This is itself the most Star Wars thing and presumably one of the major challenges when making any new Star Wars story, but the tonal whiplash in the latter seasons of the Clone Wars between what feel like backdoor pilot story arcs for a few different iterations of Star Wars: Babies spin-offs and much more grimdark portrayals of the fall of the Republic than anything you see onscreen in the actual prequel movies is pretty severe!
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A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy: The Star Wars Thread
It is a show with multitudes
I watched the first two of these. I'm not that impressed. I've never been a fan of these kinds of outsourced, anthology anime collections. For starters, they're always very hit-and-miss. And the good ones, it's always a bummer because you know they'll never get followed up or expanded upon like you want, they'll forever remain a 12 min short that is just beginning to scrape at the potential of the ideas they're displaying. The other reason why I don't generally like these things is that we've got a pretty extensive track record at this point of Western media giants shoving money at Japanese animation houses to do this kind of stuff, and most of the time the studios put their B-Staff on the project, pocket the money, and put in a half-assed effort.
Episode 1: "The Duel"
The Studio: Kamikaze Douga - a small-time outfit that's relatively new, and that has historically only ever really done outsourced 3DCG stuff for other studios. Their big claims to fame was Ninja Batman, and the first 4 openings to the JoJo shows. (Parts 1-3)
Directed By: Takanobu Mizuno - I can't find anything about this person. As far as I can tell, they've never directed an anime project before, and the biggest thing on their resume that I can find is doing the animation direction for Ninja Batman.
Written By: Takashi Okazaki - Doesn't have an extensive track record here. Mostly has done character designs, not writing. Big claim to fame here is being the creator/writer of Afro Samurai.
How was it? - It was ok. This short was made with 3DCG disguised as very rough 2d sketchy animation. Think the first four JoJo openings, but even more sketchbook like. Mostly monochromatic with bright colors for neon lights, light sabers, and blaster shots. It was a Star Wars thing trying really hard to be a 50s jidaigeki, which is a really weird ouroboros when you think about it. I thought it looked great, but the "Star Wars but samurai" aesthetic was A Bit Much and there wasn't a lot of substance to the story here. Just a Ronin-Jedi doing his best Yojimbo impression.
Episode 2: "Tatooine Rhapsody"
The Studio: Studio Colorido - Another relatively small/new studio. They've made some commercials, and a series of largely unremarkable films. Their most recent productions that might ring a bell include "Penguin Highway" and "Burn the Witch".
Directed By: Taku Kimura - Literally has never directed any anime before this, and the only thing I can find credits for him is as a voice actor.
Written By: Yasumi Atarashi - Another nobody who I can't find any credits for besides a random Light Novel.
How was it? - Weird. It was a conventionally animated thing but with a pseudo-SD art style which I dunno the last time I watched any anime that looked like this. So that's novel. The scenario surrounded an outlaw rock band being chased by Boba Fett; the band included a member of the Hutt-Clan who ran away from home. It was a cute story, but there is only so much meat you can fit into something that's only 10 or so minutes long. I'm very weary of anime centering around bands/making music because a lot of my personal investment in such things depends on if the music is as good as the story wants you think it is. And in this case, the generic alt-rock was pretty meh/forgettable.
So far I'm enjoying the disparate tones, art styles, and inventive scenarios for a Star Wars thing. But the nature of this kind of anthology I think is just a big double edged sword. It would have been nice if these studios had gotten more than just a single 10-20 minute short episode to really begin developing some of these ideas in earnest. And it's weird because on the Western side of things, they brought in a lot of decently famous people to play a lot of these voice parts. Disney could have stood to spend a bit more on this on the Japanese side.
Episode 1: "The Duel"
The Studio: Kamikaze Douga - a small-time outfit that's relatively new, and that has historically only ever really done outsourced 3DCG stuff for other studios. Their big claims to fame was Ninja Batman, and the first 4 openings to the JoJo shows. (Parts 1-3)
Directed By: Takanobu Mizuno - I can't find anything about this person. As far as I can tell, they've never directed an anime project before, and the biggest thing on their resume that I can find is doing the animation direction for Ninja Batman.
Written By: Takashi Okazaki - Doesn't have an extensive track record here. Mostly has done character designs, not writing. Big claim to fame here is being the creator/writer of Afro Samurai.
