Akakiri
Episode 9 of Star Wars: Visions begins with a Jedi called Tsubaki dispatching a whole host of oncoming riders. Only, he’s suffering from bad headaches that seem to debilitate his powers. Passing out, he soon awakens to find himself in the presence of a woman called Misa. This woman is actually a princess and it turns out a Sith within the royal family have usurped the throne from her. Tsubaki and Misa have a lot of history together, dating back five years where he actually helped Misa out. With the princess in exile and unable to get close to the palace, the pair work together with their comedic guides to try and grow close to Masago, the powerful sith who has taken the throne for herself. The journey is perilous but the foursome eventually make it to the palace. With their guides serving as a necessary distraction, Tsubaki and Misa make it to the palace. Dressed in armour, Masago shows up and immediately squares off against Tsubaki. She has the height advantage over him and worse, the two guides are held captive too. Tsubaki unfortunately double-crosses Misa, deciding to become Masako’s apprentice after Misa is struck down and looks close to death. Using those “unnatural abilities” that Sith possess, he brings Misa back to life but turns his back on her and joins Masago inside the palace.
The Episode Review
The final chapter ends things on another big cliffhanger, leaving lots of unanswered questions in the wake of this story about redemption. It’s a nice way of subverting expectations but also highlights some of the issues with ending a story in such an abrupt way. The art style is quite good though, feeling like the old-school hand-drawn animations synonymous with the late 80’s / early 90’s. Either way though, this final chapter rounds out this anthology in a pretty good way, even with the open conclusion, highlighting that this has really been a compelling showcase of artistic talent. It hasn’t been the best anthology of the year but like other collections of short chapters like this, there’s a decent amount of stand-out stories. All in all though, this has certainly been an enjoyable watch and Star Wars fans should find enough to like here, even if the flavour on offer is a little different from what’s usually cooked up.
