If we just glance at the last few high-profile Star Wars projects, from Andor to The Mandalorian and Grogu, to Maul: Shadow Lord to even The Acolyte, contemporary Star Wars tends to be about anti-heroes, reluctant heroes, villain origin stories, or straight-up villains. In other words, even the most traditional of newer Star Wars (like Ahsoka) has tended, post-Last Jedi, to be a kind of Star Wars deconstruction; Star Wars commenting on itself for better (Andor) or for worse (The Rise of Skywalker). Luckily, with the debut of the new anime series, Star Wars: The Ninth Jedi, the self-referential navel-gazing is kept to an absolute minimum. Is The Ninth Jedi derivative of various Star Wars ideas we’ve seen over the years? Instead, The Ninth Jedi approaches the power of Star Wars with the same wonder and intelligence George Lucas deployed.