Batman V. Yakuza
Josh B.
Back in 2018, a unique anime film came to home video. Batman Ninja was the brainchild of Junpei Mizusaki, a relatively unknown talent in the field of Japanese anime, with his most recognizable work being his time spent on 2011’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Still, this man had a dream, a dream of uniting East and West in media by way of making an anime film based on one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, Batman. And in 2018, Misuzaki got his chance with Batman Ninja. The 2018 anime film sees the Caped Crusader, his wards and his rogue’s gallery transported back in time to the Warring States period of Japan. Batman’s villains all arrived before he did, and have made themselves Lords all vying for control of the great nation.
What set Batman Ninja apart from other Isekai or Batman media is its bombastic, over-the-top nature. Things start off relatively grounded, with Batman taking on a group of samurai employed by the Joker, but by the film’s end, Batman and his allies are piloting a giant robot made of bats to defeat the Joker, who’s also using a giant robot made out of Japan’s castles! It’s that insane escalation and energy that made Batman Ninja one of my favorite pieces of Batman media at the time, so imagine my surprise and delight when a whole seven years later, a sequel is released – Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League.
Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League picks up the day after Batman Ninja. Things had thought to be back to normal, but Batman finds that the island of Japan is missing, and Yakuza are raining from the sky down onto the streets of Gotham. As it happens, the island of Japan is now floating in the sky, and within it is an entire civilization founded and run by Yakuza, the crime lords of Japanese society. To make matters worse, this Yakuza land is run by Yakuza versions of the Justice League – nearly every one of them an unrepentant criminal bent on taking over their parallel world, making them the Yakuza League.
As with the previous film, the action in Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League is spectacular. Japanese studios have truly come a long way in translating anime action into 3D Animation, and the fights with the Yakuza League is a visual feast for the eyes. Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League shows its love for Japanese culture throughout its brisk runtime, with incredibly faithful and funny homages to older anime like Voltron and karaoke VHS tapes, which were delightful. The Yakuza-fied designs for the Justice League were excellent, and realized wonderfully in the film. Batman, being from another universe, has hard black lines to his character design, while the Yakuza League has a more painterly look to them, to better match with the surroundings of their world. It really made the characters feel like they were from another universe. The attention to detail on the character models is particularly praiseworthy, as when Batman and the Yakuza League are next to one another, they look visually distinct.
Kuraka - Yakuza Superman
That being said, there are some things I think the film falls short on. Due to Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League’s limited runtime and the sheer amount of characters present, the Yakuza League themselves don’t get too much in terms of characterization, only brief bits of expository dialogue and what we get when they interact with Batman. As a result, the characters feel kind of flat, despite coming from such an interesting setting. Kuraku, the Yakuza’s version of Superman, does get a little extra attention that goes a long way toward making him feel more complete as a character.
Secondly, the English voice cast for Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League has been entirely recast – no one from the original cast of Batman Ninja returns. As someone who loved the original, wild English dub, it’s a big disappointment to see everyone get replaced. Granted, the new cast do their best to emulate the performances their predecessors gave in 2018, but frankly the recasting makes no sense to me, as the original film used veteran voice actors like Roger Craig Smith and Yuri Lowenthal, not big-name celebrity actors that WB would have had to shell out a ton of money for. Still, if you watch the films in Japanese, this complaint is a non-issue.
What is more of an issue is the tone of the film. I mentioned earlier that Batman Ninja’s insane escalation is what made it one of my favorite Batman films – this is unfortunately absent from Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League. While the threat is bigger than last time (an evil Justice League FAR outclasses the Joker) the stakes remain the same throughout the film’s runtime – Batman and his wards have to stop the Yakuza League, and return the world to normal. There aren’t any crazy twists and turns like there were in Batman Ninja – what you see is what you get. There are undeniably some ridiculous moments in Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League, but they feel sparser and less out of place. Perhaps the film simply wasn’t given enough of a budget to reach the ridiculous highs of the original, but whatever the reason, the absence is felt.
Having said all that, I still very much recommend Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League. We don’t often get cross-media events like these anymore, so when we do, they should be supported and celebrated – especially when WB is in an era where they’d rather write a completed film off for tax purposes than release it. Yes, it may not be as ridiculous and fun as Batman Ninja, but it is a worthy sequel that makes this a satisfying duology of anime films.
I give Batman Ninja VS. Yakuza League 4 out of 5 stars.
