Superhero Media: Batman - Ninja

What the fuck did I just watch? Batman - Ninja is an American-Japanese co-production that places the history and iconography of the Dark Knight in the hands of an Anime production house. It's fucking weird. Not even, "Japan is a different culture and sometimes is a bit odd" weird, but "what the hell were they on when they made this and where can I get some?" weird. When an experiment by Gorilla Grodd goes wrong, Batman, his sidekicks, and most of the Arkham inmates are transported back to Feudal Japan. Due to plot convenience, Batman arrives weeks or months after everyone else and discovers that Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Joker and Penguin have usurped the Daimyos and are battling for conquest of Japan. Working with Alfred Pennyworth and Catwoman, Batman tackles the Joker head-on, losing in a battle against Joker's mecha-castle, but escaping with the aid of Red Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood and a clan of bat-themed ninja. No, really. 

And the nonsense just ramps up from there until a samurai mecha is fighting a giant monkey composed of monkeys and a giant Batman composed of bats. Catwoman changes sides every ten minutes, Ivy, Penguin and Two-Face are built up but don't get much screen time, and there's an odd sub-plot with the Joker hypnotizing himself to escape being murdered by Red Hood. All in, I found Batman - Ninja to be a bit of a mess, not really making enough sense, the pacing is all over the place and although it's very Japanese, nothing about the cultural difference truly impacts the take on the Dark Knight. My thinking is that whilst Peter Parker is a student/journalist who got his powers when bitten by a radioactive spider, Japanese Spider-Man is Takyua Yamashiro, a motocross rider given his powers by aliens to battle evil. I guess I was just hoping for a truly Japanese take on Batman, or at least to see Lord Death Man. 

All the above taken into account, Batman - Ninja is still probably at least worth one watch, if only because the design of the characters is really interesting. Sometimes, it's subtle, like Harley using a Kabuki-styled hammer, but others, like Red Hood and Catwoman are simply stunning and I want them as miniatures. Red hood is dressed as a Shinto monk with a reddy-brown wicker helmet and a sword hidden in his robes. Catwoman's mask has a little cat nose and her collar a large, gold bell, reminiscent of a Maneki Neko; also, her whip is tied around her waist, the end trailing as a 'tail', it's a great look for the character. Looking online, it seems that many other fans enjoy Batman - Ninja at lot more than I did, so you'll probably need to take a look for yourself to decide. At least it was a step away from the "grim and gritty" Nolan/Arkham Batman that still pervades the culture. Batman should fight more monkeys in the live action films.