more personal connection for the studio and filmmaker. “So much has been said about Karre’s look!” says Rimes. “This truly is Star Wars meets Promare. Promare was Imaishi-san’s breakout movie hit for Trigger. While Karre wears garb and helmet influenced by Darth Vader, his boyish blonde look underneath it all has a passing resemblance to the fan-favorite character Lio from Promare. We find it delightful as an homage to both Star Wars and Promare, but this melding of Imaishi-san’s special style of anime onto a galaxy far, far away is exactly what we were looking for when it came to making Star Wars: Visions.”

Karre’s struggle is, in a sense, to break free of everything that armor represents.

“He is a strong believer that you can choose your own destiny and forge your own path,” says Shirasaki.

“Karre is on a classic journey of his own,” Rimes says. “But his tale has shades of both Anakin and Luke as he pushes against his own destiny and holds out hope that he may one day save and redeem his sister.”



Dan, “The Elder”

“The Elder,” also from Trigger, explores the classic master-Padawan relationship. And the short’s Jedi learner, known simply as Dan, has much to learn.

“Dan is a Jedi Padawan who is a bit impatient and sarcastic — he just wants to see a little Jedi action. His master Tajin is wise and cautious, but trusting,” Rimes says. “Dan learns the hard way about what it means to seek out a fight or to underestimate an opponent.”

Dan, however, still has the heart of a Jedi.

“Despite his impatience and flashes of sarcasm, Dan brings a sweet, youthful energy to the galaxy. It’s hard not to fall in love with him or see yourself in his shoes,” Rimes says. “This short really dissects a particular master-student relationship in a really deep and incisive way.”

As established in the Star Wars prequels, there’s a uniformity to Padawan learners. Still, Dan carves out some individuality.

“Dan has a typical Padawan hairstyle with a braid, but I love that he added his own twist with shaved lines to it,” Shirasaki says. “His curiosity and lack of experiences land him in dire straits, but his master teaches him the lessons needed to overcome his challenges.”

And it’s the interplay between Dan and his master that forms the center of “The Elder,” and also acts as a personal statement from the short’s director.

“Themes of youth versus experience and everything that comes with it hang on every frame of this story. It makes sense since this might be director Otsuka-san’s final film for Trigger,” Rimes says. “In many ways, this is a love letter from him, the older master, to the newer, younger generation of artists starting up.”



F, “The Village Bride”

Kinema Citrus’ “The Village Bride” finds a fallen Jedi, known only as F, observing a small village’s wedding rituals. Little is known about F, but what she does not reveal speaks volumes.

“From her cloak, to her mask, to her one letter name, F is mysterious, hidden, cautious due to a great tragedy in her past,” Rimes says. “Despite her Jedi heroics in an earlier time, she is really much more of an observer here as she takes in an unfamiliar world and village and must decide: will she step back into her old Jedi life and reveal herself?”

One avenue explored in “The Village Bride” is the idea of the Force, and how different cultures might interpret the mystical energy field. For F, it represents a chance to learn. “This short introduces the Force in a unique way,” Shirasaki says. “People of Planet Keelia don’t know the concept of the Force, but they interpret in their own way. They call it ‘Magina’ and use it to connect them with the nature around them.”

As such, “The Village Bride” is a more transcendental tale, yet not without action. The feel of the short is reflected in the nature of F herself.

“F brings a sense of serene calm to this piece. ‘The Village Bride’ is as much about the natural world, customs, traditions, and a new and unexpected way people might worship and wield the Force. It’s a meditative story, almost a tone poem, as F reflects on what is happening in front of her, but also on her own tragic past,” says Rimes. “As danger escalates and F is drawn into conflict once again, her ultimate choice is such a moment of catharsis and release.”

Still, it will be a journey for F to get to that point, and her design represents that battle.

“F is guarded in every sense of the word. She wears an elaborate mask and cloak that figuratively and literally shields past traumas,” Rimes says. For Shirasaki, however, it’s a particularly successful look — and there’s good reason for that.

“I personally love her combination of boots with Japanese hakama!” she says. “The staff at the animation studio behind the short, Kinema Citrus, actually dressed up like her to test the costume design, and that really paid off.”

As a tale of redemption, “The Village Bride” echoes one of Star Wars’ greatest themes.

“F’s journey is bittersweet and stirring as she reconnects with others and herself after running for so long,” Rimes says. “It’s thrilling to see her finally embrace the hero within.”



Ronin, “The Duel”

Taking inspiration from Samurai lore and films that inspired Star Wars itself, along with a mashup of newer forms and other genres, “The Duel” follows a Jedi known simply as Ronin.

“Ronin is a wanderer, an anti-hero, a mysterious warrior directly influenced by Toshiro Mifune and Kurosawa films like Yojimbo,” Rimes explains. “He exists in a realm where old Kurosawa films, manga, Westerns, and Star Wars all collide in a feudal style world full of stormtrooper remnants and alien bodyguard squads — and his sidekick is a killer droid in a straw hat. Everything about this character feels so right for Star Wars: Visions and the kinds of stories and influences we wanted to explore.”

