Warner Bros. Japan stopped by Anime Expo to premiere a teaser trailer and new poster for its upcoming Batman Ninja sequel film, Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League.

Much like how the original 3D CG film followed Batman as he and his allies (and villains) were whisked away from Gotham to feudal-era Japan, its sequel sees the cape crusader return to the samurai-laden era once again.

Although the movie clip—which was shared on Warner Bros. Japan's official X/Twitter account—was quicker than a hiccup, it did reveal the aforementioned Yakuza League is none other than the Justice League's own Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Green Lantern. Seeing as the film has the word "versus" in its title, it wouldn't be wild to assume Batman will have to contend with his former allies for reasons yet to be revealed.

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┃ 　 特報PV公開!! ┃
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Anime Expoにて堂々解禁！🦇⚡️💍🛡️🐟https://t.co/4VhrEBnYJP#ニンジャバットマン #DC pic.twitter.com/cIBWMomMaQ

— Warner Bros. Japan Anime (@wb_anime) July 5, 2024

Here's a closer look at Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League's poster, which features Wonder Woman sporting an eagle tattoo, The Flash wearing a traditional Japanese straw hat, Aquaman in a fisherman's headband, and Green Lantern (likely Jessica Cruz) donned in a kimono garment whilst brandishing a Japanese-style lantern.

◥◣「ニンジャバットマン対ヤクザリーグ」◢◤
　◥◣　　メインビジュアル公開！！　　◢◤

印を結ぶバットマン、日本刀を持つワンダーウーマン、飛脚風フラッシュ、漁師風アクアマン、花魁風グリーン・ランタン！？
「ヤクザリーグ」とは…！？https://t.co/YlUeIrYCCX#ニンジャバットマン #DC pic.twitter.com/GkJyw7DFcc

— 「ニンジャバットマン対ヤクザリーグ」Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League公式 (@batmanninja2018) July 5, 2024

Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League was first announced in May and, much like its predecessor, it will see actor Koichi Yamadera reprise his role as Batman. The movie will also see the return of production members like Kamikaze Douga, the animator behind the CG anime opening themes for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The casting for the rest of the "Yakuza League," as well as the film's official release date, have yet to be announced.

In our 9.7 review of Batman Ninja, we said, "Batman Ninja sets a new standard for DC animated films."

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

During Anime Expo, Arc System Works unveiled a world premiere teaser trailer for its upcoming Guilty Gear anime, Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers, which is set to be released sometime next year.

Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Riders is a 3D CG anime adaptation of the eponymous fighting game that is being animated by SANZIGEN. While the teaser gave little away story-wise, the trailer did showcase the long-running fighting game's central characters, Sol Badguy and Sin Kiske. The trailer, which is stylized in a similar fashion to the game's cutscenes, pits the pair against a mysterious new foe named Unika, who has a grudge against Gears.

🔉WORLD PREMIERE

GUILTY GEAR STRIVE: DUAL RULERS
Teaser PV

YouTube Link⬇️https://t.co/mpOIyYDqBy

Please enjoy and LET’S ROCK!#GGSTDR

— Arc System Works America (@ArcSystemWorksU) July 4, 2024

Guilty Gear stands head and shoulders above other fighting games series thanks in part to it being one of the flashiest anime fighters of all time. Consequently, Guilty Gear also has a reputation for being one of the hardest story timelines to follow. A case in point is the fact that the story mode for Strive's predecessor, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, is essentially an uninterrupted hour-long anime unto itself. For folks wondering where Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Riders will sit in the series storied lore, here's a plot synopsis for the show:

"After the decline of the once robust fields of science and technology, a new energy source known as magic fuels the modern era," the official description reads. "Humanity creates forbidden biological weapons: Gears. Those Gears eventually stand against humanity in a rebellion. Although they manage to overcome in the struggle for survival known as the Crusades, humanity’s losses are so great that even after several decades pass, their emotional wounds remain unable to fully heal.

"Sin Kiske, the child of a human and a Gear, heads to his father Ky and mother Dizzy’s wedding ceremony. Their wedding breaks the ultimate taboo: a union between a human and a Gear. Even with the world at peace, it took many years for such a ceremony to come to fruition. Despite the complex array of emotions surrounding it, the wedding ceremony is met with blessings. When suddenly, a mysterious girl appears… The fated child inheriting Gear blood–and the mysterious girl who despises Gears. Their meeting would shake the world."

In our review of Guilty Gear Strive, we gave the game a 9/10, saying, "Guilty Gear Strive sets a new standard for anime-like fighting games with its visuals, stellar netcode, and flexible fighting system that encourages and rewards creativity."

