Star Wars Visions Volume 2 Review: This Anthology Series Offers a Delightful and Vibrant Viewing of a Galaxy Far, Far Away (LatestLY Exclusive)

Star Wars Visions Season 2 Review: Star Wars: Visions' first season was something completely unexpected. Marrying anime with George Lucas' magnum opus, we were given a brilliantly animated collection of anthology shorts from several Japanese animation studios, each of which added its own unique perspective to Star Wars. For season two, however, Lucasfilm has gone all out and enlisted the help of studios from all over the world to deliver a viewing with a diverse range of tones. Star Wars Visions Review: A Galaxy Far, Far Away Is Coupled With Anime in This Action Packed Series on Disney+ Hotstar (LatestLY Exclusive).

Star Wars: Visions Volume Two again maintains the anthology nature of the series where none of the nine shorts over here are canon to the mainline series. Every studio is given carte-blanche to do whatever they want, and this time the list of countries includes Japan, India, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Chile, France, South Africa, South Korea and the United States.

The animation on show in Star Wars: Visions Volume Two is the one aspect that will stand out right away. Here, the episodes look more varied, whereas the first season only maintained an anime-like aesthetic within itself. You have your classic 2D animation, stop-motion, 3D animation – you name it, and that actually created for some really fun and imaginative visuals that were a joy to watch. The fight scenes with lightsabers feel top notch, and there is a certain level of high visual quality that had me hooked throughout.

My three favourite shorts here were from Aardman, Punkrobot and Cartoon Saloon. The Aardman short followed a child and her mother as they raced across the streets of Coruscant, while Punkrobot’s short was a grim tale of two sisters trying their best to survive from the Empire on a desolate planet; all these episodes bring those classic themes of family and hope that Lucas embedded deep into Star Wars, and it does the make the storytelling feel impactful when it excels. This time the series also opted for some unknown voice actors, and the results were also pretty good.

Watch the Trailer for Star Wars: Visions Volume Two:

However, Star Wars: Visions Volume Two does falter in some of its episodes. All nine shorts here range from being ten-minutes long to almost 16-minutes, and some of the shorter episodes do take a hit. For example: the pilot from El Guiri titled “The Sith,” follows a former Sith apprentice dealing with her own morality, and there was so much to be explored over here and yet the storytelling felt thin and it just came off as a showcase display for just how good the animation was.

The same problems also affect India's own 88 Pictures' "The Bandits of Golak," a tale of a brother and sister on the run from the empire. That is not to say that I didn't like watching a desi-fied version of Star Wars; it was actually pretty cool and Lillete Dubey, Neeraj Kabi, Rajeev Raj, and others did a great job voicing their characters. The Mandalorian Season 3 Premiere Review: Pedro Pascal’s Star Wars Series Makes an Underwhelming Return with a Filler Episode (LatestLY Exclusive).

Thankfully, not all the episodes in Star Wars: Visions Volume Two suffer from this issue, because a lot of it are written well. I hope Lucasfilm does continue with it because it brings a genuine sense of diversity to this long-running franchise. Star Wars: Visions Volume Two was ultimately fun to watch, and it was fascinating to see how each country's studio infused their particular culture into the episodes.

Yay!

The Animation

Punkrobot, Aardman and Cartoon Saloon’s Episodes

Diverse Storytelling

Nay!

Some Episodes Can Feel Thin with Their Storytelling

Final Thoughts

Star Wars: Visions Volume Two was well worth-a-watch. Bringing a vibrant feel with some good storytelling, it was an interesting watch to say the least that mixed the world of Star Wars with the unique visions of many countries. If you have two hours free, then I would recommend checking these nine shorts out. Star Wars: Visions Volume Two releases on Disney+ Hotstar on May 4, 2023.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 04, 2023 12:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).