“Nobody knows who he is or where he is from,” adds Shirasaki. “He doesn’t talk about himself. The only one who knows his true identity is his droid and it doesn’t speak, either. As viewers, we are only given the same limited amount of information about the protagonist that is given to the other characters of this short.”

The designs of Ronin and his droid were some of the first created for Visions. Taking Star Wars back to its Samurai roots, but with bold colors and a sense of humor, they came to represent everything Visions could be.

“Very early on we saw Takashi Okazaki’s design for Ronin and his droid and were utterly blown away — black and white, with a flourish of red for his lightsaber. We knew we were onto something with Visions,” Rimes says. “Okazaki-san is just an amazing artist that captures so much depth and detail, and creates these characters with so much love and care.”

Though Ronin has been wandering, it will soon be time to face his destiny.

“We’ll find out about further adventures of our hero in the Visions novel Ronin, but this tale is about a man with a strong sense of justice and right and wrong,” says Rimes. “The way he’s animated and performed in both original Japanese and the English dub shows that he really carries the weight of his own past with him on his journey toward self-discovery — and he’ll dispense some eye-popping, lightsaber-clashing justice along the way if he must.”

https://www.starwars.com/news/inside-star-wars-visions-meet-the-heroes

Après les héros, voici ceux qu'ils affrontent (attention spoilers) :  

Citation :

INSIDE STAR WARS: VISIONS: MEET THE VILLAINS

STARWARS.COM SPEAKS WITH CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JUSTIN LEACH FOR INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE NEWEST VILLAINS WE’LL FACE IN THE UPCOMING DISNEY+ ANIME ANTHOLOGY SERIES

Star Wars is going to a new galaxy of storytelling. Star Wars: Visions, an anime anthology featuring nine shorts from some of the world’s best anime creators, is set to debut September 22 on Disney+. With Inside Star Wars: Visions, StarWars.com will pull back the curtain on the series for exclusive early insights into what might await us. In this installment, StarWars.com finds out about some of the starring villains.

To become the hero they were meant to be, the protagonists of the new anthology series, Star Wars: Visions, must face an array of dark side disciples and Sith villains on their quests.

The unique take on Star Wars storytelling includes never-before-seen expressions of lightsabers and weaponized armor designed by the foremost minds in the world of anime. Recently, StarWars.com sat down with co-executive producer Justin Leach for his take on five of the most fearsome villains who will spring to terrifying life in the forthcoming new series.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses characters and story details from Star Wars: Visions.



The Elder, “The Elder”

The titular character in “The Elder” from Trigger studio is a mysterious warrior with ancient and sinister origins. “He is a master swordsman seeking worthy adversaries,” says Leach. “Even though his appearance is that of an aged old man, he moves gracefully and effortlessly against any opponent.” But in the short by the same name, the Elder comes up against a foe few have successfully defeated — time itself — and must face his own mortality.

Although many of the biggest villains in Star Wars lore are aligned with the Sith, the Elder’s aspirations lie elsewhere. “While he appears very Sith-like, he is clearly more focused on mastering his skills than following their ideology,” Leach says. His story is sure to keep fans guessing and, “since his motivations seem to be more about mastering his skill in combat and less about gaining power, this adds a new dimension to the Sith archetype.”

Character designer Kamome Shirahama is no stranger to the Star Wars galaxy, having previously illustrated the concepts for the ARTFX Artist Series Kotobukiya statuettes of Rey and Kylo Ren. A well-known manga artist in Japan, Shirahama infused the spirit of classic anime, Star Wars myth, and the ways of the Samurai into one cohesive design, Leach says. “The Elder’s katana-shaped lightsaber is a wonderful tribute to the original source material that inspired Star Wars,” Leach says of the character’s dual blades.

As for the Elder himself, “the etched wrinkles on his face, his sinister, toothy grin, combined with piercing black and yellow eyes gives him a truly dark and menacing impression.”



Am, “The Twins”

We previously met Karre from Trigger’s “The Twins,” which follows the story of two dark side siblings. Now, meet his sister, Am. “Am is consumed by her desire for power, and blind to the danger she faces,” Leach says, in sharp contrast to her brother who made his own choice to walk away from his upbringing.

Am is ambitious and extremely powerful, a master of the dark side of the Force who wields her power through a unique set of weaponized armor. “Seeing Am take action in her special dark armor suit is truly a unique expression of the dark side,” Leach says.

And even with her brother’s encouragement and example, “Am struggles to find the right balance. Her brother, Karre, cares deeply for Am and he tries his best to save her from destruction.”

To bring these twins to life, character designer Shigeto Koyama created a brand-new take on a Sith overlord, melding elements of Darth Vader’s life-supporting suit, classic anime details, and the Trigger aesthetic. “She has a special dark armor suit, that when combined with a special Kyber crystal, gives her unique saber-wielding powers,” Leach says, including extra appendages to wield an array of lightsabers that can take the shape of a blade or a whip. “It is an incredible spectacle to behold in action.”

But beyond her appearance, Am’s character moves beyond the typical Sith Lords of the past. “Am takes being a Dark Lord to the next level with her drive, ambition, and skill on a scale that could only be expressed through anime,” Leach promises. “It flips the classic Star Wars twins upside down in a way that is new and exciting.”



