“Star Wars: Visions” Series Review
Lucasfilm and Disney took one of their first big risks together with the releasing of “Star Wars: Visions.” Lucasfilms partnered with several Japanese studios and 65 voice actors to bring a bunch of stories to life in traditional Japanese-style anime.
“Star Wars: Visions” is an anthology series, filled with nine episodes that share different stories from across the galaxy and from different points in the Star Wars history. The series is not canon, which means that it doesn’t connect to the rest of the Star Wars universe that we know, but it still provides audiences with well-done visual story telling.
Each episode is very different, in terms of tone, animation style, and story, so that everyone can enjoy the series as a whole. The one consistency throughout the nine episodes is that each episode features Jedi, Sith and lightsabers.
There are three good episodes in the season: “The Duel” (episode one), “The Ninth Jedi” (episode five), and “Lop and Ochō” (episode eight). “The Village Bride” (episode four) and “The Elder” (episode seven) are pretty good as well, but don’t make the cut as an elite episode in the anthology.
“The Duel” is the first episode in the series and is beautiful because it is all in black and white, besides the colors of the light sabers and the blaster bullets. A village is run over by a Sith lord and her stormtrooper goons as they round up everyone and take their resources.
An opposing force wielder, with a light saber, then steps in and duels the Sith lord until he kills her and saves the village. He destroys her lightsaber, takes out the Sith corrupted kyber crystal, and reveals that he is a Sith hunter who has been collecting red kyber crystals.
Episode five, “The Ninth Jedi,” takes place on the timeline where the Sith were going around the galaxy and hunting the Jedi to near extinction. Seven Jedi get summoned to a temple where they are to wait for the Jedi who summoned them to arrive with light sabers.
A girl, whose dad crafts lightsabers, brings them to the seven Jedi, only to reveal that all but one of their lightsabers turn red. And a fight to the death breaks out, where the girl and the ninth Jedi defeat the Sith.
“Lop and Ochō” is an episode that is all about family and legacy. The Empire has taken over a planet that is incredibly rich in nature and resources, until the empire has destroyed the ecosystem.
An adopted daughter, Lop, of a family with a dad and a biological daughter, Ochō, grow up on this planet, but then Ochō agrees to help the Empire because she believes they can help their civilization advance.
Lop sides with her dad in protecting their planet and her dad passes down the family sword to her, a Jedi lightsaber. Ochō and Lop fight over their beliefs until Ochō escapes, leaving Lop behind with her dad.
“Star Wars: Visions,” has some beautiful moments throughout the episodes. One thing that is consistently pretty is the score throughout the episodes. The animation is also cinematic and so different throughout each episode.
The main attribute of “Star Wars: Visions” is the fact that, in some episodes, the writers were not afraid to take it to a darker place. Many people are slaughtered at the hands of Sith and Jedi, lightsabers cut people into pieces and family members die.
This darker tone is something that fans don’t get to see to often in the live action “Star Wars” universe, but it was a good change of pace to finally see it in animation.
“Star Wars: Visions” does come with plenty faults, though. For starters, there are a couple episodes that are just bad and are a complete throw away. In order for an anthology series to be successful, no episodes can miss.
The main struggle of “Star Wars: Visions” is that it is not canon to the rest of the universe. There is simply no reason to watch it other than being a die-hard for Star Wars content and a lover of anime. The show is relatively unimportant, and not good enough to gain a lot of viewership.
Overall, it’s worth the watch as a “Star Wars” fan because the stories are pretty unique and the animation is really cool. Besides that, there’s not much of a reason to watch.
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Sam Roberts is a fourth-year majoring in telecommunications. To contact him, email sam.robertspsu00@gmail.com.
