'Star Wars: Visions' Spin-Off 'The Ninth Jedi' Is One of the Franchise's Best Stories | Review

Every time a new Star Wars spin-off comes out, it seems to be fighting a losing battle. This proved especially troublesome for this year's The Mandalorian and Grogu — an overall fine Star Wars adventure that unfairly gets thrown into the worst-of-the-worst pile because of a certain standard. Even when something as groundbreaking and boundary-pushing as Andor comes out, it's still easy to prematurely label it the best or worst thing Star Wars has done in years.

That being said, there are a few Star Wars projects that are genuinely just as immaculate as Andor, and Star Wars: Visions is one of them. The three-season anthology series assembled some of the world's best animation studios and gave them the keys to the IP to tell pretty much any story they wanted, whether it fit into canon or not. Two of the best shorts, which hail from Japanese studio Production I.G., were so impactful and beloved that Disney and Lucasfilm gave the green light to turn them into a spin-off. Not only does The Ninth Jedi live up to its predecessors, but it's just as vibrant, bold, and engaging as the series it spun off from.

What Is 'Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi' About?

Taking place in a galaxy far, far away from the one we all know and love, Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi chronicles the continuing adventures of Lah Kara (Chinatsu Akasaki / Kimiko Glenn), a starry-eyed Jedi padawan desperately searching for her father, Lah Zima (Shin'ichirô Miki / Simu Liu). Kara and her merry band of friends soon find themselves in a precarious situation thanks to a brutal warlord known as Nawaam (Nao Omori / Young Mazino), who has begun a galaxy-wide campaign to conquer every planet in the system. As desperately as Kara wants to reunite with her long-lost father, that reunion may have to wait while a cold and calculated madman is on the loose.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the visuals of The Ninth Jedi are nothing short of phenomenal. Alongside the recently released Aang: The Last Airbender, hand-drawn animation is making a serious comeback, and The Ninth Jedi is on par with heavy hitters like Naruto and Attack on Titan, with the Star Wars aspects wisely used more as a garnish rather than an anchor. Yes, there are lightsabers, starships, and parallels to the many films of the Skywalker saga, but The Ninth Jedi instead chooses to focus on original characters and concepts, particularly in its last few episodes.

Where the Star Wars movies are about 80% sci-fi and 20% fantasy, The Ninth Jedi tips the scales a bit more. There are plenty of great fantasy aspects showcased, with even a planet of elven and dwarven-like creatures on display. An air of magical charm permeates through the series; the only time it stumbles, with its masked villain and super weapon MacGuffin, is when it tries to replicate the films that inspired it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but The Ninth Jedi's original ideas are the ones that speak the loudest.

'The Ninth Jedi' Sets the Bar Even Higher for Star Wars' Fight Sequences

Image via Disney+

One of the biggest reasons why the "Ninth Jedi" installments of Star Wars: Visions became so beloved is their approach to lightsabers. The first episode, in Volume 1, introduced the idea of a lightsaber's color functioning almost like moon stones, with each corresponding to a specific alignment — which is why the noble Jedi have blue and green sabers, while the Sith have more malicious red sabers. Without getting into spoilers, The Ninth Jedi continues that trend in some very interesting and profound ways, particularly in the later episodes when the series really starts to delve into its characters' psyches and moralities.

Apart from the lightsaber colors themselves, The Ninth Jedi shows off the weapons in some truly impressive and jaw-dropping fight sequences. Star Wars: Visions Season 3 set the bar incredibly high for visually striking lightsaber duels, and The Ninth Jedi may very well set that bar even higher. The Disney era of Star Wars has faced some criticism for its lightsaber fights, with the more recent duels lacking a lot of the weight and verticality of the prequel era. That's certainly not the case for The Ninth Jedi, as every fight oozes with depth and personality. The sequences are so impressive, in fact, that it's worth asking if the series should have been the Star Wars franchise's second fully animated theatrical release, following in the footsteps of The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim and (sort of) Aang: The Last Airbender. Once again, the Star Wars: Visions subsection of the franchise continues to be profoundly impressive. Its focus on creative freedom and its refreshing approach to some of Star Wars' most sacred concepts prove that it is up there with Andor and the Star Wars: Jedi games as one of the best decisions Lucasfilm has ever made with the IP. The Ninth Jedi is another shining example of the infinite possibilities Star Wars can offer and the powerful interpretations that different creative minds can bring to the table.

Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi is streaming now on Disney+.

Release Date August 5, 2026

Network Hulu, Disney+

Directors Shunsuke Tada

Writers Mitsuyasu Sakai

Cast

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  Chinatsu Akasaki

  Lah Kara (voice)

• 

  Tetsuo Kanao

  Juro (voice)

Pros & Cons

• Drop dead gorgeous from start to finish.
• Some of the best lightsaber duels in the entire franchise.
• Its contributions to lore are so interesting that they should be made official canon.