Batman Reimagined
Remember the Animatrix? Well, a similar tie-in has been developed for Batman. It’s called Batman: Gotham Knight, and it features 6 animated shorts by prominent anime directors. I am very pleased with the outcome, though that may be because I expect slightly weird interpretations. And I’m cool with it. It doesn’t threaten my image of Batman. (Though…let’s face it…Robin does.) 
Here are some still shots I pulled of each Batman - feel free to click on any of the thumbnails for larger versions. There are obviously corresponding Bruce Wayne characters too, but I’ve left them out. I’ll post my favorites at the bottom.
“Have I Got a Story For You”
directed by Shojiro Nishimi
“Crossfire”
directed by Futoshi Higashide
“Field Test”
directed by Hiroshi Morioka
“In Darkness Dwells”
directed by Yasuhiro Aoki
“Working Through the Pain”
directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka
“Deadshot”
directed by Jong-Sik Nam
My favorite Batman design: Jong-Sik Nam
My favorite Bruce Wayne design: Toshiyuki Kubooka
My favorite short: “Field Test”
Opinions? Thoughts? Your reactions are welcome in the comments. Watching this was a great way to get stoked for the upcoming Dark Knight film. Especially because the actual content of the set of shorts was…lacking. Definitely leaves you hankering for something more satiating. I guess for overall content I like the Christopher Nolan reinterpretation of the Batman franchise. But this little outing was fun for what it was. Give it a shake if you’re up for it, and let me know what you think.
on July 9th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Batman Meets Anime…
Remember the Animatrix? Well, a similar tie-in for the Batman franchise has been developed. While it completely fails at filling in the gaps between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, it provides some really interesting reworking on a classic character…
on July 9th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
“Working Through the Pain” was my favorite of the shorts. It’s always cool to see moments of Batman’s past.
on July 10th, 2008 at 2:28 am
This movie looks great, anyone know if they sell this at gamestop?
on July 10th, 2008 at 9:42 am
James - I liked that short a lot too. Really nice animation and all.
Man - I searched their site, and it doesn’t register a hit, so I think they might not have it in stock yet.
Sorry!
on July 10th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Man,
Don’t you know everything is free on the internet?
on July 11th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
[...] Batman Reimagined [...]
on July 13th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Lets just say that I have acquired this particular item via an unnamed source and will be viewing it very soon.
I love cloak and dagger type stuff. Haha.
I also can’t wait for The Dark Knight. It is going to be INSANE!
Jordans last blog post was: Nagoya 2008 - 琴欧州万歳！頑張れ！
on July 17th, 2008 at 9:28 am
So the anti-bullet shield…
They answered my first objection, most guns these days are supersonic.
They don’t cover the most important point, bullets are usually made of lead. Don’t thing they would react to a magnetic field.
on July 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Jordan - how very cloak and dagger of you to semi-secretly procure the film. What’d you think? (And have you seen the Dark Knight yet?)
Tudza - yeah, I’m pretty sure lead isn’t magnetic. And you’re right about the supersonic thing too. But, this is Batman… The villains almost always have totally outrageous weaponry. Batman’s gear is always blurring the line between doable and silly. I dunno. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief.