Star Wars: Visions is a great addition to the legacy of the series. The seven studios involved are some of the best in the business. Each episode adds a new flavor to the mix so that each take on Star Wars feels, or at least looks, unique. The reviews so far have been great.
That’s not to say there aren’t issues people are having with it. There are plenty of things amongst these nine episodes that don’t make sense. These anime companies took some liberties with the lore in order to make some bombastic decisions which did make for more entertaining anime. That’s why there have been so many GIFs and memes made about this collection already. There will be spoilers in here.
6 That’s Not How Lightsabers Work
Star Wars: Visions certainly has a strange idea of how lightsabers work. These short stories collected are anime though and this medium is well-known for being crazy. This joke is derived from a line Han Solo says in The Force Awakens. The actual quote from him is, “That’s not how the Force works.” There are three episodes in this collection where this meme is coming from.
“The Duel” has an umbrella-like lightsaber. “The 9th Jedi” has Kara’s father create Kyber Crystals that reflect the Jedi’s bond with the Force. This creates a weird opaque lightsaber for Kara. The zaniest lightsabers of the entire anime have to be in “The Twins” though. Am has tentacle lightsabers while Karre finishes off an entire Star Destroyer with a giant beam. Han Solo would be most displeased.
5 Over 9,000 Carrots
“Lop And Ocho” is a fun but tragic episode in anime starring an anthropomorphic rabbit girl named Lop. She is freed from the Empire’s slavery and is adopted into Ocho’s family. The anime time skips ahead where the conflict truly begins.
The plot isn’t terribly important to understand why this meme is funny. Lop somehow gets a device that looks like a Scouter from Dragon Ball. She is the only one that has it in the episode which is never explained. No matter the reason why or how she got it, Lop’s faux Scouter pairs nicely with the classic “Over 9,000” meme. It even has a cute little carrot insignia.
4 Star Trolled
Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” is the center of this meme. It doesn’t matter if the song became a meme or not because it is still a certified banger. That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to joke about. This scene is from “Tatooine Rhapsody” which some fans of Star Wars: Visions found to be one of the weaker episodes. A weak episode in this collection is still high praise because these short stories are some of the best the anime industry has to offer.
The reason why it might not have gelled well with everyone is that it centered around a rock band trying to get famous while running from the law. It wasn’t very exciting. Slipping in Rick Astley’s classic then was a match made in heaven. That blaster finisher could be interpreted as the distaste for this episode and for the song so it works on two levels.
3 Baby Boba
This meme also comes from “Tatooine Rhapsody” and showcases one of the elements fans did enjoy: Boba Fett. The joke in this meme is pointing toward The Mandalorian which introduced Baby Yoda to the universe who is now known officially as Grogu. He was a smashing success for Star Wars as everyone fell in love with the little guy.
If “Baby Yoda” can become a cash cow then so can the chibi version of Boba Fett from this episode. Adding in the classic Futurama meme perfectly illustrates the fervor over fans wishing to get merchandise based on him. There are actually a lot of cute versions of classic Star Wars characters in this anime including Bib Fortuna who is usually creepy.
2 Coins VS Credits
The Star Wars universe runs on credits. This is a digital currency that is distributed through sticks. It’s easy to imagine them as someone having a bunch of credit cards but in stick form. There is usually not a lot of actual currency being thrown around like these classic Japanese coins in “The 9th Jedi.”
Has this cosmic series seen physical money, even Japanese coins, in stories before? Probably. There’s a lot to comb through and certainly not every planet likes the Credits system. It’s still a funny thing to point out in this episode. Also of note, the pilot Kara is bribing is a certified boss. It’s time to get some figures made of him.
1 Robots Wearing Helmets
“The Twins” has already been established as a zany episode in the collection. One of the more low-key moments happens at the very end. Karre explodes that entire Star Destroyer but Am’s assistant is able to escape. Hopefully, that means other soldiers escaped too because otherwise, Karre’s actions are a bit darker.
The funny thing this meme is trying to point out is that Karre and Am don’t use helmets in space. Leia also didn’t use a helmet in The Last Jedi which was controversial. Whether the Force allows users to breathe in space is irrelevant. The better question is why is this robot wearing a helmet? Does it need air?