Star Wars Visions (Season 2)

Like with the MCU, I've been really falling out of love with Star Wars lately. Chalk up to a mix between oversaturation, some disappointing recent shows, nostalgia baiting, and how little I want anything to do with the discourse surrounding the series. However, I was pretty excited to see the next season of Star Wars Visions because of how much I loved the first one. While it may lack that initial novelty of "Star Wars but anime", the wider variety of animation styles should lead to a pretty unique selection of shorts.

Sith: Like with Season 1, we start things off with a pretty straightforward lightsaber duel episode, though Sith starts off a lot more abstractly than The Duel did. The first five minutes don't really explain what's going on, you just see the main character Lola walking around in what looks like a white void accidentally spreading black paint everywhere. But then the sith hunting her show up, and everything clicks. Lola is an ex-sith trying to run from her past, and she's scared of the darkness still within her. It's impressive how well everything in Sith clicks together. The themes, the way the plot unfolds, the animation style, it all paints a complete picture (pun absolutely intended). And speaking of that animation style, it's pretty amazing. The blend of painterly and 3D animation does look a bit Spider Verse-esque, but as I said, Sith takes things in a more abstract direction, almost like the Eko fight from Arcane extended into a whole short. The lightsaber fight itself isn't as long as the one in The Duel but it's weighty, powerful, and very inventively-shot. Overall, pretty good start.

4/5 Stars

Screecher's Reach: I had high hopes for the Cartoon Saloon episode, and man, did they not let me down. From its sketchy artstyle, to the fluid and expressive characters, to holy shit those backgrounds, Screecher's Reach is a treat for the eyes. I love the direction they chose to go in here, telling a horror story about the cyclic nature of the sith and what would make one join them to begin with. It endears you to Dall and her friends so quickly and efficiently before they enter the titular cave and sith hits the fan. That horror sequence with Dall and the old sith was so fresh and intense, the sith have never been more terrifying, their lightsabers have never felt more dangerous, and the twist ending where Dall willingly replaces that sith as apprentice is such a gut-punch. The way she basically resigns herself to death just feels so Madoka, I love it. This was a phenomenal short, so dense it feels like I had watched an entire movie but never rushed, gripping, tense, tragic, and unmistakably irish (the sith is literally a banshee). It's right under The Village Bride as my favorite short so far.

5/5 Stars

In The Stars: In The Stars tries to do a lot, trying to tell a story about two sisters struggling with the Empire's genocide of the rest of their species, with a bit of environmental themes for good measure. It's an ambitious and dark story that's I think was let-down by the first few minutes. In The Stars starts off with a lengthy exposition as Tichina tells her sister Koten about what happened to their mother, something she already knows. And since they go on their water run immediately afterwards, it doesn't feel like the short actually built up their relationship enough for you to fully care about the two. And that's a real shame because I think In The Stars ends really strong, with a tense finale, some great thematic touches, and a haunting final shot. In The Stars also looks pretty stellar too, with a uniquely gritty stop-motion animation that fits the tone of the short really well. Overall, In The Stars was good but I think the script needed a few more passes to really do its story justice.

3/5 Stars

I Am Your Mother: As a massive Wallace & Gromit fan, I was super excited for Aardman's short, and once again, I wasn't let down. I Am Your Mother feels like the Tatooine Rhapsody of this season as how much you enjoy it will depend on how much you're want something a bit more silly and light-hearted, though I personally found it a bit more fun. It's nothing groud-breaking is a fun and heartwarming "embarrasing mom" story with so charming stop-motion animation and fun racing sequences to boot. It also shows a real love for Star Wars as a franchise, and is chock-full of cute easter eggs (my favorite being the Force Awakens bread). The Wedge Antilles jokes alone are worth the price of admission, this one was a blast.

4/5 Stars

Journey To The Dark Head: Made by the Studio Mir, the folks behind Legend Of Korra, this is the closest thing we have to another anime short. Similarly to The Ninth Jedi and Lop & Ocho, it introduces a unique world and fun characters that I'd totally love to see expanded into a full-on series, though unlike those two, it also feels pretty complete as it is. Journey To The Dark Head is just a fun jedi adventure with some fun banter between the two main leads, yet another well-executed "jedi and sith are two sides of the same coin" message, and some pretty stellar action sequences. Definitely one of the more straightforward shorts of the season but that's by no means a bad thing. My only gripe, though, is that voice acting is a bit on the shakier side, especially with Toul.

