Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League will begin streaming on Max (soon to be called HBO Max) next month.
Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League was originally released on digital platforms earlier this year in March, before a physical release on Blu-ray and DVD in April. A sequel to 2018's Batman Ninja, the DC anime film sees Batman and the Bat-Family return from feudal Japan only to find that present-day Gotham has been transformed. Japan has disappeared, and now there's a floating island called "Hinomoto" hovering above Gotham City with Yakuza hordes raining down.
Perhaps the bigger twist is that the traditional Justice League is gone, and in their place is a twisted "Yakuza League" — corrupted, evil versions of heroes like Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Superman — controlled by Ra's al Ghul.
In this sequel to Batman Ninja, the Batman family has returned to the present to discover that Japan has disappeared, and a giant island - Hinomoto - is now in the sky over Gotham City. At the top sit the Yakuza, a group of superpowered individuals who reign without honor or humanity and look suspiciously like the Justice League. Now, it’s up to Batman and his allies to save Gotham!
Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League was well-received upon release, praised for its explosive action and impressive animation quality. Similar to its predecessor, the film uses two distinct animation styles: a heavy, stylized 3D aesthetic for Gotham City, and a calligraphic, sketched-out 2D style for the upside-down Hinomoto.
Warner Bros. Japan and DC Animation co-produced the film, with animation done by Kamikaze Douga and YamatoWorks. Junpei Mizusaki, who also directed Batman Ninja and animated the CG opening for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, co-directed alongside Shinji Takagi (unit director for Blood: The Last Vampire). Other returning staff members include scriptwriter Kazuki Nakashima, character designer Takashi Okazaki, and composer Yugo Kanno. The Japanese voice cast stars Koichi Yamadera (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell) as Batman, Yuki Kaji (Attack on Titan) as Robin, Kengo Kawanishi (Kaiju No. 8) as Red Robin, Daisuke Ono as Nightwing, and Akira Ishida as Red Hood.
Although initially released in Japanese, an English dub version, produced by Sentai Filmworks, was eventually made available on all digital platforms. The physical release also included the English dub. The English voice cast features Joe Daniels a Batman, Bryson Baugus as Robin, Nathan Wilson as Red Robin, Houston Hayes as Nightwing, and David Matranga as Red Hood.
Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League will begin streaming on Max on July 3rd. Presumably, the English dub will also be available.