ANI-MOVIES, *Black Fox

What was originally supposed to be an anime TV series, Black Fox was instead turned into a full-length animated movie, along with a live-action prequel titled Black Fox: Age Of The Ninja which both premiered in theaters on the same day, although apparently not as a double-feature. In 2019, this superhero origin story was headed by Ghost In The Shell director Kazuya Nomura which was produced by the now defunct Studio 3Hz. Despite the one-two punch of an anime movie and a tokusatsu ninja drama getting a simultaneous release, the franchise didn't go much further than that. If you saw Disney's Bolt, this film is like the fictional TV show that takes place in the movie.

Rikka Isuragi is the last of a long line of ninjas taught by her grandfather whose son skipped the shinobi life to create robot animals. However, an evil organization lead by her father's old partners kill him and her grandfather while she gets away with a trio of her dad's mechanical pets including an eagle, dog, and flying squirrel all capable of turning invisible. Rikka spends the next few years using the remnants of her father's research to act as a masked vigilante with her robot friends, plus handy gadgets like a rocket-powered grappling gun and an invisible camouflage suit. While part-timing as a junior detective, Rikku shares a ramshackle apartment with her roommate Melissa. As she was scoping out the criminal's industry facilities at the Gradsheim company, Rikku befriends the lonely Mia, but after she attacks the headquarters later that night, Mia is revealed to be a psychic under the control of her mad scientist father. Mia's crazy pop sends a giant robot dog to hunt her down that wrecks Rikku's apartment building. Rikku gets help from Mia to take down her now psychically powered father after she finds a new jet-powered armored ninja outfit, and also learn somehow in-between the lead up to the concluding battle with Gradsheim group and its boss that Rikku's roomie Melissa is a prototype android that went missing who joins Rikku and Mia in their upcoming fight. The fact that this movie didn't get a sequel and the main heroine was going to take on the main villain in a continuing installment of the franchise is a letdown that fans of the Alita film can connect with.

Black Fox never got a physical release in the States and is only available in subtitled Japanese on Crunchyroll fits it into a real niche category. The live-action prequel is available dubbed on multiple streaming sites, although that's more of a Super Sentai story set in feudal Japan, so the anime movie was not given any real promotion to American otaku. As the studio behind it is now closed, there doesn't seem to be any chance of a sequel, even though it still operates well as a stand-alone feature. The animation is above the average TV series quality although not totally up to theatrical standards. Any fan of Marvel should enjoy this hi-tech masked superhero sensation!