The Ronin & R5-D56

It's never been any kind of secret that one of George Lucas' inspirations for Star Wars were the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. To honor that lineage, Disney asked several different Japanese animation studios to create their own "Infinities" stories, using the themes and styles of Star Wars without needing to worry about any of the actual chatacters. The result was Star Wars Visions, an anthology series a la The Animatrix, and the first episode was "The Duel." Accompanied by his droid, R5-D56, the Ronin becomes an unlikely hero to a small forest village when he defends them from a Sith bandit and her crew. Heavily influenced by Yojimbo, with brushes of Seven Samurai and Lone Wolf and Cub, "The Duel" was a great choice for Visions' first episode: wildly stylish, high on action, and obviously tinged with Japanese culture, it lays out every goal the series has and lets audiences know what they're in for. The episode was written and designed by Takashi Okazaki (Afro Samurai) and directed by Takanobu Mizuno (Batman: Ninja), with the animation studio being Kamikaze Douga (most known for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure). So, given those three example series, you can probably get an idea of how wild "The Duel" is going to look even before you see it. The Ronin (he has no other name, not even in the comics or novel) has a thin, angular design, especially in the face. The story is set in the aftermath of some unknown Sith War, and he has an old-fashioned prosthetic on his jaw, which sticks down off his chin and created the look of a chinstrap beard. His hair would be long enough to hang to the middle of his back, if he didn't wear it folded up into a sloppy chonmage. The figure is a fullly unique sculpt, because there is absolutely no way to create his baggy pants or tattered sleeves using existing molds. His footwear looks like sandals, and he wears a pale belt with its tails waving dynamically down past his knees. There are small metal plates on his left shoulder, and he wears stiff octagonal cuffs. Above it all is a raggedy softgoods robe with a (plastic) chain clasping it across the chest. That drags on the ground behind him, and has posing wires so you can really accentuate the wild stylization. He wears gloves - that's why his hands are darker than the rest of his skin - and his pants have sculpted vertical lines to give them a texture. He has two scabbards tucked into his belt, matching the katana and wakizashi of feudal samurai. The larger one is functional, and the hilt can be drawn from it, revealing a red highsaber blade. In the episode, that's supposed to be a big surprise moment, so naturally it was spoiled in the first few seconds of the trailer announcing the series. Darth Maul knows that feeling well. The hilt is more square than a typical lightsaber's, and the design on it looks like the kind of diamond-gapped leather wrapping katanas typically have. There's some confusion over the name of the Ronin's droid companion. The packaging for this toy calls him R5-D56, as do several pages on StarWars.com; however, those pages were all updated, because they originally called him B5-56, and that name is also used for the various print appearances: Ronin: a Visions Novel, which covers the events of the cartoon episode in its first two chapters and then expands the story from there, as well as the two Visions comics Marvel released, which were both prequels to the episode. Since it's easier to correct a webpage than to recall and reprint books, we'll assume R5-D56 is his official serial number. Ronin casually calls him "Fivesix," so either one works. R5-D56 is an astromech, so he uses the existing R2-D2 molds - not the original, which has been used for so many repaints, but the oversized one released in 2023 as part of the carded Return of the Jedi anniversary line. To make him specifically R5 instead of R2, he has a few extra bits. Looking at him in the package, I thought there were ties around his feet to hold him in the tray - it turns out those are molded ropes meant to make it look like the droid is wearing sandals. Neat! The big change, though, is the hat. Fivesix wears a large straw hat that covers his entire head, with slits in the front to allow his main eye to show through. The prequel comic reveals why he wears that: it belonged to his old master, and he misses him. Aww, poor little guy! This toy uses the R2-D2 head, which is the wrong shape (the mold has also been used to make an R5-D4, so we know a correct one exists), but because the hat is permanently glued on, it really isn't that big of an issue - maybe the round dome fit better inside than the conical one would have. This mold has different play features than the original one did, which means we no longer have to suffer with that idiotic "spin the head around to extend the stabilizer leg" thing. Good! The leg can still be extended, it's just a manual function now. The vertical panels on the sides of the chest hinge open, but rather than tiny arms in there that fold out, there are three holes where various accessories can be plugged in. Two horizontal bars just below the head also open, but there's nothing behind them - they just look like they've popped open with damage. Since the head and leg aren't connected any longer, this time you can pull the entire head up, exposing the interior mechanics - as well as storage space for accessories. So what accessories does he have? Well, right out of the box, he has a little arm extending from the left side of his chest and holding a bamboo staff. (The staff, like the hat, is a reminder of his old master.) Beyond that, there are five other mini arms, with unique tools or weapons at the end of each, including one that appears to be holding a blaster. Sadly, no tray slides out of his back to fire missiles. The panels on the sides of his legs can be replaced with jet thrusters, and the set includes small blue flames that fit onto those. R5-D56's eye is bright blue, like those flames, but otherwise the droid is a pale, pale gray, nearly white. "The Duel" was mostly grayscale, with a few spots of color to really make things pop. Both figures honor that, and so does the packaging. The figures are sold in a large box with a painted portrait wrapping around one corner. A red carboard band circles the box, and it's tied with a tan paper straw. The front of the box splits in half, the magnetic flaps folding open (because somebody in Hasbro's design department has been collecting Figura Obscura, obviously) to reveal an image of the Genbara countryside. The figures themselves stand in a tray, and the lid of the box hinges open so you can slide them out or put them back for display. It's lovely! This set costs $70, but it's a convention exclusive - those always cost extra. So Hasbro insists its normal figures are worth $25 (they're not, that's a lie, it's the company inflating their profit instead of increasing their quality), and you can read these as being $30 each, with an extra $10 for the fancy packaging. The price is high, but not entirely unreasonable. If you were unable to attend Star Wars Celebration Japan, it's also available from Amazon. These aren't the first figures based on Star Wars Visions - that honor would go to Karre and Am from "The Twins" - but they're the first from Hasbro, and are excellently done. -- 06/14/25 What other Visions figures would you want? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.