Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 First Look and Spinoff Announced – Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025

“The Duel: Payback”

First, director Takanobu Mizuno teased what fans of “The Duel” from Volume I can expect of The Ronin in his Volume 3 follow-up, called “The Duel: Payback.” Wearing a black robe reminiscent of the short’s hero, Mizuno exclaimed to the crowd: “Thank you for waiting. Ronin is back!”

The fan favorite story of the roving Jedi continues, with brand new challenges. Ronin continues to pursue and defeat Sith, but must call a truce with his latest adversary, a Sith named Aneé-san, in order to face his greatest foe – a twisted Jedi known as The Grand Master, according to Mizuno. The director then shared some new character designs by Takashi Okazaki, including The Grand Master, Aneé-san, an anzellan Yakuza Boss (who is the same species as Babu Frik), a Wookiee who helps him because of his small size, a new vehicle called an AK-BK, which is inspired by AT-ATs and traditional Japanese architecture, and a “cute” praying mantis character who resembles one of the denizens from the cantina in Star Wars: A New Hope.

“The Lost Ones”

Next, Hitoshi Haga, director of Volume 1’s “The Village Bride,” returns to the story in Volume 3 with a new short titled “The Lost Ones.” According to the director, this sequel story will follow “F” as she confronts her former Master – a new character named Shad-Rah -- when the refugee ship she is on is intercepted by the Empire.“After Order 66, a lot of people went through hardship. How do they live with the loss of their relatives after the war? That’s what we’re talking about,” explained Haga.

After showing a photo of F surrounded by young ones, Haga reiterated: “The main theme is that children are our future.”

“The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope”

The final returning storyline director, Naoyoshi Shiotani, said his new short “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” is picking up where director Kenji Kamiyama’s “The Ninth Jedi” left off. Shiotani told the crowd: “Thank you for your patience, I waited too.”  In this continuation, the short’s heroine, Kara, gets separated from Juro while being pursued by Jedi hunters and encounters a mysterious droid named Teto on an abandoned ship. 

“The journey to find her father, who was taken away from her, is a very grand story. So I thought I would make a short story, or rather I would make a story that she would remember for the rest of her life. I drew it as a growth story,” said Shiotani.

NEW STORYLINES

Directors from the six new storyline shorts were next welcomed to the stage one at a time, starting with returning studio Kinema citrus Co.’s “Yuko’s Treasure.”

“Yuko’s Treasure”

“Yuko’s Treasure” director Masaki Tachibana shared preliminary designs of Yuko and the (very cute) bear droid, named Billy. From the first reveal of Billy to the clip that was shared of him walking around looking for Yuko, he was an immediate fan favorite….especially after it was revealed that he has a microwave oven built into his chest.

"The Smuggler"

Another studio returning to Visions is TRIGGER, whose entry on Volume 3 – “The Smuggler” – is directed by Masahiko Otsuka. Otsuka, who directed Volume 1’s “The Elder,” has returned for a completely new story on Volume 3 which follows a desperate smuggler hired to bring a wanted young prince to safety as the Empire pursues.“It’s slightly awkward,” joked Otsuka to the crowd, “because, last time, I said I was retiring, but here I am and I am very happy to be here.”

Otsuka described the story about smuggler Chita and her journey to planet Zenarita while sharing some of the short’s character, vehicle, and setting designs. Why the spotlight on the galactic underworld? Otsuka explained: “The main character is a rogue and I wanted to make it an action-packed fun adventure. When we were discussing the project, I thought of Han Solo, and the design became similar.”

Some art of the new planet of Zenarita was also shown off, showcasing a vibrant, unique world: “I worked hard on that design. I felt like it had to be something that wasn’t from the earth. It has a lived-in feel, and I took elements from different countries and blended them together.”

“The Bounty Hunters”

Newcomer studio WIT’s “The Bounty Hunters” is a story about “a bounty hunter named Sevn and his rather odd sidekick named IV-A4,” according to director Junichi Yamamoto. “The two are offered a job by a slightly unusual businessman, and the story is a strange one.”

The director expressed the unusual relationship between the two bounty hunters as “buddy-buddy.”

“There are many iconic duos in Star Wars,” he said, “and I think that the duo of Sevn and IV-A4 will be deeply etched in the minds of fans.”

The director next shared some character designs from the short.

“The Song of Four Wings”

Next up was “The Song of Four Wings” by director Hiroyasu Kobayashi from Project Studio Q. According to Kobayashi, this short follows rebel princess Crane and her droid sidekick, Tor-Tu, as they investigate the Empire’s movements on a snowy planet where the rebels are based.

With a setting resembling the planet Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back, Kobayashi said he has always been drawn to the “mecha” of Star Wars, and that his short will celebrate that. “I love droids, especially I love AT-ATs, but I also love mechanics, and that's what I'm focusing on this time,” he said. 

Kobayashi also shared some designs from the short, including a paper crane that exhibited four wings configured like an X-wing.

“The Bird of Paradise”

Director Tadahiro Yoshihira from Polygon Pictures next came on stage to discuss his short “The Bird of Paradise.” The story follows a hot-headed Jedi Padawan who, after being blinded in battle, must undergo a series of spiritual trials in order to overcome the temptation to the dark side. 

“There are so many stories in Star Wars and Visions, and when I was thinking about creating a story that no one had seen yet, I decided to bring an old Japanese story to the world of Star Wars, just as George Lucas based Star Wars on the laws of mythology,” explained the director. 

“In the story, the main character becomes blind, and in order to depict the scenery that they feel in their hearts while they are blind, I did various artwork in the sense of going back and forth between reality, fantasy, and various worlds,” he continued. “It is the kind of film that goes back and forth between different spiritual and blindly felt worlds.”

Yoshihira also discussed the breathtaking visuals of the short, sharing character sketches, environments, and a brief clip of “The Bird of Paradise.”

“BLACK”

The panel’s final entry for discussion was david production’s “BLACK,” written and directed by Shinya Ohira. Co-producer Jacob Ayers was on-hand to discuss the short, which explores a stormtrooper's experience in combat, delving into a deep internal struggle within his psyche. He battles past vs. present, light vs. dark, and life vs. death.

To help clarify and visualize this idea, Ayers introduced a pre-recorded clip of Ohira discussing the short and showed a first look clip of BLACK. The clip showed a stormtrooper in an epic space battle and played against an energetic section of music.

Volume 3 Release Date and New Star Wars: Visions Spin-off Series

Following a brief Volume 3 sizzle, Lucasfilm’s James Waugh was welcomed back to the stage to reveal a release date for the nine new Star Wars: Visions shorts: October 29, 2025!

In addition, Waugh announced that Visions is moving in a new direction under Star Wars: Visions Presents. “The Ninth Jedi” writer and director Kenji Kamiyama was then invited to the stage to reveal the creation of the all-new banner “Star Wars: Visions Presents,” which will be used to tell longer-form Star Wars: Visions stories. After thanking the audience for being so supportive and enthusiastic about the adventures of Kara and Juro in “The Ninth Jedi” and the upcoming “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope,” Kamiyama announced that fans will watch Kara’s journey continue to unfold in an all-new spinoff series called “Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi.”

The series will be animated by Production I.G, and will release on Disney+ in 2026.