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The Japanese trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens reveals even more new footage

Caroline Framke
Caroline Framke wrote about culture, which usually means television. Also seen @ The A.V. Club, The Atlantic, Complex, Flavorwire, NPR, the fridge to get more seltzer.

“Hope is not lost today ... it is found.”

Why, you ask? Because a new Japanese trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens contains even more footage than the US version that was released on October 19.

The Japanese trailer confirms the overall vibe of the US trailer, in that Star Wars’ newest generation of Jedis, Stormtroopers, pilots, androids, and everyone in between has heard the “stories” of the original trilogy, but those stories have since faded into the background. Now the old guard and the new must band together to face new threats.

The new trailer also gives us a better look at Daisy Ridley’s scavenger Rey, following up on the promise of her prominent placement on the poster. We get to see her meet John Boyega’s Finn, who’s likely a renegade former Stormtrooper who joins the Alliance at his own risk. We even get to see her face off — quite literally — against the fierce pronged lightsaber of bone-chilling new villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

If that doesn't awaken your inner force, we don't know what will.

We get more specific Stormtrooper-induced destruction, as they sweep in to destroy a bazaar. We even get a brief shot of C3PO, with Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Oscar Isaac’s pilot Poe Dameron leaning behind him.

Threepio and the new guard.

We get more lightsabers, more Chewie, and more running and jumping away from things as they blow up in spectacular fashion.

Rye (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and BB8, all with perfect faces.

Most importantly, we get far more of BB8, Rye’s rolling robot friend who looks adorable even while gazing upon some ambiguous fiery destruction.

BB8, watching the world burn.

What we don’t get, though, is any sign of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). If J.J. Abrams and company are trying to add fuel to the “Evil Luke” fire, this trailer is certain to at least stoke the flames.

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