Star Wars: Visions review – anime-style stories take the galaxy in new directions

Created by studios Kamikaze Douga, Geno Studio (Twin Engine), Studio Colorido/Twin Engine, TRIGGER, Kinema Citrus, Science Saru and Production I.G., each episode is completely different in style and story, and fans will definitely like some more than others. But the beauty of Star Wars: Visions is that those favourites are likely to be different for every viewer – and potentially for different reasons.

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Some episodes – especially the opening and closing instalments The Duel and Akakri – are deadly serious; others (like Tatooine Rhapsody) take more of a sideways, comedic look at the material. Some deal in over-the-top melodrama (e.g. episode three, The Twins and episode eight, Lop and Ocho), while some are more understated, like fifth episode The Village Bride.

There’s something for everyone, in other words, and with such short episodes (never more than 20 minutes, and often little over half that) you’re never stuck with a story you don’t enjoy for too long. And if you do like what you see, well, perhaps there’s a chance you’ll see more – more than one episode (especially The Ninth Jedi and Lop & Ocho) views like a backdoor pilot, and if there’s a good response it’s easy to see Disney and LucasFilm making a full run of any of these (except maybe the Tattooine rock band – but that might just be me).

But what are these stories about? Well, again, it varies – though there are running themes. Appropriately given the influence of classic Japanese-language samurai movies on George Lucas, every episode focuses in some way on the Jedi and lightsabers, often with riffs that more clearly cast the Jedi as troubled ronin or samurai themselves.

One story sees a master and his apprentice heading to a distant planet, where they face off with a powerful Dark Side user (incidentally, a great concept for a series!). Another sees an upbeat droid dream of life having adventures with a lightsaber. A third sees a gang of “masterless Jedi” unite after hundreds of years with no sabers in sight, while alternate stories include warring Force-sensitive siblings, a wandering warrior apparently hunting down Sith from planet to planet and a jaded ex-Jedi who’s dragged back into helping others after giving up on life.

Fans might find themselves desperately working out how or where these stories fit into the ironclad Star Wars canon or timeline, and some are easier to place than others (Boba Fett turns up at one point, voiced by Temuera Morrison, which helps in that case). But the joy of these stories is often that they sort of… ignore canon and have a bit of fun with the material.

Would Jabba the Hutt really loosen up thanks to the power of rock n' roll? No, but it works. Wait, when were those conjoined Star Destroyers supposed to be from? Who cares! Would a lightsaber really have no colour until a trainee developed their connection to the Force? That doesn’t fit what we’ve seen before at all – but it creates such great visual storytelling, who’s going to mind?

The whole thing takes your mind back to when the Star Wars universe felt less straitjacketed, more free and less bound by the all-important “rules” that have gradually made a vast and varied fictional universe feel a lot smaller and more pedestrian. If this is a sign of LucasFilm’s ethos going forward – more experimentation, out-there storytelling and outside ideas – it can only be a good thing, even if that is just limited to the world of animation.

In other words, if this collection of stories is a vision of the future, it’s a good one – Jabba’s favourite rock band and all.

Star Wars: Visions releases all nine episodes on Disney Plus on Wednesday 22nd September. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.