– Spoiler Review –
In the second entry of Star Wars: Visions Volume 3, Project Studio Q’s “The Song of Four Wings” introduces us to a fierce princess and an adorable little being she must project from the Empire, making for a fun and memorable short with unique mech designs and musical component.
In every Visions volume so far, music has played a pivotal part for at least one short. In Vol. 1, the Star Waver band saved their lives with their music, while in Vol. 2 Aau’s voice purified kyber crystals and brought viewers a unique connection to the Force. For Vol. 3, at least so far because I haven’t watched them all yet, the music episode comes in Project Studio Q’s “The Song of Four Wings.” Princess Crane, working with the Rebellion against the Empire, puts an old cassette tape into her droid, R9-TR2 aka “Tor-Tu,” and the synthetic beats, while initially sounding so unlike anything we’ve heard before in Star Wars, eventually reveal a deeper meaning. This music is from her home planet, devastated by the Empire, and is one of the few remaining things she has in remembrance. Even Tor-Tu, her family’s droid, is pivotal for this memory, because not only is it the family droid, but one of one a handful of older models which can still play the music on the tape. It’s a relatable situation, because as older technology we deal with in the real world (VHS, cassette tapes, even CDs) is phased out for newer ones, it’s hard to let go of something with sentimental value, let alone hard to imagine a time we can’t access the memories it gives us. Crane thankfully never has to go without hearing this music by the end of “The Song of Four Wings,” but the connection Tor-Tu helps hold to her past and the music it can play is a solid little emotional hook connecting viewers to the characters given the brevity of these shorts. In the end, the music itself felt less important than what it stood for, so while not as strong of a musical hook for Vol. 3 compared to the previous two, it helped me care and be invested regardless.
Watch out, Grogu, there’s competition coming for you! Woopas, the young Gigoran (the large, white-furred alien on Saw Gerrera’s crew in Rogue One/Andor) Crane finds in the village ransacked by the Empire, is adorable as all heck. I’m glad Woopas isn’t just a cute little child Crane has to save, as he’s able to help with his little slingshot and later when using the Force, following a strong tradition of how cute and cuddly doesn’t always been useless. The well hasn’t been tapped dry on this particular trope, the cute little one who surprisingly can use the Force, but it felt like it was straining it a bit given how similar it felt to Grogu.
I was very tempted to just write “SEISMIC CHARGES” and call it a day for this review because it’s one of my absolute favorite sound and visual designs in the Saga. The fact an AT-AT exposed a series of additional arms to throw a concussive amount of the charges against Crane, Woopas, and Tor-Tu had me hooting and hollering at the TV, as it was such a gleeful overuse of the charges it took me back to spamming them in Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. The morphing situation with Tor-Tu basically making Crane and himself a mini-X-wing was a visual delight and the whole sequence at the end really fit to Crane’s musical tastes. Given we won’t see too much of that in canon Star Wars content, I’m always delighted when something like Visions shows us what it could be like.
When it comes to Crane, both Manaka Iwami and Stephanie Hsu for the Japanese cast and English Dub respectively, imbued her with such compassion and strength, it felt like viewing a new generation get a Leia for themselves (having the same gun helped too!). It’s cool Aki Toyosaki was used for the voice of Woopas for both casts, as it’s not like he really spoke, more made cute and funny noises. And I swore, when listening to both, I thought Hiroki Yasumoto and Trevor Devall were attempting to voice Admiral Ackbar, but I’m glad I was wrong and this was another Mon Cala admiral, Basil Kiucee, because there always should be more!
Here are a few other things:
- In the episode’s Filmmaker Focus video, we learn a lot about the inspiration for Tor-Tu’s unique sounds, the look of both the setting and mech-crazy designs, and more! Make sure to check it out!
- And now the Episode Guides are out on the official site! For “The Song of Four Wings,” there’s concept art and some additional behind-the-scenes details, like the concept artist Khang Le also worked on releases like Rogue One and The Last Jedi!
Star Wars: Visions Vol. 3’s “The Song of Four Wings” won’t escape some comparisons, but the excellent mech work and how music, or at the very least what it stands for, helps endure us to these characters.
+ Crane’s connection to her past and how it brings viewers in
+ Gorgeous and wild fun mech designs
– Feels like it treads familiar ground at times
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.
STAR WARS VISIONS REVIEWS
Vol. 3: “The Duel: Payback” | “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” | “The Bounty Hunters” | “Yuko’s Treasure” | “The Lost Ones” | “The Smuggler” | “The Bird of Paradise” | “BLACK”
Vol. 2: “Sith” | “Screecher’s Reach” | “In the Stars” | “I Am Your Mother” | “Journey to the Dark Head” | “The Spy Dancer” | “The Bandits of Golak” | “The Pit” | “Aau’s Song”
Vol. 1: “The Duel” | “Tatooine Rhapsody” | “The Twins” | “The Village Bride” | “The Ninth Jedi” | “TO-B1” | “The Elder” | “Lop & Ochō” | “Akakiri”
Related Material: Takashi Okazaki (one-shot) | Peach Momoko (one-shot) | Art of Star Wars: Visions Vol. 1 (book) | Star Wars: Visions #1 (comic) | Ronin: A Visions Novel (novel)