Review by OnoOdog

This episode, kicking off Visions, is almost entirely style over substance, but that's not necessarily a terrible thing. I am not by any means whatsoever (and I cannot stress this enough) an anime aficionado or even a fan. I literally have never watched an anime (unless one counts ATLA, whose anime status is hotly debated among certain circles) except for a few Studio Ghibli films which have proven hit or miss with me, and so would not trust myself to be a judge of the style. That said, I do greatly enjoy Eastern live action cinema, and know what I like and what I don't. I greatly enjoyed the black and white art style, broken up with shots of color from sabers and lasers. The grainy look and Japanese aesthetic made me feel like I was watching a Kurosawa samurai film, though I must admit 'The Elder' from this same series does the duel tension better than this episode. The saber "sheath" brings up logistical questions, but it sure looks cool. My fear going into this show would be that there are serious lore contradictions to established canon, and yes, nearly every episode seems to have that, which would make expanding any of these into a show of some kind difficult unless they change aspects or maintain a non-canon existence, which is unfortunate, as many of these could benefit from fleshing out and seeing more. This episode was cool to look at, but that's about it.