Regardless of where you sit on the prequels, sequels, and everything in between, expansions in Star Wars canon are a mixed bag. Still, the powers that be show no signs of stopping the gravy train until morale improves. Key among the worthwhile tales that act as a counterweight to the “why did they even bother?” adventures introduced in Disney’s infinite slate of Star Wars content is its banner anime anthology series, Star Wars: Visions.
Although Visions‘ standalone spin-off, The Ninth Jedi, is at the forefront of folks’ minds as a fun expansion to Star Wars canon following its premiere on Disney+ a couple of weeks ago, we’re not here to talk about that show. We’re here to talk about Viz Media’s recently released Visions manga, Tsukumo, which turns back time to the prequel era and adds a fascinating wrinkle to the well-trodden paradigm shift in Star Wars history: Order 66.
Star Wars Visions: Tsukumo, written by Ultraman manga author Eiichi Shimizu and illustrated by Tomohiro Shimoguchi, kicks off in the aftermath of the purge with even more Jedi Knights scattered around the galaxy than in the films. One such Jedi Knight is Nagi Tsukumo. Poisoned, betrayed, and on the run, we meet Tsukumo already knocking on death’s door. The only thing keeping him going is a promise he made with his droid companions to reach the rumored Droid Paradise—a utopia whispered about in the droids’ shared network. Amidst skirmishes with Stormtroopers, Tsukumo and company encounter the Empire’s secret weapon engineered to put a permanent end to the Jedi—a prototype Imperial droid with an upload of all the Jedi’s skills.
Admittedly, setting a Star Wars tale during Order 66 is as old-hat as slotting an adventure during the hallowed Old Republic era as far as storytelling goes in a galaxy far, far away. But where the manga goes from being more of the same old adventures we’ve grown accustomed to isn’t in its wayward Jedi Knight and his seemingly futile odyssey; it’s in the conversation he has with his droid adversary. In tandem with the Empire uploading all of the Jedi’s skills into the Imperial droid, they also upload the entire history of the Jedi into its memory banks. As if reaching through the pages of its manga panels and pilfering the minds of every fan who’s read the franchise’s expanded history, the Imperial droid starts asking questions about the glorification of the Jedi as the galaxy’s holier-than-thou peacekeepers. Namely, how the Jedi rakestep toward their own ruin time and time again.
After all, their diametric opposites, the Sith, don’t arise naturally as their sworn enemies; they’re born of the Jedi’s own ranks. And all that nonsense in the Jedi Order’s doctrine to be an emotionless husk so as to not be swayed by the Dark Side ignores the contradiction that Jedi are just as motivated by anger as they are by hope. Between the milliseconds of its creation and the moment it boots up, the “Jedi Killer” Imperial droid comes just short of arriving at the conclusion that the Jedi deserved Order 66. Basically, any cynical thought fans have ever had about the piety of the Jedi is running laps in this Droid’s circuitry. What’s more, in the droid’s own steps toward achieving autonomy beyond the Empire’s designs, it ponders what’s keeping it from tapping into the Force, just as the Jedi and the Sith do.
In typical Star Wars fashion, the conflict between the hero and the villains’ ideals plays out in a stylish flurry of sparks from their lightsabers. But in between all the action and boasts over wisdom trumping knowledge, the weakened Jedi does something interesting: he indulges the Imperial droid’s burning curiosity about the Jedi. During their duel, the pair engage in an honest debate that both recontextualizes and interrogates the deification of the Jedi. Once the dust settles on their fatal battle of blades and ideals, the manga bookends one of the most fascinating directions the franchise has taken in a minute in any media. Which is saying something, seeing as how the franchise up until now hasn’t tried rocking the boat so much as playing the hits, and hope fans still eat from the trough on the premise that it’s new Star Wars.
Personally, I think fandoms—even ones as well-fed as Star Wars fans—deserve bolder stories than cookie-cutter adventures without anything to say. If you’re curious about what that might look like, we strongly recommend giving Tsukumo a read.
Star Wars Visions: Tsukumo is now available on digital and paperback online storefronts and at your local brick-and-mortar comic book shops.
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