Would you look at that: A new Star War just dropped. Several in fact.
Star Wars Visions is the name of a 9 Episode Anthology of standalone Star Wars Short Films by a number of prestigious japanese anime studios.
Or at least I think they are prestigious because really I don't know s*it about Anime.
I watched some, enjoyed a few, didn't enjoy many more and read some Mangas.
To this day I actually follow the somehow still ongoing One Piece Manga but even I know claiming that means I'm actually a Manga/Anime Fan would be like saying you are into Rap because you like an Eminem Song or you are into Metal because you listened to Metallica's Black Album once.
Anyway what's cool about Star Wars Visions is that it doesn't bother trying to fit into Canon (nor the Legends continuity).
Each Studio was free to do whatever the hell they wanted but how well do these products hold up?
Well that's why I am here: To rank them from my least favourite to my actual favourite.
Beware of Spoilers.
9) The Twins [Studio Trigger]
This Episode is probably the closest example to what comes to mind when someone mentions a Star Wars Anime.
Wild flowing hair, over the top action, a lot of yelling, sensory overload.
But it doesn't at all stop there, breathing in space, two Star Destroyers pushed together with a canon slapped on it for good measure, kybercrystals that can be used for whatever basically.
It's a wild ride and even though it almost sounds like a parody it takes itself completely seriously.
Sadly I couldn't take it seriously.
Nonsensical over the top-everything stuff is something I enjoy in some instances but it certainly wasn't the case here yet the main problem was that I couldn't really stand either of the twins so I failed to form the emotional attachment requiered and I realized halfway through I would have been a-okay with an ending that would see either Twin just drifting lifelessly off into space.
8) Akakiri [Science SARU]
Akakiri sees a Jedi returning to a planet whose princess is an old acquaintance of his.
Said Princess tries to take back her fathers throne from a Sith Lord with the help of not only our Jedi protagonist but also two middle aged comedic relief characters that are requiered to stick around for story reasons.
Our Jedi has a recurring nightmare/vision that he can't interpret and really the basic structure and the downer ending are cool ideas on paper. The problem is that we simply don't have enough time to care.
At some point one of the comedic relief characters disappears, the Jedi saves him off screen and it doesn't really play into what comes next at all.
The story wants us to see the Fall of our Jedi as an Anakin/Padme situation but we don't actually get to see them all that close apart from one short flashback. More than any other episode Akakiri could have done with a longer runtime to flesh out the characters and make us care but it didn't and sadly I don't like the visual style and character designs at all either.
Said Princess tries to take back her fathers throne from a Sith Lord with the help of not only our Jedi protagonist but also two middle aged comedic relief characters that are requiered to stick around for story reasons.
Our Jedi has a recurring nightmare/vision that he can't interpret and really the basic structure and the downer ending are cool ideas on paper. The problem is that we simply don't have enough time to care.
At some point one of the comedic relief characters disappears, the Jedi saves him off screen and it doesn't really play into what comes next at all.
The story wants us to see the Fall of our Jedi as an Anakin/Padme situation but we don't actually get to see them all that close apart from one short flashback. More than any other episode Akakiri could have done with a longer runtime to flesh out the characters and make us care but it didn't and sadly I don't like the visual style and character designs at all either.
7) T0-B1 [Science SARU]
It's really about a Droid that kind of looks like Megaman with a mentor that kind of looks like Doctor Light and his dream to become a Jedi Knight.
It's real Job however is to help the doctor and all the other Droids to bring life to a barren planet which is the professors dream.
Eventually the professor tells T0-B1 that he must find a kybercrystal if he wants to become a Jedi.
That is when he involuntarily alerts the baddies of the planet's location.
The whole film follows a swift and easy to understand Story about dreams and how people can help each other achieve them but while competently done it was a little too cutesy and the characters a little too one dimensional to land much higher on this list.
6) The Duel [Kamikaze Duoga]
And it's really not hard to see why.
The character designs are great, the visual style as well and the action, while not nearly as over the top as that of "The Twins" is flashy as hell.
Also the Droid wears a hat which is definitely a plus.
The Story itself also isn't exactly bad. A Ronin type character visits a Village on his travels, the Village gets attacked by Bandits who are led by a Sith and as it turns out she isn't the only Sith around because our Ronin too carries red Lightsabers.
