A Vibrant Kaleidoscope: Star Wars Visions Season 3 Review

Animation offers flexibility in terms of artistry, creativity, and storytelling. It’s a beautiful medium. As much as I love live action, animation ticks off all the creative boxes for me. It stretches my imagination beyond its perceived limits and can be quite immersive.

Star Wars™ continues to invest in animation to tell more stories in this expansive universe with Star Wars: Visions™ season 3.

This latest batch of episodes from the anthology series is proof positive that we should continue mining the depths of the visual narrative in this galaxy far, far away.

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Intricate Art Styles

Star Wars: Visions never fails to captivate with its varied and intricate animation. I’d argue that it’s the show’s primary strength. Of course, it helps to have different animation studios producing each standalone story, with free rein to present a tale of massive scope and scale.

One thing that really stands out about season 3 is the myriad of art styles from episode to episode, many of them reminiscent of anime gone by.

Episode 1, “The Duel: Payback,” is the sequel to season 1 episode 1, “The Duel,” tying loose plot ends into an intergalactic bow. There’s something rough and rugged about the art style here – black and white with pops of color for narrative emphasis. The crosshatch-style shading and blurry-like visuals harken back to old-school cartoons. It also reminds me of a black-and-white ’30s noir film.

The next episode, “The Song of Four Wings,” is starkly different in art style from its predecessor. The vividly colorful animation feels like a nod to Digimon (which is still going strong today). It even has magical girl aesthetics like that of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura.

If you love the hand-drawn anime of the ’90s or Hayao Miyazaki’s style, episode 3, “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope,” scratches that itch. While there’s a distinct 2D quality to the characters, the ships appear more 3D, creating an intriguing contrast between the two.

Episode 5, “Yuko’s Treasure,” also gives off major Studio Ghibli vibes, while episode 6, “The Lost Ones,” leans into the style of ’90s Cartoon Network shows (for my Millennials out there). The penultimate outing, “The Bird of Paradise,” is easily the most stunning of the bunch, delivering a surreal blend of vibrant watercolor fantasy and muted colors with visuals reminiscent of a video game.

Finale Packs a Punch

However, the finale, “BLACK,” takes a big artistic swing for the fences, presenting an avant-garde amalgam of hand-drawn, almost childlike animation that moves like a fever dream.

Each art style serves its respective episodic arc well, never feeling jarring in relation to the story or detracting from said story. All the storytelling elements are crucial cogs in the machine regarding presentation and story execution.

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The Score

If you’re like me, the score is usually one of the first things to catch your attention when watching a series or film. Star Wars: Visions boasts beautiful music, often incorporating traditional Japanese music along with the inherent theatricality and cinematic quality we’ve come to expect from a Star Wars score. The premiere episode does this well. Episode two infuses more techno beats, especially into the action sequences. This makes sense, given the more modernized art style in comparison to more vintage-looking offerings like “The Duel: Payback.”

Episode 3 feels the most Star Wars-esque in terms of the score. Of course, the story is emotionally resonant and focuses on a young girl gaining self-confidence to become a Jedi, so there are lots of string-centric musical moments.

The season 3 finale takes another creative risk with its music, which is mostly jazz and intermittent vocalizing. You’d think that jazz wouldn’t work in a series like this, but surprisingly, it gels well with the fight sequences. After all, jazz is an improvisational art form, and what’s more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants than an intergalactic battle?

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Vocal Performances

This season blesses us with strong (and memorable) vocal performances. Episode 8, in particular, has a star-studded English version cast, with Sonoya Mizuno (who plays Mysaria in House of the Dragon) and George Takei (who needs no introduction) voicing Nskime and Toad, respectively. Mizuno delivers heartfelt, visceral work as she plays the light and dark sides of a young Padawan.

Kimiko Glenn is equally heartfelt as Lah Kara in episode 3, tugging at the heartstrings with her portrayal of a young girl stumbling her way through a dangerous galaxy with a bounty on her head. Freddie Highmore lends his vocal talents to Teto, Kara’s Wall-E-looking droid friend, who sacrifices himself to save her. Highmore manages to imbue a robotic-sounding voice with depth of feeling.

Shōgun’s Anna Sawai gives her all to Sevn, the bounty hunter from episode 4, “The Bounty Hunters.” She injects the titular hunter with nuance and heart. “The Lost Ones” sees Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko on The Boys) deliver a spirited, gripping work as F. And when the legendary Mark Strong is part of a cast, you know you’re in for a commanding performance. On a separate note, I love that Fukuhara and Strong reprised their roles from season 1’s “The Village Bride.”

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Compelling Storytelling

Star Wars: Visions season 3 capitalizes on the power of the visual medium to tell compelling stories. Of course, “hope” is the beating heart of any tale set in this universe, and it’s the lifeblood of every episode this season. Sometimes, this theme is quite subtle. In other episodes, it’s loud and in-your-face. Kara’s journey in episode 3 is equal parts empowering and moving. It’s a motivational piece for us viewers while illustrating the dire stakes for our main character. Thankfully, we’ll at least get a second part to that story.

I know I keep coming back to the finale, but it’s a unique beast in Star Wars. I’ve never seen anything like it. There’s no dialogue, for starters. It’s more surreal, abstract, and metaphorical, not relying on exposition to convey the unfolding story. The quick cuts and transitions lend themselves to the aforementioned fever-dream-like quality. The pops of color during the battle sequences are like paint splashing across a canvas, the deep oranges and reds depicting explosions. It’s an intriguing meditation on the effects of war and the military-industrial complex.

Despite the harrowing visuals and battle scenes – set to jazz music, mind you – the ending is quite hopeful as two enemies reach across the aisle to make peace. It always circles back to hope.

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Season 3 keeps us entertained and invested in these characters through its tight storytelling, and I hope we get a fourth season to explore more corners of this galaxy far, far away. The creative possibilities are endless.

What are your favorite moments from Star Wars: Visions season 3? Join the conversation with other Star Wars fans over at Sideshow Social Network or in side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!