RIOTUS

I didn’t expect another volume of Star Wars: Visions. It was a surprise when I saw a Volume 3 was announced to be coming out. I’m quite fond of the concept of seeing Star Wars as an idea explored through the lens of Japanese animation. Star Wars has had an influence on Japanese pop culture since it originally came out, which you can see from the space operas that started in Manga and Anime after the first release in 1977. I remember the first time I saw the manga adaptation of Star Wars (now called Episode 4: A New Hope) and was blown away. Ever since then, I wanted to see Star Wars in Anime form. I got my wish in 2021 with the first set of animated shorts, with some amazing and interesting takes on the world, with some of the most creative uses of lightsabers and the force we’ve seen to date.

Star Wars has always borrowed heavily from Japanese culture, and seeing them flip it back from their perspective is very welcome. While I loved the first set, looking back, the second set, back in 2023, does feel as strong as the first set. The new core of shorts here in volume 3 includes sequels to shorts that were in the first one and some great new ones. There are like 7 of these that all feel like pilots for new shows, and I wouldn’t be mad if they made a miniseries off of each one. I’m going to do short thoughts on each short instead of talking about the volume as a whole.

The Duel: Payback is a sequel to the breakout short from the first volume titled The Duel. Here, our protagonist, known only as Ronin (Brian Tee/Masaki Terasoma), faces off against a cyborg Jedi called Grand Master (Will Sharpe/Daisuke Namikawa)whom he beat years ago and wants revenge. If you liked the first one, then you should love this one. The animation is excellent, and there is more characterization and a ton more world-building. This is a great one to start with and sets the tone well while also just having you asking them to go ahead and make the series already. Takanobu Mizuno directs this one and represents Kamikase Douga + ANIMA studios with this short.

The Song of Four Wings by Project Studio Q and directed by Hiroyasu Kobayashi is about a Princess turned Rebel who is trying to save a lone survivor kid from the Empire on a snow planet. This one reminded me of early 80s anime with some of the bounciness and roundness of the characters and animation. Crane (Stephanie Hsu/Manaka Iwami), the hero, merges some of the great metal hero energy as it has a great henshin (transformation)in the climax of the short. With her Mon Calamari commander, Admiral Kiucee (Trevor Devall/ Hiroki Yasumoto), coming in at the right times to be that great boss energy, this one might be the most fun of the set, but again, just make the show, Lucasfilm.

The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope by Production I.G. and directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani continues the story of The Ninth Child from the first volume. As I’ve seen, they are making this into a series after watching it. This one is basically an episode two. Teto (Freddie Highmore/Akira Ishida)is a droid who befriends Kara with a great design that reminds me of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. Kara’s (Kimiko Glenn/ Chinatsu Akasaki) adventure is the most complete story in the whole set and has wonderful design and animation throughout. Even with four years since I saw the first one, I didn’t feel lost at who was who and what was going on.

The Bounty Hunters by WIT Studio and directed by Junichi Yamamoto scratches that itch of focusing on someone now connected to the Jedi or Sith. At times, it feels more Hong Kong movie influenced, with a bounty hunter taking a job for a shady businessman and finding out more than she wanted to, taps a current nerve with a great sarcastic split personality droid (Ronny Chieng/Tomokazu Sugita), and slick character design. I could watch a show like this, too.

Yuko’s Treasure by Kinema citrus Co. and directed by Junichi Yamamoto is another one that has a very 80s feel with its child protagonists through the giant teddy bear-style droid caretaker. The short feels like The Goonies and shows you might’ve watched on Saturday morning that only lasted one season, but left a lifelong impression. The story was a lot of fun with its clearly evil but foolish bad guys. It also has a nice easter egg with a design of a character.

Kinema citrus Co. has another short titled The Lost Ones that looks great, but was one that felt a bit too slow. Directed by Hitoshi Haga, a Jedi named F (Karen Fukuhara/ Asami Seto)helping refugees escaping a natural disaster, which leads to the Empire coming after her, is a great setup, but man, that pacing was too slow, especially after the earlier short they did. Yet again, it looks great.

Studio TRIGGER’s entry The Smuggler (Directed by Masahiko Otsuka)is about a young smuggler named Chita (Emma Myers/Ami Maeshima)trying to get them ends while living on a planet where the Empire has put in a puppet regime while it hunts the royal family that ruled before. Chita ends up in the middle of action with a nice bit of anime romance thrown for good measure. This one could be a series straight up—great designs, fun lead characters, and fantastic pacing. The animation is so smooth, and the movement so crisp. The stakes are clear, and Chita and Arloo (Tanner Buchanan/Yuuki Shin), the boy she meets, are great leads to invest in. And to top it off, Judith Light voices a character named Gleenu and kills it.

Polygon Pictures’ one is titled The Bird of Paradise, a 3D animated short directed by Tadahiro “Tady” Yoshihira. It was a little too crisp for me, and the story of a young Padawan being blinded and lost just wasn’t made for me. The spiritual journey works well in Star Wars, but the way this one was done, with all the chapter breaks and stagnant feeling, the story was just one I would’ve skipped if I weren’t reviewing the whole thing.

david production has the anchor spot with BLACK directed by Shinya Ohira, the most experimental animated short in any volume of Visions. The sketchy, chaotic hand-drawn animation of what looks like a Stormtrooper trying to escape scenes where the Empire is utterly defeated. What’s it like to be fighting as the Death Star is exploding – do you continue to fight the Rebels or run? This is the one short that will make you think the most, and might not be as enjoyable as the ones that are cool anime fun.

Overall, Star Wars: Visions volume 3 is the most consistent batch they’ve commissioned and can show a future for Star Wars that has more in connection with the past and its expanded universe than the tightly controlled way Disney has it now. Star Wars: Visions volume 3  is a definite watch for everyone who loves animation, to those who love Star Wars, and of course, the Anime heads.