Star Wars Visions
To preface this: I am not a Star Wars FAN by any means. I've seen a handful (I wanna say Episodes 4, 5, 6, 1, and 2) of the movies all over a decade ago. I've played a game or 2. Space things just aren't really my jam. That being said, I love short stories, anthologies, as well as being an anime enjoyer on occasion. My wife and I recently subbed to Disney+ to catch up on things that had come out in the last 2-3 years, and I noticed this, so I talked her into it. She was a fan of Love, Death & Robots on Netflix, so it wasn't too hard a sell. We sat down with our breakfast on Saturday morning expecting to watch a couple of these before getting on with our day, but we ended up binging the entire show in a sitting.
(fair warning, I'll be as spoiler free as i can be, but there might be some things so yunno, caution if you care)
(also: we watched the Dub, not sure if there is original JP audio or not, but anything voice-actor related will be referring to English)
Episode 1 – The Duel
> A wandering stranger with a mysterious past defends a village from powerful bandits.
The Duel was animated by Kamikaze Douga, who i know primarily from their work doing the OPs for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (both parts), and Stone Ocean. They knocked the animation and art for this episode out of the fucking park. HOME RUN. I am a huge sucker for dark, sketchy, gritty art styles, which this episode exudes.
The only negative thing I'll say about this episode is that its super DARK. Like, made me want to adjust the contrast on my TV kinda dark. There were a couple of scenes where it was a bit difficult to see what was going on. THAT BEING SAID, the darkness really helped the small pops of color they sprinkled into the episode really STAND OUT. Lightsabers glowing, a string of lights along a house roof, a droid's control panel, ect.
Really strong start to this series. Easily in my top 3 Eps.
Episode 2 – Tatooine Rhapsody
> A band with big dreams must save one of their own from Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett.
Tatooine Rhapsody was animated by Studio Colorido who have done mostly things i'm not familiar with. Ill be forthright: this episode kinda sucked. Maybe not SUCKED, per se, but immediately following one of the stronger showings of this anthology it felt verylackluster.
Right off the rip we hear discussion of Jabba the Hut, and Boba Fett, which immediately took me out of “standalone anime anthology world” and into “oh yeah this is specifically Star Wars”. I'm sure some people really liked that nod/tie in, but was not for me. The art style was chibi-esque, which is cute but felt like a drastic departure from the episode prior.
I'm not going to tear the episode to shreds, but going from a 9/10 to a 4 or 5/10 gave me whiplash.
Episode 3 – The Twins
> Twins born into the dark side clash aboard a massive Star Destroyer.
The Twins was animated by Studio Trigger, who i know from Little Witch Academia, and the super recent Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Both series' i really liked. This episode was full of bright colors, and really pretty animation. Felt VERY gainax-y (Panty + Stocking specifically) in the best ways. The Twins feels the most “ANIME” (read: “mainstream anime”) of the bunch so far.
This was the first episode i recognized the voice actors, the main dude being Neil Patrick Harris, and his sister voiced by Alison Brie (Annie – Community). I don't wanna say this was a negative, but it was a bit strange realizing it, when up till now I'd just focused on what i was seeing and hearing.
The climactic fight of this episode was a really gorgeous battle, but i wasn't super into the story. Obviously these are all short stories, but this was was a bit too short for my taste. I wasn't invested or hooked, but I did see it through. In the end this one ranked low-mid for me.
Episode 4 – The Village Bride
> A Jedi on the run takes in the unique customs of a remote village under threat by a warlord.
The Village Bride was animated by Kinema Citrus who I haven't watched any prior work of, but I have at least HEARD of Made In Abyss. Taylor and Prude will keep riding my ass to watch it likely.
Anyways, I liked this one a ton. The Art style was great, gave me some Mononoke vibes, which is a major compliment in my book. The voice acting was done fine. I think the main girl was voiced by Kiriko from The Boys?. This one ranked pretty highly for me. The story was good, and the characters likeable. My only gripe with this episode was that the climax was kind of lackluster. Likely just a me-thing, but I went into this series wanting cool fights, and this one was good all in all but meh compared to others in the series.
Episode 5 – The Ninth Jedi
> The daughter of a lightsaber-smith is pursued by dark forces while on a dangerous mission.
