Star Wars: Visions

Visions only gets a 7.10 on MAL however I really enjoyed it. Sure, not all episodes were great (cough Tatooine rhapsody cough) but it was still very enjoyable. The series is really just a collection of individual stand alone stories. Most were good, some were brilliant and a few were bland. However it provided a new and interesting perspective on the star wars universe with the traditional Japanese take on the force and the star wars universe working surprisingly well. I also found that the characters were surprisingly well developed for the screen time they received and the stories too were interesting and surprisingly complex ... yet without overwhelming the viewer. Surprisingly, the villains as well as the heroes are developed. The Sith In Ninth Jedi for example feel friendship and camaraderie with each other and Ocho as well with her joining the Empire to protect her family and people.

Of course, as the series MAL rating implies, there are some flaws with the series, namely, its run time. The episodes are short, even by anime standards with some episodes clocking in at a mere 12 minutes with the longest being about 20. Considering that some of these episodes were good enough to deserve their own series (Namely, Ninth Jedi, Twins, Village Bride and Lop and Ocho) this was a real shame. Since each episode is a stand alone story, I'll provide a small review of each episode:
1) Duel (7/10): Duel focuses on a Duel between a mysterious Ronin and Bandit leader. The twist was great and the Duel itself
was good but I wasn't a big fan of the art style though. It was enjoyable but not my favourite.
2) Tatooine (4/10): This episode follows a pop group lead by a Hutt of all people as they try to escape Jabba the Hutt's
attempt to execute their leader. This story is easily my least favourite. It just felt "bleh" and the story itself felt a bit odd for
the star wars universe and I honestly couldn't bring myself to care for any of the characters.
3) Twins (10/10): honestly, I loved this episode. Some fans dislike this episode for its over the top action and for being non
compliant with Canon. This episode was made by studio trigger and anime fans will know them for their "rule of cool"
approach and this episode is typical of their work and I really enjoyed it. The characters, especially Am with her Hammy Sith
Lord routine very enjoyable to watch. Sure the story was comparatively straight forward and the story broke the laws of
physics but it was just so much damn fun to watch. I also think the story is a bit more cannon compliant that it might seem.
4) The village Bride (9/10): another great episode featuring an interesting set up, a cool Jedi protagonist and a great
soundtrack. For star wars fans looking for something a bit more conventional, this might be a good choice. I did think the
villain could have used some more development, but considering the timescale of the episode, this issue is understandable.
5) Ninth Jedi (10/10): A great episode with a brilliant twist and a likeable and intriguing cast of characters. The villains also feel
surprisingly "human" (for want of better term given some of them were non-human) villains. The story already plot and
even a sequel hook. It feels like the writers could easily write a full season on this premise.
6) T0 B1 (5/10): The story is decent but the it just felt "ok" especially when compared with Ninth Jedi or Twins. The characters
were OK, the villain generic and the overall concept a bit too close to Astro Boy. It's not bad. But it doesn't excel either.
7) Elder (7/10): Another episode by Studio Trigger, this one is calmer and less typical of triggers usual work. It features an
interesting pair of protagonists and a good villain and is well worth watching.
8) Lop and Ocho (9/10) Truly great and surprisingly tragic story about a pair of sisters fighting over the fate of their planet,
one of whom favours the Empire and the other is opposed. The story features fleshed out characters with a simple but deep
story that manages to focus on the themes of Industrial Progress, Pollution, Imperialism and Torn Families. Enjoyable,
interesting and slightly tragic. The art for the episode was great, especially the opening shots of the Star Destroyer.
9) Akakiri (7/10): A story of one Jedi's decent to the Dark side. Some commentators Jordan that it told a similar story to
Anakins decent to the Dark Side in the prequels, but was more effective in 12 minutes than the prequels were in 3 films. The
story is interesting with a villain who feels more complex than their appearance suggests however I feel the episode suffered
from its short, 12 minute run time. Also, the art style felt simplistic.

Overall, Star Wars Visions is a great addition to the star wars universe that tells interesting stories with surprisingly well developed characters. Ocho from Lop and Ocho, Am from Twins and "the Jedi" from Village Bride were my personal favourites. Several of the episodes, particularly Ninth Jedi, Twins, Lop and Ocho and Village Bride are easily good enough to warrant their own series. Their are few episodes I felt weren’t as good, specifically Tatooine Rhapsody and TB 01, However the biggest problem I felt was the lack of runtime.

