Volume 3 of Star Wars Visions is finally here with sequels, new stories, and some crazy animation done by the best studios!
Volume 1 of Star Wars Visions was made entirely by different anime studios from Japan. For Volume 2, Disney and Lucasfilm decided to give an opportunity to other animation studios from different parts of the world.
For Volume 3, they went back to their roots. All shorts from Volume 3 are made by Japanese studios. Here are my thoughts for all nine episodes of Star Wars: Visions Volume 3.
The Duel: Payback
I love the aesthetic of this short. It perfectly combines elements of Japanese culture with a style that is “very Star Wars”. The Trandoshans, Wookiee, and Stormtroopers are the type of characters you’d expect to work for a small crime lord.
The so-called “Grand Master” is a great reminder that being a Jedi is more than just wielding a blue lightsaber and going after the “bad guys”. When hate and grudge are the main motivations, you are not too far from being a villain. Regardless of who your target.
The light on the Grand Master’s implants turned purple when his emotions took over, a simple detail that works really well in a format where color (or the lack of it) can be used to tell so much.
I really enjoyed that The Ronin met something stronger than him. Having an unstoppable hero wouldn’t work for a short. Watching him, the Sith lady, Que-Dama’s forces, and the Ewoks working together to defeat the Crusaders was my favorite thing about it.
The cherry on top is that they used many of the sounds created for Return of the Jedi. The Ewok horn sounds, war chants, and screams added a nice touch of nostalgia without overshadowing the main story.
The Song of Four Wings
Droids have become an integral part of any major Star Wars story. R2-D2, K2S-O, BD-1, BB-8, and Chopper are just some examples of it. At this point, it’s very hard to come up with a new idea for a droid.
This short shows how you don’t need to reinvent the wheel; something as simple as making R9-TR2 play music is enough to make it stand out from every other droid. Honestly, I’ve never thought of that possibility before, so it was super fun to see that.
Like many other stories, this one shows how cruel and ruthless the Empire can be. Thankfully, that never stops the people or creatures resisting them. Speaking of creatures, Woopas is one of the silliest and cutest creatures I’ve seen in a while. It could easily be a character in a Studio Ghibli movie.
Turning the Speeder into a combat suit gave me Digimon/Gundam Wing vibes and is definitely what makes this short more memorable. I really want to get a Woopas plushie!
Princess Crane’s armor is readapted Stormtrooper armor, which I think looks great. She is also using Satine’s Lament, a blaster pistol model also used by Princess Leia. But my favorite easter egg is that her ship is a YT-2400 light freighter, the same model as the Outrider, the ship used by Dash Rendar.
The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope
Kara ends up being stranded after the ship is attacked and is later helped by Teto. Teto reminds me of both BD-1 and WALL-E; if they could speak, they’d probably be as talkative and joyful as Teto.
This short is a sequel to The Ninth Jedi from the first season of Visions. In Star Wars, there are usually time skips between stories, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for this one. It appears it’s been only a few days since she found the Margrave and defeated the Sith Acolytes.
Normally, this would be an issue for me, but since this is getting its own standalone series, I don’t mind too much. Unlike other Jedi, she is constantly struggling and doubts her strength, but that doesn’t stop Kara from helping those in need.
Unda and Anda are wearing outfits worn by Japanese warriors that we have seen in many media, especially anime and videogames. Additionally, they use kunai, and Anda’s electrostaff looks like a Kanabo.
It’s a shame that Teto won’t appear in the future. He’s a great sidekick and a loyal droid, which makes his sacrifice way more tragic.
The visual style reminded me of some old Pokémon and Digimon movies from the early 2000s, but I don’t mean that they look outdated. Is just a different and kind of nostalgic style for someone born in the 90s. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this story develops.
The Bounty Hunters
A gun-for-hire who is wanted by its former guild while having to deal with a droid who has a double personality matrix? This made me think of a mix between Cyberpunk 2077 and The Mandalorian. Such a story would fit perfectly in either universe.
Sevn is a resourceful hunter with considerable experience, but that came with being forced into a criminal syndicate. Under normal circumstances, she’d probably have no issues eliminating any target, but after learning about the kids being enslaved by a greedy corpo, she turns immediately.
The story itself isn’t something unique, but that is compensated for by the great visuals and a hilarious V-A4. I love the concept of a droid having multiple personalities, and sadly, that hasn’t been explored enough.
