The Ninth Jedi is an upcoming Star Wars anime that will premiere on Disney+ on August 5th. First revealed at Star Wars Celebration Japan, the series is a spin-off of Star Wars Visions—where the characters were first introduced in 2021—and will continue the story of Kara, her quest to find her father, and a world where Jedi and Sith are obsolete.
We spoke to director Kenji Kamiyama about how he had taken the stories originally seen in The Ninth Jedi and The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope and adapted them into an exciting and action-packed full-length series.
What Inspired The Ninth Jedi?
For Kenji Kamiyama, creating The Ninth Jedi wasn’t something he had to mull over for a long period of time. In fact, he had already been developing the characters’ backstories and the narrative framework when creating the short film.
However, it wasn’t something he had pitched himself. He credits the passion of Star Wars fans for getting the idea off the ground. It is because of their strong desire to see Kara’s story expanded outside of Visions that led Disney and LucasFilm to reach out to Kamiyama for a feature.
I felt it was an incredible opportunity—a dream come true—so I decided to give it a try. That said, I had already done the groundwork to make such a project possible.
What Challenges Did Kamiyama Face When Adapting The Ninth Jedi?
When adapting the series, Kamiyama reveals that there had already been an established premise. However, as the longer story developed, changes had to be made. Because the series revolves around gathering nine Jedi—and introducing characters that hadn’t appeared in Visions—there was no way for the new plot to fit the initial ideas. Kamiyama says that there were challenges unique to a series format, challenges that did not exist when creating the short film.
There were challenges unique to a series format: unlike a standalone movie where some elements can be left unshown, a TV series requires us to depict things we otherwise wouldn’t have. We had to create dramatic peaks for individual episodes and decide which characters to feature in each one. During the scripting process, we often found that certain ideas didn’t quite work, forcing us to backtrack and revise the premise. That back-and-forth was the most time-consuming and difficult part of the entire project.
Catch all eight episodes of Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi when it drops on Disney+ exclusively on August 5th.
