NEW YORK — Of all of the expansions to the “Star Wars” universe since Disney Plus started streaming adventures from a galaxy far, distant to televisions in all places, “Star Wars Visions” could also be among the many most original.
The anthology collection of animated shorts provides a wild vary of “Star Wars” tales instructed by just-as-wildly creative animation types, and judging from a sneak peek at its third season — which launches Oct. 29 — that development is not about to alter. In a particular panel right here at Anime NYC 2025 on Friday (Aug. 22), Lucasfilm and Disney Plus unveiled an artwork preview of what to anticipate in “Star Wars: Visions” Quantity 3, together with a glimpse of “BLACK” by david productions, which guarantees to meld pictures and music into “a psychedelic battle between previous and current, gentle and darkish, and life and dying within the haunted psyche of an Imperial stormtrooper on the cusp of defeat,” in line with an outline.
“We actually received down into some effective particulars for this movie. There’s the Dying Star … The setting is admittedly tremendous detailed, and the stormtroopers, drawing out the motion within the battle scenes, it was actually fairly an arduous job for the animators,” director Shinya Ohira (“Akira,” Spirited Away,” Kill Invoice: Vol. 1″) stated in a pre-recorded video, in line with StarWars.com.
“In order that was painful, but it surely was price it, and the tip end result actually speaks for itself,” Ohira added. “It is actually type of one thing no one’s ever seen earlier than.” (Full disclosure: I could not make it into the “Star Wars Visions” panel, however after I spoke to at least one fortunate fan afterward who did handle to get into the packed presentation in Anime NYC’s fundamental stage, he assured me “it was superior!” throughout a later “Dan Da Dan” panel.)
“BLACK” will function music carried out by singer Sakura Fujiwara set towards a stormtrooper’s fateful battle on the Dying Star. Along with directing the installment, Ohira can be a personality designer and key animator for the brief.
“We needed to supply a movie that was primarily based mostly on Sakura Fujiawara’s singing voice set towards these visuals of intense battles. That was our imaginative and prescient as we made the movie,” Ohira stated. “As for the interpretation of the story, the viewers, the folks watching it, we type of needed to go away it as much as them … in order that’s how we made it.”
One shock from the Anime NYC panel included Lucasfilm’s reveal of the important thing artwork for the nine-episode “Star Wars: Visions” Quantity 3, a poster that includes some acquainted faces from seasons previous.
“Newly-unveiled key artwork showcases the broad vary of storytelling and visible design in Quantity 3, together with the damaged armor of the nightmarish troopers seen in “BLACK” and the return of Ronin from “The Duel,” F from “The Village Bride,” and Lah Kara from “The Ninth Jedi,” three shorts out there in Quantity 1 streaming on Disney+,” Lucasfilm wrote in its recap. The primary three episodes shall be sequels to these Quantity 1 tales, in line with media studies.
“The Duel” (by Kamikazi Douga) was the primary episode within the first season of “Star Wars: Visions,” and includes a wandering ronin defending a village from bandits — with a purple lightsaber, no much less. Within the fourth episode, “The Village Bride” (Kinema citrus Co.), a Jedi referred to as F on the run from the Empire intervenes throughout a marriage to avoid wasting a village from a droid military run by raiders; and within the fifth episode “The Ninth Jedi” (Manufacturing I.G.), a lightsaber-smith works to assist resurrect the Jedi order by reforging their weapons, solely to have an unlikely wielder reply the decision.
“Star Wars: Visions” Quantity 3 will embody shorts by the studios ANIMA, david manufacturing, Polygon Footage, Venture Studio Q and WIT Studio — all newcomers to the collection — together with collection veterans Kamikaze Douga (which additionally labored with AMINA), Kinema citrus Co., Manufacturing I.G. and TRIGGER.
“Star Wars: Visions” Quantity 3 premiers on Disney Plus on Oct. 29.
