It is well known that one of the influences on George Lucas when creating Star Wars was the 1958 Japanese film The Hidden Fortress, directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film was instrumental in persuading Lucas to tell the story from the viewpoint of the droids. Now, 45 years later, Star Wars returns to its roots with the Star Wars: Visions project featuring non-canon Star Wars stories told through the lenses of some of seven of Japan’s best anime studios (Geno Studio, Kamikaze Douga, Kinema Citrus, Production I.G., Science SARU, Studio Colorido and TRIGGER).
Star Wars: Visions was released earlier today (September 22nd) exclusively on Disney+, and each of the nine episodes chooses its own carefully woven path to create a story that is uniquely grounded in the spiritual aspects of Japanese anime, the common thread being the lore of Star Wars. This is Star Wars as you have never seen before, but the interpretations delight with familiar themes of love, family, loyalty, knowledge, good overcoming bad, and of course the mystical Force that surrounds us and binds the galaxy together. Familiar iconography is used throughout the episodes, vehicles are repurposed, lightsabers are used as microphones and swords, droids are given a soul, and armor is utilized in ways unthought of until now.
The episodes are very different from one another, some are serious and dark, whilst others are whimsical and will bring a huge smile to your face. They each vary in length, from thirteen to twenty-four minutes, and Lucasfilm has been careful to order these so that there is some kind of logical flow, even though there is no central story. The first episode, The Duel, is deliberately void of color and is a perfect introduction to this series, itself spawning the novel Star Wars: Ronin by Emma Mieko Candon, out on October 12th. From here we move to familiar territory as the next episode is focused on Tatooine, before heading to space and some unfamiliar locations.
I was apprehensive coming into this, did we really need a non-canon Star Wars series based around anime when there is so much other Star Wars content coming (including The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian Season 3, The Bad Batch Season 2, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cassian Andor and Rogue Squadron). I needed not to have been worried though as Visions is a resounding success, giving us a new refreshing take on Star Wars told through the lens of these Japanese masters. All elements of the storytelling come together, from the voice talent in the original Japanese subtitled versions and the English dub, the way the music juxtaposes between the John Williams score and traditional Japanese instruments, the array of visually stunning styles, and the wonderful cast of new characters which will find a place in the hearts of Star Wars fans everywhere (Geezer, Jay, Lop & Ochō, and T0-B1). We are spoilt too with Star Wars: Visions Filmmaker Focus debuting on the same day, a behind-the-scenes documentary for each of the episodes, providing a quick look behind the curtain and at the inspiration for each story. Stand out episodes for me included “The Duel”, “Tatooine Rhapsody”, “The Elder” and “Lop and Ocho”, and later this week I am a guest on Coffee With Kenobi, with host Dan Zehr and Holly Frey (Full of Sith) as we look at each episode in more detail.
The music of Star Wars: Visions was exemplary and I hope that Disney/Lucasfilm see fit to release the soundtrack as it’s own entity, highlighting the many different styles used throughout each episode.
Congratulations to Lucasfilm’s James Waugh (Executive Producer), Kanako Shirasaki (Producer) and everyone involved in bringing Star Wars: Visions to Disney+, especially during the trying times of COVID, and I hope there are more episodes of Visions planned for the future.
Let us know what you thought of Star Wars: Visions and what your favorite episode was….
All episodes of Star Wars: Visions are available to watch now on Disney+.
