Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 3 -| Review Score – 2/5 Episode 4 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 7 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 8 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 9 -| Review Score – 3/5 Star Wars: Vision is like a box of Celebrations. There will be some that absolutely love the little Mars bars. For others, it’ll be the Bounty or Creme egg. For others still, Snickers will do the trick. Regardless of your preference, there will always be one or two that you dislike. And that is precisely what it feels like watching this anthology series. Disney’s latest unique project features 9 distinctly different choices to be had, each of which depicting a different story based around the Star Wars mythology. Each, however, add a distinctly Japanese flavour to proceedings. From a conventional anime style as seen in ‘Tatooine Rhapsody’ or a more simplistic coming of age narrative like ‘Lop & Ocho’ there’s a wide variety of influences across this collection. The trouble is, not everything works as effectively as it could. Each chapter is split into 15-20 minute bitesize segments, with some stories providing a standalone story while others leave the plot wide open on a tantalizing (but no less annoying) cliffhanger. The episodes that work most effectively, as one may expect, are those that actually have a satisfying ending. With seven different studios overseeing these episodes, there’s a myriad of different aesthetic choices throughout. From CGI and hand-drawn animation through to a hybrid blend of the two, there’s a consistent eye-popping quality to this anthology that keeps you coming back for more. Seeing a mini anime Boba Fett is not something I expected to see in my lifetime, but there we go. That’s definitely in this. The English dubbing isn’t horrendous either, and I’d imagine the majority of people will go that route while watching this. However, if you do choose to go that route Tatooine Rhapsody is particularly rough around the edges. Toward the end, there’s some pretty cringy dialogue that’s quelled somewhat by switching to Japanese. Either way, both options are there to choose from. As an experiment into exploring different Star Wars lore, Visions actually does a pretty good job doing just that. Unfortunately it’s nowhere near memorable enough to win over the masses. This is going to be a pretty polarizing collection in truth, with a blend of the good, bad and the ugly. If you can go in knowing that, you should find enough to like but this is also a show that very clearly doesn’t have the same vibe or feel to the original trilogy. Love, Death and Robots is a much better offering than this when it comes to aesthetic and flair, but if you’re in the mood to check out something a little different and unique, Visions is worth a watch.