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

The third and final season of anime Beastars will be split into two parts, the first of which hits Netflix in December 2024.

Announced at Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in the U.S., Netflix teased Season 3 by saying "a world of impending danger awaits Legoshi as the final chapter begins." A poster for the finale, below, was also shown.

Beastars, created by Paru Itagaki, takes place in a world where carnivores and herbivores struggle to coexist. The story follows a mild-mannered wolf named Legoshi who is coming to grips with overcoming his carnivorous instincts in the midst of his budding romance with a bunny named Haru.

A world of impending danger awaits Legoshi as the final chapter begins.

BEASTARS Final Season will be released in two parts with Part 1 coming THIS DECEMBER, only on Netflix! 🐺#bstanime @bst_anime pic.twitter.com/sZewC8TpKU

— Netflix Anime (@NetflixAnime) July 4, 2024

Interspersed with Legoshi's coming-of-age tale is a pulpy crime drama that showcases the desperate power struggles and deep-rooted classism rooted in its melting pot-esque society. Think Disney's Zootopia if it were a mature anime.

Beastars' first season premiered on Netflix in 2020. The show, animated by Studio Orange of Trigun Stampede and Land of the Lustrous fame, stood out among its contemporaries for its expressive and fluid use of 3D CG animation — an animation style often criticized by the anime community as stiff and lifeless.

In our 9/10 review of Season 2, IGN said: "The unique mix of action and drama in Beastars Season 2 is entertaining to watch, balanced perfectly by the main and supporting cast of the anime. Orange: Animation Studio vividly brings the black and white pages of Paru Itagaki’s famed manga to life through their use of CGI and traditional animation in a way that makes Beastars Season 2 something truly special."

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Fans have long wondered whether the anime adaptation of horror auteur Junji Ito's magnum opus, Uzumaki, would finally get an official release date or spiral into another delay. Some good news just dropped in that regard: the long-awaited anime will apparently premiere on Adult Swim later this year.

In a recent interview with the Japan Times, Ito not only revealed that the anime would finally be released within the calendar year, but he also said that the first episode of the four-episode miniseries has been completed and lives up to his expectations.

It's been a whirlwind of a year and we're excited to finally be able to show you this! Enjoy! https://t.co/3uq8l4R7MZ

— UzumakiAnime (@UzumakiAnime1) July 23, 2023

Uzumaki's anime adaptation, which is being co-produced by Adult Swim and Ghost in the Shell studio Production I.G, was originally slated to be released on Toonami in 2020 before it was delayed in 2021, pushed back to October 2022 due to COVID, and delayed a third time without a new release date in June of 2022.

At the time, the official X/Twitter account for the anime released a statement about Production I.G needing more time to work on the adaptation to ensure it recreated "the quality of the intricate designs and detailed line work" of Uzumaki.

米カートゥーン・ネットワーク／Adult Swimの放送枠「Toonami」で放送予定のアニメ「うずまき」放送延期のお知らせです🙇！！
改めての正式リリース発表を今しばらくお待ちくださいませ！！ https://t.co/OHGHY0sQRh

— 伊藤潤二 (@junjiitofficial) June 28, 2022

“As much as we’d like to deliver this show to the public as soon as possible, we don’t want to compromise its quality by delivering a mediocre final product," Uzumaki's production team wrote in the statement. "We remain fully committed to pursuing the completion of this work at the highest caliber. We’ll be back with a firm premiere date once we are confident this adaptation is as good as we know it can be.”

Uzumaki follows a high school girl named Kirie Goshima as she encounters a mysterious spiral pattern that suddenly crops up all over her hometown. Over time, the spiral becomes a source of obsession for the townsfolk, beckoning them to not only find the pattern throughout their daily lives but to become obsessed with it in increasingly gruesome ways.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada's official X/Twitter account has quickly become the fighting game community town square thanks in part to his extra long behind-the-scenes trivia posts and occasional Waffle House asides. Harada's latest bit of Tekken lore dump put to bed a long-running fandom perception that Tekken devs have always hated Anna Williams.

In an impromptu Q&A X/Twitter post, Harada responded to a fan's question about the relationship dynamic between Nina and Anna. In his 1,317-word response — which was written during his lunch break — Harada also addressed the community rumor about Tekken devs hating Anna by stating the exact opposite.

"By the way, there is a small group of people who believe that Anna is not loved by the development team and they even say that Anna is hated [by the] dev team," Harada wrote. "Well, it doesn't matter, Because it's NOT true at all, but the Anna portrayed in the story of TEKKEN is filled with a lot of thoughts and feelings from me and the animation staff."