As the folks at Comic Book point out there are a LOT of Star Wars fan films and to be fair a lot of them are very well done and are a credit to the franchise overall. Some however are just a little more impressive for various reasons, not always the effects but more so the story as in Hoshino, which doesn’t feature quite as much action but definitely displays a very compelling tale concerning Ko Hoshino and her master Jaan-Xu, who in a way is almost a cross between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn Jinn thanks to his appearance and his teaching methods. One very great thing about this story however is that it could easily take place in the Old Republic, which appears to be getting more of a push from fans and has perhaps started taking root in Hollywood as well, which would be extremely uplifting since it could possibly open the door for new story lines and even more new great and upcoming characters. One has to keep in mind that the Jedi Order wasn’t always the small and cloistered bunch that we’ve seen in the movies, as according to the tales the Jedi Knights were the peace keepers of the galaxy and were quite numerous at one point. Even now there were plenty of Jedi that weren’t exactly known during the Clone Wars, but they were still implied to be out and about as the war raged on from system to system.
Hoshino touches upon the lives of one master and one padawan, who is just as headstrong and adamant about training with a lightsaber as she can be. The setting and the lessons that Hoshino is going through in the movie are reminiscent of what many young apprentices have faced while learning the ways of the Force, but her tragedy is that she simply can’t wait for the moment and has to go and make her own, forging a path that is not entirely wise but will eventually shape who she becomes. As the story flashes back to her time with her master we see her impetuous and argumentative manner continue to hamper her a bit, though in the present tense her concentration and command of the Force are absolute as she’s seen to be constructing her lightsaber using only the Force and her knowledge of how the weapon is supposed to come together, piece by piece. This is a highly introspective moment that speaks to Ko’s training, her experience with her master, and the reason why patience is such a virtue. While the mynock puppets aren’t the greatest when it comes to effects they still serve the purpose of driving the story forward as it becomes the means by which Ko is forced to pay the price for her lack of patience and ends up losing her eyesight as a result of clumsy lightsaber handling. It’s a horrible accident to even think about, and in the moment is likely to be seen as a life-altering tragedy.
That part is accurate obviously as Ko is, in the present, as a master is still blind, but is far more patient and far more reserved in manner than she was as a padawan, showing a real transition from young and impatient upstart to wise and powerful master. Out of the many fan films out there this one is an attention-grabber for several reasons, one of those being that Ko appears to be a very compelling story in the making that might do well if her tale was ever brought to full light, especially if it could find a way to not only be told, but inspire other stories to be unveiled along the way as well. Star Wars is a franchise that many people might agree belongs more to the fans at this point than to Disney or even to its creator, George Lucas. While Lucas has in fact denounced the Legends canon and doesn’t appear to put a lot of stock in anything other than his own creation, for his own reasons to be fair, it’s easy to acknowledge that the creation has grown beyond the creator, as can easily happen. Should such fan films be given the blessing of Lucas that would be a definite bonus, but to realistic it’s not exactly needed at this point since many upon many fans have their own approximation of how Star Wars should look and which stories are worthy of being told within the overall tale. Given how long the Jedi have been around there are likely many epic sagas that can be spun and it might be time for those in charge to start tapping into the talent that’s been on display for a while now, especially since some of the fan films, like Hoshino, are often more entertaining than the movies have been as of late.
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