Star Wars Dominates Disney+ With New Show & Proves Anime Is Perfect for the Franchise
Star Wars has returned to Disney+ with a new anime series that’s dominating the streaming service right now, and it’s proof that anime is the medium the franchise really needs to succeed. It’s no secret that the Star Wars franchise has been struggling in the last few years when it comes to finding a new identity and path forward for its future. It’s been floundering in the box office with releases like Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu, and projects like Maul – Shadow Lord just aren’t generating enough buzz with Star Wars fans.
It turns out what the franchise needed to get its shot in the arm was anime. Star Wars: Visions was already a cool experiment that put the universe in the hands of notable anime directors and creators for short stories, and now that has expanded with a full limited series expanding on one of those shorts even further. Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi has come to Disney+ and has already it to the top of the streaming platform in the United States in just the first week of its release.
Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi is now streaming with Disney+, and only runs for a brief eight episode run. It’s made its debut as a limited series picking up from the events seen in both “The Ninth Jedi” and “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” in the original Star Wars: Visions anthology series. Immediately making it to the top of the streaming service and getting a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score among critics for its debut also further emphasizes just how perfect of a match the Star Wars franchise is with the anime medium. It can take the franchise to its next necessary level.
Star Wars has been struggling to move on from the Skywalker saga, and has been struggling to release a project with enough staying power in the years since the release of The Rise of Skywalker. Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi offers a great path forward for the franchise as it moves far beyond the need for its former Jedi identity, and follows a whole new generation of Jedi with their own issues, lightsabers and much more. And anime lets this franchise get to a whole new level of action and suspense that couldn’t be seen before.
Will There Be More Star Wars Anime in the Future?
Star Wars has always been a great fit for animation, but anime in particular is the way to go. It’s been able to take impressive elements like lightsaber battles and amplify them in a way that only this medium can do. While the franchise struggles to regain its live-action interest due to its many projects diluting the specialness of such releases, it’s already been made clear that anime is able to cut through the noise and offer an experience that fans won’t really get elsewhere in other Star Wars releases.
Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi was originally envisioned as a limited series expanding on its prior shorts, but there’s clearly enough fertile ground here to explore. Those behind the scenes have expressed interest in potentially continuing the story with a second season if the debut was successful, and this first week has offered up some proof that a second season is sorely needed. For now, make sure to check it all out on Disney+ in the meantime.