Star Wars: Visions is an anime anthology series created for the American streaming service Disney+. Produced by Lucasfilm Animation, the series consists of nine short films created by seven Japanese animation studios, each telling their own original stories based on and set within the Star Wars universe. The participating animation studios are Kamikaze Douga, Studio Colorido, Geno Studio, Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Production I.G, and Science SARU. The creators at each studio were given free rein to re-envision the ideas of Star Wars as they saw fit, while receiving guidance from Lucasfilm's executive team.

The anthology was released worldwide on September 22, 2021. Naturally, the critic community ... acclaimed it, but Rotten Tomatoes’ scoring has more than proven how out of touch critics are from actual audiences. So, what was the actual audience reception? It was… mixed. When I say mixed, I don’t mean it in the standard sense that some people liked it, some didn’t – though I’m sure that’s also the case. No, I’m saying that individual episodes were received with varying degrees of excitement.

Being that Visions is an anthology, there is no narrative through-line and none of the episodes have anything to do with one another, and they’re all produced by distinct studios (with the exception of Tigger and Science SARU, who both produced 2 episodes each), so any individual audience member’s mileage will vary greatly with the differing aesthetic philosophies, animation styles, and stories.

Point and fact, episode 1 was my favorite, a black and white experience evocative of the suave film noir aesthetic produced by studio Kamikaze Douga, which prides itself as being a “half-breed studio” specializing in blending CG production with traditional 2D cel animation. They’re known for producing various shorts, advertisements, the Ninja Batman short film, and most notably, the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures opening animation.

My 2nd favorite was episode 3. It’s a Trigger production through and through. A young protagonist & antagonist pair who have some kind of intimate connection, lots of standing cross-armed atop mechs, over the top yelling about ideologies, a final fight in the vacuum of space, and the climax of the battle being a giant Kamehameha energy clash, it’s got it all. I predicted all of these things before I even watched the episode and started foaming at the mouth as they all came true, one by one. The other Trigger production, episode 7, is a lot more subdued and does not feature any aesthetic whose identity you would consider as symbolic of Trigger.

The other episodes were kind of hit or miss. Episodes 2 (Studio Colorido) and 6 (Science SARU) were my least favorite, be it because of the chibi or Doctor Seuss aesthetic philosophies, be it because of the Saturday morning cartoon nature of the stories, there were several things about them that I found did not speak to me and made for an unappealing viewing experience in my case, but I’m sure there is an audience for that sort of thing as well. I’m just not it.

In short, if you’re a fan of the Star Wars franchise or if you’re at all curious about it, by all means, give Visions a go. Anime adaptations of Western media do not have an excellent track record, and while Visions is not a masterpiece, it is certainly decent and there’s something in it for everyone. You’re guaranteed to enjoy at least one of the productions, I’m sure.

So yeah, this exists. Why, you may ask? Cuz it’s an easy way for Disney to make a cash grab and popularize Star Wars in the anime community. And let me just get started: this anime is awful.

First off, gotta explain the concept: 9 episodes, 9 studios making each one of those episodes. Got it? Now this could work, but in the short time each episode has they can only develop so much and the stories do not connect throughout the episodes.

The first episode was… not bad. It felt like Vagabond with lightsabers, the art style was fun and the plot was decent with ... the run time of the episode. Then it all went downhill, with episode 2. The episode was trash, the story was downright awful, the characters were annoying, the art took a major step back. But this wasn’t the worst episode. No, no, no, no. Episode 3 is utter garbage. Not only were the characters uninteresting but the consistency was terrible, I mean they literally fought in space without the effect of gravity or worrying about oxygen. The rest of the episodes kept the same amount of quality, and honestly I might be mentally ill to keep going to watch this terrible anime, but I like to finish things so I did. Characters were bland, bland stories, bland everything. As a huge Star Wars fans this anime dishonors the franchise and it should be burned to the ground so no one has to watch this piece of shit.

So do I recommend this? NO. This is by far the worst Star Wars content I’ve ever watched (yes I’ve watched the Sequels and Star Wars Resistance). Hope this helps :)