Dear Star Wars fandom...
We need to talk.
I don't even know where to start, so I guess we're just going to go ahead and begin in the only place that can be described as the genesis of Star Wars. Akira Kurosawa was a pioneer in Japanese filmmaking when he made "The Hidden Fortress" in 1958. The film's cinematography, score, direction, acting, sets, and action scenes set it apart from anything else Japan was making during this time period of cinema. George Lucas, fascinated by the film, created Star Wars as both a homage to the film, and his desire to codify the Japanese Samurai into a sci-fi concept; therefore, the Jedi are born. Dressed in robes, warriors sometimes fighting for justice and balance (of the Force), and other times, agents of chaos and destruction, while still holding a visible code of honor and duties. Oh yeah, they're swordsmen. Specifically, Japanese sword fighting techniques. If you're having trouble figuring out which one is which, then congratulations, you now reside in the brainchild of Lucas' wild imagination.
Having experienced a mainstream, and worldwide, audience, Star Wars today is a pop-culture monolith that has pervaded everyday life. Between the films, cartoon series, Mandalorians, Christmas Specials (oh yesss...), comic books, videogames, and countless other formats and genres, it is almost miraculous that Star Wars hadn't returned to its ancestral home. The place that would ultimately give Western audiences the inspiration for such stories, a place aware of the tales of samurai that roam the lands, protecting innocents from murderous mercenaries entangled in corrupt governments. The Land of the Rising Sun, after all, has given us the medium of anime, a medium that seemed like the perfect fit for a gargantuan franchise borne out of its innocent attempt at imitation. So here is Japan's contribution to the Star Wars mythos, and the mainstream conversation at large, Disney+'s Star Wars Visions.
After the abysmal conclusion to the "Sequel Trilogy," Disney and Lucasfilm have done their damndest to win back audiences' favor. Between the millions of Baby Yoda toys sold, the return of a forgotten hero through a Mandalorian's quest for redemption, and even the boldness to re-canonize beloved fan favorite character Asohka Tano in live-action form (thank you Rosario Dawson!), Disney has spared no expense. So, naturally, when the animated project "Star Wars: Visions" was announced, I was excited.
I love me some anime.
There's a gravitas to the medium of anime, or more specifically to Japanese storytelling. This longing that pervades their entire art culture. Something the aforementioned "Sequel Trilogy" completely forgot to steal when they copy/pasted themselves into the box office. And do not get me started on this revisionist history bullshit the "Prequel Trilogy" is currently enjoying from these same thick-headed fans. Jar-Jar Binks exists, ergo those films will never achieve anything outside of McDonald's Happy Meal commercialism trite. Revenge of the Sith gets a pass, and that's the nicest thing I'll say about it today. But Star Wars: Visions should alleviate those worries, right? Japanese filmmakers, Japanese animation studios, voice actors, etc., are all involved deeply in this undertaking. More importantly, they would be freed from the shackles of the dreaded canon. Unbound by the labyrinthian cobweb that is the current Star Wars canon (and before Disney's Big Crunch of the entire load), these filmmakers were now tasked with not only making Star Wars project worthy of being on a multi-billion dollar streaming service, but it had to be authentic to their particular brand of storytelling.
Released on September 22, 2021, the anthology series released in its entirety for audiences' binging pleasure. Me? I like slow burns.
I was initially just going to type a quick review of the first episode, "The Duel," and do a quick analysis on its black and white sketch aesthetic and artificial film grain as a direct homage to the source of it all, Kurosawa's masterpiece. But no, the fandom decided that it had forgotten the entire point of George Lucas' vision (heh...), and has completely misread Star Wars as a tale of American-adjacent (the blonde haired blue eyed thing doesn't help much) cowboys that run around space slicing bad guys because they just can. As if no honor binds them, as if no reverence to Taoism exists in the duality of the Light Side of the Force and the Dark Side. American audiences' refusal to see the Jedi as the clear Samurai archetypes that Japan has romanticized and been aware of for centuries is almost maddening. Like that time Ted Cruz tweeted a badly photoshopped picture of himself as a Jedi, unaware that he, and his party, had been playing the sinister Senate (and later Empire) bureaucrat that the prequels thankfully expanded on. Hey look, I can find a positive in that trilogy after all!
But fine, let's talk about the episode itself. There's a brevity to this that makes me want more. It is genius as both a marketing strategy, and, more importantly, serving as a perfect example of this Japanese concept of aware ("The Will of D" for us One Piece fans). The first episode is shot in black and white and follows an unnamed ronin as he witnesses an attack on a village by Imperial remnants alongside a Sith with an umbrella lightsaber (which is a thousand times cooler than it has any business being). The two engage in a lightsaber duel and the mysterious wanderer disappears after handing a kyber crystal (from his fancy trophy-kills collection) to the son of the village samurai - expanding the lore of how a Jedi would have operated in certain planets and cultures, but also evoking a sense of wonder about the potential future of the child in the story. It's an amazing entry point whose style and substance oozes throughout. I just wish western audiences would finally learn how to watch media instead of just... being aware of it.
And, honestly, I really don't understand the current fandom's mentality, because the above video will always be cool, and no amount of fuckboi peer pressure can take that away from it.
(Rating pending me watching the entire season)
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