"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Day of the Samurai" and "Terror in the Sky"

Batman: The Animated Series

When you're a kids, sometimes it's the little things. For me, it was Batman's motorcycle helmet. I was kind of obsessed with it. I really wanted one and it made no sense. Even as a ten-year-old, I had zero want to ever ride a motorcycle. One of my mom's friends was decapitated while riding one, but that didn't matter when it came to Batman's shiny accessory. It turns out that time changes some things, but not this! It makes an appearance in one of the episodes I watched for this blog post and I'm still kind of obsessed with it. I still don't want to ride a motorcycle.

Sensei Yoru: "If you see Batman, tell him I have great respect for him.

Bruce :  "Why? He's as much a ninja as Kyodai was."

Sensei Yoru:  "Not so. Batman offered to help his adversary, and a lesser man would have used the secrets of the Onemuri touch against his opponent. Batman is the essence of samurai, Wayne-san. You would do well to remember that.

Bruce:  bows "Domo-arigato, sensei."

Bruce Wayne is called to Japan by his former master, Yoru Sensei. