A whole seven years after the original brain-splitting film, Batman: Ninja, director Junpei Mizusaki and Shinji Takagi returns for an equally wild sequel. This time, Batman must face-off against evil Yakuza variants of the Justice League! The surprisingly literal culture clash continues with all-new threats, action sequences, and extensive anime tropes. Like most anime, that means it still contains an astounding amount of cringe and butchered romanji names weighed against awesome visuals. So, did Batman: Ninja vs The Yakuza League turn out more dumb than fun? Find out below!

Exposition Dump Of Doom

Despite the huge gap between releases, the films only take place two mere days apart. When the story begins, Batman and Damian have just begun to settle back into things before it starts raining men. Yes, you read that right. As a consequence of their fight with Gorilla Grodd and his Quake Engine, alterations to their reality form out of nowhere. In this case, the entire island of Japan goes missing and reappears in a giant fissure in the sky that deploys jetpacked yakuza gangsters in various weather patterns. Upon investigation, the Bat-Family discovers the Japan above Gotham is an alternate reality where only yakuza exist, ruled by the evil Hagane (Steel Family). If that doesn't seem like your jam, then leave the party now, because the bass is far from dropping.

Much like the Earth-3 Crime Syndicate, each evil boss of the Hagane are multiverse variants of Superman (Kuraku), Green Lantern (Zeshika), Flash (Bari), and Aquaman (Ahsa). Incidentally, due to meddling of their mysterious oyabun (Yakuza boss), they unwittingly become powerful pawns in an incursion plot. More specifically, our antagonist uses an advanced version of the Quake Engine to fold realities at will like origami. As goofy as this sounds, using origami to take on the extremely common Gilles Deleuze folding space metaphor is still clever. Naturally, Batman and his allies must stop the incursion, including teaming up with versions of Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, and The Joker. Frustratingly, nonstop repetitive exposition dumps plague the film at every moment with ridiculous amounts of nonsensical explanations. Even the distilled synopsis provided in this review barely scratches the surface.

Designing The Yakuza-geddon

The art direction in the film is massively entertaining and detail oriented on a cultural level. Amid the sandogasa hats, parasols, and other cultural affectations, the production team drips out the characters in modern Yakuza styles. Kuraku's cape is a red robe, sporting intimidating Matsuda glasses and a casual 'S' shield T-shirt. Diana and Zeshika wear custom Yakuza kimono, while Harin (Harley) wears a stylized Sukeban girl uniform. Funnily enough, Ahsa wears with a custom chain to depict his delinquency and even Joker gets a Banchō pompadour. Additionally, creative 2D and 3D kamishibai-like animations accompany the film's near constant expositions. This includes unexpected but hilarious homages to Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and a shockingly diegetic City Pop musical solo ripped right out of an 80's anime or karaoke. Aesthetically, there is also creative cel shading, neon irezumi tattoos, and messy hatching meant to mimic 2D manga lines.

Unlike their adventure in feudal Japan, the Bat-Family retain their tech-heavy designs. On the contrary, they actually make a joke of Robin's chonmage top knot haircut from the first movie. Anyway, most of the Bat-Family have a main costume and a secondary uniform with an upgrade. Red Hood sports a homage to both  his New 52 uniform and his Red Hood: Outlaw costume. Meanwhile, Nightwing pulls out a colorful armored look likely paying tribute the character's early disco uniform. Similarly, Tim also wears several iterations of his Red Robin costume, but his broad chest and proportions are far more awkward than the others. Batman dons another mech at some point that mildly resembles the compact Gunmen suits from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Yeah, Yeah, What About The Fights?

In addition to nonstop exposition, Yakuza League lives up to its promises of unhinged anime versus battles. The film sets up it's major clashes by introducing internal lore and rivalries between the Hagane. For example, Diana's territory is the last hold out in the yakuza world, despite the Hagane's attempts to win her over. As an ally, Diana fights alongside Batman to protect characters like Harin or against former friends like Ahsa or Kuraku. Additionally, the film focuses on the batwing and its later iterations in several key dogfight set pieces. These sequences are explosive and the animators do a fantastic job showing off the sense of scale with decent pacing. Although, some of it does feel overwhelming or repetitive, which is sometimes common in anime.

Very early into the film, the filmmakers uphold the Tower of Babel idea of Batman having plans for every one of his allies. This results in various match ups where the Bat-Family cunningly outplay the Yakuza League with tailor made "Science Ninja Art" techniques. Following early defeat, Red Hood and Red Robin take on the speedster "Bari" in a 2V1 rematch across the city. While not a fan of the odd gas capsules Red Hood uses, the overall fight and the zaniness of their ninja art has appeal. On the other hand, Zeshika's fights and overall place in the story lack development. Initially, the film pits the Green Lantern against Diana and Harin, before discarding her for Nightwing to handle. Regardless, each of these battles are satisfyingly wacky showcases of anime goodness.

The Big Bad Blues

The ridiculous jaw dropping third act of Batman: Ninja is a hard act to follow. In comparison, the sequel's third act is far more tame. In spite of things devolving into the classic superhero movie third act tropes, the stakes still feel appropriately perilous. Still, the big bad's motivations are flimsy. Ultimately, things simply amount to "they are doing this because they can and nothing else" and that is hard to accept if you care for story. However, the best fight and Science Ninja Art in the film comes in the one on one with Batman and Kuraku. Even though he isn't the main antagonist, Kuraku's unfortunate philosophical misunderstanding with Batman is the best part of the movie. Their marvelous and surprisingly heartfelt scuffle showcases much Bruce admires Superman's character and not just his power.

There's also very bland characterizations across the board. Damian and the Robin barely resembles their comic counterparts, only showing mere shades of their personalities like Ninja Turtles. Speaking of which, Damian in particular isn't in much of the film either, sidelining the young hero early in the film without developing the other Robins. Tim, most of all, has no identifiable personality traits at all! At the same time, the Yakuza League get minor backstories to supplement the lack of dramatic weight. At best, it feels like smashing action figures together on the basis of their packaging descriptions. Voice talent like Joe Daniels/Koichi Yamadera (Batman) or Aaron Campell/Takaya Kamikawa (Kuraku) carry the film with mostly earnest performances, but a lot of the film sounds and looks video game-ish.

Recommended If...

• You like anime or the original film at the very least.
• You enjoy a Batman that doesn't take itself too serious.
• Looking for unique Justice League content.

Overall

I won't mince words, but if you like anime, then this movie is a blast from start to finish. Batman is as entertaining in this setting as ever, with brand new toys and magnificently colorful opponents to contend with. On the negative side, this movie isn't always bonkers in a good way. The film has a massive exposition problem, and overexplains nearly every event in the film. Not to mention, all the characters are superficially bland adaptations. Luckily, the filmmakers don't take a lot of this seriously and keep things focused on the fun action and the gags. Overall, it is easier to understand than the original, and far improved its direction. This is an easy recommendation for anyone who likes anime styled action, or bold or weird Batman content!

Score: 8/10

Video from Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Japan Anime, and DC Comics YouTube Channels.