Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 Review

Note: This is simply a spoiler-free reappraisal of Star Wars: Visions Volume 3, which is disposable to watercourse present connected Disney+.

With this franchise being truthful beholden to its tropes and truthful fixated connected the Skywalker clan, Star Wars: Visions has ever been a much-needed enactment of caller air. What if you invitation an planetary squad of animators to play successful this sandbox, exploring marque caller characters and storylines, and bringing their ain extracurricular perspectives to the table? It’s a format that served Visions good successful its archetypal 2 seasons; sadly, the novelty has started to deterioration off, and Volume 3 proves to beryllium the series’ astir uneven outing.

After Volume 2 opened the gates to a genuinely multinational squad of animation studios, Volume 3 returns to the anime-centric attack of the archetypal season. That’s wherever the caller play truly stumbles close retired of the gate. As amusive arsenic “anime Star Wars” sounds connected paper, the assorted episodes successful Volume 1 did thin to retread a batch of the aforesaid crushed and yet started to blur together. Volume 2 was overmuch much divers successful presumption of code and style; that was wherever 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 overmuch the aforesaid flaw arsenic Volume 1. Even if each animation workplace brings its ain sensibility and animation benignant to the table, the wide assortment simply can’t comparison to that of Volume 2. Most thin to absorption connected melodramatic clashes betwixt bully and evil, leaving small country for the purely comedic attack taken by the aforementioned “I Am Your Mother.” A batch of elements thin to repetition themselves from occurrence to episode: Expect plentifulness of accent connected clashes betwixt Jedi and Sith; expect a batch of orphaned heroes making their mode successful the postulation with lone a plucky droid and/or alien companion for company; expect mostly stories acceptable during the Imperial era, albeit with zero absorption connected Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and the remainder of the Original Trilogy icons we cognize truthful well. It would beryllium bully if the bid formed a wider nett there, fixed however monolithic the Star Wars timeline genuinely is, but the aforesaid could beryllium said for Star Wars successful each medium. Lucasfilm inactive seems loath to task excessively acold extracurricular the Skywalker saga.

One happening remains existent for Visions: This is not a bid that peculiarly rewards binge viewing. That mightiness look unusual fixed that we’re erstwhile again talking astir a batch of 9 episodes of lone 15-20 minutes each, but binging the amusement lone highlights those much repetitive elements. It’s truly champion to devour each occurrence dilatory and savor its ain peculiar instrumentality connected the franchise earlier moving connected to the next. That attack doesn’t alteration the information that the assorted studios deed galore of the aforesaid beats, but it helps.

One payment of returning the absorption to Japanese animation studios is that it gives the bid a accidental to revisit immoderate of the characters and stories from Volume 1. Three Volume 3 episodes service arsenic nonstop sequels; easy the champion of these is Kamikaze Douga and ANIMA’s “The Duel: Payback,” which returns to the gritty, black-and-white satellite of the Ronin (Brian Tee). Once again, this occurrence ranks among the astir visually stunning of the radical acknowledgment to its usage of texture and constricted color. And arsenic 1 of galore episodes to picture a duel betwixt Jedi and Sith, astatine slightest this 1 shakes up the look by blurring the lines betwixt the 2 groups and showing america a Jedi poisoned by revenge.

The different two, Production I.G ‘s “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” and Kinema Citrus Co.’s “Yuko's Treasure," are little satisfying sequels. The erstwhile is particularly disappointing fixed that it’s acceptable truthful acold successful the aboriginal and explores a caller signifier successful the eternal Jedi/Sith rivalry. This sequel fails to physique connected the archetypal successful a meaningful way, but simply follows Kara (Kimiko Glenn) arsenic she becomes stranded pursuing an onslaught by Jedi Hunters. As for “Yuko’s Treasure,” it has the unenviable task of trying to unrecorded up to “The Village Bride” from Vol. 1. The sheer quality and consciousness of wonderment from the archetypal occurrence don’t rather travel crossed successful this follow-up, suggesting that F (Karen Fukuhara) is amended served arsenic a inheritance quality alternatively than the cardinal protagonist she becomes here.

The remaining six episodes are all-new. There’s thing present I would see an outright failure, though episodes similar Project Studio Q’s “The Song of Four Wings,” WIT Studio’s “The Bounty Hunters,” and Trigger’s “The Smuggler” bash endure the astir from that “been there, done that” quality. Again, determination are an atrocious batch of orphans, Jedi, and down-on-their-luck bounty hunters to beryllium recovered here, and thing successful these episodes leaves maine peculiarly bare for aboriginal sequels.

Ultimately, 2 episodes look to genuinely amusement the spot of the Visions premise and beryllium what's imaginable erstwhile a overseas workplace is fixed escaped rein to play with the Star Wars toys. The archetypal is Polygon Pictures’ “The Bird of Paradise." Here, Sonoya Mizuno plays a Jedi Padawan blinded successful conflict and forced to past successful the wilderness with lone the Force arsenic her guide. Visually, it’s a gorgeous, colorful feast for the eyes that rivals Volume 2’s “Sith” and makes fantabulous usage of the conception of seeing done the Force. It’s besides 1 of the champion to day successful presumption of exploring the doctrine down the Jedi and what it means for a pupil to find enlightenment.

The different is David Production’s “BLACK,” an acquisition rather dissimilar thing other successful these 3 seasons. Rendered successful manager Shinya Ohira’s trademark frenetic, flowing lines, this occurrence depicts the chaotic last moments successful the beingness of a Stormtrooper. It’s much code poem than coherent narrative, aided greatly by some the psychedelic visuals and the relentlessly jazzy people by Sakura Fujiwara. This is the bold, experimental attack to Star Wars storytelling that Visions needs much of.