Running 13 to 22 minutes, the shorts represent Lucasfilm’s first foray into anime, working with seven different studios. The varying auspices quickly become evident, with each employing distinct animation styles and most original characters, although a few familiar faces from the fringes of the “Star Wars” universe — such as a notoriously heavy Hutt — do show up from time to time.

The films don’t need to be watched in any particular order, but the first entry, “The Duel,” nicely encapsulates what these projects achieve, evoking the feel of Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai,” and economically telling a story with precious little dialogue, vibrant visuals and a whole lot of action. In this case, a mysterious warrior is wielding a lightsaber who comes to the defense of a village descended upon by bandits, although the twists thereafter offer a few pretty significant surprises.

Another, “Tatooine Rhapsody,” offers a more cartoonish and comical take about a musical band hoping for its big break, while in “The Elder,” a stoic Jedi and his eager padawan square off against a shadowy figure with extraordinary skills.

The cinematic connections might be lost on younger kids, and the stories lack connections to major “Star Wars” characters; still, they capture its tone and epic qualities — think of it as “Tales of the Jedi and the Sith” while establishing distinctive looks and voices, in a way that’s distinctive from animated efforts like “Rebels” and The Clone Wars,” which provided the foundation for “The Mandalorian” and have presented some of the best “Star Wars” tales since the original trilogy.