While not considered a complete success, Batman Ninja was an intriguing experiment in adapting the Dark Knight to anime. Released in 2018, Junpei Mizusaki directed and Takashi Okazaki designed the feature, which displaces the hero to feudal Japan. Fans will get a chance to see Batman Ninja this month, following the news that Adult Swim’s Toonami block will air the film on October 16th at 12.30am as part of DC FanDome.
There has been some controversy over the animated creation since its premiere, with the American cut including rewrites to the original Japanese script. Despite a mixed response, the property has been enough of a hit to justify a stage adaptation project in 2020, now delayed due to the pandemic until this November. However, the production will only be running in Japan for now, meaning that we’ll hopefully get some online glimpses of the live-action story. You can check out a trailer for the stage version on Batman Ninja here.
Since Batman Ninja came out, there’ve been a host of anime adaptations of Western hits, including the recent Star Wars: Visions on Disney Plus, which has proved to be a more resounding favorite with audiences and critics. In the other direction, Netflix’s upcoming Cowboy Bebop series has been generating some criticism for how it’ll be translating the iconic show into a new format.
It is worth noting, though, that outside of Adult Swim, you can still catch Batman Ninja on HBO Max. If you do want to enjoy it on the network, the picture is being paired with Batman: Under the Red Hood, arguably one of the best of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Moreover, this late-night offering of DC content is bookended by an episode of Fena: Pirate Princess and Rick and Morty horror short The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara.
