Josh Reviews Star Wars: Visions

Star Wars: Visions is an animated anthology series in which each episode was created by a different Japanese animation studio.  The episodes utilize imagery from across the Star Wars universe, but the stories are non-canonical, meaning the Japanese animators and storytellers were free to take their stories and characters in any direction they wanted.

Star Wars: Visions was released last year, but somehow I never got around to writing about it!  That’s a shame, because I quite enjoyed this series.

It reminded me, of course, of The Animatrix from back in 2003.  I enjoyed that a lot, and similarly I really dug these nine short episodes of Star Wars: Visions.  It was fun to see these very different depictions of Star Wars imagery and stories.

(Actually, I had so much fun with so many of these episodes that I wound up thinking it’s a shame that the stories are non-canonical.  While I understand the reasoning behind allowing these Japanese animation teams to go anywhere with their stories, I think it might have been even cooler had they been reined in just a bit, and pushed to fit these stories into the Star Wars canon.  The Star Wars universe and timeline are enormous.  I think all of these stories, with just a few tweaks, could have been adjusted to fit in with the canon, and I think that would have allowed this series to be an awesome expansion of known Star Wars lore… rather than just a series of imaginary stories.  But I digress…)

While there were certainly some styles and approaches that I liked more than others, the animation skill on display in each of these episodes was tremendous.  Each episode was packed-full of gorgeous imagery and exciting moments, with weird and wild character design and all sorts of other fun.  The animation was top-notch across the board.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Episode 01: “The Duel” (written by Takashi Okazaki & directed by Takanobu Mizuno) — The show opened with what might be its strongest episode, a cool combination of feudal Japanese imagery and Star Wars Sith/Jedi.  A legion of Stormtroopers are attacking a village, which finds itself defended by a wandering Ronin… who might not be the hero we expect.  I loved the bizarre imagery that resulted from this combination of old-style Japanese village life with fantasy/futuristic Star Wars ideas, such as the great R2-D2-like droid that seems to be made out of wood.  The action was terrific and I liked the twist ending.

Episode 02: “Tatooine Rhapsody” (written by Yasumi Atarashi & directed by Taku Kimura) — A Jedi padawan flees the purge and finds solace in a rock band on Tatooine, eventually performing at Jabba’s palace.  This story didn’t make a lot of sense to me, and I wasn’t wild about the very kiddy (to my eyes, at least) animation style.  On the other hand, I loved this episode for its weirdness!  If we’re going to tell non-canonical Star Wars story, why not a story about a Jedi in a rock band??  It’s so silly I sort of love it.

Episode 03: “The Twins” (written by Hiromi Wakabayashi & directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi) — After the Battle of Exegol, the Imperials build two connected Star Destroyers, which possess a powerful planet-destroying super-laser, powered by a pair of Force-wielding twins, Karre & Am.  But Karre turns away from the Empire and attempts to stop things, resulting in a fierce battle to the death with his twin sister.  I loved the action in this episode; it is filled with wild ideas and wilder imagery.  But the animators also made some bizarre stylistic choices, particularly when the twins start throwing down, that didn’t quite work for me.  Also, I didn’t love the strange middle ground the episode sets for itself between canon and non-canon.  Rather than being something clearly non-canonical like the first episode, this one seems at first to be closely connected with established Star Wars lore… but then it goes to some strange places that don’t make sense with pre-existing canon.  I sort of wish the episode had been more carefully crafted to fit within Star Wars continuity, to tell a cool story set after The Rise of Skywalker… or that they’d gone further in the other direction to make it more clearly non-canonical.

Episode 04: “The Village Bride” (written by Takahito Oonishi and Hitoshi Haga & directed by Hitoshi Haga) — A small village on an alien planet are being menaced by bandits; the morning after the village chief’s granddaughter’s wedding, she and her fiancé will be forced to surrender.  I have very mixed feelings about this one.  I was intrigued by the set-up, and I enjoyed the slow way the episode slowly doled out information about what was going on.  The animation was strong and there was some gorgeous imagery in this episode.  On the other hand, I don’t feel I ever quite understood what was happening!  I wish this one had been a little longer and had given us some more detail and clarity about the overall situation and the individual characters involved in the story.

Episode 05: “The Ninth Jedi” (written & directed by Kenji Kamiyama) — An inventor has begun constructing lightsabers in an attempt to help the Jedi return to the universe.  He invited Jedi to his workshop to take possession of the new lightsabers, but he’s betrayed and attacked by a Sith, leaving his daughter Kara to fend for herself.  As with “The Village Bride,” there was a lot I really liked in this episode, while at the same time I wish I understood a little better what was going on and who all the characters were.  But I loved the idea of a lightsaber inventor, and Kara was a fun character to follow through this short adventure story.  There was also some fun stuff at the end when the various force-wielders battle.

Episode 06: “T0-B1” (written by Yuichiro Kido & directed by Abel Góngora) — An abandoned droid dreams of becoming a Jedi and sets out to find a Kyber crystal so he can construct a lightsaber.  Here’s another short that falls in a weird spot between canon and non-canon.  My Star Wars nerd mind objected at first to the idea of a droid being able to use the Force and become a Jedi… but in this non-canon world, who’s to say what could or couldn’t happen?  (And by the way, I am sure we’ll someday see a Jedi droid in official Star Wars canon… it’s just too cool an idea not to ever do…)  This was an enjoyable short, though I thought it was a little slight to me.  I’d have liked a little more fleshing out of the situation with this droid.  I wanted to know more!  But I did like following this droid T0-B1 on his little adventure…

Episode 07: “The Elder” (written & directed by Masahiko Otsuka) — A Jedi and his Padawan encounter an old man who, they learn, was once a Sith.  This might have been the most forgettable of the shorts, in my opinion.  There were some interesting bits and ideas here, but the story itself seemed very slight.  I’d have liked the characters and situation to have been more deeply developed.

Episode 08: “Lop and Ochō” (written by Sayawaka & directed by Yuki Igarashi) — A young alien slave named Lop escapes, and is taken in by a powerful clan leader and his daughter Ochō.  At first, Lop and Ochō are friends, but they splinter when Ochō leaves to join the Imperial academy.  There was a lot that I really liked about this short.  There were some interesting ideas (siblings split by allegiance to the Empire is a cool story idea) and some great action animation.  The rabbit-looking character design of Lop was a little too silly for me; it undermined the story.  I liked what was here but I wanted more.  I’d have loved to have been able to have gotten more deeply into the characters of Lop and Ochō, so that their eventual confrontation would have had more emotional power.

Episode 09: “Akakiri” (written by Yuichiro Kido & directed by Eunyoung Choi) — A Jedi returns to the planet where he once helped a princess; it turns out the princess has been overthrown and sent on the run by her aunt, who wields Sith-like dark side powers.  As with many of these shorts, Akakiri is filled with gorgeous imagery (the landscapes, the architecture, the alien creatures) and some great fight scenes.  And it has a great twist of an ending.  But also as with many of these shorts, I found the characters way too thin.  I wish the main two characters (the Jedi Tsubaki and the princess Misa) had more personality; that we knew more about their past and better understood their relationship.  Also, for the ending to have landed more powerfully, I wish that what was going on in Tsubaki’s haunting visions had been clearer; I think that would have allowed the tragic and inevitable ending to have packed more of a punch.

I’m glad to have seen Star Wars: Visions!  I’d love for Disney to continue to get even more adventurous with Star Wars.  I want to see different types of stories, made by different creators, set in this vast and wonderful fictional universe.  I’ve read that a second season of Star Wars: Visions is in the works, which is happy news.  I look forward to seeing it.

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