Celebration Japan recap
It's been two weeks since Star Wars Celebration Japan, but my mind is still in the Makuhari Messe, Chiba, along with my wallet and the soles of my feet. Here are my reflections on an intense and amazing coming together of the Star Wars family.
Its all about the fans
Celebration Japan reaffirmed one thing to me very strongly. It's all about the fans. The people you meet. There is no other fandom like Star Wars. We were lucky enough to be staying at the APA hotel, which was a stones throw from the convention centre. To say that it was 'taken over' by the international Star Wars community would be an understatement.
A lasting memory for me will always be the lobby of the hotel becoming a lively melting pot of fans from around the world. We met people we'd seen in Tokyo, creators we'd been watching online, and a raft of other people who all shared the same excitement and passion for celebrating Star Wars. The vibes were unmatched. All while beer in hand from the hotel’s Lawson store, mixing and swapping swag late into the night. Dreading the excruciatingly slow hotel lift journey back to our rooms, which maybe made the nights go on just that little bit longer.
It was our first time participating in swag trading and it was amazing fun. It was wonderful to exchange fun bits and pieces commemorating the occasion during celebration. Including with Japanese families, where swag proved the true universal language in the face of more traditional linguistic barriers. I will never forget trading swag with some Japanese kids and seeing the smiles on their faces to exchange some tokens of our fandom.
Announcements
While I've seen some criticism that Celebration Japan didn't yield much in the way of announcements, I think it's important to remember the necessary balance between generating hype, and overpromising. Star Wars finds itself in a transitionary phase between the post-covid streaming boom, and the measured return to serious development of numerous projects for the big screen.
I for one do not mind a smaller number of new reveals, given the amount announced in 2023 in London that has seen little progress. I’m very much in favour of riding the hype wave of what is definitely coming. Quality over quantity, patience you must have.
That said, we did get some brilliant key reveals. At the opening panel of the show, Kathleen Kennedy referred to around 7 feature films that are in some stage of development, with a bombshell announcement that the Shawn Levy movie is actually moving into development and production next, with none other than Ryan Gosling attached. Out walks Ryan, and as if that wasn’t enough out walks the legend that is Sigourney Weaver attached to the Mandalorian and Grogu movie.
We were treated to the title of the new Levy/Gosling picture, 'Star Wars Starfighter' (to be released 2027), alongside an amazing early viewing of some scenes from the Mandalorian and Grogu (to be released 2026). Back to back years, back to back films to look forward to. This sets the wheels turning of what feels like a very promising hype train for Star Wars cinema in the coming years. You will find me queuing up at midnight.
What's more, we are getting a Maul series, Shadowlord, to tide us over in 2026. All this with the final season of Andor now underway (with an early viewing of the first episode at Celebration), and Ahsoka season 2 having kicked offfilming immediately after Celebration.
I was one of the people gutted (I still am) that the prospect of future seasons of Acolyte was knocked on the head, and that Skeleton Crew didn't seem to get the viewing numbers it most certainly deserved. In the last six months I've felt worried that the taps of new Star Wars content, controlled by the necessarily business-minded fingers at Lucasfilm, may be all but entirely turned off. However Celebration has me walking away with a brand new confidence and excitement.
Queues and crowding
Celebration London 2023 was our first, and I headed to the Makuhari Messe expecting a similar or superior level of organisation. Particularly given the reputation of Japanese organsiational prowess. It's safe to say that a lesson in event organisation, Celebration Japan was not.
From the lead up, where fans were charged for autographs in thousands of dollars not yen, where systems crashed, links were not posted as described, where shopify failed, there were some warning signs.
At the event there was clear overselling and crowds that were far too deep. There were queues for EVERYTHING, sometimes to get to another queue or even to get close enough to a booth to browse. There was understocking of lots of things, to the extent that the food hall sold out of rice before the end of the first day. The Celebration store was inaccessible, closed abruptly to people who had been queuing for 4 or 5 hours, with limited stock.
Guests were overbooked, many arriving late for photos or autos, the schedules went out of the window, appearing on the Celebration stage a while after their autograph slot was due to begin, visible to fans who were waiting in their lines. In the extreme, many people had their Hayden Christensen autographs or photos cancelled when it became apparent he was overbooked on day 1. Gutting for people who were planning around this highlight.
These things are not ok, and the list goes on. Thankfully the power of the fans prevailed and good spirits were maintained, but I feel for people who did not contingency plan, or have the experience to adapt to the circumstances. Particularly those who may only have been attending for one day.
All of that said, the event was still immense. With unbelievable Japanese influences woven into the fabric of proceedings and the exclusives and merch available. These were a cut above. The chance encounters with other fans from around the world held strong, and made queues fun, and the ability to take pictures and pick up uniquely Japanese souvenirs counterbalance the failures of the event organisation. I do hope these are corrected in future.
What to look forward to
The inveitable Celebration blues have taken hold. The next event was announced at the closing ceremony for 2027 in Los Angeles. Great news for fans in the USA who have now had a long way to travel for a few years, but less so for those of us based outside the USA. You can’t complain though and it this location and timing is sure to allow an unbelievable event, coinciding with 50 years of Star Wars, and close to many of the celebrities who you’d hope will be there to mark the occasion.
However, beyond Celebration 2027, we have a plethora of new Star Wars to enjoy, including Tales of the Underworld and Andor season 2 in the immediate term, and Ahsoka, Mandalorian and Grogu, Maul Shadowlord, and Starfighter coming up. What a great slate.
In the UK, there are also very promising signs of some big Star Wars names more regularly frequenting our shores, taking advantage of things like the Ahsoka season 2 filming schedule. We can look forward to Hayden Christensen appearing at multiple UK cons, Rosario Dawson, and many of the cast of Ahsoka for starters. So I for one will be holding on to the memories of Celebration Japan, but looking forward to loads to get excited about in the future. Watch this space.
MTFBWY