Masago, “Akakiri”

Destiny is immutable, or at least that’s what some dark-side users would have us believe. And Masago, who we meet in Science Saru’s “Akakiri,” is certainly among them.

Her strength is echoed in every element of her bold character design, from designer Naoyuki Asano. “With a great deal of strength and weight in the design, her broad shoulders and physical presence are palpable. Her red eyes, imbued with the dark side of the Force, create the impression of a soul full of darkness, ambition, and hunger for power.”

But like so many before her, beyond conquest, Masago also seeks allies, hoping to convince others to join her side by spouting her philosophy that, to paraphrase Darth Vader himself, it is their destiny. “Like other great villains within the Star Wars universe, she believes in this principle and uses it as an argument against her enemies when she tries to recruit them.”



Sith Bandit Leader, “The Duel”

An homage to the Japanese tradition of female samurai warriors of feudal Japan called “Onna-Musha,” the Sith Bandit Leader from “The Duel” is “a cool and cunning assassin reminiscent of the famous female warrior from Japanese cinema in the ‘70s, Lady Snowblood,” Leach says.

At first glance, it’s clear that this woman is a force to be reckoned with, a powerful presence realized through careful line work. “[Designer] Okazaki-san’s passion and love for Star Wars comes across clearly in his designs and The Bandit Leader in no exception,” Leach notes, a skillful combination of traditional Japanese culture and Star Wars mythology.

“His meticulous attention to detail is expressed through the efforts of Kamikaze Douga,” Leach adds, a unique, hand-drawn, black and white short with pops of color accents that make it stand out from the rest.

In a storyline reminiscent of Seven Samurai, the hero Ronin meets the Sith Bandit Leader and her cronies in a camp, forcing Ronin to take action to aid the helpless villagers nearby.

Glimpsed in a trailer for the anthology, the Sith Bandit Leader wields a lightsaber unlike any we’ve seen before. “She has a very special type of lightsaber umbrella that can turn her lightsaber into a weapon capable of defensive and offensive maneuvering,” Leach says.

Whether she’s fighting a solitary warrior or a band of bounty hunters, her weapon and her fighting prowess give her an edge in battle, sharing similarities with another powerful Sith fighter: Darth Maul. “The Sith Bandit Leader is a fresh take on the classic Sith Villain expressed through dynamic action and fighting sequences not seen, perhaps, since Darth Maul faced Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace.”



The Inquisitor, “T0-B1”

A simple droid pretending to be a Jedi instead invites the wrath of an Inquisitor roaming the galaxy to hunt down all Jedi who remain after Order 66, in Science Saru’s “T0-B1.”

Like other Inquisitors that have come before, this new hunter is a powerful, menacing representation of the dark side of the Force, seeking to eliminate and snuff out all that remains of the light.

Designed by Takafumi Hori, an accomplished animator in Tokyo whose work has been seen in both Japanese and US productions like Steven Universe, Kill La Kill, and Samurai Shamploo, his latest villain is a stylish and expressive character. “His design is reminiscent of a medieval black knight with modern details,” Leach says, pointing to the glowing red line insinuating eyes concealed behind his helmet.

There’s a primal element to the Inquisitor, an instinctive menace that is expressed in the short through the animation style. “As he fights, he becomes more animal-like, exposing a mouth full of teeth as he screams in anger.”

And through this hunter, the titular T0-B1 will search within himself “to find the independence and strength he needs to grow.”

https://www.starwars.com/news/inside-star-wars-visions-meet-the-villains

On continue avec les droïdes (attention spoilers) :

Citation :

INSIDE STAR WARS: VISIONS: MEET THE DROIDS

STARWARS.COM SPEAKS WITH PRODUCER KANAKO SHIRASAKI FOR INSIGHT INTO THE MECHANICAL BEINGS OF THE UPCOMING DISNEY+ ANIME ANTHOLOGY SERIES.

Star Wars is going to a new galaxy of storytelling. Star Wars: Visions, an anime anthology featuring nine shorts from some of the world’s best anime creators, is set to debut September 22 on Disney+. With Inside Star Wars: Visions, StarWars.com will pull back the curtain on the series for exclusive early insights into what might await us. In this installment, StarWars.com finds out about some of the starring heroes.

Star Wars wouldn’t be the same without droids. From Artoo to Kaytoo, they’ve turned the tide of battle, saved our heroes, and become fan favorites. In Star Wars: Visions, we’ll meet more of these mechanical beings, but many unlike those we’ve seen thus far — including a droid that can play guitar solos with the best of ‘em. StarWars.com caught up with Visions producer Kanako Shirasaki to get a little more data on some of the series’ new droids.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses characters and story details from Star Wars: Visions.



T0-B1 (and friends), “T0-B1”

As we’ve seen since Star Wars: A New Hope, droids can be heroes in their own right. In Science Saru’s “T0-B1,” we’ll get to know one that dreams even bigger. “T0-B1 is a humanoid droid, full of curiosity, who dreams to be a Jedi Knight,” Shirasaki tells StarWars.com. “He’s an assistant to Professor Mitaka in his quest to bring life back to a barren land.”

