Star Wars Visions was unlike anything Lucasfilm had ever done, celebrating the world of anime and some of its most recognized studios by handing them the keys to the franchise and allowing them to run wild. While it was something truly unique across its 9 shorts by studios like Science SARU and Kamikaze Douga, it still felt inherently Star Wars. From the lush and gorgeous visuals to the memorable characters and designs, Dark Horse celebrates it all with The Art of Star Wars: Visions, a lovely look behind-the-scenes at the process studios took to define their memorable shorts.
Ever since its announcement, Star Wars Visions was something I was very eager to explore, as my limited enjoyment of anime is something I’m always working on correcting and I figured this would be a great place to start. As you can see across my reviews for all 9 shorts, they all found a way to impress and blow me away thanks to their unique and refreshing takes on the franchise. You can read all the reviews here, but my favorites were “The Village Bride,” “The Ninth Jedi,” and “Lop and Ochō,” though there wasn’t one I disliked. Considering the vibrant worlds each of the team’s created, the idea we’d get an even deeper look at the origin of many memorable moments and characters made The Art of Star Wars: Visions an exciting prospect.
When it comes to the sheer amount of art, The Art of Star Wars: Visions is worthy of a purchase alone. This collection of concept art and character/vehicle/world design sketches does not skimp, as each page is packed, often little to no blank spaces, with all sorts of illustrations from each of the 9 shorts. The entire book is arraigned neatly, going short by short, with clear and arresting delineations when moving onto the next one. Likewise, the presentation is alluring, driving you across the process for character designs for Jedi like F to the inspiration and ideas behind what would eventually come to be TO-B1 and the world of his short, while any descriptions from the artists involved is plain to see but unobtrusive to the art.
I haven’t dabbled in many art books, but I recently got into them with the Sequel Trilogy films (and enjoyed some for The Last of Us and Uncharted games), and while what’s inside The Art of Star Wars: Visions is often drawings that later translate directly into what’s seen in each short—so either the teams’ visions were clear from the start or this omitted some other potential concepts—it’s nothing short of arresting to explore the process each team took. And while the descriptions and remarks about many of the pieces featured are unobtrusive, and offer interesting insights many times throughout, it does feel a little too light, with short answers or not as in-depth explanations from the teams as one would hope, especially after the amount of details included in the Sequel Trilogy “Art of” books. Considering the depth of images we do get, it’s a minor critique though I hope with the second season in 2023, any follow-up Art books can attempt to glean more insight from the teams involved.
I was given copies of both the regular edition and the deluxe edition, though since it was PDFs I can’t quite comment on the quality of the paper and physical presentation. The deluxe edition is set to come with an exclusive slipcase/cover and a portfolio with three gallery-quality prints, so while the prints looked great on my phone/computer, I imagine they’ll be even more special when you have them in hand. Both editions will be available in the US on November 8, alongside The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic Vol. 1; what a great day for art fans!
Some of the spreads I enjoyed were the rough sketches of the confrontation between Karre and Am in “The Twins,”; the character study and close-up on F’s lightsaber (but no mention of her heels!); the sketches of the various surprise Sith from “The Ninth Jedi”; the early sketches for “T0-B1”; the surprising look at different Master/Apprentice pairs for “The Elder”; a deeper dive into Lop’s design; and the landscape concept art for “Akakiri.”
Here is one other thing:
- Everything’s coming up Visions…or well, at least there is still plenty more to enjoy from the initiative! Last year saw the release of Ronin – A Visions Novel, an extraordinary novel the blasted open the world of “The Duel” in dazzling ways, while earlier in October Star Wars Visions #1 served as a dazzling prequel to the same short. Recently announced is the Star Wars: Visions Original Manga, while season two of Visions will be out 2023!
The Art of Star Wars: Visions is a gorgeous, packed collection of new looks at the first season’s unique and visually intriguing series of shorts.
+ Loaded with exactly what you’re looking for
+ Great presentation
+ New details from teams…
– …though would wish for a little more next time!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.
STAR WARS VISIONS REVIEWS
Season One: “The Duel” | “Tatooine Rhapsody” | “The Twins” | “The Village Bride” | “The Ninth Jedi” | “TO-B1” | “The Elder” | “Lop & Ochō” | “Akakiri”