Star Wars Visions: Volume 3 Review

The Disney era of Star Wars is likely going to be a controversial one when discussed in the history books. The Sequel Trilogy shot itself in the foot with its lack of a cohesive vision, and the plethora of shows on Disney+ have been hit or miss. But at least one good thing that Disney did with the franchise was let a bunch of animation studios create shorts taking place in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars: Visions is awesome, and dare I say it, it includes some of the best content I’ve ever seen come out of the franchise. And after its international tour for Volume Two, Volume 3 returns the series to its anime roots, and it does not disappoint. Not only do some of the best studios in Japan take a crack at the famous franchise, but we got three sequels to the best shorts from the first volume. Needless to say, Star Wars and anime fans got to eat good, including myself!

The Duel: Payback (Kamikaze Douga and Anima)

The Duel was a strong start to Visions and one of its best shorts. It even had a novel that expanded on the story! I was very eager to see the return of the former Sith turned Ronin, and i was not disappointed. In this follow-up, the Ronin tries to defeat another Sith in hiding, only for both to be beset by a Jedi he maimed in battle and has gone completely insane from revenge. So the two have to work together alongside some lowlifes to survive.

The great thing about The Duel and Payback is that they subvert the main premise of the Jedi and Sith. The Jedi are almost always the good guys and the Sith the bad guys, but Ronin subverts that by proving that dark is not always evil. Maybe if the Sequel Trilogy had the guts to explore that concept, it wouldn’t be so divisive.

4/5

The Song of Four Wings (Project Studio Q)

I’m going to come out and say it: if Carrie Fisher hadn’t died in 2016, maybe she could’ve helped salvage the Sequel Trilogy. Her death derailed almost everything, and seeing a homage to her can feel bittersweet. Even so, though, I feel like Princess Crane of this short captures what made Leia an icon of strong female characters. She’s as hotheaded and compassionate as Leia, as shown when she disobeys orders to rescue a survivor of the Empire’s destruction. It’s a bittersweet feeling, but one that we make peace with. More importantly, though, is the fact that we see Crane and her droid combine to create the Star Wars equivalent to Iron Man’s armor fused with an X-Wing. That alone is all kinds of awesome!!

3.5/5

The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope (Production I.G.)

Of all the shorts to come out of Visions, the most successful might be The Ninth Jedi, as it’s set to get a full series sometime next year. Thus, this sequel to the original short serves as a primer as we return to the story of Kara, the aspiring Jedi, as she tries to live up to their role as symbols of hope.  If the first short was about her embracing her destiny, then this one was about her learning to have faith in her ability to do so. Tragically, this reassurance comes at the cost of the new friend who saves her life. It was honestly hard to watch the ending as Kara gets put through the emotional wringer, but she has to learn not to let despair overtake her. I’m honestly looking forward to seeing how her story turns out.

4/5

The Bounty Hunters (Wit Studio)

Wit Studio has made quite the name for itself in its thirteen years, producing the first three seasons of Attack on Titan and co-producing Spy x Family. But I think that they managed to outdo themselves with The Bounty Hunters. Bounty Hunters have always been one of Star Wars biggest selling points, and the unlikely duo of Sevn and IV-A4 make for a perfect pair. They’re both trigger-happy and eager to make the money they need to leave their past behind, but underneath that gruffness, they’re good people. Not to mention that the short is incredibly well-animated and has some excellent fighting choreography. I didn’t think that Droidekas could get any scarier, but then they decided to make them the size of a Gundam. That is cool!

4.5/5

Yuko’s Treasure (Kinema Citrus)

Four years ago, Kinema Citrus managed to strike gold with ‘The Village Bride’, a short so good that it got submitted to the Oscars. For Volume Three of Visions, they managed to prove that it wasn’t a fluke with this and the proceeding short. ‘Yuko’s Treasure’ was an absolute gem for me to watch. Not only did it bring us back to Tatooine, which is always a welcome sight, but it captures the sense of wonder that Star Wars has been trying to remember. Not to mention how expressive the characters are. The real gem, though, has to be BILY, the giant droid meant to look like a bear. That gentle giant just gave me My Neighbor Totoro vibes from start to finish, and I loved it.

4.5/5

The Lost Ones (Kinema Citrus)

The Village Bride was easily my favorite short from the first volume of Visions, and the fact that we could get to see F again in Volume Three was something that I was eagerly looking forward to. While the story, involving F saving some refugees from the Empire, wasn’t as captivating as the first time around, it made up for it by capturing the underdog spirit inherent to being a good guy in Star Wars. The good guys are almost always fighting impossible odds and still come out on top, and that holds true here. More importantly, we got to see F reckon with her past as a face from it comes back to haunt her. If there’s one character I would want to see added to the canon from these shorts, I want it to be F.

3.5/5

The Smuggler (Studio Trigger)

From Gurren Lagann to Little Witch Academia, Studio Trigger has made a name for itself as one of the biggest and flashiest studios in Japan. I loved their shorts from Volume One, and it was great to see them return for Volume Three with The Smuggler’. The story centers around a female smuggler trying to get some money by getting a fugitive prince and his mentor off-planet and away from the Empire. If that sounds at all similar to A New Hope, it’s likely Trigger made their story a homage to it in broad strokes. The entire thing is pretty action-packed and got some good comedy, so if Visions wanted to make a sequel to this, I would definitely watch it.

5/5

The Bird of Paradise (Polygon Pictures)

In this short, a Jedi Padawan gets blinded by a Sith in battle and separated from her master, forcing her to wander through the wilderness and emotionally mature. It’s a very introspective story that focuses mainly on the main character strengthening her bond with the Force by overcoming her less-than-desirable qualities. However, I didn’t really care for it, nor did I appreciate the lack of resolution that the ending brought. This was the second-weakest short for this season for me.

But the weirdest, though, has to be the last entry.

3/5

BLACK (David Production)

Three words: psychedelic drug trip. That’s the best way I can properly describe this final short. The most I can get from it is that it’s the haunted thoughts of an Imperial as they’re about to lose, but the whole thing is so confusing, I had to make an effort just to figure out what was going on. This whole thing made me feel like I’m on death sticks, and I don’t know how to feel about that.

2.5/5

This was a solid season for Visions, though. Something about fusing Star Wars with anime just works for me, and it enjoyed binging this over the weekend. Hopefully, we’ll get a volume four in the next few years.