Kanako Shirasaki

A collection of nine short films bringing an anime twist to the Star Wars galaxy with stories featuring Jedi, Sith, and other characters as they explore typical themes and tropes of the film saga.

Volume 1 of the Star Wars: Visions anthology series was, when first announced, a quite bizarre and jarring thing to me: an anime series set within the Star Wars universe. At the time, I hadn't been a big fan of anime or manga -- I had only passing knowledge of some series from my youth -- but over the past few months I've begun to explore the world of anime and manga, and as a huge Star Wars fan, Visions felt like a natural first step. Watching through the shorts, I did have some mixed feelings, as some episodes were a little boring and nothing too extraordinary, but there were others that were rousing adventures that rivalled some of the best Star Wars stories we've seen, in any format. The tones and styles do vary, and the animation can be a bit for some viewers to grasp, but you would be remiss to not give it a chance. Three shorts in particular -- "The Duel," "The Ninth Jedi," and "The Elder" -- are all near-perfect anime representations of this galaxy, especially the second one; "The Ninth Jedi" has to be one of my favorite Star Wars stories ever. Even the other shorts, which vary in scope and story, have their own highlights, and because each one is from a unique studio, they all present different takes and perspectives on the universe. As I said, it is a mixed bag for a variety of reasons -- but it has some of the best visuals in Star Wars animation period, and certain episodes (see above mentioned specifically) are masterpieces in my book. Recommended, especially the three highlighted episodes.

Content Concerns: Episodes vary in terms of content, but most feature some sort of violence, either slapstick or actually lethal, in some capacity. Characters are killed by lightsabers, explosions, blasters, and other methods. Some of it can be quite intense, but there's never anything too graphic.

(May 3, 2023)… (mehr)