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Television

Star Wars Visions: The Ninth Jedi – A New Threat review S1 E1

Jeffrey Lyles , , , , , , , , ,

A New Threat kicks off the first extended run of The Ninth Jedi, one of the breakout installments of the Star Wars Visions anthology series.
While hardly The Ninth Jedi’s maiden voyage, A New Threat provides a fresh spark to the Star Wars brand — one that’s not tied to the Skywalkers (or Palpatines), Mandalorians or cute merch-selling sidekicks.

Instead, A New Threat feels like rediscovering Star Wars after a length absence with plenty of fun, new thrills and engaging characters to invest in on an epic adventure.

Margrave Juro (Andrew Kishino) is leading his crew of a droid pilot Gramps (JP Karliak, X-Men ‘97) and two young Jedi Homen (Patrick Seitz) and Lah Kara (Kimiko Glenn) on a quest to find more Jedi. Lah Kara has her own destiny as she’s trying to track down her father, Lah Zhima (Simu Liu).

The cruel warlord Nawaam (Young Mazino, The Last of Us Part II) is trying to eradicate the Jedi and dispatches his enforcer, Gennoh (Feodor Chin) to defeat them and claim their lightsabers.

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After a daring space escape, Juro tries to convince his friend and former Jedi Dunbai (Brentwood Mukai) to join their efforts. Dunbai is just fine operating as the governor of Makoma Ko and doesn’t want any trouble.

Still, his old sense of honor returns when Gennoh arrives and demands Dunbai hand over the Jedi. Dunbai picking up the lightsaber Juro offered to lead the defensive efforts is a solid payoff to that subplot without dragging it out too long.

A New Threat handles the fascist invasion smoothly with a massive intimidating droid army capable of overwhelming the meager Makoma Ko defenders.

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Juro and his crew take a more direct approach to stop Gennoh ultimately leading to what will likely be the first of several duels between Gennoh and Lah Kara. A New Threat does set the opening bar fairly high.

In a nod to Star Wars Visions’ anime roots, you can listen to A New Threat and the other episodes with either an English or Japanese language track. Just for the sake of a little variety, try switching back and forth on alternating episodes.

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There’s a good mix of humor with legitimate funny exchanges that don’t come off forced. This also allows for some spotlight moments for the rest of the crew.

A New Threat makes for an easy watch with a soft jumping on point for new viewers to quickly catch up to the premise while setting the stakes for this first season. For fans who’ve been invested since The Ninth Jedi was part of the anthology series this season premiere isn’t a slow-paced soft introduction. It rewards longtime fans and sets up some compelling subplots.

Of most interest is Lah Zhima being confronted by Nawaam about training his daughter to be a Jedi, which could mean Lah Zhima could have signed Lah Kara’s death warrant.

With an intriguing cliffhanger, A New Threat also sets up a mystery that should keep viewers invested to see how it all plays out.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

After checking out A New Threat, check out Star Wars: Visions: The Manga Anthology paperback on Amazon. 

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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