1: Have I got a story for you
First arc out of the six. Animated by studio 4C, though I don’t even need to say that. This arc actually consists of four different parts three of which are shown from the point of view of each of the kids who claim they saw Batman fight a weird guy and because of that where late.
This one is my second favorite arc of the six. The shadow batman is awesome. If anybody watched, or read The Maxx, shadow-batman kind of reminds me of him. The facial expressions that is. The rest of the characters are drawn in similar style as Kemonozume, but with much more details given to the backgrounds.
02: Crossfire
Thi Russians are coming, thi Russians!!… Second arc, animated by Production I.G.
A pair of cops sent out to drop off Jacob Pheeley (sp?) back in prison. Coming back they get caught in a crossfire between the Russian and the Italian mobs, just to be rescued by Batman- Deux ex Machina style. I guess the batsuit is fireproof…. the Russian guy is amusing
03: Field Test
Third arc of the series, this one done by Bee-Train. I must admit, this one is my favorite of all and not because of the art. Well, not in that way, but because of the sheer WTF-ness of it. I’m not a big fan of batman, I did my research required not to go O_o whenever I watch anything dealing with this franchise, but that’s about it. But darn, what where the guys at Bee-Train smoking to turn Gotham’s Dark Knight into a yaoi bait? And it’s not just visually, the entire character is way off, which is what makes it so darn amusing. At first time I actually thought this would be Edward Nigma, as the character is much closer to him then Bruce Wayne. The bat-armor (and no, it’s not a suite anymore) reminds me of Berserk’s Griffith here. (and it looks like I’m not the only one to think so)
04: In Darkness Dwells
Animated by Madhouse. Heavy action, heavy shading, visual modes, gas masks and a guy who’s mom flushed him down the toilet because she did not want him. Yet another standard issue rescue mission for Batman. This time underground. Nothing that stands out other then the way they portray Gotham City. Very nice, though it gives off the vibes of Dark City (the 1998 film).
05: Working Through Pain
Back to studio 4C. Em, Neo, is that you?
This time the story revolves around Bruce before he actually became Batman. This one follows Bruce through his training to learn to deal with the pain. Well, physical at least. I found this one amusing simply because of how much Bruce here looks like Neo. The fight scene at the end, with him wearing all black, and the back flip through the air: that did not help the image either.
06: Deadshot
The final arc, produced again by Madhouse. More shading, more action, more manly Batman. Actually I think this one has the best action scenes of the six, the fight atop of the train was awesome. The main villain this time is a “legendary” sniper called Deadshot, hired by “thi Russians” to take out Batman as hi pissed them off enough in the previous arks. Considering Batman’s history with firearms this one proves to be a challenge for him.
So over the course of six 15 minute episodes Mr. Wayne goes from a weird shadow to a mutated bat, to a battle robot, to a yaoi bait, to Agent 008, to Neo, to Mr. Manly Man… pick the one you like the most I guess. I’ll take the shadow and the yaoi bait ^___^