– Spoiler Review –
Droids and their place in the galaxy has always been a complicated subject that’s mostly lacked nuance in the Saga, and while Science SARU’s first Star Wars Visions short, “TO-B1,” doesn’t necessarily touch on the conversation, it does offer better representation for the galaxy’s most reliable heroes that always go unrewarded.
“TO-B1” follows a reclusive scientist on a barren world, which he hopes to rebuild alongside his family of droids. TO-B1, or Tobi, is the only humanoid droid in the group, the rest varying sizes, shapes, and designations, and while he seems to love his place with Mitaka and the rest of the droids, eager to help the scientist, he dreams of something (way) less mundane: being a Jedi! Mitaka ignores the droid’s dreams as he pursues his own, but as he sees how much Tobi wants to be a Jedi, to be involved with something bigger than their project, he sends the droid on a quest for a kyber crystal. It’s one of a few quests that don’t go well for poor Tobi, as he comes back without a crystal or the ability to connect with the Force, despite Mitaka telling him how too. The montages are fun sequences, especially in the watercolor-like animation, recalling the abstract D-Squad arc in The Clone Wars show, though since it’s a little less out of left field, it feels more natural (though I’ve come to enjoy the D-Squad arc and all its oddities). Not totally resigned by his failures, Tobi decides to check out the basement, despite Mitaka’s warnings in the past, memories which he can play back in hologram form. Down there he finds Mitaka’s ship and by activating it and calling out to the galaxy for Jedi, he alerts an Inquisitor. It’s then we find out Mitaka is a Jedi himself and he stows Tobi away to protect him in case he doesn’t make it against the Inquisitor. Mitaka seems to understand this is partly his fault, his own dreams and reclusive thinking, that the galaxy is too dangerous out there, are holding back Tobi, who he seems to treat like a son. Tobi later understands, when he awakes and finds Mitaka buried and most of the work shattered, that as much as Mitaka held him back, he did it for good reason. Their relationship is basically one between a father and son plus Master and apprentice, and while we have characters like Poe Dameron who scratch BB-8 like he’s a dog or Rey who kindly treats D-O, in the end the droids are still helpful servants who have to listen to their masters. There was a great article by the Manor’s Sous Chef (aka our other writer) Chris over at Eleven-ThirtyEight that explored canon’s varying takes on droid sentience and autonomy, and while there been some positive canon moment showing droids were more than just comedic relief or creators’ playthings, he found it overall lacking. But will the franchise ever dive into such a heady concept? That’s quite the question with no good answer, but it doesn’t seem like a priority. Though with “TO-B1,” Science SARU at least offers how easy it is to portray droids as something more than window dressing, via both Mitaka and how he treats his array of droids with respect and care, going out of his way to encourage Tobi’s inquisitive nature despite his initial misgivings about letting the boy explore, and with Tobi himself and how as he dreams of it, he ends up becoming everything he’s dreamed off and more. It’s a great moral story when you drill it down, if you believe in yourself and what you want, you can do anything, and putting such human-like qualities in a droid like Tobi really made him feel alive and humanized his sentience.
After finding out Mitaka is dead and the work broken, Tobi’s survivor guilt kicks in and he focuses on finishing his Jedi Master’s work to bring life to the barren planet. When successful, Tobi finds the kyber crystal was inside him all along, he had everything he needed inside, and he ignites Mitaka’s old saber, though his connection to the Force brings the Inquisitor back. The duel doesn’t start off well for Tobi, though he holds his own, and that’s when Mitaka reaches out through the cosmic Force and knights his Padawan. I loved how the duel looked thanks to the watercolor animation, with Tobi a bright streak often and the Inquisitor a dark, snarling blemish, with the bright lightening bringing color to the mostly white world, while I appreciated how Tobi uses Mitaka’s home and gains help from his droid pals to strike down the imposingly tall Inquisitor, relying on everything and everyone around him. As Tobi flies off into the galaxy to be a Jedi his Master would be honored by, the open ending invites more, but I felt like this was the perfect amount of this story.
Here are a few other things:
- Both Jaden Waldman and Masako Nozawa bring an earnestness to Tobi, with Nozawa just barely edging out Waldman for my favorite performance, while Kyle Chandler and Tsutomu Isobe have a jovial, yet wise take on Mitaka. Neil Kaplan and Kentaro Ito, with some help of distortion and other effects, sounded downright scary as the Inquisitor, even if I wasn’t quite sure how he knew to return.
- Don’t think it was intentional, but the usage of an animation style that recalled watercolor painting took me right back to the Descender comic series from Image, written by Lemire and illustrated by Dustin Ngyuen. The series focused mainly on a child-like android trying to survive in a galaxy where androids like him were outlawed. It’s truly stellar piece of sci-fi fantasy that dives head first into sentience for robots, constantly showing how complex the situation really is, and I highly recommend it. “TO-B1” reminds me of Descender mainly because Ngyuen’s illustrations are painted, making for a gorgeously detailed yet abstract look that amazed me time and time again, so having such animation here in a story about a young droid and its sentience certainly felt like an homage, intentional or otherwise.
- It didn’t quite hit me until Mitaka finally uses the Force that he didn’t have arms, which was a neat representation we’ve never really had in Star Wars since everyone gets some robotic limb replacements. I would LOVE to see Mitaka fight then with his lightsaber then, knowing he must use the Force at all times to use it!
- The official site has finally released episode guides for the show, much like they do for the other animated projects, so head over there for concept art and trivia galleries from the shorts, but make sure to also watch the Filmmaker Focus extras included on Disney+!!
Science SARU’s first Star Wars Visions short, “TO-B1” touches on some deeper droid questions always plaguing the Saga, while it’s gorgeous animation really makes the finale pop.
+ TO-B1’s sentience explored
+ Gorgeous, watercolor-like animation
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.
STAR WARS VISIONS REVIEWS
“The Duel” | “Tatooine Rhapsody” | “The Twins” | “The Village Bride” | “The Ninth Jedi”