The latest installment in the "Star Wars Visions" animation project, a spin-off of the popular "Star Wars" film series, "Star Wars Visions: The Ninth Jedi," the first feature-length series, premiered on Disney+ on August 5th, simultaneously in Japan and the US. The new series tells the story of a Jedi centered around lightsabers, featuring thrilling lightsaber action. We spoke with director Shunsuke Tada about the production process and his dedication to the lightsaber action.
◇ The difference between "Star Wars," "Yamato," and "Gundam"
"Star Wars: Visions" is a project in which a Japanese animation studio produces a total of nine original short animated films, with the first installment released in 2021. "Star Wars: Visions / The Ninth Jedi" is a sequel to the first installment, "The Ninth Jedi," directed by Kenji Kamiyama, and the third installment, "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope," directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani. Kamiyama serves as the overall director, and Production IG is producing it.
Director Tada is a big Star Wars fan, saying, "I grew up during the time when 'Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV)' was a huge hit, so I've been following Star Wars ever since." When he was chosen to direct the new film, he said, "Rather than feeling nervous or overwhelmed, I was more excited, thinking, 'Wow, I get to be involved with Star Wars!'"
Director Tada has worked on projects such as "Kuroko's Basketball" and the "Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These" series, but as a creator, he has also been influenced by "Star Wars."
"I've been greatly influenced by it, both in terms of character portrayal and the mecha gadgets. Our generation grew up with ' Space Battleship Yamato' and 'Mobile Suit Gundam,' so of course we love science fiction, but 'Star Wars' clearly depicts something different from Japanese science fiction. Both Yamato and Gundam are about weapons. However, the 'science' aspect of 'Star Wars' isn't actually that important; it's more like fantasy science fiction. For example, 'Star Wars' features Imperial spaceships and fighters like the Alliance and Rebel's X-wings, but the mechanism, the people who developed them, and the political elements and design philosophy behind them as military weapons are not at all crucial. The space fighters are treated no differently than horses. The fact that the gadgets are designed to create a fantasy science fiction world is a characteristic of 'Star Wars,' and I think that's its appeal."
Director Tada says he is "completely smitten" with the world of "Star Wars," but when he saw Director Kamiyama's "The Ninth Jedi," he said he "felt ashamed of his own lack of knowledge." In "The Ninth Jedi," Zeema, a "sabersmith" who makes lightsabers, appears as the father of the protagonist girl, Kara.
"Mr. Kamiyama introduced Zeema as a 'sabersmith,' a term synonymous with 'gunsmith,' portraying him as a swordsmith who creates lightsabers. However, there are no works in the 'Star Wars' series that specifically depict this. While the concept exists in the films, none properly show how lightsabers are constructed. So, when I saw that part in the first short film, 'The Ninth Jedi,' I thought, 'Ah, I was ignorant about that.' I knew about it, but I didn't really know. That's when I started to understand the world of 'The Ninth Jedi'."
◇A black-masked enemy like Darth Vader; incorporating Japanese elements once again.
The setting for the new film, "The Ninth Jedi," is a war-torn galaxy where both Jedi and Sith have disappeared. Kara, a young girl with a strong connection to the Force, sets out on a journey with her companions, who wish for the Jedi Order to be revived, in search of a new Jedi to rescue her kidnapped father, Zeema, Sabersmith. However, they are confronted by the mysterious General Naworm, who believes that might is justice and seeks to reshape the galaxy's order with overwhelming power.
Following two short films, director Tada's focus for his first feature film was "character creation."
"Since I was creating a sequel to a short story, my main mission was to depict what kind of story the new protagonists would create within that world. Rather than depicting realistic military or science fiction, I had to create new character portrayals."
In addition to characters from the previous film, such as the protagonist Kara, her father Zeema, and Juro, who aims to revive the Jedi Order, the main antagonist, Naworm, makes his full appearance in the new film. Naworm is a mysterious character who wears a black mask like Darth Vader but wields a "blue lightsaber." The black mask also resembles the mask worn by samurai warriors during Japan's Sengoku period.
"We incorporated Japanese elements into Nawarm's visual design. This is because, when Lucas (George Lucas) was creating 'Star Wars,' he paid homage to his beloved Akira Kurosawa films, and the lightsabers were based on Japanese swords, and the Jedi were based on samurai. It might be presumptuous to say that we are inheriting it as a symbol, but in the sense that we are doing the same thing, we focused on the form of Sengoku period armor rather than Western armor for the design. Lucas also had Japanese helmets in mind when designing Darth Vader's helmet."
There was also the difficulty of differentiating him from Darth Vader.
"For us, it's a story set in the same world, but since it's not directly connected, we struggled to create a difference. If we tried to make it different from Darth Vader, it would stray too far from Japanese armor. It's the form of Japanese armor that Lucas initially wanted, but we were working on finding the right balance to make it new as well."
◇ "Kendo-style" lightsaber action
Zeema, the "sabersmith," incorporates Japanese elements into the lightsabers themselves, with the handles designed to resemble the hilts of Japanese swords. "The Ninth Jedi" features numerous lightsabers, and the lightsaber action performed by the characters is one of its highlights.
"Regarding the action sequences, I wanted to give the animators a lot of freedom. I didn't try to create a strict set of fighting styles from the beginning. However, there was one thing that was unique to this work and reflected a Japanese aesthetic: when the characters faced each other with their lightsabers drawn, I made sure they adopted the 'Seigan no Kamae' stance."
"Seigan no kamae" is a term from kendo, referring to a stance where the tip of the sword is pointed towards the opponent's face. Director Tada himself is a kendo practitioner with a high rank, and he incorporated it into the lightsaber action "as a representative of Japanese style."
"We didn't create any rules for how to fight, but we made sure that the basic movements for anyone using a sword included the Seigan stance, and for Jima, the Iai stance when drawing the sword. We also made sure that it didn't become a 'sword fight without any intention of killing the opponent.' You can't just clash swords at a distance where you absolutely cannot cut the opponent, and you can't be too close either. We were careful to make sure that these things didn't go wrong."
The film incorporates realistic sword fighting elements based on Kendo, while also actively utilizing the Force, a characteristic of the Jedi from "Star Wars."
"However, if you use the Force too much, it will solve everything, so I thought of the Force as something that is used as an emergency measure to change direction within the context of sword fighting."
"The Ninth Jedi" incorporates elements of both "Star Wars" and Japanese culture in various aspects, including characters, lightsabers, and action, while also pursuing originality. Furthermore, it is said that "Star Wars" elements are scattered throughout even the smallest details.
"For example, non-human races. Among the main characters, Kara's companion Homen isn't human, and we've included many non-human races and creatures throughout the city. Also, the character I want to emphasize the most is her droid companion, 99-99. He's like C-3PO or R2-D2 from Star Wars, but we've given him a solid characterization. I hope you'll watch him in action. We think 99-99 is the only one who can rival the hugely popular Glogo (a character from the movie Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Glogo) (laughs)."
A new Jedi story centered around lightsabers, created in Japan. You'll be able to feel the dedication of director Tada and the staff. (Shiroinu/MANTANWEB)
