Warning: Contains spoilers for Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League.While not many people gave it the time of day, one of my favorite Batman movies and DC movies, in general, has always been 2018’s Batman Ninja. People were quick to write it off as a bad movie for its 3D visuals and goofy story, but to me, both of those aspects have always come together to make a movie that’s pure fun from start to finish.

2018’s Batman Ninja has always been criminally underrated in my mind, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was getting a sequel, Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League. I didn’t know what to expect from it beyond the basic premise of Batman fighting a Yakuza-style Justice League, but I was still excited for it, and sure enough, Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League easily topped its predecessor as my favorite Batman movie of all time. There are plenty of reasons why I would think that, and overall, I see no reason not to go into them.

Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League’s 3D Visuals Are Pure Art

Why Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League Looks So Good

The first thing that immediately stands out about Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League is its 3D visuals. Batman Ninja was famous for being a rare example of an anime with good 3D and CG visuals, and none of that charm has been lost on the sequel, as Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League always finds a way to deliver stunning 3D visuals in every scene. 3D is something anime has infamously had trouble making look good for years, but I’m happy to say that the team of Junpei Mizusaki, Kamikaze Douga, and YamatoWorks is still masters of the art.

Naturally, the 3D visuals are great for more than the simple fact that they look good. Whether it’s the Japanese-esque character designs or the unique depictions of both Gotham and Japan, the film always succeeds at selling itself as having a unique visual style, even taking care to animate characters slightly differently depending on whether they’re from Gotham or Japan. Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League effortlessly uses its 3D visuals to sell the high quality of its art style, and it was just as fun to see here as it was in the first film.

Tying it all together, of course, were the fight scenes. In addition to always looking good, far better than one would expect from an all-CG production, every fight scene is filled with dynamic camerawork that never fails to sell the creativity and overall intensity of each fight, a major part of why the fights in this film and its predecessor are so fun. Between the general high quality of its visuals and everything done with them, Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League easily has the best 3D visuals of any recent anime, and it made it nothing but fun to watch.

Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League’s Story Is The Best Kind Of Dumb Fun

I’ve Never Had More Fun With A Batman Movie

With a premise revolving around Ra’s al Ghul manipulating space-time to turn the Justice League into his Yakuza henchmen, it’s as ridiculous as the first film, if not more so, but just like the first film, it works because it’s played completely straight. Things like Superman dressing up like a gangster, Ra’s al Ghul being obsessed with sushi, and Alfred making an anime theme song parody for Batman are never treated as jokes, and overall, Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League’s story works so well because of how seriously it takes its ridiculous premise.

The parts of the story that aren’t utterly ridiculous are also a major part of its charm. Underneath all the goofiness is a very traditional Batman story of him needing to bring the Justice League together to save the world, and overall, the fact that Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League knows how to balance its absurd premise with a more traditional narrative is a big part of why its story works as well as it does. That same balancing act was very much present in Batman Ninja, and I loved seeing it here just as much as I did there.

Batman Ninja Continues To Fix The Biggest Problem With Batman Stories

More Batman Movies Need To Take After Batman Ninja

With how serious a character Batman is, his stories tend to be largely grounded, and in the case of the Dark Knight trilogy, the goofier parts of Batman lore will be reworked to be as realistic as possible. While there have been plenty of great stories in comics, film, and TV written under that style, it ignores how many great Batman stories have revolved around the series’ willingness to get absurd, so the tendency for Batman stories to focus on realism often falls flat because it ignores the potential of Batman’s more bizarre stories and characters.

That problem is a big part of why I love Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League. Both it and its predecessor wholeheartedly play into the weirder aspects of Batman and the wider DC lore, and the sincerity in their writing, combined with how generally good their stories are, always makes them fun specifically because of how weird they are. The Batman Ninja films are the best Batman films because their weirdness is a refreshing change of pace from Batman stories that play exclusively into realism, and it’s a shame that they’re as underrated as they are.

Batman’s New Anime Movie Understands What Makes Comic Books Fun

Why Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League Is Such A Great Comic Book Movie

There’s no denying the strengths of Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League’s willingness to be weird, and that’s great beyond comparing it to other Batman stories. DC, in general, has gained a reputation over the past decade for being overtly dark and serious, and even casual fans have gradually grown sick of it all. By comparison, Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League’s ability to be as weird as possible while still telling a thoughtful and all-around good story fixes the issue of DC stories being too dark, and it’s a perfect reminder of how fun comic book stories can be.

I probably wouldn’t want everything DC does to be as weird as Batman Ninja, and even the darker stories have merit to them, but with how fun a story it is largely in part because of how weird it is, the incredible highs of Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League’s writing and visuals show that there’s plenty of merit in DC doing more absurd stories, all of which I would be more than happy to see. It’s truly amazing just how great a film Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League was, and hopefully, I won’t be the only one to see that.