Inherent in T0-B1’s desire to become a Jedi is an endearing childlike quality.

“T0-B1 acts like a little kid, whose attention doesn’t last long. He wants to play Jedi rather than help Professor Mitaka complete his research, which is quite unique compared to what we have seen thus far in the Star Wars universe,” Shirasaki says. “Most droids have been programmed to fulfill their duties right away. Instead, T0-B1 is still learning and has the potential to grow, mature, and change.” And T0-B1’s design reflects his personality and programming.

T0-B1 has an expressive face with more gently robotic features, like buttons on his cheeks and a pointy head. It’s a design reminiscent of some classic anime characters, but also has a Pinocchio-esque quality.  

“How can you not love T0-B1?” asks Shirasaki. “He’s just so adorable! His round cheeks and his cute friends are just screaming to be made into chibi plush toys.”

Cuteness factor aside, T0-B1’s journey looks to be one to remember.

“T0-B1 matures from a mischievous kid into an experienced character during just this one episode,” Shirasaki says. “Will he realize his dream of becoming a Jedi knight? Watch and you’ll find out.”



K-344, “Tatooine Rhapsody”

Move over, Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes.

Twin Engine’s “Tatooine Rhapsody” tells the story of The Star Waver, a rock band with dreams of making it big. And on guitar is someone destined, or programmed, to make great music.

“K-344 is a guitarist of the band and plays a phenomenal dual neck guitar,” Shirasaki says. “She was once abandoned but found her purpose in rock and roll.”

K-344 lets her playing doing the talking most of the time, exuding rock-star cool.

“She really stands out from other droids,” Shirasaki says. “Her calm demeanor contrasts with the excitable C-3PO and R2-D2, while her authoritative tone makes you feel that she’s capable of handling any dangerous situation.”

A rock opera, “Tatooine Rhapsody” promises to celebrate the power of music just as much as it does Star Wars. K-344 epitomizes that theme.

“Like other members of The Star Waver, music is the only thing she has,” Shirasaki says. “She appears cryptic at first, but her affinity for rock and roll shines through when her band members face the ultimate choice.”





B-20N and R-DUO, “The Twins”

“The Twins” from Studio Trigger puts a subversive spin on the story of Luke and Leia, with siblings Am and Karre created through the power of the dark side. Similarly, the duo’s droids take inspiration from an iconic droid team, but have some definite differences.

“B-2ON is a loyal servant to Am and Karre. He is clearly inspired by C-3PO, but jet black instead of (mostly) gold because he serves the twins of the dark side,” Shirasaki says. “Studio Trigger also had some fun with his name, which I think will delight many Star Wars fans if they can figure out the reference.”

“The way B-2ON carries himself and the way he talks reminds you of an old butler. He’s experienced and usually reserved,” continues Shirasaki. “Yet sometimes he shows a surprisingly emotional side that comes from devotion and dedication, leading to an unwavering determination to protect Am and his masters’ mission at any cost.”  

B-2ON’s counterpart is equally devoted to his masters…but maybe a little more devious. And much like Artoo is to Luke, R-DUO moves beyond the role of droid servant to his master. He’s Karre’s friend.

“Karre knows that R-DUO is a perfect partner if he needs to win a big battle. And R-DUO knows that he’s indispensable to Karre, too, which he proves again and again throughout the episode.”



TD-4, “Lop and Ochō”

Accompanying Lop on her journey in Geno Studio’s “Lop and Ochō” is TD-4, a droid that Shirasaki thinks will capture fans’ hearts. “TD-4 is more like a loyal dog to Lop — always by her side,” she says.

Like many droids, TD-4 has various abilities and gadgets. But one is especially important.

“TD-4 takes the recording functionality we saw originally with R2-D2 in A New Hope to a new level by independently capturing the important moments of Lop’s journey, from surviving as an orphan on Planet Tao to becoming part of a family,” Shirasaki says. “I see this feature almost like what we might envision in our own lives as a diary or blog, and it plays a key role in this episode.”

Of all the droids in Visions, TD-4 may have the most unique look. With a rectangular head featuring two ear-like cylinders, TD-4’s design is filled with personality. “I love TD-4’s tininess, its color, and chibi design!” Shirasaki says. “Lop and TD-4 are just so endearing together. Despite its small size, the creators have imagined so many cool traits that set it apart. I hope someday that TD-4 can show us more than what has been revealed in the episode, as it always supports Lop and leads them to a fateful destiny.”



Steward Droid, “The Ninth Jedi”

In Production I.G’s short, masterless Jedi come to the Aerial Temple under strange circumstances. The mysterious steward droid greets them, but does little to assure these guardians of peace and justice. “Steward droid is an enigmatic character serving Margrave Juro,” Shirasaki says. “He waits at the Aerial Temple where he puzzles the Jedi by uncharacteristically withholding answers to their burning questions.”

Shirasaki will reveal little else about this droid, but points out that its design rejects the friendly, shinier look of fan favorites.  

