As a huge Star Wars fan, and a mild fan of anime (more as a teen growing up than now), Star Wars Visions was always going to be right up my alley. If you somehow read this blog and haven't heard of Visions, it was just realized this week, and features 7 Japanese Animation (Anime) Studios producing 9 short 10-20 minute short films based in the Star Wars universe, although each is non-canon. Star Wars was famously the result of George Lucas being inspired by Akira Kurosawa, so this project allows an Eastern-inspired western work to be now worked on by Eastern producers in turn, which is nice and poetic.
And well, Visions is FANTASTIC and you should watch them all if you have any interest in Star Wars. The animation is just brilliant in all nine shorts, in nine VERY different styles of animation, which may not work in each case for every watcher, but all worked for me in their own ways. Anyhow, I was egged on by a twitter following to do a ranking of the nine shorts, so that's what I'm going to do at the bottom of this post. But let's be clear - they're all good to great, and you should watch them all.
Note: I watched every short in the original Japanese with English subtitles, although I've since watched two of them in English dubs, so I can't really talk about the quality of the famous actors giving their voices to the english project - I've heard from other reviews that they're hit or miss, but I won't be judging them down below
Spoilers after the jump:
As I do with my Hugo Rankings, I'm going to not just rank these, since they're all great, but also separate them into tiers. Shorts within the same tier, even if ranked differently, are close enough that I think they're equally great in various ways.
Tier 1:
2. Lop and Ochō (Geno Studio)
3. The Duel (Kamikaze Douga)
4. Tatooine Rhapsody (Studio Colorido)
Four very different shorts make up my favorites of the series, and they're all tremendous (I've watched three in both languages, and will probably do the same with Lop and Ochō soon as well).
In the Village Bride, my favorite, you have the perfect synthesis of a Japanese samurai story - from a non-action perspective, as a Padawan who escaped from Order 66 observes a village where the people live in harmony with nature, with the Force - which they call Magina - but where the chief's granddaughter gets married to her beloved in advance is about to be taken as a hostage by criminals. It's just a beautifully animated - and beautifully scored with music (oh my god the music) - short of the Padawan (named F in credits but never in the short) seeing this connection to the force as a part of nature and being inspired to take the next steps as a Jedi.
Lop and Ochō features a planet exploited by the Empire to its industrial benefit but not to its natural one (pollution and the like) and a family - a former imperial slave taken in as a child, a daughter who grows to believe the Empire is the only way forward, and a father who sees the Empire destroying their planet and wants to rebel - that finds itself torn apart by it. Really well done, would love to see a sequel if there are any more of these shorts.
The Duel is the opener to the series and you can see why, being an incredible well duel between lightsaber users (I won't spoil the twist) in a village beset by bandits led by a female Sith Lord in an alternate continuity. It's great animation that is absolutely riveting, and will appeal to kids and adults in Star Wars alike.
Tatooine Rhapsody is the only short with basically no real fighting at its heart whatsoever, but a group of people, centered upon a padawan who escaped into a rock band, to become a rock band and a found family....and to play music one more time. Guest appearances from adorable versions of Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett just add to a short that will charm you if you are willing to let it, and I absolutely was.
Tier 2:
5. T0-B1 (Science SARU)
6. Akakiri (Science SARU)
Two shorts, that are very different in final tone and animation, both from the same studio, make up those close to my top tier, but not quite there - you have the Astro Boy inspired T0-B1 and the flash-video-looking animated Akakiri, which seems to take a spin on a very classic Star Wars story in a much better fashion than the films told it. Both shorts probably could've used an additional two minutes spread around, but both are high in quality and work really well.
Tier 3:
7. The Ninth Jedi (Production I.G)
8. The Elder (Studio Trigger)
Both of these shorts are enjoyable - with the Ninth Jedi being the longest (it was originally supposed to be two different shorts but was combined) and suggesting a possible sequel should Visions continue - but both are also the most forgettable honestly of the series. The Ninth Jedi is more memorable for its divergences from classic Star Wars canon - lightsabers changing color depending upon the type of person who wield them, Jedi forgetting how to build lightsabers and needing them to bring back order to the galaxy.... - than its actual story, which is totally fine and enjoyable mind you. The Elder is beautifully animated in its lightsaber fight, but it honestly feels like a Western short, like a Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars short....which I love mind you! But it just feels ordinary as part of this collection as a result.
This is a divergent opinion I think, but the Twins is an example of beautiful and bonkers animation but when where the execution just made a bit less enthused than others, as two dark-side raised twins get into a fight over a superweapon - because to Karre, the boy, it is unacceptable that the weapon could kill Am, the girl, who is devoted to the Dark Side and doesn't care. Again the animation is fantastic and almost mindblowing, but large parts of the short feature Karre narrating his thoughts and actions out loud (usually to his R2 unit) which just annoyed me and felt unnecessary, and there's no background for the twins to really make the context interesting.
It's still enjoyable, and as the worst of this set of 9, it just shows how good Star Wars Visions really is. Watch them all
No comments:
Post a Comment