How was it? - It was ok. This short was made with 3DCG disguised as very rough 2d sketchy animation. Think the first four JoJo openings, but even more sketchbook like. Mostly monochromatic with bright colors for neon lights, light sabers, and blaster shots. It was a Star Wars thing trying really hard to be a 50s jidaigeki, which is a really weird ouroboros when you think about it. I thought it looked great, but the "Star Wars but samurai" aesthetic was A Bit Much and there wasn't a lot of substance to the story here. Just a Ronin-Jedi doing his best Yojimbo impression.
Episode 2: "Tatooine Rhapsody"
The Studio: Studio Colorido - Another relatively small/new studio. They've made some commercials, and a series of largely unremarkable films. Their most recent productions that might ring a bell include "Penguin Highway" and "Burn the Witch".
Directed By: Taku Kimura - Literally has never directed any anime before this, and the only thing I can find credits for him is as a voice actor.
Written By: Yasumi Atarashi - Another nobody who I can't find any credits for besides a random Light Novel.
How was it? - Weird. It was a conventionally animated thing but with a pseudo-SD art style which I dunno the last time I watched any anime that looked like this. So that's novel. The scenario surrounded an outlaw rock band being chased by Boba Fett; the band included a member of the Hutt-Clan who ran away from home. It was a cute story, but there is only so much meat you can fit into something that's only 10 or so minutes long. I'm very weary of anime centering around bands/making music because a lot of my personal investment in such things depends on if the music is as good as the story wants you think it is. And in this case, the generic alt-rock was pretty meh/forgettable.
So far I'm enjoying the disparate tones, art styles, and inventive scenarios for a Star Wars thing. But the nature of this kind of anthology I think is just a big double edged sword. It would have been nice if these studios had gotten more than just a single 10-20 minute short episode to really begin developing some of these ideas in earnest. And it's weird because on the Western side of things, they brought in a lot of decently famous people to play a lot of these voice parts. Disney could have stood to spend a bit more on this on the Japanese side.
I enjoyed the first episode of Boba Fett. I'm curious how much of the series will be jumping back in time to show how Boba got to where he is in Mando.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I really liked that. It again fleshes out the Tuskens, and Fett looks like he'll be an interesting character. Trying to be a nice crime lord is an interesting goal to say the least
They seem to have the same instinctive storytelling that Lucas did, where the information given is enough to infer what you need.
They seem to have the same instinctive storytelling that Lucas did, where the information given is enough to infer what you need.
Looks fun to me!
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Obi-Wan Kenobi... I wonder if this trailer means Old Ben Kenobi?
I'll try to have an open mind about this, but my expectations are in the basement and nothing in this trailer really did anything to change that.
And while I like them bringing animated characters to life, the Sith idiots... Gag
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
Nah, that guy died about the same time as your father.
That's I name I haven't heard for a long time ... about 17 years.
I watched the first two episodes of Obiwan last night. I was falling asleep through most of it. Part of that was because I was legitimately exhausted and sleep deprived, so I’m open to the idea I just need to be in a better frame of mind to watch this. But what I watched uh… wasn’t all that confidence inspiring.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
That was brilliant. I love that it's a character study of at least two major Star Wars characters, and Obi-wan has long been my favourite light-sider. You really feel his loss of faith and desperation. The end of episode 2 is something it's made us wait for, and it's a horrible escalation.
They are very naughty teasing me with not-4LOM like that though
They are very naughty teasing me with not-4LOM like that though
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I liked Third Sister - she's really, really out to kill Kenobi. She's almost certainly one of the younglings from the beginning. And because they've made it clear Kenobi's wary of using the Force and hasn't done for ten years there's a genuine threat that she's capable of it. Better still, the story has gone right to Defcon 1 at the end of the second episode. There's always going to be the prequel problem that you know Obi-wan and Leia must survive, but I'm along for this ride now.
I do not like that Obi-wan's bad at the force now. It's lame. I also do not like that he failed that one Jedi. It's also lame.