The fight with Jin-Sim’s giant Droideka is my favorite part of this short. It had me immediately thinking what would be the best way to take it out. This type of enemy would fit perfectly as a boss fight in a game like the Jedi: Survivor sequel.
Yuko’s Treasure
Sometimes we forget that kids continue to be an essential part of the Star Wars audience. Andor, Phase III of The High Republic, and books like Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear are some of this year’s releases that, while great, are not accessible for younglings. Whether because of the theme or the amount of money you need to spend to keep up.
Yuko’s Treasure is an incredible option to help with this. Everything looks accordingly for the younger ones, but it still maintains the familiarity by taking place in the most shown place in Star Wars.
Bily is arguably the cutest character in Volume 3 of Star Wars Visions. A giant bear-droid with a microwave in its belly? You can’t convince me that such a silly idea wouldn’t come out of the head of a five-year-old.
Despite looking too cartoonish, this story has a lesson about loyalty, friendship, and forgiveness. This one is definitely in my top 3 shorts of Volume 3.
The Lost Ones
The idea of carbonite gas is such a simple but very interesting idea. Imagine all the uses and situations it could be used in. One of the things I enjoy the most about these shorts is how they take already-existing things and give them a little twist that would make sense in the current canon.
I believed for a good part of this short that the story was going to be about another Jedi being hunted by the Empire. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we’ve already seen plenty of that in.
Zero being F’s old master was a plot twist that surprised me in a good way. Jedi Masters betraying the Order has happened a few times, but seeing them face their Padawans is a rare occasion.
The duel was too short in my opinion, but at least it was still intense and emotional. F had to fight Shad-Rah while also coming to terms with the fact that the master who raised and trained her is long gone.
The way she defeated him is a very anime-ish style. I know, this is anime, but other fights of Star Wars Visions don’t have that “anime fight essence”. It’s hard to put it into words, but if you’ve watched a decent amount of anime, you’ll probably understand what I mean.
The Smuggler
The Smuggler is almost the same plot as A New Hope. A smuggler in need of a good-paying job stumbles upon an actual member of royalty who needs safe passage. With the exception that here, it’s the Jedi who is in charge of protecting the prince. The story is a bit generic, but thankfully, it’s the animation style that stands out for me.
This is a very specific style that might not appear to be anything special, but how they animate eyes and facial expressions makes it stand out. It’s nice to see how these characters can convey many emotions even if the dialogue is minimum.
For some reason, this felt very familiar. It turns out that The Smuggler was animated by the same studio that made Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. As a Cyberpunk 2077 player and Star Wars fan, this is such a cool thing.
However, I think they missed a unique chance to use some crazy characters like an alien species enhanced with many cybernetic implants or something along those lines. Especially since we know they can pull it without issues.
The Bird of Paradise
This is by far the most beautiful short of Volume 3 in terms of visuals. Every color is so vibrant, and the textures of the environment are easy to imagine. Aman looks so scary, like a combination of a Nightsister and a Devaronian. Exactly how a Sith should look.
On top of that, this is the only story of Volume 3 that is more connected to the Force. Most shorts are about the Empire or some underworld character, but this goes deeper than that.
After Nakime loses to Aman, she ends up wandering through a dark forest. I view this as a more explicit way to show how she not only loses her sight, but also herself. This happened way before her duel with Aman. When they fought, Nakime became emotional, which made her make many mistakes that ultimately cause her to lose.
Her fear of death took over and was slowly driving her into the dark side. Ironically, after losing her sight, Nakime was finally able to see and face her own demons.
Failure is the best teacher there is, and this short is a fantastic example of it. Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before finally learning an important lesson.
Black
I’ve never felt so confused when watching anything related to Star Wars. It was strange, unclear, mind-blowing, and chaotic. I interpreted it as how a Stormtrooper experiences war. It’s not only a battle against the Rebel Alliance, but a continuous and agonizing internal struggle.
The music reminded me of Cowboy Bebop, though I could not make sense of why they picked that. Everything was incredibly confusing to me. However, I’m not well-versed in this type of art, so I won’t pretend otherwise by pulling a quote by Carl Jung. To put it in simple words: What the hell was that?!
I have watched it five times, and to be honest, I have no idea what it’s trying to say. But this is exactly why I love Star Wars Visions. They give complete creative freedom to these studios so they can come up with anything. Since none of it is tied to the current canon, they can do whatever they want.
Black feels like something induced by very strong drugs, and it’s definitely the best way to finish Volume 3.
