This review of Batman Ninja seems timely as we celebrate eighty years of Batman. The Caped Crusader first appeared on 30 March 1939. Recently, I streamed the animated feature on Netflix.
After a time machine mishap, Batman ends up in feudal Japan with Gotham’s most dangerous criminals - there’s no way the story guys would miss out arch nemesis Joker and Penguin in something like this. We will find out later, Batman’s faithful butler Alfred, Catwoman, Robin and gang are also transported to this timeline. Sounds just like another good versus evil Batman movie-length cartoon doesn’t it? That is, until the surprises start to trickle in.
The bad guys arrived earlier in time than Batman and managed to become warlords and establish their own clans. It is only for sure that the already chaotic era becomes a bigger mess with this bunch’s meddling. Thus, begins the quest for Batman’s gang to right what was wrong whilst finding their way back to their own time. Naturally, there will be setbacks and betrayals along the way as the movie progresses.
The Batman Ninja version that I watched was in Japanese. The feature has all the characteristics and exaggeration unique to Japanese anime. The creative team even threw in some over the top giant robots that can combine to become an even bigger one. One can look forward to the climactic fight scenes. Coupled with some good storytelling, Batman Ninja is an experiment that just works.
As media consumption becomes readily accessible, quirky ideas like Batman Ninja are a welcome addition to the mundane styles that are common every where.
I bought this book many years back at the annual Big Bad Wolf book sale. I had no idea what enchantment (the action of positively changing people’s perception towards the reader and his/her product/business) was when I got it (see why I decided to get it anyway below). I’ve only read it recently as I start to clear my backlog of unread books (I love reading but abandoned the hobby until slightly more than a year ago when I restarted).
I love the book from the very beginning (I guess you can say I was enchanted right from the start) because:
It was written in simple, easy to understand English so that I did not need to keep searching the dictionary.
The sub-sections are short but straight to the point and concise. I don’t feel burdened or bored by a long chapter.
Because of the above points, it’s easy to put down and resume afterwards.
There are various examples of real life success stories at the end of each chapter.
Seasoned readers of business books may find the contents too simple. However, for a beginner like me, I find this to be a really good introduction to the art of enchantment. This book is also very relevant to our day to day lives. We could make good friends and have happy bosses if we keep the points in mind.
While at it, the author emphasised the importance of being genuine and do good. Never do unto others what you don’t want done unto you.
Overall, after finishing the book, I would say it serves as a great starting point whilst still very readable for the seasoned practitioners. It will work well as a quick reference guide, too, should you need to go back and look for some pointers.
* Guy, if you ever come across this obscure blog post, I bought this book because:
Someone suggested to follow your tweets but I can’t remember who did the recommendation, sorry.
The cover looks really nice.
The cover states the books is a“New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller..”
