New DC Anime Has Batman Fighting The Yakuza
Warner Bros. Japan just announced that Batman Ninja, a Batman anime movie, is receiving a sequel titled Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League, and fans are ecstatic. A surprise move coming from the company that did just about everything possible to disrespect anime in the name of its own animated content, but Batman Ninja was so great we won’t even question WB or call them out on their apparent hypocrisy.
The Sequel To Batman Ninja
But the announcement is great news, considering just how big of a hit Batman Ninja was. The new Batman anime will be produced by Kamikaze Douga’s Junpei Mizusaki—known for producing the opening animation sequences for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders.
Not only that, but some of the staff that had worked on the original Batman Ninja are returning to reprise their roles in the new project, including the scriptwriter Kazuki Nakashima, character designer Takashi Okazaki, and composer Yugo Kanno.
The Returning Cast
Great news for the fans of the original dub is that Koichi Yamadera is set to reprise his vocal portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The voice actor is known for his fantastic work on Dragon Ball, Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Sword Art Online.
Unfortunately, no further details about the upcoming Batman anime have been revealed, but Warner Bros. Japan will present the new Batman anime at the Anime Expo on July 4, and we can expect to learn more about the upcoming Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League there.
Batman In The Warring States Of Japan
From what we know about the previous Batman anime, the Caped Crusader is going to return to the Warring States period of Japan and fight various DC supervillains who serve as feudal lords—just like he did in the previous anime movie.
For those who haven’t seen the original Batman anime, Batman Ninja is a 2018 American-Japanese animated superhero movie directed by Junpei Mizusaki, produced by Warner Bros., and animated by Kamikaze Douga, with character design from Takashi Okazaki, the creator of Afro Samurai.
Over Six Years Since The First Batman Anime
The original Batman anime was released digitally in April 2018 and on home video in May 2018, with both the Japanese audio track and the English dub. It subsequently received a theatrical release in Japan in June 2018, with a Japanese voice cast. However, the writers of the American release, Leo Chu and Eric Garcia, rewrote the movie from the original Japanese script written by Kazuki Nakashima, ultimately resulting in two very different versions of the same Batman anime.
Batman Ninja Was A Top-Seller
The original was a massive success among audiences, with an 82 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and 9.7 out of 10 based on IGN’s scoring, which only attests to the great quality Warner Bros. managed to achieve with its own blend of animation.
Ultimately, the total domestic earnings of the original Batman anime was north of $3.5 million, most of which was earned through Blu-Ray sales. Considering just how successful the original Batman Ninja was, it’s not really all that surprising that WB wanted to do a follow-up—they are, after all, a reactionary entertainment company.
