Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025: First Look: Star Wars: Visions Volume 3
For a project that initially began as a means to explore innovative, non-canon, even experimental perspectives on the Star Wars franchise through short vignettes created by some of Japan’s best anime studios, it is safe to say that the Visions label has grown far beyond anyone’s expectations. In addition to the Japanese anime tales in Volume 1 and the worldwide animation contributions in Volume 2, Star Wars: Visions by now also includes manga editions, a prose novel from Del Rey, comics from Marvel, and even a Golden Book. Given its origins, Star Wars Celebration Japan was the perfect venue to announce the latest growth in Star Wars: Visions and to allow its creators to speak in their own words in their home country.
James Waugh, Lucasfilm’s senior vice president for Franchise Content & Strategy, once again took the lead in expressing the company’s enthusiasm for its partnerships with other creative studios in creating the Star Wars: Visions stories. He reminded the audience of Lucasfilm’s “deep passion for the animated medium” and explained how Visions allows everyone to “celebrate Star Wars through anime” and to experience “unique cultures and animation techniques” from around the world. Waugh revealed that Visions Volume 3 will premiere on Disney+ on October 29, 2025, with nine episodes that will “let fans see their favorite studios tell their Star Wars story” in the form of anime from Japanese studios. Three studios are returning to Visions with an episode continuing on their acclaimed previous entries: The Duel, The Village Bride, and The Ninth Jedi, respectively. A fourth returning studio chose to create an entirely new story for its second contribution, while five studios are debuting in this volume of Visions, bringing their talents and creative ideas to Star Wars for the first time. A representative from each of the nine studios in Volume 3 took to the stage to briefly discuss their episode and share concept art and images, or even brief video clips.
Notably, Visions was the only major panel on the Celebration Stage conducted primarily in the Japanese language with slightly delayed real-time English language subtitles on the panel’s large screens, instead of the reverse. This dynamic gave the panel a real feel of authenticity, as each creator spoke with excitement and emotion about the thrill of telling a Star Wars story and their passion for the themes and ideas they chose for their episode. Without having to speak in small segments followed by pauses to allow for ongoing simultaneous oral translations, they could express big ideas and complicated themes without interruption. Even for the many individuals in the audience not fluent in Japanese, their tone, body language, and facial expressions usually made their meaning and sentiment plenty clear even before the translation appeared on the screen. Like Volume 1, these Japanese creators are bringing tropes and themes common to anime into their Visions episodes, including an orphan, a princess, a girl searching for her missing father, and a “suspiciously handsome businessman” with ulterior motives.
Waugh concluded the panel with the announcement of Star Wars Visions Presents, a new banner for long-form narratives. The first multi-episode series further expands the world and story of The Ninth Jedi from Production IG, with Volume 1 director Kenji Kamiyama reprising his lead creative role for the Vision Presents series coming to Disney+ in 2026.
Related Links:
- Star Wars Visions on Fangirls Going Rogue (Volume 1, 2021)
- Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023: Star Wars Visions Volume 2 (FANgirl Blog)
- Volume 3 Release Date and New Star Wars: Visions Spin-off Series (StarWars.com; Apr. 20, 2025)
- Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 First Look and Spinoff Announced – Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 (StarWars.com; Apr. 20, 2025)
B.J. has served as editor of FANgirl Blog from its inception, as well as contributing reviews and posts on a range of topics. He edited Tricia’s novel Wynde, and is collaborating with her on several future projects set in that original universe.
Currently a tenured law professor in Florida, B.J. has been a practicing lawyer in Washington, D.C., a law clerk to a federal appeals court judge, and a law journal editor-in-chief. He is also a proud geek dad whose son who is a big fan of Star Wars and The Clone Wars.
