Star Wars: Visions is a stunningly original series of anime shorts that use the Star Wars universe as a sandbox for a wide variety of different stories. Despite their key differences, many of the episodes deal with the ancient war between the dark and light sides of The Force.
Should Star Wars: Visions be renewed at Disney Plus for a second season, a creative way to ensure that each installment is unique could be for more of them to shift focus away from The Force. Each one of the first nine episodes of Star Wars: Visions contains a Force-sensitive or lightsaber-using character, but there are lots of different kinds of characters associated with Star Wars who are not Jedi or Sith, such as bounty hunters, smugglers, and droids.
It makes sense for Visions to have a lot of Force-using characters. One of the series’ greatest strengths is the way each studio uses a unique style to convey the awesome effects of The Force, from the vibrant, high-contrast explosions of Trigger’s “The Twins” to the parting of the finely detailed waterfall in Kamikaze Douga’s “The Duel.” The incredible ability of The Force to manipulate the environment lends itself to the medium of animation.
Another of Visions’ strengths, however, is just how different each short film is. Each episode feels not only like a tribute to Star Wars, but a celebration of a different part of anime’s rich legacy. “Tatooine Rhapsody” is like a modern idol anime with exaggeratedly cute characters. “Lop & Ochō” resembles a Satoshi Kon film with all its detailed city backdrops. “T0-B1” is an unmistakable homage to Astro Boy. A possible second season of Visions could build upon this key feature of the series by making the stories it tells even more distinct from each other.
Part of the appeal of Star Wars is all the various kinds of people who live in the Galaxy Far Far Away. In the original movies, characters like Han Solo and Chewbacca were just as iconic as Jedi such as Luke Skywalker and Yoda. They proved that the Star Wars universe would be a unique and amazing place to live even for someone who couldn’t use The Force. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a successful Star Wars film with no Jedi characters. This is evidence that Star Wars doesn’t always need The Force to tell unique stories that can’t be experienced in any other universe.
“The Village Bride” and “The Elder” are two very different shorts because of their style and storytelling. “Bride” uses bold colors and smooth linework to tell the story of a naturally beautiful planet threatened by war. “Elder” uses its subdued, more realistic style to portray a formidable, mysterious foe. Despite this, both episodes could be described as following a similar narrative format of a Jedi Master and Apprentice solving a problem on an unfamiliar planet. A future season of Visions could ensure that every character’s abilities and role in the Galaxy were just as distinct as each episode’s incredible visuals.
Visions has already provided some great original non-Force-using characters, such as “Akakiri”’s stoic Princess Misa and “Tatooine Rhapsody”’s surprisingly cool Geezer the Hutt. A second season could build upon this legacy with an even more in-depth look at the non-Force-sensitive people of the Galaxy. Another great thing about Visions is how many different anime studios participated independently in the project. Even if every new episode of Visions contained The Force, each one would still feel unique. Even so, the diverse nature of the series provides the perfect opportunity to tell an even more eclectic array of stories in Season 2.
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