Batman: Gotham Knight

Licensed By: Warner Brothers
Episodes: 1-6

In 2003, the Hollywood and anime worlds combined forces to create the Animatrix, a six part anime anthology based on the Watchowski Brother’s Matrix trilogy. Each chapter told a different short story, fleshing out the Matrix universe, and was created the most talented studios and directors in the anime industry.

The project gained a very positive critical response from movie and anime fans alike, and now, history is repeating itself with the release of Batman: The Gotham Knight.
Gotham Knight, like the Animatrix, is a collection of six short stories set between Batman Begins and its soon to be released sequel The Dark Knight. Each story was created by a different director and animation team, from premier anime studios Production I.G, Studio 4C and Madhouse.

The first chapter; Have I Got a Story for You, from Studio 4C and directed by Shojiro Nishimi (animation director for Tekkonkinkreet) sets The Gotham Knight off to an underwhelming start. The story of three youngsters’ personal interpretation of Batman, as he battles an un-named criminal, Nishimi’s depiction of the Dark Knight are interesting to say the least. The first three ‘forms’ can be forgiven for the fact that they are another character’s interpretation of our hero, but when the real Batman finally makes an appearance, he simply does not resemble him. Looking more like a overweight man in Batman Cosplay, the decision to draw him this way looks simply odd, and completely out of place with the very cool depictions of him from the following episodes.

Although boasting some fluid and stylish animation, there’s not much of a story in Have I Got a Story for You, more like an extended battle with a forgettable criminal. If the criminal was replaced with a real villain, it may have added more weight to the episode, but even then, this first chapter would by far stand out as the weakest link. It’s also the only chapter out of the six that doesnt connect in any way the rest, which makes its inclusion even more puzzling.

The second episode, titled Crossfire, is from Production I.G, and is directed by Futoshi Higashide (Air Key Animator). It’s an improvement over the previous, if only for the fact that Batman actually looks like Batman this time. Crossfire however has about as much story as the first, and is quite padded out, despite being little over ten minutes in length. In this piece, Batman saves two police officers caught in the crossfire between the Russian and Italian mafia. We get to see a darker, more convincing Gotham City this time, inhabited by the sort of oddballs one would expect to see there. It’s also fun seeing Batman terrorise his prey, which is what he does best, but the episode is pretty devoid of any background story or character development.

Part three is called Field Test, and is the second episode from Production I.G, this time directed by Hiroshi Morioka (Tsubasa). In this episode, a young Bruce Wayne makes an appearance, as he takes a really cool bit of kit out for a field test. Once again he takes on the Russian and Italian mobsters as they fight it out, taking his new kit out for a test run, which will have viewers wondering why the hell he doesn’t have it in the movies (though this is nicely wrapped up by the end). This episode manages to be the best so far, with its focus on Bruce Wayne bringing some much needed character dialouge after the first two episodes. The prize for best looking Batman of the six episodes definitely goes to Field Test. Whereas the rest (barring the first chapters oddity) look like the Batman from the comic books, Field Test presents us with a real anime Batman, sleek and streamlined, and it looks very, undeniably cool.

If Field Test provided us with Batman in true anime form, In Darkness Dwells brings it back to the dark and gritty look of the comic. From animation studio Madhouse, and directed by Yasuhiro Aoki (Animatrix’ Beyond key animator), this episode really begs for an animated series with the same aesthetic. Shot in odd angles, with excellent (if sometimes odd) art and an abundance of close-ups, In Darkness Dwells is perhaps the most atmospheric of the collection, the only letdown being the weird lip-synching animation, which happens to be the only real blotch on an otherwise excellent episode. Familiar faces make an appearance in the form of Killer Croc and Scarecrow which should satisfy fans after the lack of villains in the previous chapters. It would have benefitted from a longer running time however, as these fights are very brief, and it all moves at quite a rushed pace. Despite this however In it definitely stands up to the standard set by Field Test.

The fifth chapter, Working Through Pain from Studio 4C and directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka (Gunbuster, Giant Robo), is the most story driven of the lot. Bruce travels to India to train under a mysterious woman named Cassandra, in order to learn techniques that help him deal with physical and spiritual pain. This episode is reminiscent of Batman Begins’ first quarter, where Bruce Wayne trains under Ra's al Ghul and the League of Shadows. It’s always nice to see the origin behind the Batman we already know, and so this story is most definitely welcome, and stands up amongst the best of the whole package.

The final chapter is Madhouse’s second, and is directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust). Titled Deadshot, Batman faces off against the sharpshooting assassin named Deadshot, who can take out his target from over 2000 meters away with his sniper rifle. It has a very similar style to Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll, the characters are drawn from very bold lines, and the animation, particularly in the fight scene, is superb.

Not much actually happens during this episode however, and this is the main flaw with the DVD as a whole. Out of the six episodes, only two of them do a good job of fleshing out the story and characters of the Batman universe, which means the majority boil down to style over substance. That’s not to say the rest of the episodes are bad (with the exception of Have I Got a Story for You), they are very good at what they set out to do, but for those looking for any sort of real storyline will be disappointed, especially considering the episodes have all had the input of some of the best DC Comics writers.

Thankfully, the soundtrack and voice acting is of a high standard, with the voice of the Batman; Kevin Konroy reprising his role, bringing instant familiarity to those who have seen Batman: The Animated Series. Barring the sometimes strange lip synching of the characters, the animation is generally of a high standard, particularly the action scenes, and will no doubt have fans wishing for a full Batman anime feature or series.

Overall, Batman: Gotham Knight starts off disappointingly but gets progressively better after the first chapter. Even though most of the episodes end up being nothing more than an elongated fight scene, there is much entertainment to be had from the quality of the animation, and the different aesthetic styles each animation studio and director bring to the table. Batman has never looked cooler than in anime form, it’s just a shame not as much care was put into the actual storytelling, as this would have made Gotham Knight as monumental as its spiritual predecessor; The Animatrix.