Star Wars: Visions

[MarkB]

Back on topic, here is a good article that talks about the ideas behind this and how long it took to make. I had no idea this was something they had started thinking about back in 2015.

How Lucasfilm Made ‘Star Wars: Visions’ the Most Ambitious ‘Star Wars’ Project Since ‘A New Hope’

Lucasfilm worked with seven Japanese anime studios on "Star Wars: Visions," the franchise's biggest aesthetic and narrative creative risk.

variety.com

Interesting. There were several elements that multiple stories seemed to have in common - gathering kyber crystals, assembling lightsabers, cutesy droid companion - and I'd been wondering whether the studios had all been working from a particular brief. Apparently not - it was just coincidental.

 

[Dire Bare]

Interesting. There were several elements that multiple stories seemed to have in common - gathering kyber crystals, assembling lightsabers, cutesy droid companion - and I'd been wondering whether the studios had all been working from a particular brief. Apparently not - it was just coincidental.

Well, cutesy pets is just an anime thing . . . but yeah, there definitely seemed to be a khyber crystal & lightsaber theme . . . . also, several stories seemed to take place "hundreds of years after the last of the jedi".

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, cutesy pets is just an anime thing . . . but yeah, there definitely seemed to be a khyber crystal & lightsaber theme . . . . also, several stories seemed to take place "hundreds of years after the last of the jedi".

I guess that makes sense. The underdog hero just is a compelling story, and if the Jedi is an active, established order, it becomes harder to tell such stories, because the Jedi could always swoop in and save the day.
And droids sidekicks have been a common thing in Star Wars, I think it's not just an anime thing.

 

[Dire Bare]

I guess that makes sense. The underdog hero just is a compelling story, and if the Jedi is an active, established order, it becomes harder to tell such stories, because the Jedi could always swoop in and save the day.
And droids sidekicks have been a common thing in Star Wars, I think it's not just an anime thing.

Sure, cute sidekicks aren't unique to anime. But anime relies heavily on cute sidekicks, it isn't a thing unique to Visions, which was my point.

R2D2 is the OG cute droid sidekick! Miniaturize him, make him even cuter, maybe some sort of flappy arms he can wave around constantly while beeping . . . anime sidekick!

 

[Stalker0]

Watched the first 4 so far:

Ep1 was my favorite. Really cool style and well executed.

Ep2 was meh. Just didn’t do anything for me.

Ep3 was so bad it was funny. More exposition than you could shake a lightsaber at. It was hilarious that the twins could apparantely hang out in space no problem but the droid needed a helmet!

Ep4 was neat, the closest to traditional Star Wars of the 4. Neat aesthetic, the “grenade hat” was just badass. Only thing I didn’t understand was the newly weds on the mountain and suddenly all the mountains collapsed around them…I wasn’t sure what was going on.

 

[Older Beholder]

Ep4 was neat, the closest to traditional Star Wars of the 4. Neat aesthetic, the “grenade hat” was just badass. Only thing I didn’t understand was the newly weds on the mountain and suddenly all the mountains collapsed around them…I wasn’t sure what was going on.

I think it was a ritual in which the force is evoked / awakened in the natural surroundings. The Trees, Mountains, the Earth itself etc.. (There are short docos on the making of each episode in the Extras)

It took me a few viewings but that episode has really grown on me. In fact they all get better with each watch for me. Ep.5 ‘The 9th Jedi‘ has probably become my recent favourite, not to oversell it.

 

[MarkB]

Ep4 was neat, the closest to traditional Star Wars of the 4. Neat aesthetic, the “grenade hat” was just badass. Only thing I didn’t understand was the newly weds on the mountain and suddenly all the mountains collapsed around them…I wasn’t sure what was going on.

As I understood it, the ritual evoked an image of the past, showing the mountain and the lands beyond as they once were. The collapse of those lands was damage that had been inflicted some time ago, during the exploitation of the planet in the Clone Wars.

But they didn't provide enough of an establishing shot to really illustrate that.

 

[MarkB]

It took me a few viewings but that episode has really grown on me. In fact they all get better with each watch for me. Ep.5 ‘The 9th Jedi‘ has probably become my recent favourite, not to oversell it.

That one was my immediate favourite. The "mood sabers" that respond to the nature of the wielder's connection with the Force are a really cool concept, well executed for both plot and character development, and the character design and animation throughout was excellent.

 

[Older Beholder]

That one was my immediate favourite. The "mood sabers" that respond to the nature of the wielder's connection with the Force are a really cool concept, well executed for both plot and character development, and the character design and animation throughout was excellent.

If they were going to make a series or full length feature out of any of them, that one would get my vote. I’m hoping at least we get a season 2 of Visions in which they continue that story.

 

[Nikosandros]

I just finished watching the series. I liked some of the episodes and others less so, but - in general - I applaud this initiative of mixing SW with japanese trappings. Completely ignoring canon, was quite liberating, IMHO.