“He is a surprisingly large droid, perhaps even taller than Chewie!” Shirasaki says. “And while most droids like C-3PO or BB-8 are known by their metallic tones or bright colors, this one is oddly dark, which adds to his mysterious aura. Will the Jedi uncover his secrets?”

https://www.starwars.com/news/inside-star-wars-visions-meet-the-droids

Au tour des vaisseaux et véhicules (attention spoilers) :

Citation :

INSIDE STAR WARS: VISIONS: MEET THE SHIPS AND VEHICLES

STARWARS.COM SPEAKS WITH EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JOSH RIMES FOR INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE SLEEK SHIPS AND VEHICLES SOARING INTO THE UPCOMING DISNEY+ ANIME ANTHOLOGY SERIES.

Star Wars is going to a new galaxy of storytelling. Star Wars: Visions, an anime anthology featuring nine shorts from some of the world’s best anime creators, is set to debut September 22 on Disney+. With Inside Star Wars: Visions, StarWars.com will pull back the curtain on the series for exclusive early insights into what might await us. In this final installment, StarWars.com finds out about some of the new ships and vehicles coming in for a landing.

A conjoined Star Destroyer, the return of the Z-95 starfighter, and the galaxy’s answer to a garage band’s trusty tour van. In the upcoming anthology Star Wars: Visions, the anime series proves there are no limits on creativity, form, and function when it comes to the stylized ships and vehicles flying through these shorts.

Recently, StarWars.com sat down with Lucasfilm’s Josh Rimes, an executive producer on the series, to learn more about five of the most fascinating new expressions of speedy hunks of junk, hulking planet destroyers, and, of course, a fresh spin on the iconic starfighter.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses characters and story details from Star Wars: Visions.



The Twin Star Destroyer, “The Twins”

When you first see the Twin Star Destroyer, it emerges from the shadows like the beginning of a new cinematic Star Wars adventure. But there’s something quite different about the shape of this craft. “The Twin Star Destroyer is such a playful idea,” says Rimes. “With a wink and nod, director Hiroyuki Imaishi slowly reveals a Star Destroyer coming out of shadow. But wait — the light expands revealing a second conjoined Destroyer!”

A clever visual riff on the twin siblings at the core of this short, the expansive design fits perfectly into the heightened and sprawling world in the tale.

To mirror the occupants, each Star Destroyer contains its own throne room, one for Am and one for Karre. And in the middle: a weapon capable of mass destruction. “Holding them together is a massive cannon,” says Rimes. “When powered by the twins, it can deliver planet-eradicating blasts that would put the Death Star to shame.”



The Boat, “Akakiri”

Star Wars ships often traverse the cosmos, but in Science Saru’s “Akakiri,” lo-fi modes of transportation take the spotlight for a story of evasion.

Grounded in the look of The Hidden Fortress and other Akira Kurosawa samurai drama films, which first inspired Star Wars creator George Lucas, the short follows a group of heroes on the run. “Set against harsh landscapes, they must lay low to avoid bandits and the forces of warlord Masago as they move ever closer to her fortress,” says Rimes.

Among their forms of transport are ostrich-like creatures, a vendor’s vegetable cart, and something akin to a traditional Japanese river boat, unlike anything we’ve seen in Star Wars before.



F’s ship in “The Village Bride”

Lucasfilm Story Group’s Matt Martin first suggested the Z-95 for F’s ship in this short from studio Kinema Citrus, Rimes says. “It was a blast to bring this Clone Wars-era favorite into the world of Star Wars: Visions,” he adds.

Early in development of the short, director Hitoshi Haga expressed an interest in giving the hero, F, a classic send off. “[He] wanted F’s flight off into the sunset to be aboard a heroic ship — something similar to an X-wing,” Rimes says.

Although Visions exists outside the typical constraints of lore continuity, and no era is strongly defined in the anthology tales, this short specifically deals with remnants after Order 66 ends the Clone War. “So traditional X-wings were off the table,” Rimes says.

But thanks to Martin’s suggestion, another starfighter that first appeared in Legends and was the forerunner to the X-wing was able to take its place.



Troop Transport Tank, “The Duel”

Similar to other designs from the Kamikaze Douga short, the hulking tank in the Ronin tale is a perfect fusion of samurai and space opera influences. “There are unique flourishes, like rope moorings, that create that feudal samurai meets Star Wars aesthetic,” Rimes says.

The mobile fortress is an imposing vehicle that can be heard from great distances, “signaling doom to come for any village in its way,” Rimes says. Beyond an impressive arsenal of weapons, including a series of cannons to level those who dare to stand against it, the vehicle boasts enough space to conceal an entire army and an elevated platform. “It features a top hatch and lift that elevates the powerful and terrifying Sith bandit leader above all when she stands upon its roof to lord over those beneath her,” Rimes says.

To put it simply: “This vehicle was built to conquer.”



The Rolling Gales, “Tatooine Rhapsody”

For the band, Star Waver, their ship is their home away from home and their ticket to fame and fortune. But instead of smuggling runs, their ship The Rolling Gales is a unique expression of the galaxy’s answer to up-and-coming musicians piling into a van for a tour.