Then they fight and the "good guy" wins and that is it basically. It's fine but the action wasn't jaw dropping enough to make up for the fact that there was very little meat on these bones.
5) Lop and Ocho [Geno Studio]
Lop and Ocho doesn't only feature a character I'm afraid I'll have to see sexy fanart of soon and entirely against my will because the internet will be the internet, it also features storyline that is better suited for a pilot episode than a standalone film since the uhm... family disagreement it's based on only get worse the longer the Story goes on.
But thankfully it's a compelling enough story about family relations, differing points of view and doing a bad thing for good reasons or vice versa depending on who you ask.
But thankfully it's a compelling enough story about family relations, differing points of view and doing a bad thing for good reasons or vice versa depending on who you ask.
4) Tatooine Rhapsody [Studio Colorido]
If you had told me before that I would enjoy this short film as much as I did I would have probably called you a liar.
It's very short, very simple and looks silly to boot with it's chibi style and crazy space instruments and odd character designs (look at that drummer on the right!)
But it's really just a simple story of a bunch of musicians who just want to be left alone from dangerous family drama and play their music live on stage.
Was the story ridiculous? Kinda. But I found myself really rooting for these weirds misfits to just live their dream of just being in a band in a universe that is usually more focused on Force Users, politicians, fighter pilots, bounty hunters and smugglers.
It's very short, very simple and looks silly to boot with it's chibi style and crazy space instruments and odd character designs (look at that drummer on the right!)
But it's really just a simple story of a bunch of musicians who just want to be left alone from dangerous family drama and play their music live on stage.
Was the story ridiculous? Kinda. But I found myself really rooting for these weirds misfits to just live their dream of just being in a band in a universe that is usually more focused on Force Users, politicians, fighter pilots, bounty hunters and smugglers.
3) The Elder [Studio Trigger]
Okay we are in the top 3 and while I'm pretty set on my ranking thus far it is entirely possible that the top 3 could change depending on my mood on that day or on a rewatch but let's start this off with "The Elder".
Surprisingly from the same Studio that gave us "The Twins" this one is much more mature in tone and visual style.
Our main characters are a Jedi Master and his Padawan who both seem to be very heavily influenced by Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi as seen in the Phantom Menace and I am not just talking about their looks and lightsaber colours.
Their entire vibes and at least one specific conversation reminded me a lot of that movie that introduced me to Star Wars and even the fight against the odd looking fellow with the more unorthodox fighting style follows a similar structure where one Jedi get's taken out before the other can come to the rescue.
This time however the roles are reversed and it's the master who wins the fight and neither of the Jedi die.
2) The Village Bride [Kinema Citrus]
Yet another Story that sees a Village under attack while a force User is present yet there are a lot more factors at play here.
The Attack isn't as much an assaulta s it is a blackmail afair that sees a young woman and her husband agree to go with the bad guys if the Village is left alone instead but there is the womans sister who doesn't agree with the deal and has her own plans in motion, there is a whole storyline about how the Villagers live in harmony with nature and lastly of course there is our Heroine who is conflicted about revealing her identity as a Jedi. There is so much going on in such a short time and yet it's paced perfectly fine and never feels like there is too much going on at once.
1) The Ninth Jedi [Production IG]
Again both the Elder as well as the Village Bride could totally end up in this spot depending on my mood.
What sets this story apart from the other two was that I immediately hoped we'd get to see this story continue. Much like Lop and Ocho it feels like a pilote but unlike said example the ending still felt satisfying rather than being blue-balled so to speak.
A mysterious person calls for Jedi to meet to rebuild the Order, promising them that he has uncovered the old secret of creating a lightsaber. We first meet the Jedi waiting there for their host but only a giant droid is waiting for them so far.
The lightsabers meanwhile do exist and interestingly their blade's are colour-less until used by an actual Jedi... or Sith upon which they get their colour.
After the bladesmith get's attacked his daughter, our main protagonist, has to deliver the lightsabers to the Jedi.
The way the blade colours played into the big reveal was just, as Thrawn would say, artistically done and literally all the Jedi featuring in the Story seem incredibly interesting to me and I, as I said, would be really eager to see a continuation for this particular story.
