What “Star Wars: Visions Presents The Ninth Jedi” Reminds Us in 2026

Back in 2021, Disney+ dropped Star Wars: Visions, an anime anthology that took all of the mythology and worldbuilding that we loved about the franchise and did something with it that felt impossible at the time: breathe life into the franchise.

After the new trilogy tantalized us with The Force Awakens, attempted to muse on its own foundations in The Last Jedi, and made several baffling character and narrative decisions in The Rise of Skywalker that outweighed some of the visual spectacle and delight that occurred, I personally was burnt out on conventional Star Wars. The Mandalorian had somewhat offset this fatigue, but it was Visions that restored my fervor for the franchise because it was new and innovative. It took the core philosophies of the world and paired it with a new and unique visual dictionary that only anime could provide, and it was some of the coolest $#!& I’ve seen in a minute. Eight different stories with different feels, exploring underdeveloped aspects of a world that loved focusing on a particular era and a particular lineage.

Visions shook that up in the best way possible. And one of the stories that stuck out the most in that first season was The Ninth Jedi.

While a “time where Jedi and Sith are nothing more than myths” is not a particularly unique premise in and of itself, what The Ninth Jedi offered was a compelling protagonist Kara, daughter of a sabersmith, who (spoilers for an animated anthology episodes almost a half-decade old) when using a lightsaber that was tuned to the user’s personality and connection to the Force resulted in a blade without a distinct color and super modular in length, it was exciting.

Like, of course, an iconic weapon that we, the audience, have been attuned to see as extensions of a character’s personalities could be attuned to that character’s personalities. Of course, a weapon that can famously (if you’re in the dredges of the canon) bleeds to become a deep red if one turns to the dark side could be made in such a way that that process happen naturally. And of course, someone who is still growing and learning wouldn’t necessarily be attuned in a specific way just yet.

Grounded in the known while opening a whole treasure trove of possibility, it was exciting and one of the stories that felt like it could be its own standalone series. Apparently, execs agreed with this because it was one of the handful of episodes to get a proper sequel in Season 3 and the first one to get a full series order.

So, the question on the table: Does The Ninth Jedi live up to the expectations its prologue set? I’d say mostly yes.

Minor spoilers for the series

The Ninth Jedi series doesn’t require having watched the previous two entries largely because the set up is self-contained and sensible. Margrave Juro is doing his best ronin impression with a collection of masterless Jedi attempting to stop the warlord Nawaam’s conquest. They are being hunted down. They must find allies in this fight. His protege, Kara, is a little hotheaded and little gung ho when it comes to finding her father. They are being hunted by the last remaining Sith, Gennoh. It’s a familiar story, but it is executed at a very high level.

Production I.G. (who I most associate with Pyscho-Pass, Haikyu!!, and FLCL) do an absolutely fantastic job of blending the classic Star Wars vibes with a distinctively anime aesthetic. It is a delight watching the series with all of its visual flourish and fanfare, and the story itself plays with very classic tropes that both act as a homage to stories like Lord of the Rings and tinker with the usual playing fields. For example, Nawaam very much has access to a vastly powerful super weapon that can wipe out planets in a single shot because it’s not really a Star Wars if there isn’t a vastly powerful super weapon that can wipe out planets in a single shot, but he’s also not coming at this from a strictly fascist approach like the Empire. It’s admittedly a more cynical, nihilistic approach about using power to enforce order with a very similar end result, but in context, it does make for a slightly more compelling villain than not, especially as more and more of his origin story is revealed.

But the focal point of this story is Kara’s journey, and the show takes us through a classic hero’s tale that pushes her to her limits and has her bloom into a Jedi of true renown as a result. The show’s original conceit of using the lightsaber as a window in a character’s personality is put through its paces, and it results in so many fascinating moments and meditations on all of the nebulousness that is the Force. What role should emotions play in our decision making? Is it a good idea to suppress our emotions? Can we trust our instincts in a time where a wrong decision can result in someone else being harmed? Is spirituality an actual prerequisite for being a Jedi? The Ninth Jedi asks these questions, and the resultant answers are engaging and make the series as a whole worth a watch.

Now, with all of that said, the show does have some pitfalls.

1) The title of The Ninth Jedi is very much a misnomer at this point, and I know why they don’t change, but I did spend a lot of time counting how many Jedi were actually active.

2) At eight episodes, the pacing straddles this weird line of wanting maybe a couple more episodes to explore of its themes and characters more deeply and maybe wanting it to be a bit more streamlined to be a little more cohesive in an animated feature short. Or perhaps that’s just me wanting more.

These quips aside, it’s a fun watch. I did the English dub because I love the voice cast between Kimiko Glen, Masi Oka, J.P. Karliak, Patrick Seitz, and Simu Liu, and I thought everyone did a great job. And at some point, I’ll watch the sub, because it was that fun at the end of the day.

I don’t think The Ninth Jedi is quite as groundbreaking as the original anthology episode was, but I think it does remind us that Star Wars is at its best when it is a clash of culture, ideals, and aesthetics. When we can have weapons that magically attune to their wielder and snarky robot pilots. When we have giant meteor ships crashing into sleek warships. When we get to see the spectacle of absolute nonsense because when it’s an anime, rule of cool rules above all else.

I’m not sure if I need more Ninth Jedi specifically anymore, but I do know that I need more Visions Presents. Seeing something that you love from a new perspective is so much more powerful than rehashing the same tired ground over and over, and if nothing else, Visions is a reminder that there is so much more that can be done in the universe.

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