ANI-MOVIES: *Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League

Seven years after the bombastic Batman Ninja anime movie came out, the sequel has the Dark Knight coming across a dark version of the Justice League. Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League takes place right after the previous and we got Kazuki Nakashima from Kamen Rider returning to write the screenplay. This was largely all animated in 3D cel-shading with occasional 2D scenes including a loving ode to 70s Super Robot shows, although it's gotten a little bit of an upgrade for the sequel, although Warner Bros. Animation is still falling behind in CGI quality compared to Sony or Disney. The style is the bigger attractor here than the actual story and taking into account how bonkers the first movie was is really saying something. The strange change here is that none of the original English casts came back for this, so voice-over regulars like Grey Griffin, Tara Strong, and Roger Craig Smith were absent. There is dynamic action with exaggerated fights between masked mortals and superpowered gangsters.

After Batman and the others finally return from the alternate feudal Japan, they all awake to find out the world isn't the same as it used to be. Gotham keeps getting attacked by yakuza with jetpacks from floating Japanese city mirroring Gotham in the sky, and the regular Justice League is missing. Batman and Robin go to investigate to run across yakuza-themed alternates to the JLA who are all evil and working for Ra's Al Ghul who manipulated the Quake Engine from the previous movie to fold together a new reality where these superheroes-turned-gangsters are his allies. Fortunately, the alternate Wonder Woman is on Batman's side against Ra's, and she teams up with the regular Harley Quinn to try and save Robin who was kidnapped by the yakuza Superman, plus Joker makes an appearance to help Batman from crashing to his death since killing Batman is his job. The remaining Bat-Family consisting of Nightwing, Red Hood, and Red Robin team up with Wonder Woman and her Amazon ninjas to take down the members of the League including Aquaman, Flash, and Green Lantern Jessica Cruz. The toughest one was conspicuously left out of most promotions for the film was the yakuza Superman that Batman stops with red solar energy. The last part has the Bat-Family and the reformed Yakuza League preventing Ra's from crashing the floating city into Gotham which could cause worldwide devastation.

This was more of a style over substance project as it requires for Bat-fans and your average otaku would be concerned, although the plot remains true to its outlandish premise. There are some inconsistencies between this sequel and the original like what happened to Catwoman and all other villains from the previous film, and Ra's explanation on how he created a whole new reality after tampering with time tripping is very hand wavy. There are plenty of homages to Japanese figures like a montage with the Bat-Family in their own tokusatsu anime, plus Wonder Woman motivating her Amazon sisters by belting out an enka-themed karaoke number, and Harley Quinn sporting her Sukeban Deka punk schoolgirl uniform is peak otaku fresh. Oddly enough, another aspect of the film is that it personifies the yakuza live-action movies of which anime is in the minority of. The entire film was animated by Warner Bros. so there was no other anime studio involved in its production. The high-octane superhero action is a breath of fresh air compared to the fatigue who most have experienced from the MCU, so this is the Elseworlds story you never knew you wanted.