The Ninth Jedi was animated by Production_I.G who i know did the O-Ren Anime Sequence in Kill Bill Vol 1, among some other things. I should end up watching the recent FLCL works they did, but i haven't heard great things. This was another episode where I didn't recognize any voice actors/actresses immediately, but that's not a bad thing.
This episode SLAPPED, fullstop. It was the longest of any of the episodes, and they CRAMMED a whole ass story in there, nothing short about it. Great character development, proper twists and turns, good side/1-off characters, a great chase scene, and a pretty good ending fight scene. While its likely my #3, top 3 is still very gucci.
Episode 6 – T0-B1
> A cybernetic boy, who dreams of being a Jedi, discovers a dangerous truth about his creator.
T0-B1 comes to us from the animators at Science Saru, who I personally hadn't heard of before, but I guess they did some work on Space Dandy. The art kind of reminded me a bit of the real old animes like Astro Boy, but obviously more modern.
I loved the colors in this episode, a lot of lights and pastels which were very dreamy and surreal. The animation was the cutest of any of the episodes so far, as well. The story was well done, made me a lil sad, which i appreciate. The villain had a cool samurai-esque helmet via lighting, which i thought was neat. I was really rooting for T0-B1. Solid episode. ranked middle-high for me.
Episode 7 – The Elder
> A Jedi and his Padawan pursue a dark and powerful presence.
Studio Trigger brings their 2nd entry into Visions, with The Elder. Nothing new to be said about them, that being said: this was easily my #1 episode in the anthology. I don't even know why, because its not the “best”, there are better stories, and better art styles. All things considered though this one just clicked for me.
The character dynamic between the main padawan kid and the Jedi he travels with was well written and enjoyable. I really enjoyed the character designs of all the characters, but ESPECIALLY the villain. I was rooting for him the second he came on screen. As well, who doesn't love a sword fight in the rain? I know I do. The supporting “cast” from the village they visit was cute too :)
Episode 8 – Lop & Ochô
> A family is torn about what to do when the Empire encroaches on their planet.
Episode 8 was animated by Geno Studio, who are literal whos to me. The wiki only shows like 4 shows they have worked on, which i think is the least of any of the studios working on Visions. All in all i think this episode was pretty good. I ended up ranking it a bit lower than my personal fave episodes, but its SOLID.
Obviously to address the elephant in the room, this is very much the “Furry” episode. One of the main characters is an anthropomorphic ... rabbit? There are a ton of them as slaves pretty much in the opening scene, but once the main character leaves them, its just her for the rest of the episode (at least as far as anthros). This is strange since she does obviously stand out from the rest of the mostly human cast moving forward.
All things fur aside, this episode might have the best combo of story + art style (for me), maybe tied to or 2nd to The Ninth Jedi. Close none the less. The story doesn't feel rushed at all (it is the 2nd longest episode i suppose so I'd hope not), the art is gorgeous, especially the facial expressions and animations.
My only negative critique is that the end felt a bit.... cliffhangery, or unfinished/unsatisfyingly finished.
Episode 9 – Akakiri
> A Jedi returns to his forbidden love to help defend her kingdom from a Sith-like Shogun.
Last, but certainly not least, Akakiri was animated by Science SARU, the same studio who did T0-B1 (ep 6). This episode probably rounds out the end of my “higher tiered” episodes. I really loved the art style of this one, it felt a bit ethereal, a bit Ghibli, a bit sketchy. All things i enjoy thoroughly. If I'm honest, this episode might have had my favorite art of any of the episodes.
One thing i picked up on with this episode which i was missing in the others is the background music, which escalated up through the climactic fight. Really added to the scenes. The story was good. Ended in a choice I know I would have made if i were in the same shoes. It was a great bookend to the series (or season? who knows.)
Eevee Official Episode Ranking Tier List
- S – Ep 7 The Elder, Ep 1 The Duel, Ep 5 The Ninth Jedi
- A – Ep 4 The Village Bride, Ep 6 T0-B1, Ep 9 Akakiri
- B – Ep 8 Lop and Ochō,
- C – Ep 3 The Twins
- D – Ep 2 Tatooine Rhapsody