Star Wars: Rebels: Season 1 (2014)

Star Wars: Rebels is not quite as good as any of the several Star Wars: Clone Wars series (but it is Star Wars, so let’s not nitpick). Well, the animation is better (maybe because they based it on Ralph McQuarrie’s original art designs) but the story is slower and the characters are less compelling. Much of the familiar voice talent is back, though. The setting is between the first movie trilogy and the second one (which to me will always be “the first” because it came out first). We don’t know it yet, but Obi-Wan and Yoda are in hiding until more Force-sensitive Jedi trainees may be found; an aptitude test hidden in semi-plain sight helps identify Ezra, who stumbles into joining the mission of the Ghost crew. Nor do we know it yet, but Darth Vader continues his campaign to hunt down and kill every surviving Jedi and their future trainees; Anakin Skywalker’s padawan Ahsoka Tanoh will appear presently, as an Inquisitor named Kallus ably pursues the crew of the Ghost. I will update this review once I finish the series, but it seems quite promising, at least in its sincerity at preserving the Star Wars tradition and carrying on the story line. 4 stars. (4-20-2016)