The movie is a collaboration between Warner Bros and DC and is very mindful about the Asian culture portrayed in the movie, and in fact, makes the most of it. Not only are the characters given a sharp anime warrior makeover, but also acquire sword-fighting and Kung fu skills. With Batman Ninja, Warner Bros is working to establish the brand of the DC Universe Original Movies. And that might be a necessary, given DCEU’s unfortunate box office situation.
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DC Universe needs a big win after its cinematic universe has been dragging its feet in Hollywood. Justice League was a major gamble and turned out to be a box office disappointment. Over the last decade with films like Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, the DCEU has failed to prove its mettle as a successful comic book film franchise. With Marvel’s cinematic advent, the DC superheroes have also suffered.
Batman and Superman, especially have not been able to please fans on the big screen. The anime Batman is obviously a great step to salvage the franchise.
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Takashi Okazaki, the creator of the beloved manga series Afro Samurai has done the character design for Batman Ninja, and it is simply breathtaking. The detailing itself deserves a special mention and has somehow still retained DC’s goth tone, in spite of being an anime. Okazaki joined director Jumpei Mizusaki, screenwriters Kazuki Nakashima, Leo Chu & Eric Garcia for the anime's New York Comic Con panel and talked about the movie which is looking for a 2018 release.
“There’s a fight scene in this that might be the best fight scene I’ve seen in animation anywhere,” said Warner Bros. Home Entertainment head of publicity Gary Miereanu. “When we want to make it look real, we actually do it in real life. We want it to be true to life,” said Mizusaki said. He also added that the actors and stunt performers actually acted out the fight and they were used later with recorded choreography.
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Kôichi Yamadera plays Batman, Wataru Takagi plays the Joker, Rie Kugimiya plays Harley, Ai Kakuma plays Catwoman.
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Watch out for…
Batman drinking tea. Joker and Batman’s sword fight atop a monastery. Gorilla Grodd. And Alfred.
Batman Ninja releases in 2018