Fourth VISIONS

May the Fourth Be With You! Happy Star Wars Day everybody!

Except that...oops...it's already the 6th. I've running behind dang it! That makes me angry and anger leads to

Hey out there in a galaxy far, far away! Welcome back!

My favorite Star Wars production of the past few years - beloved more than The Mandalorian, Andor, and...well...what else was there to enjoy really? I guess Bad Batch was OK. Hmm. Where was I? Oh yes! - my favorite Star Wars thing has been the Japanese Anime Anthology series called Star Wars VISIONS.

Now we have a Volume 2 and it hits different!

This time out, we're going global! 

For VISIONS Volume 2 Lucasfilm has assembled a Jedi Order of animation studios from 9 separate countries. Nine individual episodes by studios from Chile, England, France, India, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, and Spain.  

Check out this line-up:

This is a staggering collection of talent and the results speak for themselves. Be that as it may, I'm going to speak for them anyway! What follows is a mostly 'Spoiler Free' review of each of the episodes by yours truly, pointing out particular elements I found particularly worth noting for one reason or another.

I say mostly Spoiler Free because I will likely mention some basic plot elements of each. If that's too much of a Spoiler for you I totally understand. Go check out the series for yourself and take a look at this after you're done.

Cool? Great! Let's continue on then shall we?

I will be doing a follow up post that will DEFINITELY contain Spoilers in the form of key episode details and how they can be applied to Star Wars tabletop gaming. There was a lot of great world building material in these shorts as well as some other stuff that really has the turbines spinning. 

Like I did for the first Volume, I will post my personal rating next to the title of each episode. The rating goes from 1 to 10 where one is Very Bad and ten is Totally Awesome. A 5/10 means it's Meh; it was OK but particularly likeable or unlikeable. 

Title: “Sith” (8.5/10)

Studio: El Guiri (Madrid, Spain)

Writer/Director: Rodrigo Blaas

I loved this one and in some ways it is my favorite of Volume 2. Like 'The Duel', the first entry in Volume 1, this is a visually dazzling tale that centers around a Sith protagonist. I find it interesting, perhaps even odd, that both Volumes of VISIONS open with such distinct, artistic shorts. It is very cool don't get me wrong and gets your attention right away but it handicaps all the ones that follow. The rest of the series rarely meets or tops the pure aesthetic spectacle of these first installments. The remainder all get compared to the first ones and since they're so bold in style and color the others can pale in comparison. An odd choice of placement in my opinion.

That said, I found the character and her story very intriguing. I would love to see more of her and that is high praise indeed.

Title: “Screecher’s Reach” (8.5/10)

Studio: Cartoon Saloon (Kilkenny, Ireland)

Writer: Director: Paul Young

Another one I very much enjoyed was this homage to Irish folklore with a Star Wars twist that I did not see coming. Whereas 'Sith' scores more points for visuals, 'Screecher's Reach' gets brownie points for having an excellent story. Furthermore, it's an excellent story well told. Great voice acting and direction. The art is quite charming and the animation is good but this one is really about the narrative. 

The ending, which I will not discuss here (just go watch it) is definitely one of its great strengths and drummed up thoughts in me that I will go into in greater depth in a follow up post. Most profound. 

Title: “In the Stars” (7.5/10)

Studio: Punkrobot (Santiago, Chile)

Writer/Director: Gabriel Osorio

An intriguing aspect of Volume 2 is that many of the entries seem to take place around the time of the Galactic Civil War and battle of the Rebels against the Empire. This is definitely true of this episode and yet it seems to take place in a timeless period of desperation independent of the greater Rebellion. This story occurs in that eternal dark place of struggle between indigenous peoples and greedy foreign invaders.

The art style, a form of Stop Motion/Claymation is a cool choice and the designs are awesome but in the context of the overall series I found it peculiar how many of the episodes used this sort of art. It made the episode feel, at least to me, less unique and special than it could have, though still excellent. 

Title: “I Am Your Mother” (7/10)

Studio: Aardman (Bristol, England, U.K.)

Director: Magdalena Osinska

As a huge Wallace and Grommit fan I was ecstatic to learn that Aardman would be participating in this new season of VISIONS. The episode itself was charming, humorous, and even a bit irreverent. I liked it very much. At the same time, I can't help but feel it wasn't as great as it could have been. I hate to feel this way but there is just something missing from the episode that could have put it over the top. I can't put my finger on what. I almost feel like they should have leaned even harder into everything they did but shortened each sequence making each one punchier (and therefore funnier).