I do not like that Obi-wan learned how to be a force-ghost. That must mean that force-ghosts are only capable by people who have learned to be one while alive. That would mean that Darth Vader somehow was taught as well. And he'd only have had the opportunity to learn how from a Sith. And the only Sith around to teach him is Darth Sidious. So there is definitely a 100% chance that Palpy is out there post Episode IX haunting the galaxy like an unhinged crazy scooby doo ghost.
Edit: The idea that there's an expectation that Princess Leia, age 10, could be a Senator by now, is deeply upsetting to me.
I do not like that Obi-wan learned how to be a force-ghost. That must mean that force-ghosts are only capable by people who have learned to be one while alive. That would mean that Darth Vader somehow was taught as well. And he'd only have had the opportunity to learn how from a Sith. And the only Sith around to teach him is Darth Sidious. So there is definitely a 100% chance that Palpy is out there post Episode IX haunting the galaxy like an unhinged crazy scooby doo ghost.
Edit: The idea that there's an expectation that Princess Leia, age 10, could be a Senator by now, is deeply upsetting to me.
Her mom was Queen by age 14, and that’s apparently an elected office.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
I disagree with literally all of this. Obi-wan had failed completely. He's a broken man who's lost his faith. He trusted in the Force and everything went wrong. He had to (he thinks) kill his best friend. He has his one task left: protect Luke. He can't do that if he immediately blows his cover for the first Jedi that comes along; his mission is too important. If he'd done that it's extremely simplistic morality - sometimes you have to make hard choices for the greater good. Before the series premiered, my big complaint was that he'd never, never go off world on a mission and leave Luke. They found literally the one thing that he'd do it for. It's great character work that understands Obi-wan's mental state.
The force ghost thing is explicitly from the original 6 films. Obi-wan is literally the first Jedi to ever do it. Vader has never seen the vanishing act before, and he's killed a lot of Jedi. You're thinking of the Force as some RPG bullshit. Acceptance of the Force, real surrender to it enables you to become a Force ghost, not accepting a mission from some other character. Which also means that a Sith can never become a Force ghost, explaining why they go to such lengths to not die.
Haha. You say this like I wouldn't know or understand that was the fact, and that knowing that's the fact would change my mind on my subjective evaluation of it as a thing. 1) Give me some credit, of course I know that's the case. 2) Doesn't change that I don't like it. It was a dumb idea in 2005, and it's a dumb idea now.
That might be the case, doesn't change my evaluation that it's lame to explore this to begin with. Obi-wan, as he exists in the films, isn't this rich, complicated, deep character. He's either a wise, old, sage stereotype, or a swashbuckling daredevil commando-general who is so focused on being a badass that he doesn't see his best friend and little brother very obviously break bad over a long stretch of time. What's his favorite food? What does he do for fun? Who was his first love? What was his family like, before he started padwan training? What are his relationships like with all the other Jedi/what do other Jedi think of him? We fundamentally don't know all that much about the character. I appreciate that you and other people will like a deep dive examination of his mental state, but to me, I'm fundamentally uninterested in character work like that for a character I don't intimately know much about to begin with and thus have no curiosity for such a deep look into. That's just how I think about Star Wars, sorry.
I also don't really *get* why protecting Luke is, as you put it, "too important of a mission" if he's already "lost his faith". Like, why would someone whose lost faith in the force, care about Luke developing into a potent force user. I also don't get why any of the Sith would kidnap Leia under the assumption that it would bring out Obi-wan from hiding. It would imply that they knew how important the Skywalker kids were to Ben personally, which I just don't get. And if they knew that, why wouldn't they just follow Senator Organa when he went directly to Obi-wan to give a personal appeal and just ambush him there?
This seems to be setting up a story where the swashbucking daredevil, broken by the failure of everything he believes in, recovers and rebuilds himself as the wise sage.
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
Because it's all he has left. As to the second bit, because Obi-wan was a very close friend of Bail's, and it's calculated against Obi-wan's friendship with Bail rather than any friendship with his kids.
If you don't care about the character because you don't know too much about him, it seems peculiar to be annoyed that the program about Obi-wan, called "Obi-wan" fleshes out the character Obi-wan
That's my hope and what I'm rooting for. But I'm afraid they'll do some kind of reset at the end anyways so he can go back to being a sad boi in the desert for another 10 years.
I care about him, I just don't care about him like that.