Originally announced as an 'anime anthology series', the first season worked exclusively with Japanese animation studios. Ultimately, I found that the majority of episodes looked the same with the exception of the sixth episode 'T0-B1'. The second season works with animation studies from India, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Korea and more, allowing for each episode to have a distinct feel to it, capturing varying animation styles and the cultures of the countries where the production companies are from.
Each episode has a distinct feel, capturing varying animation styles and the cultures of the countries
The underlying themes and explorations of relationships are core elements of Star Wars. Themes of hope are unsurprisingly evident throughout the episodes, as is the relationship between the light and dark sides of the Force. Familial relationships continue to be explored: a mother and her child or sibling relationships being the most common.
As I mentioned in my recap of Star Wars Celebration this year, beyond the High Republic books, there has been little exploration of the eras beyond the Skywalker Saga following the Disney acquisition. Visions is often ambiguous in terms of time setting, except when an episode is clearly set during the Empire. Visions explores planets that where subjugated to Imperial rule, the age of Sith and the High Republic. As with Marvel's What If...? some of the episodes have an open ending, making me desperate for a follow-up episode.
The Star Wars franchise has a breadth of alien species to explore, and yet the main characters particularly in live-action are most often humans
Though the droid centric episodes of The Clone Wars were a slog to watch at times, I would love to see more shorts not involving the Force and just exploring the lives and adventures of non Force wielders. Whereas season one had lightsaber battles galore, season two focused on different stories such as a young pilot in 'I Am Your Mother', and the prisoners mining kyber crystals in 'The Pit'. The Star Wars franchise has a breadth of alien species to explore, and yet the main characters particularly in live-action are most often humans. Visions centres these different species, making for unique character designs that live-action would struggle to achieve.
Visions is a bingeable series that keeps me wanting more, particularly more Star Wars animation. Introducing these animation companies and their beautiful work to a global audience, I hope that the Star Wars brand continues to collaborate.
