Star Wars Visions Review – This Perfect Film is Only For Diehard Fans
Web Series: Star Wars – Visions
Star Wars – Visions Voice Cast: Brian Tee, Lucy Liu, Jaden Waldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bobby Moynihan, Temuera Morrison, Shelby Young, Marc Thompson, Neil Patrick Harris, Alison Brie, Jonathan Lipow, Karen Fukuhara, Nichole Sakura, Christopher Sean, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Andrew Kishino, Stephanie Sheh, Kimiko Glenn, Andrew Kishino, Simu Liu, Masi Oka, Greg Chun, Neil Kaplan, Michael Sinterniklaas, Jaden Waldman, Kyle Chandler, David Harbour, James Hong, Jordan Fisher, Anna Cathcart, Hiromi Dames, Paul Nakauchi, Kyle McCarley, Henry Golding, Jamie Chung, George Takei, Keone Young, Lorraine Toussaint
Star Wars – Visions Directors: Takanobu Mizuno, Taku Kimura, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Hitoshi Haga, Kenji Kamiyama, Abel Góngora, Masahiko Otsuka, Yuki Igarashi, Eunyoung Choi
Where to Watch: Disney+ Hotstar
Star Wars is arguably the best sci-fi franchise and certainly, one of the longest-standing franchises across genres in both cinematic history and pop culture, spanning over four decades and encapsulating everything from movies, TV shows, web series and cartoons to books, comic books, artwork, fan art, fan websites, toys, merchandise and what not. Thus, it’s not easy to keep churning the wheels with the same quality of canon and even more difficult to keep pleasing fans, especially diehard ones with a strong sense of nostalgia. We all saw the backlash over the last three movies despite them being almost as great as the original trilogy, and easily washing away the scars of the fourth and fifth films. Thankfully, everybody agreed on the instant-classic status of The Mandalorian. Now comes, the franchise’s first anime product, the web series, Star Wars: Visions, comprising nine episodes, and I’m pleased to declare from high heaven that it’s one of the best entries ever in the SW galaxy.
So, are you excited about what to watch this weekend or what to watch this week and wondering whether Star Wars: Visions is worth your time? Scroll down for my full Star Wars Visions review…
What’s it about
Star Wars: Visions comprises nine episodes of different storylines across multiple timelines in the Star Wars cannon, showcased, for the first time, in anime, and, inculcating novel themes like Samurais, a nod to legendary Japanese Director Akira Kurosawa‘s works, subversive plot elements, unexpected origin stories and even a hint at a parallel universe.
What’s hot
Star Wars: Vision throws the kitchen sink at you with the way it mixes, matches and subverts genres and long-accepted themes in the universe, coming out trumps nine times out of ten, and laying the template of both how world-famous franchises can be transformed into anthologies and how big Hollywood studios can actually get anime right. It’s nothing short of genius to see Samurais take on each other with lightsabers, time-tested tropes in the franchise get unexpected, subversive origins and witness nods to Kurosawa’s works. The Duel, The Twins, The Ninth Jedi and Lop and Ochō stand out as some of the best things ever produced in the Star Wars Galaxy, outright masterpieces, while the remaining six episodes are worthy of your time and praise in their own right. As for the artwork, character design, 2D animation, action and world-building – well they all come together in an amalgamation of sheer beauty.
What’s not
The final episode, Akakiri, seems rushed and even incomplete while the sixth one, T0-B1, while decent, doesn’t stand in the same stead as its compatriots. Other than that, you wish some of the episodes were just longer, but that could also be down how good a time you’re having with them all.
BL Verdict
Star Wars Vision is for diehard Star Wars fans, by diehard Star Wars fans, and it all clicks like a well-piled machine (well, almost all of it, and that’s fantastic enough). To be honest, such products are not meant for anyone other than proper fans, and in realizing that, the makers get everything to fall perfectly into place. I’m going with 4 out of 5 stars.
Stars: 4