4/5 Stars

The Spy Dancer: Like The Village Bride, this was the real sleeper hit of the season for me, an incredibly fun and engaging espionage thriller. This is the first thing I've seen from Studio LaChette but these guys are damn good at generating tension and suspense, I was on the edge of my seat for the whole episode. Loi'e's story was well done especially after that stellar twist about her kid near the end, and as a whole, the short takes the usual setting of the Imperial era in a new direction by exploring how it broke apart families. But most of all, the real highlight here was the visuals. Stunning, fluid 2D lineart with jaw-dropping dance scenes, and hands down the best action sequences of the season. Between Loi'e's dance fighting and just how freaking tense it all was, my eyes were glued to the screen for that entire second half. It does however end on the first real sequel hook of the shorts, which only made me want a whole series' worth of this now.

5/5 Stars

The Bandits Of Golak: After a wide range of animation styles and mediums, The Bandits Of Golak goes for a look akin to Clone Wars, and ultimately kinda makes the least amount of impact. 88 Pictures does do a good job at emulating that style while giving it a bit of extra Indian flavor, but I still feel like they played things too safe here, and that applies to the story too. I totally get why a lot of studios would tackle the Imperial era especially if you're from marginalized groups, but it does start to get a bit samey this late in the season. It also feels like it's split into two stories, one in the train and one in the village, neither segment really meshing well with the other. I will say that Rani and Charuk's sibling relationship feels a bit more believable than Tichina and Koten's, but it's brought down by Rani getting herself in way too much trouble. The Bandits Of Golak definitely isn't a bad short by any means, it looks nice and has some good action, but it feels a bit disjointed and doesn't do much to stand out among the other shorts. The music slaps though.

2/5 Stars

The Pit: This is the other anime short of the bunch, but compared to Mir's offering, The Pit doesn't quite do it for me especially in terms of animation. D'Art Shtaijo has done some amazing work, particularly in the Castlevania anime, but The Pit looks choppy and stiff in the same way Trigger's The Elder did last season. It's got a neat concept where the Empire leaves a bunch of slave miners in the mine once they're done with them, but the execution feels a bit strange. There's the very in-your-face repetition of the phrase "follow the light", and the fact that the pit is so close to the city that you could probably see it from a high rise, but really my biggest issue here is the tone. The first two halves of The Pit is incredibly bleak and depressing, almost to the point of not feeling like Star Wars at all, but then the ending is suddenly super hopeful and idealistic. The final shot with the Force in particular felt so out of left field in what has otherwise been such a gritty story makes it feel like the Star Wars theming was tacked on.

2/5 Stars

Aau's Song: Season 2 feels like a polar opposite of the first in a lot of ways. Where that more light-hearted season ended on its bleakest episode, this relatively darker season ended on its most uplifting. In a word, Aau's Song is beautiful. The animation is so stunning, vibrant, and tactile, those backgrounds are jaw-dropping, and there are so many cool filming tricks and hidden details used here. When I realized how they did that driving sequence, I geeked out, this is damn good filmmaking. The story itself is a slow burn and yet another "child is taken in by jedi" story, but the pay-off is absolutely stunning and makes it all feel worth it. While not one of the most interesting on a storytelling level, Aau's Song is a truly magnificent piece of animation, probably the best-looking Visions short in both seasons. Kudos to Triggerfish.

5/5 Stars

Overall, Season 2 is yet another great season of Visions with some stellar shorts and way more variety in its animation styles than the first one. It's got everything from 2D to 3D to stop-motion to Spider Verse, and yet it feels far more consistent in its quality than the first season. However, I think that's kind of this season's biggest issue too, as the generally depressing tone and abundance of similar narratives can lead it to feel a bit samey by the end. Personally, I do still prefer Season 1 for its higher high-points, more varied tone, and just how cleanly Star Wars and anime blend together, but this was still a great time that solidifies Visions as one of the best things Disney has ever done with Star Wars.

4/5 Stars

Here's my ranking:

1. Screecher's Reach
2. The Spy Dancer
3. Aau's Song
4. I Am Your Mother
5. Journey To The Dark Head
6. Sith
7. In The Stars
8. The Bandits Of Golak
9. The Pit

Star Wars Visions

Star Wars Visions is a collection of animated shorts by six Japanese animated studios, some of which I actually recognize from past reviews! With only nine short films, I thought I'd quickly review each of them and give my thoughts:

The Duel: Star Wars had always taken heavy inspiration from Kurosawa films, to the point where multiple TV episodes paid homage to the Seven Samurai (Clone Wars's Bounty Hunters, The Mandalorian's The Jedi). Knowing this, The Duel feels like the perfect short to start the collection, as quintessentially Star Wars as it gets: A mysterious force-wielder defending a small village from the Sith. The animation by Kamikaze Douga (Pop Team Epic) is obviously the most notable aspect here, with a mostly black and white color scheme and a sketchy art direction not unlike Japanese scrolls. It looks fantastic, especially once the titular duel begins. The infamous umbrella lightsaber from the trailers looks just as silly and over the top in action, but it led to some really brutal scenes. Outside of the visuals, the story is simple but pretty effective and satisfying. I like how mysterious the main protagonist, Ronin, is, and how we're never explicitly told why he uses a red lightsaber. The ending where the town initially thinks he's a Sith after seeing his lightsaber was really great. Overall, a strong start. (4/5 Stars)

