– Slight Spoiler Review –
Star Wars Visions is here, a revolutionary new series where 7 anime studios were handed the keys to Star Wars and told to create their own visions, resulting in 9 shorts blowing open the definition of the Saga as a whole. It all begins with Kamikaze Douga’s “The Duel,” where a roaming Ronin finds himself pulled into a small village’s conflict with bandit raiders.
Watching “The Duel” was an interesting experience for me, as I’ve been living in its unique take on the saga for the past few weeks but expanded far beyond what I imagined would be in the short, thanks to the upcoming novel by Emma Mieko Candon, Ronin – A Visions Novel. I’ll have a review of the novel next week My review is out now and in short I can tell you don’t miss it, as it’s the perfect continuation of the themes and designs of “The Duel” and its ancient Japanese feudal style take on the galaxy far, far away. Finally seeing the novel’s inspiration not only enriched the “The Duel” for me, but the animation, simple but striking in its elegance and almost hand-drawn like nature, plus the performances from the original Japanese cast and English Dub, made it a memorable start to the series of Visions.
Overall, “The Duel” works best due to its simplicity, as its short run-time is packed with style and purpose by the team at Kamikaze Douga, and it doesn’t waste any time explaining much of what happens in the short but rather lets it explain itself via the familiar visual imagery repurposed in the style of Japanese/Samurai films, especially by Akira Kurosawa, where Star Wars owes much of its existence too. To say Star Wars borrowed from those styles would be an understatement, as it drips in Japanese/Samurai influences, to the point George Lucas originally wanted the fabled Toshiro Mifune for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi. By leaning into those design similarities, while showing what it would’ve looked like without much American influence, “The Duel” makes it easy for viewers to pick up on its story and characters’ allegiances, the differences just a highly realized style full of purpose and dripping with clarity. From the wooden village’s design, with futuristic elements here and there, the bandits’ haphazard collection of Empire armor stylized for marauder purposes, the unique take on familiar alien species as the hunters hired to protect the village, to the wild lightsaber designs, there’s so much to visually feast on here that both recalls what we know and attempts something new and exiting with it. The idea of a feudal Japan Star Wars aesthetic for stories going forward will now live rent-free in my brain.
The duel itself, between the Bandit Leader (that umbrella lightsaber is SO DANG COOL) and the Ronin is short and to the point, and it clearly pays homage to some prequel trilogy lightsaber battles, but I loved it more for how it’s a bit of a surprise they both wield red blades. The Bandit Leader is Sith, made clear by her raiding and pillaging of the weak, but Ronin’s calm demeanor, niceness with the tea maker at the top of the hill, and willingness to protect the weak make him being Sith all the more intriguing. Why would a Sith act more like a Jedi? And why has he so much red kyber already, has he been hunting down other Sith? What would make him do that? The short won’t answer those questions but they offer “The Duel” a sense of longevity, because if those questions spring up after you’ve watched, then it’s built a strong and intriguing world fans might want more of. Ronin – A Visions Novel does answer all those questions, and a whole lot more, so if this short intrigued you enough, that’s a great place to head next. It’s hard for me to separate the two now, but I know I’d have similar questions about the world Kamikaze Douga built after watching this stylistic short.
Here are a few other things:
- For the English Dub, Brian Tee (Ronin) and Lucy Liu (Bandit Leader) did an excellent job with the roles, especially Liu, who really dug into the wild nature of the bandit. It’s awesome to finally have her in a SW project and I hope it’s not the last time we’ll have her, while her performance now replaces the voice in my head for the character in the novel. On the original Japanese cast, it’s hard not to love this team more, Masaki Terasoma (Ronin) and Akeno Watanabe (Bandit Leader), as it really captures the authentic samurai feel the Douga was aiming for.
- B-5 is an astromech with a straw hat. Need I say more how amazing it is?!
- As with all the shorts, in the ‘Extra’ section of the Star Wars Visions page on Disney+, there are behind-the-scenes videos with every studio about every short. In this one, it’s interesting to learn much of the designs came from one person, and while I picked up on the log battle honoring the lava battle of Obi-Wan and Anakin, I didn’t put together the Episode I duel reference but now I’m surprised I missed it. Definitely check these out for more insight!
- Like I said earlier, we have reviews for Ronin – A Visions Novel, which expands on this short in so many memorable ways it has to be read to be believed. Make sure to pick up a copy, as physically the book is gorgeous enough to own on its cover and interior artwork from the short alone!
Star Wars Visions’ “The Duel” by Kamikaze Douga is just the tip of the refreshing iceberg of content in these shorts, with a style that recalls Star Wars’ Japanese influences and an exciting premise that offers questions about its unique world.
+ Dripping in style
+ Bringing the fanchise’s influences back where they belong
+ The Duel itself
– Too short for its own good with all its potential, but that’s what the novel’s for!
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.