Review by C.J. Bunce

It’s about time DC got an adaptation right.

If you’re familiar with the graphic novel Superman: Red Son, you know the alternate world tale where Superman was raised in Soviet Russia instead of Kansas.  But what if Superman was raised in a yakuza-controlled alternate version of Japan instead?  Then you’d have Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League, one of the best screen adaptations of Batman and Justice League stories in animated or live action form.  Directors Junpei Mizusaki and Shinji Takagi enlist all the manga and anime tropes to take a new look at everything you know about the Justice League.

Returning with Damien aka Robin after a battle in an alternate feudal Japan, our world’s Bruce Wayne aka Batman encounters a glitch in space-time that changes the past as we know it.  An alternate Japan springs up seemingly floating above Gotham, only visible to Batman, Damien aka Robin, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Red Hood.  It’s literally raining yakuza thugs on the world we know, and gangsters run everything, while Commissioner Gordon continues to fight for every citizen, oblivious to the changes around him.  Suddenly the Dynamic Duo meets Japanese versions of key members of the Justice League: Ahsa the Aqua Dragon (Aquaman), Emerald Ray (Jessica the Green Lantern), and Fleet-of-Foot Bari (Barry Allen aka the Flash).

This is proof that if you get the right creators involved, creators who love their subject, you can get an adaptation exactly right.  In short, Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is more fun than both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and better in every way than the Snyderverse Justice League movies.

Alt Wonder Woman, a leader called Daiana, Eagle Goddess, is the closest to our normal world’s counterpart, leading the Amazone–the only opposition to the Hagane clan.  She’s badass while seeking justice for everyone, including our world’s Harley Quinn, who came into this incarnation of Earth with the Joker.

But Superman is there, too, and he’s not the leader of this new league as he was the JLA.  Clark Kent is “Hagaane no Kuraku” or “Clark of Steel” and enforcer for the actual Ra’s al Ghul from the original timeline, and he may be behind this twisted new universe.

The balance here is a faithful adaptation from writer Kazuki Nakashima that shows respect as it incorporates sacred Japan myth and legend along with the wackiest of modern pop culture tropes, while adding plenty of laughs along the way.  Like when Alfred Pennyworth provides Bruce Wayne with a very anime-infused presentation.  Or when Ra’s al Ghul uses sushi to try to bribe grandson Damien aka Robin to join his dark side.  Damien is a funny teen who exposes much of the story by saying what the audience is thinking, and this Alfred is full of dry wit, too.

Batman sleuths out that Gorilla Grodd’s Quake Engine–the MacGuffin of the first Batman Ninja movie (a lesser-received movie from 2018)–is behind what is destroying Earth’s history.  Batman and Superman face off like never before, with the Dark Knight Detective outwitting Supes, finding his unique Kryptonite and defeating him with the equivalent of a Five-Fingered Death Punch… of science.

This is the first time the look of Batman matches the best of Batman comic art in a movie, both in costuming (compared to live action adaptations) and illustration (compared to animated versions).  The bat tech is cutting edge and looks real at times, as do the environments, like the city streets, the overhead climate changes, and the Batwing.  This is the best animated Batman visually, and in dialogue and story, without compare.

And it’s not just Robin joining Batman, with members of the Earth’s Bat family along to fight beside Batman.  Joker looks great, and as another surprise no script has better served Harley Quinn’s story.

The only thing missing are kaiju beasts.  But eye-popping special effects, a solid story, and a great cast of voice talent make Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League a candidate for the year’s best superhero movie, animated or not.

Time travel, space converters, multiple space-time continuums, a temporal paradox, the Four Dimension Origami System!  What more could you want?  It’s the most fun way you’ve seen the DC superheroes since the animated Super Friends TV series, and faithful to the core of the superheroes in the comic books.  And it would be a great introduction to anime, Japanese pop culture and pop music, mythology and symbolism for new audiences.  Warner Bros., Kamikaze Douga, and YamatoWorks finally captured the Batman I’ve read in comic books for 50 years.

Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is now streaming on HBO Max.