Tatooine Rhapsody: This one was adorable, and it looked really nice too! In a complete parallel to The Duel, Studio Colorido (Penguin Highway, Pokemon Twilight Wings) went for a much more colorful, cutesy style that really popped. We rarely get these kinds of low stakes stories in Star Wars, and the concept of an intergalactic band is just too cute. Once again, the main story of save a band member from being executed by Jabba is simple, but it ends on a very heartwarming note. There are also a lot of really cute cameos from Star Wars films, like Jabba and Boba Fett. However, I think those cameos are there to hide from the fact that Tatooine Rhapsody isn't quite a Star Wars story. As a matter of fact, I feel like this story could take place completely outside of Star Wars and it would feel exactly the same, which I definitely can't say about some of these other shorts. Still, the optimistic spirit definitely fits in with Star Wars, and a basic plot doesn't stop Tatooine Rhapsody from being easily the most heartwarming short in the pack. (3/5 Stars)

The Twins: I love Studio Trigger so much. The Twins is definitely one of my favorite shorts in the bunch, feeling like a perfect combination of Hiruyoki Imaishi's shows (TTGL, Kill La Kill) with Star Wars, and it works so damn well. The short is about two twins, Karre and Am, born from the dark side. Am doubles down on the darkness, while Karre tries to free himself from the dark side of the force, resulting in a bombastic fight over a Kyber crystal. It's nowhere near as simple of a story as the last two shorts, with Imaishi's usual ridiculous ass pulls and convoluted exposition, but when you boil it down to its core, The Twins is about Star Wars's iconic duality, showing parallels to pairings like Luke/Leia and Rey/Kylo. Karre and Am both have understandable motivations, and I managed to care about both of them by the end of the short, to the point where I would love to see a full-on series about the two. But of course, this is Studio Trigger, so the real highlight was the action. Karre and Am's fight scene was absolutely bonkers, quickly escalating to a Kyber crystal-fueled lightsaber battle atop a star destroyer and ending with Karre slicing a star destroyer in half in a homage to the Holdo maneuever! The animation was just as colorful, dynamic, and expressive as Trigger/Gainax's past work, and the sheer bombast of the entire fight was so much fun to watch. I can imagine if this is too over the top for some Star Wars fans, but for me, this was exactly what I was hoping for from a Trigger short. (5/5 Stars)

The Village Bride: I was expected The Twins to be my favorite, but then this short came in and completely blew me away. Unlike most of the other shorts, this one was a bit of a slow burn, giving the characters a chance to talk with each other and be fleshed out and slowly doling out information throughout the short. The dialogue is minimal and reliant on "showing not telling", but I felt like I learned something new about the characters in every single scene. It all builds up to a phenomenal third arc that brings all the cast together and completing the protagonist F's character arc in an emotionally resonant way. The ending was so satisfying in fact that it legitimately made me tear up, something that could have never happened if there wasn't all that buildup. I loved just how well The Village Bride epitomizes Star Wars. There's the lone warrior defending a village, compelling love story, acts of rebellion, coming of age from a padawan to a jedi, exploration of the force and the connection with nature, it really has everything! The animation was fantastic too. I'm not familiar with Kinema Citrus's work, but they did a good job here. The animation was fluid and colorful, the character designs were fantastic, and music was really good at times. Not to mention, getting to see a lightsaber katana slash in  Star Wars made me absolutely geek. The Village Bride was a fantastic, emotional love letter to Star Wars, not just the best out of all of the shorts but one of the best pieces of Star Wars media I have ever seen. Given that most shows and movies don't make me tear up, I think it says a lot that this twenty-minute-long short managed to do so. (5/5 Stars)

The Ninth Jedi: Out of all of the shorts, this one felt like the most standard Star Wars adventure, not that it's a bad thing. Being the longest short of the bunch, it felt like a full-on Star Wars film, with twists, action scenes, and a plucky protagonist becoming a Jedi. I really liked the worldbuilding in The Ninth Jedi, it creates a fascinating point in the Star Wars timeline that I would genuinely like to see more of. I also like those color-changing lightsabers a lot. They get a lot of great mileage between the big sith reveal and Kara's lightsaber slowly becoming green throughout the short. As a whole, I think this short strikes the perfect balance between old and new. We got speeder chases and lightsaber fights, but the short manages to toss in a ton of fun twists and subversions to make these elements feel fresh again. The animation from Production IG (Psycho Pass) isn't as inventive as in some of the other shorts, but it still looks really good at times. The backgrounds are fantastic, and the action sequences are all a ton of fun. Overall, The Ninth Jedi was as classic of a Star Wars story as it gets, and definitely became to one of my favorites in the collection. (5/5 Stars)

