THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD!

It has been a while now, and I think that I can safely say the hype has died down for Star Wars: Visions. For days it was all over social media, which I did my best to avoid. I don’t like to let other people’s opinions have any impact on my own. That is not the same as talking about spoilers which I also do.

I am an anime fan from wayyyy back. I used to watch anime daily at one point when I was really into reading manga, watching anime and writing reviews about my experiences. So I know what works and what doesn’t for me. There are a few things I will absolutely not watch: Hentai, anything fluffy or involving furries, and anything that looks like it was made for children under the age of 10. I have never broken these rules.

Instead of critiquing each episode, I’ll talk about the good, the bad and … the rest.

THE GOOD

EPISODE ONE – THE DUEL

The animation style of The Duel is what I noticed first because it is the type of animation style I like watching. And there are many different flavours of animation, all as unique as the creators behind them. You’ll notice this quickly when watching each episode of Star Wars: Visions. The styles of each episode are all quite distinct.

The story is also just as important as the animation. There needs to be a beginning, middle and end, just like any story. And there should also be a clear-cut path to the antagonist and protagonist. The Duel doesn’t have that at first, but it does become quite obvious later on in the episode who is good and who isn’t (even if you are thrown off at first by the red lightsaber of the male Samurai). I liked that touch. It added a little intrigue to the character. This episode is definitely my favourite of the season.

EPISODE FIVE – THE NINTH JEDI

Again, the animation style of this episode was so easy to like and watch, but the story itself is easily one of the strongest from this season (alongside The Duel). Again, all the elements that make for an exciting story are present even though it seems a little blurry at first (again, this keeps you interested the entire time because you just have to know if the hero is who you think it is). Straight away, you are captured by the characters and drawn into their reality, their plight, and you’re happy to be there. I am not going to lie, but I felt myself panic a little when all the “Jedi” unsheathed their red-bladed lightsabers 😅

EPISODE SEVEN – THE ELDER

The animation style of this episode is very similar to that of The Duel, so I instantly felt like this episode would be interesting. The story is also intriguing, with the “elder” character proving to be something different from anticipated. It is these elements of a storyline that matter and keeps the audience asking questions and watching.

THE NOT SO GOOD

EPISODE NINE – AKAKIRI

The animation used in this episode is fine, it’s not as exciting as others, but it’s really the story that lets down this particular episode for me. I prefer action sequences over most things in anime, and long, drawn-out storylines can be tiresome and boring to watch. While I wouldn’t put Akakiri in the list of the worst anime I’ve seen, in this group where the standard is so high, it’s definitely at the lower end.

T0-B1

Did I mention that I’m not really a fan of “cute little robots” as well? Yup, you can stack that alongside “cute and furry” thanks.

THE REST

That leaves the following episodes; The Village Bride, Tatooine Rhapsody and The Twins. I thought these three episodes were all pretty similar in their execution and story. The characters were interesting but not enjoyable enough to keep me paying attention until the end. Another thing that I looked for in these episodes was the similarity to other stories in the Star Wars universe. While the best episodes lend some of their “story” from other things we’ve seen in Star Wars, it didn’t feel like a “rehashing” of something I’ve already seen. There is a distinct difference. With “The Twins”, I thought it was just a retelling of things we’ve seen before. Tatooine Rhapsody was actually pretty close to making it into my “Good” group of episodes from this season because I genuinely enjoyed this story. So I placed it here with “the rest”, which is not good, not bad, but somewhere in the middle.

Well, there you have it, my friends. Let me know your thoughts on the show and if you agree or disagree with my findings in the comments. Stay safe out there, and I’ll catch you in the next one!

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