STAR WARS: VISIONS, Volume 3 Review: Ronin, Rogues, and Rebellion- Star Wars: Visions Returns in Style

When the first volume of Star Wars: Visions came out in 2021, the collaboration with Japanese anime studios just made sense. The first movie from 1977 was heavily influenced by Japanese cinema, and with a deep history of animation in the franchise, throughout the decades, why not let some of the world’s best animation studios take a crack at sharing some new tales?

 

The prior two volumes, the first from Japanese studios, the second from studios around the World, prompted our own Peter Martin to share, in light of the deluge of content created by Disney and Lucasfilm in recent years, raising questions of it's quality and cool factor, “... the emergence of Star Wars: Visions remains ... cool.”

 

Quickly jumping at the chance to review this third volume, our approach to watching all the shorts was to watch them all, respectively, in their original Japanese with subs, then go back over them with the English dub so that we could focus on the dazzling array of visuals each studio had prepared for viewers. In the English dub, the only one we recognized was George Takei’s. That velvet baritone in the body of such a tiny creature, though. 

 

No doubt aided digitally wherever it could be, the collection of shorts is a vibrant mix of 2D and 3D animation, with the breadth of anime character designs on full display. With some of the biggest studios in Japan creating shorts for this volume- Production I.G, WIT Studio, etc- everyone is in for a big, visual treat. All the studios threw all their Porg eggs in one basket, and with animation as their medium the possibilites were only limited by each artist's imagination, which is seeminly endless.

 

Timewise, quite a few of the shorts seem to take place after the Fall of the Jedi, with a decent amount of characters on the run or being hunted by the Empire, or bounty hunters. And the most common element, as always in Star Wars, is rising up against the oppressors or hurrying someone away from their hunters. 

 

The new volume starts with the return of fan favorites, the Ronin and their droid, "R5", and it signals that another masterclass in Star Wars storytelling is about to begin. The short from volume one was so good that we needed a second helping. Also, it was the only short from the first season to have any sort of significant merchandise push from Lucasfilm/Disney, which my wallet will bear witness to.

 

It opens in a gambling hall set between two decommissioned AT-ATs high up on a snowy mountain. Continuing with their search for rogue Sith, Ronin has been after a Twi’lek woman. Their expected and wondrous lightsaber fight on top of a tumbling walker is interrupted by the Grand Master, a hunter of anyone sporting the red kyber crystal for their blade. The Grand Master bears a particular grudge against the Ronin. The Ronin and the Twi'lek must team up against this new threat, with the help of a lot of furry friends. 

 

Animation studios Kamikaze Douga and ANIMA really have their fingers on the pulse of what makes an exciting story, and interesting backdrops to their tales. All the while, they are using traditional chunbara themes and devices to propel the story forward at a thrilling pace, culminating with a classic battle between the good guys and the bad guys, and a three-way lightsaber fight between the three key characters that can only be described as sensational. The Duel: Payback is the first short out of the gate and sets the bar very, very high. 

 

Other shorts present more family-friendly fare, something tamer for younger ones to enjoy. The Song of Four Wings presents a princess who comes across the Empire while on a scouting mission. We love the armour transformation in that one, another mainstay of Japanese anime. Yuko’s Treasure pulls on everyone’s love for Totoro with a Bear of equal size. The Lost Ones has, of all things, a nod to the seminal 80s franchise Back to the Future right at the beginning. The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope, from Production I.G is banking on a chance to further tell the story of a young Jedi named Kara, just one of many female characters for viewers to cheer for. Likewise, The Smuggler features a young entrepreneur who agrees to take on a big job only to learn how important her cargo really is. 

 

The more challenging shorts come at the end, with the introspective The Bird of Paradise, followed by the wildly experimental BLACK. The Bird of Paradise is about a Padawan who is blinded in battle and finds themselves lost in the wilderness. After a bit of soul searching, they find their purpose, and their relationship with the Force has grown stronger. That’s Star Wars through and through. What makes it challenging is that it is divided into chapters, complete with new headers and a musing of some sort—an odd choice for a short film —and one we feel breaks up the energy the narrative gains each time the story resumes, musings that tap into an Eastern philosophical way of thinking that is not clearly evident to this viewer. 

 

BLACK is a wild piece of animation, more of an experimental style with a jumping jazz score that may take a dizzying amount of effort to take in. It is a trippy fight between good and evil, and life and death which happens inside the mind of a broken Imperial soldier facing defeat. If you’re going to go out with a bang, this is one way to do it. With nary a world of dialogue, this one was all visuals and jazz. I’m not sure if I liked it, but I respect the bold choices the studio, David Production, made when putting this one together. It takes a certain amount of fortitude to do something as non-traditional as this. 

 

The third volume of Star Wars: Visions returns the saga to its Japanese roots, showcasing stunning 2D and 3D animation from some of Japan’s top studios. Highlights include The Duel: Payback and a mix of family-friendly and experimental shorts that explore heroism, sacrifice, and rebellion in fresh and familiar ways. 

 

Anime continues to be an inspired and visually rich way to explore this galaxy far, far away.