“When we open on them playing a small show, we see them rocking on a makeshift stage,” Rimes says. “What’s so delightful is that this stage is literally built into their ship and home they fly from gig to gig.”

Star Waver is not unlike a garage band, Rimes says, “and the garage is literally the belly of their ship.” Designers paid careful attention to that inspiration in creating the massive craft. “It’s form and function is so grounded to the fiction of a band gigging from show to show, staying scrappy, and keeping their heads above water.”

Even the ship’s deco evokes another Star Wars artist, Sabine Wren, who often expressed herself through freshly painted armor, rainbow-dyed hair, and graffiti tagging. “Keep an eye out for little colorful spray paint flourishes and details on the hull,” Rimes notes.

But there’s one thing The Rolling Gales wasn’t built for: outrunning bounty hunters, namely one Boba Fett, who comes calling on a mission from Jabba the Hutt.

https://www.starwars.com/news/inside-star-wars-visions-meet-the-ships-and-vehicles

Quel plaisir de suivre ses 9 courtes aventures aux ambiances si différentes, dans la forme comme dans le fond, et à l'animation si soignée. Chaque histoire possède des personnages charismatiques qui captent notre intérêt en quelques minutes et nous emportent avec eux. Le revers de la médaille : la fin semble toujours arriver trop vite et on se surprend à espérer les suivre dans d'autres aventures qui n'arriveront pas. Qui sont-ils? D'où viennent-ils et que vont-ils devenir? Chaque épisode apporte son lot de questions, qui resteront malheureusement sans doute sans réponses.

Star Wars : Visions est une série à découvrir sans hésitions !
Ne pas manquer également les nombreuses vidéos autours des coulisses dans la catégorie "Bonus".

Visuellement splendide, Star Wars se marie à merveille avec les différents styles de l'animation japonaise.
Pour autant, je n'ai pas accroché à tous les épisodes, certains étant peu intéressants de mon point de vue, notamment Tatooine Rapsody, T0-B1 ou The Village Bride.

J'ai adoré The Duel, le meilleur épisode à mon sens. The Twins est également excellent, tant il pourrait être un what if... tout comme Akakiri particulièrement symbolique. J'ai aussi beaucoup apprécié The Ninth Jedi.

Les produits dérivés arrivent dans les magasins Target et en ligne sur Amazon.com :

Citation :

STAR WARS: VISIONS STYLE COMES TO OUR GALAXY

CHECK OUT NEW APPAREL INSPIRED BY THE IMAGINATIVE ANIME ANTHOLOGY SERIES.

You can now bring the stunning imagery of Star Wars: Visions to your wardrobe.

StarWars.com is thrilled to reveal the first official Star Wars: Visions apparel, all inspired by the upcoming Disney+ anime anthology series and available now. Fifth Sun’s collection includes stylish graphic tees and hoodies, while a creative range from Rock ‘Em Socks brings some color to your sock drawer. Each series features heroes and villains from all nine shorts of Star Wars: Visions, including the rock band from “Tatooine Rhapsody” and the mysterious Ronin from “The Duel,” each in the aesthetic of the original anime. And the production team at Lucasfilm loved the style of “The Duel” so much, they commissioned Kamikaze Douga character designer Takashi Okazaki to create designs of Star Wars icons Darth Vader, Boba Fett, R2-D2, and C-3PO for these collections — even though they don’t appear in the short.

In addition, Heroes & Villains will reveal its own Star Wars: Visions apparel collection later this month. For those hoping for some collectibles, an exclusive assortment will come to Target at a later date.

Check out some of Fifth Sun’s and Rock ‘Em Socks’ releases below — perfect attire for the September 22 debut of Star Wars: Visions on Disney+! Plus, shop Star Wars: Visions on the Amazon Brand Store.

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-visions-apparel

Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/06B69E74-B910-43D4-B763-EF26A04BB526?ingress=0&visitId=20f82b50-ab03-4eed-a21d-91de012ddb67

Article intéressant de Variety sur la série Star Wars : Visions :

Citation :

How Lucasfilm Made ‘Star Wars: Visions’ the Most Ambitious ‘Star Wars’ Project Since ‘A New Hope’

When Masi Oka was first approached to provide a voice for “Star Wars: Visions” — Lucasfilm’s sensational new anthology series for Disney Plus that presents nine “Star Wars” shorts by seven Japanese anime studios — it did not take much to convince the actor to say yes. “Star Wars: A New Hope” was the first movie Oka ever saw in theaters. It was the first VHS tape he ever purchased. His first job out of college was at Industrial Light and Magic, and some of his earliest credits are as a visual effects artist on George Lucas’s “Star Wars” prequels.

“My whole career was shaped by ‘Star Wars,'” Oka says. As an actor, he’d held out hope that he might land a role in Disney’s live-action “Star Wars” sequels, or on the Disney Plus series “The Mandalorian.” So by the time he heard about “Visions,” he was primed.

“I was told it was ‘Star Wars’ and they were trying to do something with anime,” he says with a huge smile. “I didn’t need to know about anything else. Count me in.”

