Tomorrow will see the arrival of a new Star Wars venture that’s so bold and so different for the franchise you’ll be left wondering ‘why didn’t Lucasfilm do this 30 years ago?‘ That new Star Wars venture is Star Wars: Visions, and once you’ve experienced these nine very unique episodes we’re going to tell you the odds; you’ll be hankering for more.
Utilising the talents of seven top tier Japanese animation houses (Kamikaze Douga, Colorido, TRIGGER, Kinema Citrus, Production I.G, Science SARU and Geno Studio) these nine shorts stories aren’t tied down to the natural continuity of the Star Wars saga but instead pick elements and like the great jazz musicians, riff on those elements, staying true to the core of the saga but giving us fresh and unique views on the Star Wars story from a specifically Japanese point of view, and that’s key – without that anime influence, a series of nine shorts about Star Wars would no doubt be fun and exciting, but with the influence of anime and the Japanese aesthetic so key to Star Wars from the beginning, this posesses an extra ‘something’ that feels completely authentic.
Perhaps the Japanese influence hasn’t dawned on you before, and if not then there’s plenty of rich pastures to roam in here as you realise just how much of Star Wars honours the Japanese style. Here in Visions we have heroes, villains, ronin, foundlings, droids and some seriously toe-tapping rock music. It may be Japanese in style and execution, but this is very much a Star Wars project, even viewed through this very specific lens.
The nine episodes are a mixture of the serious and the whimsical, with punch-the-air moments of joy juxtaposed with darkness and ideas that certainly bear further investigation. Opening episode The Duel leads us into the novel Star Wars: Ronin by Emma Mieko Candon, but there are elements of later episodes that will certainly spin off into other media; the music of the entire season is absolutely top notch, from the classic bombast of a Williams score to more traditional Japanese music with a driveby through rock opera, while certain characters (T0-B1, Star Waver, Lop & Ocho) will almost certainly be adorning t-shirts by the time we get to Celebration in May.
We will be delving into these episodes in more detail on upcoming episodes of Making Tracks and the team will be reviewing them here on the site and Sunday evenings on Good Morning Tatooine, but before then be sure to experience these episodes in both their English dub and original Japanese subtitled versions. The voice work is superb, and the behind the scenes mini documentaries for each episode Star Wars: Visions Filmmaker Focus are well worth watching. Kudos to all involved in the production of the episodes and the documentaries.
Be sure to listen to tonight’s episode of Making Tracks for the Star Wars: Visions roundtable with Executive Producer James Waugh and Producer Kanako Shirasaki.
- Hardcover Book
- Candon, Emma Mieko (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 352 Pages - 10/12/2021 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)
