 Nine short films, seven awesome Japanese studios in the world of Star Wars. What could go wrong? Hey everybody, welcome back to We Can Geek Them, Gio here. And today I wanted to make a quick little video on Star Wars visions. Now, this isn't something that I would typically cover on this channel. However, it is anime based and I like talking about anime. So yeah, let's get to it. So this is essentially a Disney and Star Wars Lucasfilm produced anime anthology series helmed by seven awesome studios from Japan. That includes Kamikaze Douga, Studio Colorido, Geno Studio, Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Production IG and Science Saru. And the big thing about this collaboration is of course letting the studios tell their stories within the Star Wars universe. I saw a little trailer behind the scenes and you could tell that all of these studios were so enthusiastic about working on this massive worldwide popular property that is Star Wars. Nine different shorts, I watched them all in one sitting. And I was a little bit surprised that not all of them are at the 30 minute length, like nine short TV sized episodes. But some of the shorts I think were up to like 12 minutes long. Others up to like 25 minutes, stuff like that. So that was a little bit surprising. Now, usually with anthology series, they're just like short mini pilots to gauge interest. And sometimes if they're famous enough, they do other material within that premise. We see that in the case of the first one, the first short, which was The Duel. And that already has an upcoming novel expanding on that story. I believe it's coming out soon as of the recording of this video. I'm not going to go over the plot and summary of all these shorts. I think they are worth checking out. This is more of a general impressions and review on the Visions series experiment. I wholeheartedly believe that we will get a second season of more shorts probably done by other studios and maybe some returning as well. All of the characters and stories shown in this anthology series are brand new aspects to the Star Wars mythos. Some stories take place within the prequel trilogy. Others within the original. Others take place in the sequel trilogy. And other stories take place after the main Star Wars movies. Others even take place many years before the nine movies. So that was really fun. All the studios had a clear, concise idea of what they wanted to do. Obviously with short animations, you don't have a lot of time to develop your characters. You have to present the story as quickly as possible. Present all the elements and let that story play out. And I think for the most part, all nine shorts really did a good job. They told a clear, concise story. Easy to follow with memorable, lovingly rendered characters in different art styles. That is something that is really awesome that a lot of people enjoy about anthology series where you have different story beats and they are told through the lenses of different animation studios. The, for example, the duel is shot in a very Kurosawa-esque Samurai epic with the film grain and black and white. Just a tad hint of color sprinkled throughout. But for the most part, it really does the job of emulating an old Samurai classic movie from the 50s and 60s. And then you had stuff like the Tatooine Rhapsody, which a lot of people are going to go in for the bombastic action-packed stuff. But Tatooine Rhapsody is actually one of my favorites in the Visions series. It's more of a music, comedic drama, and the songs are pretty funny. And to get this chibi art style of the Star Wars universe is really fun. You also have the appearance of my favorite character, Boba Fett, appearing in the Rhapsody short, which was really awesome. And as a lifelong weeb and Star Wars nerd, that was so awesome to see. I can cross off that part in my checklist of weeb related items I would like to see. Who would have thought an anime version of Boba Fett? Yes, please. You also have stories like the twins with the infamous, you also have stories like the twins by the famous world-renowned Studio Trigger and their bombastic color palette and wonderful crazy visuals, dynamic action, great setup for an action-packed story that takes us to other areas of the Star Wars universe. And like I said before, that's a running theme. I'm kind of repeating myself there. Also, Production IG worked on probably my second favorite short, which was the ninth Jedi. That really piqued my interest. And I could see that working as a show or as a possible movie down in the future, where you have all these characters trying to rebuild the Jedi Order and stuff like that, with really nice, amazing animation from the pros. I mean, it's Production IG. Need I say more? And then you have other subtle stories like T.O.B.1 or Tobi, where you follow this little robot and his journey of becoming a hero and his inspirations and all that stuff. And clearly, heavily inspired by Tezuka with works like Astro Boy or even modern stuff like Mega Man. It really gave off those wonderful vibes. And I think they pulled it off so frickin' well. They really did a good job of paying homage to Star Wars, but also the anime, roots, and manga, and Japanese storytelling. I thought it was a perfect blend of the two mediums, or I should say the two elements. Two other stories, The Elder, which was also done by Trigger. That one was a little bit more subtle and a little bit more drama-action oriented with a really small cast. I think it was only three characters involved in that. And it was really interesting as well. Really a tense storytelling. Akakiri, which to me kind of ended this pack or this season of shorts in a kind of a sour note with what happens in that one. I'll let you watch it to figure out what I mean by that. I think, personally, I would have ended it on a high note by switching it with Lope and Ocho, the eighth short in the compilation of Star Wars Visions. That to me was the most beautiful thing. I loved it so much. That one was done by Gino Studio, which you might know from works like Golden Kamui. I thought it was executed perfectly. Really interesting story. Some of the elements, you know what's going to happen. It's nothing new. It's nothing groundbreaking or anything, but it's the visual style of an animation medium that we all come to love. It sort of breathes new life into the world of Star Wars. Because you know it from the movies. You know it from the cartoons. You know it from the novels and the comic books and all that stuff. So having it in this distinct animation style really does bring it to a whole other level. And even if the story beats are nothing new, it's still refreshing enough. Where you enjoy what you're looking at. And the story with the anthropomorphic animal and the bunny and her plight is quite awesome. Lope is an interesting character. Hopefully fingers crossed we do get more of that in a future installment. Because the elements are already there. And most of these stories, some end on a good note where you don't really need more exposition or more plot. But some like Lope and Ocho for example, I could easily see a mini series being born out of it. Or maybe a manga down the line or something like that. I thought it really exemplified the good elements of the Star Wars story. Where it portrayed the classic battle of good versus evil. And it gave you all the cool fights and the mythos. And the family dynamic and all the sacrifices that are being made by all these characters. I thought it really, it reignited that passion that I was missing from Star Wars. And I could go into detail about all that stuff but you could probably figure that out. So yeah, having all these animation studios working on Star Wars is really awesome. I really enjoyed all nine shorts. Some more than others but none of them were bad in my honest opinion. They all had unique art styles and that's what we want to see. We want all these studios to flex their muscles and give you new perspectives on things you might not have thought about. And with an anthology series like that, you can do that. You can present all the quiet moments, all the subtle scenes, all the characters that might not get the spotlight on a main title or a main movie. You can do that with an anthology. And of course, hopefully we get another season two. We probably will. How about you guys? Did you watch Star Wars Visions? Let me know in the comment section which short episode was your favorite. And if not, tell me what's your favorite Star Wars media, whether it's a video game, comic, movie, whatever it may be. So that's about it, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for liking, commenting, subscribing, and being a part of A We Can Geek Them. If you like this video, be sure to share it. Be sure to like and all that fun stuff that all the popular YouTubers like to say. It really does help the channel grow. If you're new to the channel, please consider subscribing. I do content like this where I talk about anime, comics, and manga, all that fun stuff. I've got to go, gang. Thank you so much. God bless. Stay safe out there. I will catch all of you on our next episode.