'Star Wars: Visions' Kicks Off With "The Duel"
It has been a little over a month since the last Star Wars show aired on Disney+. While we no doubt still have questions about the next season of The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian, and what The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi might entail, we are treated to the Star Wars anime anthology Star Wars: Visions. Unlike other previous Disney+ shows, which only air one episode each week, all nine episodes of Star Wars: Visions are now available for streaming on Disney+. As each episode is not interconnected in any way, one does not necessarily have to view them in order. Nevertheless, the first episode, “The Duel,” is a good opener, kicking off the series with an epic start.
As we all know, George Lucas drew a lot of inspiration for Star Wars from Kurozawa’s Seven Samurai. Coming full circle, “The Duel” brings elements of Star Wars into an old Japanese period film. It gives us the first taste of how the Star Wars influence will be woven into the anime media in this anthology.
The episode opens with the title “The Duel” written in Aurebesh against the grainy black and white landscape. This is a nod to the opening of Seven Samurai, where the title is presented in the same format at the beginning of the film. Despite the access to technology available in animation production today, the production team at Kamikaze Douga (the studio responsible for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) add in “floaties” to create the feeling of an authentic grainy black-and-white film of that era. The orchestral soundtrack used throughout the episode speaks to John Williams’ epic Star Wars soundtrack, which no doubt was inspired by similar orchestral music in many Kurozawa films. Keen listeners may hear familiar motifs from the Star Wars soundtrack peppered throughout.
One might wonder how much story can be told in a mere fifteen minutes. It appears “The Duel” and other works in the Star Wars: Visions series succeed in doing just that. In this particular short, it is a simple plot line. Bad guys show up to attack the village. The mysterious brooding stranger fights the bad guys. He wins, and leaves the village, but not before instilling hope in the villagers.
The creators then expand on this basic story. First, they add in Easter eggs that would bring joy and delight to Star Wars fans. The bandits arrive at the village in an imposing vehicle not unlike transport used by the Empire. Viewers would point out that these villains also wear helmets similar to those worn by First Order stormtroopers. The astromech droid also steps in to turn the tide of the battle, not unlike R2-D2 throwing out the lightsaber to Luke in Return of the Jedi. However, he does so through the use of explosive projectiles against the bandits. Let us not forget the brief glance at the gonk droid that the atromech is hooked up to during repairs.
Fans would agree that the unique weapons used in Star Wars are one of the elements that draw them to the galaxy far, far away. The same can be said of the weapons used in “The Duel,” which are a fusion of futuristic Star Wars and traditional Japanese arts. While the main antagonist’s weapon resembles an oversized umbrella at first, it may have also been influenced by the shakujo (or khakkhara in Sanskrit), a staff topped with metal rings traditionally carried by Buddhist monks. While some may argue that the lightsaber does not need to be sheathed in a scabbard, you have to admit a lightsaber-katana hybrid is an interesting interpretation. A samurai drawing the lightsaber the same way as they would a katana is still a stunning image.
Overall, “The Duel” kicks off Star Wars: Visions to a good start. Its similarities to Kurosawa films remind viewers of the Eastern influence in the futuristic-looking Star Wars saga. The fifteen-minute episode was packed with action, drawing you into the story of the ronin. Emma Mieko Candon’s novel Ronin promises to continue his story. (You can pre-order it here: https://amzn.to/3EMbsaY) While other episodes of Star Wars: Visions will not have the same feel as “The Duel,” this short definitely makes you want to see what other interpretations are in store.
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