The first trailer for the anime film, Batman Ninja, was released earlier today. If the new Justice League film disappointed you to the point where you thought there could be no redemption for DC, then I think Batman Ninja may be the answer you are looking for.
Batman is no stranger to animated films, but this movie will mark the first time that the character has been used in an anime in Japan. The movie is set in Japan, where Batman and others–like Robin, Harley Quinn, and Joker–are transported to the country mysteriously. As the trailer states in the beginning, Joker has an “unexpected chemical reaction” which leaves him as the most powerful person in Japan. It’s up to the good guys to bring him down and stop his madness from spreading throughout the beautiful island of Japan. Check out the trailer below.
Warner Bros. announced Batman Ninja back in October. It will be directed by Junpei Mizusaki, known for producing JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and helping with the technical animation of a few Mega Man games, like Mega Man X7 and Mega Man X8. Kazuki Nakashima, best known for his work on Kill La Kill, wrote the script.
The person bringing the most unique aspect of the film to life, its character designs, is Takashi Okazaki, the man behind creating the popular anime, Afro Samurai. You can see the amount of precision and talent put into the redesign of Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, Alfred, and the others as you watch the trailer. If you don’t like anime but like Batman, then I’d recommend checking this film out when it comes out in the USA for this reason alone.
The three leads of the project were approached by Warner Bros. a few years ago and were asked to make a Batman film. Considering the popularity that the character has had in Japan, the trio agreed to make the film. Eric Garcia and Leo Chu will be in charge of the English versions of Batman Ninja, and the film will be released in 2018.