Batman is one of the most popular comic book characters in the world. There’s bright, there’s patriotic, there’s bold, and there’s him. Because of that dark mystique, he’s also one of the most reimagined superheroes there is — and it’s hard to be more stylish than Japanese anime. Behold the trailer for Batman Ninja, in release in theaters in Japan, and will be redubbed in English, and made available direct to Blu-Ray here in the United States (there’s no timetable for that release as of yet).

The film was announced last October, and a short clip of it was shown at New York Comic Con. Now, at last, here is the full trailer.

Story writer Kazuki Nakashima (Kill La Kill) and character designer Takashi Okazaki (Afro Samurai) have created a Batman unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

We’ve had hints of it, though. On Cartoon Network, there were one or two test balloons they did to see what people might think of an anime style Batman. Here’s one of them, called Bat Man of Shanghai, featuring Catwoman and the Batman facing off over this film’s MacGuffin, the Scroll of Destiny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L45lW6Hi9w

It’s a testament to the power and strength of the Batman mythology that it’s possible to transplant the story into a different cultural setting entirely and have it be just as amazing as it was in its original context.

We can hardly wait to see this one.

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