Turning the Justice League into Yakuza: An Interview with Character Designer Takashi Okazaki

2018 sequel Batman Ninja,,,,, Batman Ninja and Yakuza Alliance Follow Batman and the larger Bat family, they venture into a strange land where both the Justice League of America are twisted into the Yakuza version. While the movie itself is a part of a superhero action and a part of a regular Yakuza for years, it wouldn’t work properly without it being Yakuza-Files Design, the most famous superheroes in the West. With this in mind, Anime News Network sit down Batman Ninja and Yakuza Alliance Character designer Takanakaokasaki Not only to discuss the inspiration behind each redesign, but also to which characters he likes Yakuza-Fy, if given the chance.

First, Okazaki believes that when he turns Justice League into Yakuza, he has a lot of places to play. “Color and [character] The trademark already exists, doesn’t it? “He started. But, at the same time, he didn’t want to be so much so that they couldn’t recognize. I mean, if you have the chance to draw DC characters, you want to draw them correctly, right?”

Each member of the Yakuza Alliance is based on a different Yakuza stereotype. Okazaki started with Wonder Woman (aka Diana Prince) and broke them one by one: “Diana is the female hero of Yakuza movies, or the ‘ninkyo’ movies [that showcase the yakuza-based code of honor]. Typical heroines, such as the character of Junko Fuji Red Peony Gambler The series is well known. besides Mrs. Snowbring It is famous even in the United States. I’m based Meiko checked When she appears on the movie poster Mrs. Snowbring. I think it works very well. ”

Of course, there is more to design. Okazaki had to figure out how to combine the related items of Wonder Woman – Ei, her Amazon shield and the iconic Truth Lasso. For the shield, it was obvious in Okazaki’s eyes. “There is one [Lady Snowblood] She was holding a poster with an umbrella and a sword – I just thought, “Wow, that’s Wonder Woman!” If she used that umbrella as a shield, she would be Wonder Woman. She even had this sword on the shaft of the umbrella! ”

As for the lasso, it became part of her clothes. “I turned it into an obi rope,” he told me. “I don’t think it’s too much. [in the film]so you can see a lot of scenes, but in terms of design, the lasso is made into an Obi line. ”

Next, we talk about the green lantern Jessica Cruz. “As for Jessica, where should I start…because Diana is the typical knight Yakuza, a big sister type – I want to make Jessica young and give a more popular fashion impression. So I put her in the whore costume I was wearing.” “I wasn’t inspired by any particular movie heroes.” [when designing Jessica] But it feels like a really trendy, cute girl style. […] I mean, in the Yakuza movies and the old “Ninkyo” movies, the Yoshiwara Red-Light District and Coiltesans usually appear, so I guess the image is there. But with Jessica, I don’t have any special people. ”

However, the strange illustration about Jessica in the film is the theme of the teddy bear. Not only did she make them with her power rings, she also brought one on her back. “When I received the design for Jessica Cruz, I didn’t know her. Okazaki continued: “Baz is very cool. I want to put him somewhere in the movie. So I think if Jessica had a stuffed animal that reminds Buzz, when you think of stuffed animals, you think of a teddy bear. ”

His Yakuza redesign heads to Aquaman, Arthur Curry, from two characters – one character and the other is not. “Arthur is based on the image of a person who works in the fish market, i.e. [fictional literary] Character Isshin Tasuke,” Okazaki explained. He is a violent character who works in the fish market. While Isshin Tasuke is not unique, people who work in the fish market wear headbands and tie them to the front.”

This gives us non-Japanese inspiration. “When I saw 2Pac a long time ago, he was wearing a turban like that, and when I saw a turban like that, I thought it was an amazing fish market style. […] So this time, when I was able to make Aquaman Yakuza, I thought, “I can finally use this idea!” I did,” he shouted. The idea of ​​wearing the rapper’s gold chain came from the image of me 2Pac, he wore long boots because it was the style of a fish market worker. Aquaman’s design mixed things like that.”

