ConnexionStar Wars: Visions Volume 3 Review
Note: This is a spoiler-free review of Star Wars: Visions Volume 3, which is available to stream now on Disney+.
With this franchise being so beholden to its tropes and so fixated on the Skywalker clan, Star Wars: Visions has always been a much-needed breath of fresh air. What if you invite an international team of animators to play in this sandbox, exploring brand new characters and storylines, and bringing their own outside perspectives to the table? It’s a format that served Visions well in its first two seasons; sadly, the novelty has started to wear off, and Volume 3 proves to be the series’ most uneven outing.
After Volume 2 opened the gates to a truly multinational team of animation studios, Volume 3 returns to the anime-centric approach of the first season. That’s where the new season really stumbles right out of the gate. As fun as “anime Star Wars” sounds on paper, the various episodes in Volume 1 did tend to retread a lot of the same ground and eventually started to blur together. Volume 2 was much more diverse in terms of tone and style; that was where we got the brilliantly goofy “I Am Your Mother” from the inimitable claymation giant, Aardman, and the downright stunning “Sith” from El Guiri.
By comparison, Volume 3 suffers from much the same flaw as Volume 1. Even if each animation studio brings its own sensibility and animation style to the table, the overall variety simply can’t compare to that of Volume 2. Most tend to focus on dramatic clashes between good and evil, leaving little room for the purely comedic approach taken by the aforementioned “I Am Your Mother.” A lot of elements tend to repeat themselves from episode to episode: Expect plenty of emphasis on clashes between Jedi and Sith; expect a lot of orphaned heroes making their way in the galaxy with only a plucky droid and/or alien companion for company; expect mostly stories set during the Imperial era, albeit with zero focus on Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and the rest of the Original Trilogy icons we know so well. It would be nice if the series cast a wider net there, given how massive the Star Wars timeline truly is, but the same could be said for Star Wars in every medium. Lucasfilm still seems loath to venture too far outside the Skywalker saga.
One thing remains true for Visions: This is not a series that particularly rewards binge viewing. That might seem strange given that we’re once again talking about a batch of nine episodes of only 15-20 minutes each, but binging the show only highlights those more repetitive elements. It’s really best to consume each episode slowly and savor its own particular take on the franchise before moving on to the next. That approach doesn’t change the fact that the various studios hit many of the same beats, but it helps.
One benefit of returning the focus to Japanese animation studios is that it gives the series a chance to revisit some of the characters and stories from Volume 1. Three Volume 3 episodes serve as direct sequels; easily the best of these is Kamikaze Douga and ANIMA’s “The Duel: Payback,” which returns to the gritty, black-and-white world of the Ronin (Brian Tee). Once again, this episode ranks among the most visually stunning of the group thanks to its use of texture and limited color. And as one of many episodes to depict a duel between Jedi and Sith, at least this one shakes up the formula by blurring the lines between the two groups and showing us a Jedi poisoned by revenge.
The other two, Production I.G ‘s “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” and Kinema Citrus Co.’s “Yuko's Treasure," are less satisfying sequels. The former is especially disappointing given that it’s set so far in the future and explores a new phase in the eternal Jedi/Sith rivalry. This sequel fails to build on the original in a meaningful way, but merely follows Kara (Kimiko Glenn) as she becomes stranded following an attack by Jedi Hunters. As for “Yuko’s Treasure,” it has the unenviable task of trying to live up to “The Village Bride” from Vol. 1. The sheer beauty and sense of wonder from the original episode don’t quite come across in this follow-up, suggesting that F (Karen Fukuhara) is better served as a background character rather than the central protagonist she becomes here.
The remaining six episodes are all-new. There’s nothing here I would consider an outright failure, though episodes like Project Studio Q’s “The Song of Four Wings,” WIT Studio’s “The Bounty Hunters,” and Trigger’s “The Smuggler” do suffer the most from that “been there, done that” quality. Again, there are an awful lot of orphans, Jedi, and down-on-their-luck bounty hunters to be found here, and nothing in these episodes leaves me particularly hungry for future sequels.
Ultimately, two episodes emerge to truly show the strength of the Visions premise and prove what's possible when a foreign studio is given free rein to play with the Star Wars toys. The first is Polygon Pictures’ “The Bird of Paradise." Here, Sonoya Mizuno plays a Jedi Padawan blinded in battle and forced to survive in the wilderness with only the Force as her guide. Visually, it’s a gorgeous, colorful feast for the eyes that rivals Volume 2’s “Sith” and makes excellent use of the concept of seeing through the Force. It’s also one of the best to date in terms of exploring the philosophy behind the Jedi and what it means for a student to find enlightenment.
The other is David Production’s “BLACK,” an experience quite unlike anything else in these three seasons. Rendered in director Shinya Ohira’s trademark frenetic, flowing lines, this episode depicts the chaotic final moments in the life of a Stormtrooper. It’s more tone poem than coherent narrative, aided greatly by both the psychedelic visuals and the relentlessly jazzy score by Sakura Fujiwara. This is the bold, experimental approach to Star Wars storytelling that Visions needs more of.