T0-B1: This short reminded me of The Rise Of Skywalker, in that its pacing was the absolute worst. T0-B1 raced through so much plot so quickly, and the cuts between shots and scenes just felt so abrupt. I definitely think the short could have afforded to be longer. It's a shame, because the core premise of "What if Astro Boy became a Jedi?" is actually really cute. It definitely hits all of the notes of what a Star Wars story should be, but it's just so rushed and clumsy in its execution that it doesn't feel as impactful as it should have been. On the other hand, the animation was pretty great. Science SARU made Eizouken, one of my favorite anime of all time, and I could definitely see the similarities. T0-B1 went for a pretty unconventional style that wasn't afraid to shift art directions entirely. Not every shot looked amazing, but the creativity really shows. If T0-B1 let itself breath a bit more, I think it could have been one of the best ones. (2/5 Stars)

The Elder: The second Studio Trigger short definitely didn't feel quite as "Trigger-y" as The Twins, and I also don't think it was nearly as good. This short was slow-paced, with realistic muted animation, and a fairly basic and grounded plot. I'm going to be honest, this one really bored me. The main storyline of a padawan and master fighting a sith felt like the type of thing I've seen over and over again, with no twists or clever story directions making it stand out on its own. The animation was also oddly stiff for Studio Trigger, and the fight was probably one of the weaker ones in the collection. Not to be too negative, the pacing was pretty solid, and the Jedi master does get some great lines in, but The Elder just lacks the fantastic creativity I've seen from all the other shorts. (1/5 Stars)

Lop & Ochō: While there are plenty of shorts that could easily get a continuation (The Twins and The Ninth Jedi, in particular), Lop And Ochō straight-up feels like a pilot short of a TV show. So much ambition went into this particular short, which manages to pack in a backstory for Lop, a moral conflict about the empire, a big final battle, and a fully fleshed-out planet to add to the Star Wars universe. And despite all of this, the pacing is really good. However, I can tell that the people working on this short wanted to do more. Lop & Ochō feels like it should have been a full-length film, and ends on a fairly abrupt and unsatisfying note as a result. On the other hand, the animation is pretty good, especially when it comes to the fight scenes. Seriously, that final battle at the end of the short was absolutely stunning. The character designs were really great too, especially for Lop. I didn't think you could make a Klonoa-esque anthropomorphic rabbit work in Star Wars, but Lop ended up becoming one of my favorite characters in the collection. Overall, Lop & Ochō shows a lot of potential, but I just wish there was more of it. (4/5 Stars)

Akakiri: The second Science SARU short is definitely the better of the two, and a shockingly bleak one at that! There isn't much of a story here, we're really just watching a Jedi lose control of his powers and fall to the dark side. It's something we never quite see in Star Wars outside of Anakin, so this was a really fresh change of pace. However, what I'm really confused about is why this particular short was saved for last? It's the only one with a downer ending, and is also a lot smaller in scale than some of the others. Something like The Village Bride or The Ninth Jedi would have probably fit better. As far as the animation goes, Science SARU once again did a fantastic job. The animation really immerses you in Tsubaki's mental state and there are some really striking shots scattered throughout the episode. Overall, Akakiri was pretty good. It's fairly short and lacking in much story, but as a visual depiction of the fall of a Jedi, it does its job fairly well. (3/5 Stars)

Overall, Star Wars Visions was an incredibly pleasant surprise. While I didn't love every single short and the first half is easily better than the second for me, the sheer variety in this collection is fantastic, and I can tell that everyone involved is truly passionate about the franchise. It has been fascinating to see Star Wars interpreted through the eyes of some truly fantastic anime studios, and some shorts in particularly ended up becoming some of my favorite pieces of Star Wars media since the Siege Of Mandalore. I wouldn't say Visions "rekindled my love for Star Wars" since I never really stopped being a fan, but the creativity on shown and passion in every frame of every short definitely reaffirmed why I love Star Wars so much. I think everyone can find something to love here even if you're not a fan of anime like I am, and it's definitely much more worth watching than Marvel's attempt at an anthology series.

4/5 Stars

My ranking of the Star Wars Visions shorts is:

1. The Village Bride
2. The Twins
3. The Ninth Jedi
4. The Duel
5. Lop & Ochō
6. Akakiri
7. Tatooine Rhapsody
   
8. T0-B1
9. The Elder