Then we head into Okazaki’s first and favorite character redesign, namely Barry Allen, The Flash. “The character of Yakuza movie I like is called Kogarashi Monjirō. He wears a cloak and a hat, like Barry, and a large umbrella like Barry is also called “Sandogasa” [in Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League]- This is the typical style of the Yakuza travelers in the old days. When it comes to flash, the Golden Age flash wore a barrel hat, right? I thought it would be very cool to turn it into a Sandogasa, so I drew it this way – I added wings to Sandogasa to match the flash of the Golden Age. ”

“I put in a lot of effort into his design,” Okazaki continued. “The lines of his boots are based on traditional Japanese patterns, which is the lightning design of the Japanese family crown. And the lines on his cloak are also in lightning – I think it has a very good balance. […] You know, there are a lot of details. I really like this character. ”

At the climax of the movie, Yakuza League members have another set of character designs, half of their Yakuza designs and half of their normal Justice League. Okazaki did these, too.

“Basically, I want the Justice League, or the Yakuza League – the people they wake up at the end of the movie will become the image of the Justice League that everyone thinks of. Their design makes the Flash look like Flash, and the Aquaman looks like Aquaman, but the concept is that they all have Yakuza Tattoos,” Okazaki explained. “If my designs here were too weird, then they wouldn’t look like Justice League. I realize that.”

However, the most striking aspects of these tattoos (how they glow) are not part of Okazaki’s original design. “The fact that they shine is due to the people Kamikaze Douga– They make the tattoo glow during the production process. I design tattoos normally. “He smiled and said, “‘Oh! They shine! That’s what I thought when watching a movie. “His only regret is that in the last movie, it’s hard to see tattoos in all their glory. So Barry has an Aidaten tattoo on his back, […] There are only tattoos on Wonder Woman’s shoulders, and a giant carp fish tattoo on his back, while Green Lantern’s tattoo is a space-themed tattoo…I worked so hard on design, but you really can’t see them on the big screen,” he lamented.

In addition to Yakuza League members, Okada has a chance to Yakuza-Fy’s two Batman Little Man galleries: Joker and Harley Quinn. “The clown is a botosōzoku [a member of a biker gang]. In the 80s, when I was really young, the bosōzoku style was still very common. It was so fun to attract him. [a member of a 70s/80s gang of female delinquents]. When I say Sukeban, I mean, people in school uniforms tend to have short skirts these days, but when I was very young, all Sukeban and Cool Girls wore long skirts. […] For our generation, when you talk about Sukeban, you think They are. I think They are It has some influence on her design. ”

As for how to choose Harley is reimagined as sukeban: “I’m talking to it nakashima kazuki [the film’s screenwriter] About all kinds of old toei Yakuza movies start talking about the Sukeban genre – I was like, ‘Sukeban is great. I want to have a Sukeban in the movie. Harley would be perfect, isn’t it? I think that’s how she ends up being attracted to. ”

To end everything, I asked Okazaki which other DC characters he wanted to turn into Yakuza. “It would be fun if there was a Super Girl design. Oh, and, Batman and the Bats aren’t actually the Yakuza in the movie, and I think it might be fun to bring some of the Bats family into Yakuza as well.”

However, the characters that really caught his attention were a little less well known. “Strength girls can be fun – all pure white. There should be tattoos on the chest window,” Okazaki said, referring to the character’s infamous cleavage cuts in her costume. “A big white tattoo would be cool…I think she would be covered with a white tattoo.”

He also brainstormed and arguably turned the most famous DC villain, Lex Luthor, into Yakuza. “About Lex Luthor, I guess that means modern Yakuza style?” he mused. “Just like when you take off your suit, you can see tattoos, and when you roll up your sleeves, you can see a little of them. This kind of thing would be cool.”

“It’s fun no matter which character we think of, no matter which character we think of. I can be fun.”