The latest from DC Animation is out now on digital platforms. In Batman Ninja, the Dark Knight and his comrades along with his rogue gallery are sent to Feudal Japan after a Gorilla experiment goes wrong. Now Batman most learn the art of the ninja in order to defeat his foes in a situation that pits him in a world without his gadgets.

Batman Ninja is a 2018 anime film, it is produced by WB Animation and distributed by WB Pictures. It is currently available on digital download with a DVD and Blu-Ray release to follow on May 8, 2018.

Joker and Batman face off in Feudal era Japan.

From the combined minds of Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki and DC Entertainment comes a new Batman adventure that blends the present with the past. After Gorilla Grodd builds a time machine it accidentally sends Bruce Wayne and co. to the Feudal period of Japan where they have stayed for over two years slowly building their own armies. Taking over multiple regions of the country The Joker and his fellow villains look to take over Japan while destroying Batman and his allies once and for all.

Editor’s Note: This is a review of the English dub version of Batman Ninja.

Tara Strong returns as Harley Quinn for the English dub.

THE GOOD: Batman’s ninja adventure is just as insane and ridiculous as you’d think it’d be upon first glance. Full of zany, self-aware anime comedy and a gorgeous style of animation this new film is one of the better films of the most recent bunch to come out of DC Animation. If anyone is wondering why the Batman Ninja art style looks so familiar it’s probably because of one of two reasons: the fact that character designs were created by Takahashi Okazaki, and the full on animation of the film was provided by Kamikaze Douga, the studio known for their work on the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure TV anime’s opening theme song sequences.

The Dark Ninja cometh.

Batman Ninja is an anime trope filled trill ride, with sword battles, sentient animals, and even mechs, yes mechs. Voice acting is mostly spectacular with Tony Hale stealing the show as the English dub voice of The Joker. His performance as a mostly comedic yet still very menacing Clown Prince is believable throughout the entirety of the film and it’s always a treat hearing Tara Strong voicing Harley again. While the film doesn’t particularly take itself too seriously until the final act things do get a little dark here and there in the second act, especially with the introduction of Red Hood. Action sequences are a mix of cool fights and fun over the top moments when Gorilla Grodd, Two-Face, Deathstroke, The Penguin, and Poison Ivy reveal their own respective mechs.

Batman Ninja’s light-hearted surface slowly reveals a much darker center during the final act.

THE BAD: Most of the villains outside of Grodd, Harley, and Joker feel underdeveloped and act as mostly filler throughout the film. I think they only had a combined fifteen or so minutes of screen time between them.

Don’t let your eyes fool you, this is actually an enormous Batman created by thousands of monkeys and bats fused into one being. Yes, you read that correctly.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Chances are Batman Ninja won’t be for everyone, especially hardcore Batman/DC fans who have no awareness of anime. However, even with a lack of anime knowledge most should be able to enjoy the film for a single watch at the very least. Otaku Dome gives Batman Ninja a 90 out of 100.