“Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (スター・ウォーズ エピソード2／クローンの攻撃), Original Japanese Advance / Teaser Movie Poster 2002, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) S119

This is an original Japanese B2 advance / teaser theatrical poster, produced for the first Japanese cinema release of George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (スター・ウォーズ エピソード2／クローンの攻撃), starring Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor. The film opened theatrically in Japan on 13 July 2002, distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Set ten years after The Phantom Menace, the film follows the young Anakin Skywalker as his growing powers, emotional volatility and forbidden relationship with Padmé Amidala begin to pull him towards the destiny that will ultimately transform him into Darth Vader.

Poster design

A superbly restrained Japanese teaser design built almost entirely around Anakin and Padmé’s forbidden romance.

The two characters are positioned back-to-back, separated emotionally despite their physical closeness. Hayden Christensen’s Anakin faces left in shadow while Natalie Portman’s Padmé faces right in an ornate Naboo costume, their opposing poses perfectly expressing the tension between personal desire and Jedi duty.

The image is bathed in deep amber, burnt orange and near-black tones, giving the design an unusually intimate and tragic atmosphere for a Star Wars poster. At the far left, a narrow blade of glowing light cuts vertically through the composition, subtly foreshadowing the violence and darkness that will increasingly define Anakin’s path.

Across the upper portion appear three stark lines of Japanese copy:

「ジェダイは怒ってはならない。」
「憎むことも。」
「愛さえも。」

— “A Jedi shall not know anger. Nor hatred. Nor love.”

This was the official Japanese campaign tagline for Attack of the Clones.

The typography is deliberately minimal. Rather than giving the full クローンの攻撃 subtitle, the bottom carries only the small blood-red:

STAR WARS
エピソード2

allowing the emotional image and tagline to dominate the entire sheet.

The result is one of the most elegant and psychologically focused Japanese Star Wars campaign designs of the prequel era—almost entirely removing spaceships, armies and spectacle in favour of the relationship that ultimately drives the tragedy of the trilogy.

Film significance

Attack of the Clones was the second chapter of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and introduced the adult Anakin Skywalker, played by Hayden Christensen, while expanding the political and military conflict that would become the Clone Wars.

The film also marked a major technological moment for blockbuster filmmaking, with Lucas continuing his push toward digital production and exhibition while preparing the visual language that would dominate the final prequel film.

For collectors, this Japanese advance / teaser design is particularly attractive because it is visually distinct from the later ensemble theatrical campaign and captures the film through the single theme of forbidden love.

It is over 24 years old!

Condition

Excellent. A very clean and attractive example with rich, warm colour, deep blacks and excellent photographic clarity. The subtle amber and brown tonal range remains particularly strong, and the white Japanese tagline is crisp and beautifully contrasted against the dark background.

There are only minor signs of age / handling and storage, with no significant damage affecting the principal portraits, typography or overall presentation.

Once framed, it will display exceptionally well.

Please review the photograph carefully—it shows the exact poster for sale.

This is not a reproduction or reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.