“Star Wars: Visions” is no less than the most creatively ambitious project in the “Star Wars” franchise since Lucas first transported moviegoers to a galaxy far, far away 44 years ago. Each animated short — ranging from 22 to 13 minutes in length — takes a radically unique narrative and aesthetic approach to the “Star Wars” universe: Only one episode features any familiar characters, several step outside of established “Star Wars” canon, and all of them push the visual boundaries of the franchise while still remaining innately “Star Wars.”

And yet, it turns out that for a long time, all Oka could know about the project was that Lucasfilm was “trying to do something” with “Star Wars” and anime.

The seeds of “Visions” first sprouted around the release of 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” in a series of meetings with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about how to expand the “Star Wars” universe. Between the direct inspiration Lucas drew for “Star Wars” from the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, the success of the “Clone Wars” animated series, and the vast ecosystem of anime-inspired “Star Wars” fan art on the internet, telling a “Star Wars” story through the lens of anime seemed like a no brainer.

“This has been something that we wanted to do forever,” says executive producer James Waugh, who also serves as Lucasfilm’s vice president of franchise content and strategy. “We all have that vernacular of referencing different movies and scenes [from anime]. I think the question was how do you do that with ‘Star Wars’ in the right way?”



One of the biggest sticking points was just how Lucasfilm should go about incorporating anime into the world of “Star Wars.” The clearest path to drawing a “Star Wars”-sized audience would be an anime feature film or animated series, but those kinds of projects would be tied to a single aesthetic that would by necessity leave behind the vast spectrum of visual and narrative approaches in anime.

“We wanted this to be a kind of survey of all the nuance and tones and textures of anime,” Waugh says. “We didn’t want this to be one note, because I think there’s an expectation of what anime is versus, you know, truly the diverse array of storytelling that is done in the medium.”

Another hurdle was the sticky issue of how to make a “Star Wars” anime project while remaining within “Star Wars” canon. “But if we have to stay in canon, we’re going to be completely directing it,” says executive producer Jacqui Lopez, vice president of production at Lucasfilm Animation.

The dilemma stalled any progress, leaving “‘Star Wars,’ with anime” as a tantalizing idea floating through the halls of Lucasfilm without any home — until Disney’s nascent streaming service walked in the door.

“It took Disney Plus, really, to give us the opportunity for a platform that changed the way we were thinking about ‘Star Wars’ storytelling,” Waugh says. “Then it was just a matter of how do we do it in a way that was going to be as authentic as possible, and really let the studios own the storytelling as unique expressions of ‘Star Wars’ — which we just hadn’t explored within the creative strategy we were working through at the time. That’s what unlocked the ‘Visions’ framework. We really wanted to have something that allowed us to lean into the medium in a more celebratory way.”

With the relative freedom afforded by Disney Plus, and a desire to cast as wide a net as possible, Lucasfilm seized on the idea of recruiting a suite of anime studios — each with their own visual specialities and storytelling interests — to make a series of one-off short films. Starting in early 2020, Lucasfilm partnered with Qubic Pictures, a production company that specializes in bridging anime projects between Japan and the U.S., to find the right anime studios in Japan for the project, sort through their pitches, and develop their final ideas into finished films.

“I had always thought that ‘Star Wars’ and anime fit together, but I wasn’t quite sure until I actually saw it in the finished form,” says co-executive producer Justin Leach, CEO and founder of Qubic. “It was so exciting to see how naturally the two fit together.”

“I think Star Wars has a very special place in Japanese people’s hearts,” added producer Kanako Shirasaki, head of production at Qubic. “Creators in Japan, you can feel their love for ‘Star Wars’ and George Lucas from every single shot.”



Some studios submitted a single pitch for consideration, while others pitched several ideas. Then Lucasfilm and Qubic sorted through how to create the widest assortment of approaches to achieve their desire for as comprehensive a survey of anime as possible.

“We purposefully tried to go after different styles,” Lopez says. “We went to each studio thinking, ‘Okay, we have studios that do action. Now let’s get heart. Now let’s get whimsy.’ We really tried to curate it that way.”

One thing Lucasfilm did not do, however, was be a stickler about “Star Wars” canon — either way. If a studio wanted to step far outside the established story — like Trigger did with “The Twins,” about a pair of Sith siblings genetically engineered to keep the Empire in power — Lucasfilm gave its blessing. If a studio hoped to draw from existing characters — like Studio Colorido’s “Tatooine Rhapsody,” about a rag-tag rock band that runs afoul of Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt — Lucasfilm stepped in with their help and expertise, too.

“We wanted to make sure that they got to tell their human story first,” Waugh says. “We never said it should be here or there. We wanted it to be a pretty blank canvass. Are these things part of the overall saga? I think some of them are. Things like ‘The Twins’ clearly are an amazing remix celebration of ‘Star Wars.'”

While each short takes on its own unique flavor, they all share a preoccupation with one of the singular objects within the “Star Wars” franchise: the lightsaber, as a totem of power, symbol of familial tradition, or literal catalyst for the short’s central story. It’s so striking that it could seem as if Lucasfilm and Qubic decided to use the lightsaber as a kind of unifying motif for “Visions.”

Nope. “It just happened to be that way,” Shirasaki says with a shrug. “It’s a happy coincidence.”

