We’d be really chuffed if ever there was a Batman anime made. After all, while the dark knight has been Japanis-ed in manga form over the years, the closest we’ve gotten to him getting an anime makeover is the animated movies and series, where his designs had hints of influence by anime.
Come 2018 however, we’ll now get to see Batman in his full anime glory and also in his best and appropriate look possible for the genre, as a Ninja.
That’s right, come 2018, a Batman Ninja anime movie will be released and boy are we excited over it. It’s not only because we’ll be seeing Batman in his ninja anime form but also who’s going to be involved in it.
DC Comic’s involvement notwithstanding, there are some major heavyweights in the anime industry that are involved in the production of the anime movie. Among them include director Jumpei Mizusaki who is known for his work on Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure, character designer Takashi Okazaki, known for his work on Afro Samurai and story writer Kazuki Nakashima, who’s done work on Kamen Rider Fourze.
As for the English version of the script, it’s being handled by Leo Chu and Eric Garcia both who have experience in anime by working on the English version of Afro Samurai.
With these name involved (especially Takashi and Mizusaki), we’re extremely hopeful about how it’s going to turn out. The story premise, at least from what was described, sees Batman and his crew, together with a bunch of villains being flung back in time to medieval Japan.
And if you’re wondering just how the anime will look like, a poster has already released. Check out the cool design of Batman’s Ninja costume for the movie.
If you’re one of the lucky ones attending New York Comic Con now, you might also have the chance to check out the short teaser clip of the movie that was shown there. According to io9, the scene has Batman all decked out in Japanese
According to io9, the clip has Batman all decked out in Japanese armour and wielding a katana, charging at the Joker. His arch-nemesis, on the other hand, is also brandishing a sword but draped in a fancy ancient Japanese courtier’s outfit.
There’s some brilliant display of animated swordsmanship shown and we also get to see the rest of the Bat-crew including Nightwing and Robin. Other villains are there as well including the Penguin, Harley Quinn and strangely enough the Flash’s Gorilla Grodd.
There’s only so much we can describe the scene to you so, hopefully, a video of it will be leaked soon that we can show you. One thing to note is the animation style used for the anime movie, it’s a blend of traditional 2D and subtle hints of CGI.
The anime movie will be released directly to Blu-Ray and DVD and no mention on who the English or Japanese voice actors are were made. And since the movie will be rated PG-13 don’t expect it to be too dark either.
Let’s hope the trailer will be released soon as we’re pretty excited to see this. Now the next question is, should we watch it in Japanese with subs or in English dialogue. Ah, the dilemma.
