The first trailer for Star Wars: Visions is here, delivering everything the words "Star Wars anime anthology" promise. The trailer gives us our first look at the wildly different aesthetics the show will present, courtesy of the seven different anime studios working on the anthology series. If you've ever wanted to see a lightsaber whip, or what looks like a revolving lightsaber umbrella, this is the show for you. And if you prefer to watch your anime dub, there is a trailer for you too!
The nine-episode series will include shorts by studios Kinema Citrus (Made in Abyss), Science SARU (DEVILMAN crybaby), Production IG (Ghost in the Shell), and Trigger (Promare, Kill la Kill). The series will include stories told before Episode I and after Episode IX, but arguably the most exciting idea is "Tatooine Rhapsody," described as a "rock opera" featuring such characters as Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett.
The first trailer for Star Wars: Visions instantly brings to mind a similar anthology based on a popular sci-fi franchise, The Animatrix, which gave anime legends like Shinichiro Watanabe, Mahiro Maeda and Yoshiaki Kawajiri the chance to play within the world created by the Wachowski Sisters.
At a point when Star Wars is becoming as diverse and widespread on the screen as it is on books and video games, it is exciting to finally see the galaxy far, far away embrace the fact that it's always felt like an anime, and enter the exciting medium in the hands of some of the best in the business.
The episodes teased in the trailer vary from black-and-white Akira Kurosawa-inspired samurai tales to the instantly recognizable neon-lit aesthetics of Studio Trigger, to a furry Jedi? There seems to be something for everyone in this show.
Star Wars: Visions premieres September 22 on Disney+. Watch the trailer, including the English dub trailer, below.