Some of the background alien and droid designs are really cool and I wish we'd gotten to see more of them up close. Overall a positive and hard-warming short worthy of a few chuckles.

Title: “Journey to the Dark Head” (7.5/10)

Studio: Studio Mir (Seoul, South Korea)

Director: Hyeong Geun Park

The entry that most resembles the first Volume in both its look and narrative is 'Journey to the Dark Head'. The art, animation, and narrative are cool but the dialogue, voice acting, and character development were a tad weak and as such the episode wasn't executed to its fullest. I wonder what the original Korean dub sounded like if indeed there was one. 

One thing I found intriguing about this short was its setting, which seems like it could take place in canon or perhaps a bit beyond it. It postulates an interesting 'era' of the Star Wars universe, possibly one akin to the Old or even near High Republic. It could also be taking place further into the past or far into Star Wars' future (like Volume 1's 'Ninth Jedi').

Title: “The Spy Dancer” (8.5/10)

Studio: Studio La Cachette (Paris, France)

Writer/Director: Julien Chheng

'Sith' may be my favorite episode but the one that impressed me most was actually 'The Spy Dancer'. A well crafted and suitably melodramatic work of espionage fiction (Spy Opera?) that I must say felt quintessentially French. 

The look of it, the characters, the plot were all engaging, exciting, melancholy, and practically perfect. The pacing was spot on and the ending just magnificent. It also feels like you get a lot of it for its runtime. Another entry to Volume 2 that I would very much like to see continue. There is definitely room for more of this story. 

It doesn't hurt that the main protagonist reminded me of my friend Lynn's character, Kashpa. 

Title: “The Bandits of Golak” (6.5/10)

Studio: 88 Pictures (Mumbai, India)

Director: Ishan Shukla

It is a difficult to give a review of this one. I found myself wanting to like it more than I did and make no mistake, I thought it was interesting and quite well done. The look of it is beautiful, with a fascinating depiction of the culture of a far off planet inspired by Indian history, fashion, mythology, and architecture.

Unfortunately, the design and CGI animation are remarkably similar to the latter seasons of the Clone Wars, especially in the way they depicted some of the technology and alien species. Almost a little too much so. The villain of this one is one of the most menacing I've seen from a design standpoint but he didn't amount to being especially dangerous.

The biggest weakness of this episode for me is the young girl who serves as one of the two key protagonists. She is portrayed as either much younger and less mature than her image makes her out to be or she's simply very foolish, bratty, and even dumb. Her personality and attitude made the finale feel undeserved. It was as if the dim and self-concerned were rewarded with enlightenment while the steadfast and pure-hearted is left behind, which didn't feel quite right for an Indian folktale or a Star Wars tale. It just didn't work for me. 

Title: “The Pit” (6/10)

Studios: D’art Shtajio (Tokyo, Japan) and Lucasfilm Ltd. (San Francisco, California, USA)

Writer/Director/Executive Producer: LeAndre Thomas and Co-Director: Justin Ridge

My least favorite of Volume 2, this short simply didn't make a lot of sense to me. I mean I got what they were going for, what they wanted to say but too much of it is just 'Assume this all works the way we say it does, OK?'.

A lot of the episode shows how terrible the Empire is, how they don't value Human life, and how little they care about those who they used to achieve their ends. Then in one sequence a group of Stormtroopers with Blasters don't open fire on an incoming group of rich people attempting to free the mistreated because...unknown. No reason is given for this. The episode has a lot of that. You can't climb out of the titular Pit until...one guy can. Why? Because he can. 

The art and animation on this one was fine, a bit underwhelming actually, but the real issue is the writing and direction. Maybe it was rushed.

Title: “Aau’s Song” (8/10)

Studio: Triggerfish (Cape Town, South Africa)

Writer/Directors: Nadia Darries and Daniel Clarke

The final short is the extremely endearing 'Aau's Song', which I really liked a lot. It's just the kind of story that is very much in my wheelhouse. It doesn't have a villain, doesn't feature any battles, but it has wonderful world building, a breath-takingly beautiful setting, great character designs, and shows what can be done with the Star Wars universe without wars and stars. I mean, I love me some stellar battles but its nice to focus in on a distant world doing a neat thing every once in a while to say, "this too is Star Wars".

Another Stop Motion Animation project, this one distinguishes itself with its puppet-like figures, brilliant colors, and amazing backgrounds. I want to play a Korbian in a Star Wars game now. 

Korbian? Korban? Korbaian? Oh well.

Those are my reviews, such as they are. Excited to share further thoughts and ideas brought on my this series.

See you soon,

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Barking Alien