“Lots of Japanese people grew up playing chanbara — it’s just like you roll up a newspaper and play like a samurai,” she adds. “All these creators are huge fans of ‘Star Wars,’ so I’m sure they really wanted to use the most iconic props of the series.”

The short most focused on lightsabers, Production I.G’s “The Ninth Jedi,” initially started as two shorts set in an era when the ancient weapon is so scarce, it’s practically a legend. One short focused on a father and daughter working to create lightsabers in hopes that the Jedi will return to wield them, the other was set among a group of Force-sensitive warriors drawn together with the promise that they could, in fact, get their hands on a lightsaber. The stories fit together so naturally that Lucasfilm and Qubic suggested combining them.

“Ultimately, we saw the opportunity to say let’s make sure they can run with this because clearly there’s a bigger vision here than breaking this into those slices,” Waugh says.



“The Ninth Jedi” is also Oka’s episode; he plays one of the potential Jedi awaiting a lightsaber from the nearby planet. Like any English-language voice actor in an anime project, Oka recorded his dialogue after the short was finished and animated to fit the performance of his character’s original Japanese actor. Oka’s job was to watch the completed version and try his best to match the movement of his character’s mouth to his dialogue.

Born and raised as a young child in Japan before his family moved to America, Oka had the advantage of innately understanding the original Japanese performance.

“Because I speak Japanese fluently, I understand what they’re saying and where the inflections are and where the emphasis is and what tone it is,” Oka says.

The English language cast of “Visions” runs the gamut of all-Asian actors for shorts like “The Duel” (with Brian Tee and Lucy Liu) and “The Village Bride” (with Karen Kukuhara and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) to more ethnically varied casts like “The Elder” (with David Harbour, Jordan Fisher, and James Hong) and “The Twins” (with Neil Patrick Harris and Alison Brie).

If a character was clearly drawn to be Japanese or from Japanese culture, the producers looked for actors who also fit that description. “If the character was more kind of the ‘Star Wars’ undefined ethnicity, then we were much more agile and really looked for the best voice talent,” says Waugh. “Look, our hope is that people watch the Japanese original version as well. That is what inspired the casting selection. That’s where it all started. And that was the director’s vision for how those characters should be rendered.”

For Oka, being a part of a “Star Wars” project that so directly reflected his own cultural background was not only “a dream come true,” but the fulfillment of the promise of what “Star Wars” meant to him as a child.

“To see anime and ‘Star Wars,’ two huge influences in my life that shaped who I am today, come together, it’s just my mind couldn’t handle it for a while. The ‘Star Wars’ universe has unlimited potential and unlimited creativity,” he says. “It could go anywhere it wants. You can always be surprised with something new.”

In that spirit, “The Ninth Jedi” is also one of several “Visions” shorts that all but heralds the possibility for future stories. When asked if Lucasfilm is actively working on seeing that possibility through and continuing the stories within “Visions,” Waugh stares at his Zoom camera for a good few seconds with an inscrutable smile.

“That’s a great idea,” he says finally. “There are definitely more stories. So it’s certainly within the realm of possibility. It’s nothing that we actually have in active production at the moment.”

Oka, naturally, would love to see his character return — and then some.

“I’d love to see it as a full series!” he says with a laugh. “A movie! Maybe a live-action film! A full franchise! Video games! Why not?!”

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/star-wars-visions-lucasfilm-anime-1235071820/

Je viens tout juste de terminer cette série et j'ai tout bonnement adoré, c'est un véritable coup de coeur!
Le concept est superbement exploité, chaque court-métrage a une patte bien définie, fait preuve de créativité et offre une vision très intéressante de l'univers Star Wars. Chaque épisode possède sa propre ambiance, sa propre histoire, des personnages tous très intéressants (avec souvent de super designs). Voir cet univers que j'aime tant être représenté sous forme d'animation japonaise, c'est vraiment tripant. Surtout que tous les épisodes font preuve d'un travail graphique très abouti, avec tout le savoir-faire qu'on attend des animateurs japonais. Visuellement, les épisodes sont tous assez différents et certains se permettent une approche visuelle assez unique (comme Le Duel).
Je pense que Les Jumeaux est mon épisode préféré, mais ce n'est pas étonnant, j'adore Gurren Lagann et Kill la Kill, qui sont aussi réalisés par Hiroyuki Imaishi.
Je pense que mon seul reproche, ce sera sur les dialogues, qui sont parfois un chouïa creux et clichés, selon les épisodes.
Mais autrement, cette série a totalement répondu à mes attentes. C'est pour l'instant, ma série Star Wars préférée, et la première série Star Wars que je trouve véritablement excellente.

Quelques character concept arts partagés par Lucasfilm :

Chaque court-métrage bénéficie de sa propre affiche, voici déjà les cinq premières :

Sûrement la meilleure chose qui soit arrivée à l'univers Star Wars, depuis le rachat par Disney.
Des histoire uniques, épiques et bien rythmées encrées dans l'univers; avec un style de dessin et d'animation ultra propre et dynamique!

Quelques images conceptuelles additionnelles :