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REVIEW: Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League Anime Film Review

Now, don't get me wrong. The entire premise of a world where only yakuza exist—with each of the Justice League heroes being re-imagined as a different type of stereotypical yakuza boss—is crazy in the extreme.

there is an extra layer of enjoyment to be found in how well-versed you are in the tropes of Japanese yakuza fiction, especially the TV dramas of the 70s and 80s.

All in all, Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is an insanely fun film. It has a perfect mix of action and comedy while still providing a story that looks into what makes some of the world's most famous superheroes who they are. If you like DC superheroes, you should definitely give this one a watch, even if you didn't enjoy the previous Batman Ninja anime. It's easily in the running for the best Western superhero-based anime out there.

Richard Eisenbeis, you wrote:

Now, don't get me wrong. The entire premise of a world where only yakuza exist—with each of the Justice League heroes being re-imagined as a different type of stereotypical yakuza boss—is crazy in the extreme.

Have you never read an Elseworlds titles from DC? Don't tell me you never read Kingdom Come? I take it you never watch Superman: Red Son, Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, or Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham, I mean I've seen crazy DC's superheroes being re-imagined a lot and the idea of them re-imagined as Yakuza boss is not the most craziest thing I've seen or read.

I think, in a effort to avoid spoilers, I may have been unclear in what I was saying. Being crazy isn't a bad thing. I love Elseworlds as much as the next guy (and have read all those you mentioned except for Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham. I guess I'll add it to my reading list). However, what I feel is important in those stories (and all stories) is internal consistency--which they all have. They set up their world, their rules, and make sure those rules are followed.

The point I was trying to make is that Yakuza League does this while still being absolutely batshit crazy. I mean, the Yakuza League world is a world where everyone is a yakuza--literally every man, woman, and child. A world like this, where everyone is a criminal, shouldn't be able to exist. If everyone is a mob boss or a thug, it shouldn't have things infrastructure or high level technology. However, a major part of the plot is the implausibility of it allspoiler[--because it is a world artificially built upon a string of increasingly crazy "what if's" to create the exact one we see in the film.] So while it's completely out there (to a fourth-wall breaking level), it still makes sense within the context of the film.