Star Wars: Visions is a set of nine mini-episodes of an anime. They are all from different studios so they all look and feel different. This is similar to the setup found in The Animatrix which was a 2003 DVD release made to help tie into the upcoming films. Those anime stories were distinct and fed into the broader world of The Matrix.
That’s the same idea for Star Wars: Visions. All nine stories have virtually nothing to do with each other and take place across the entire timeline in the Star Wars universe. They are all available to stream right now in one big dump which is nice as opposed to weekly releases. Let’s ranks them all out to see which short film handled this series the best in anime form.
9 TO-B1
“TO-B1” is the weakest of the bunch but in terms of an anime show, it is still pretty good. The biggest issue is that parts of the plot don't make a lot of sense. It is a clear homage to Astro Boy, one of the oldest anime shows of all time. A professor builds a robot and is trying to teach it to become a Jedi.
The big twist is that he is a Jedi but doesn’t reveal this until it is too late. The titular TO-B1 gets buried for an undetermined amount of time, maybe years, and then emerges to rebuild and seek revenge. That’s the basic gist. It’s confusing but the production company, Science SARU, made it look pretty at least.
8 Tatooine Rhapsody
“Tatooine Rhapsody” is a more light-hearted attempt at an anime set in this universe. It was made by Studio Colorido and everything looks a bit chibi. Boba Fett makes an appearance in this one and is the cutest he has ever looked.
The main plot of the anime revolves around a Jedi Padawan being taken in by a Hutt guitarist and his band and hijinks ensue as they try to become famous. It’s a fun episode while not too memorable aside from the adorable rendering of Boba Fett.
7 The Elder
“The Elder” was made by Studio Trigger, or more often just called Trigger. They did another, better anime in this collection that adheres more to their style. This episode featuring a Jedi Master and his apprentice going after a long-lost Sith is cool but the animation is quite different.
It looks more like a Western anime type of show like Avatar: The Last Airbender. That’s not a bad thing at all but Trigger fans may be a bit letdown.
6 Akakiri
“Akakiri” was also made by Science SARU, but it looks a lot different from “TO-B1.” It’s a bit more abstract than that episode. “Akakiri” is definitely one of the funnier entries in the collections with some good side characters.
It’s not the laugh-out-loud style but it has its moments. The episode is also reminiscent of Final Fantasy with the clothing choices and because the animals look a little like Chocobo. It’s a tale of revenge set around a journey.
5 Lap And Ocho
“Lap and Ocho” is a heartbreaking episode. It begins with a young rabbit girl, Lap, who was a slave to the Empire before escaping. Eventually, she runs into a samurai-like lord and his daughter, Ocho. They soon become a family and time skips ahead wherein Ocho is at odds with everyone.
She turns to the dark side and Lap has to try and bring Ocho back to her senses. The ending leaves on a cliffhanger so hopefully, there is a season two to resolve this. The anime was made by Geno Studio.
4 The Village Bride
“The Village Bride” was made by Kinema Citrus. It starts out as a look into a peaceful village tribe and their traditions. They live on a planet that is lush but used to be more beautiful until the Empire starting mining it of resources. After the Empire fell bandits took over their droid army and once again enslaved the planet as a resource hub.
Can the titular bride of the village make peace with the bandits, or is there a better outcome for the village with a cool action-packed twist at the end? The answer should be obvious as this ranks high.
3 The Ninth Jedi
“The Ninth Jedi“ is one of the most exciting entries in the collection. It was made by Production IG who is a legendary anime company with too many hits to name. The focus is on seven Jedi who are summoned to a secret base.
They were told an old Jedi Master would give them lightsabers but all is not what it seems. Some of the twists in the anime might be obvious but it’s still a thrill ride to get to the end.
2 The Duel
“The Duel” is the very first episode of the collection and it is a high note. It clashes anime with Star Wars very well as it is a homage to black and white samurai films. It was made by Kamikaze Douga who has made some full productions on their own but they are known a lot for doing openings to other anime shows.
They specialize in making 3D anime which sometimes doesn’t look as good as 2D anime but this episode turned out nicely. The action outdoes some of the Star Wars live-action films. It looks like a cool video game, and maybe there should be one based on this concept alone.
1 The Twins
In all honesty, all three of the past anime, including this one, are closely tied for number one. “The Twins“ edges the other two out because it is the most ANIME of the group and has high production values from Trigger. It’s about two Twins in the Empire who were raised to become death dealers essentially.
There are a lot of similarities with Trigger’s own anime, Kill la Kill. When Karre, the twin boy, sees a vision of his sister, Am, being harmed, he steals a crystal and tries to make his escape. A battle inevitably breaks out. Again, it is ANIME to the max and doesn’t make any sense at all but it is a fun ride regardless.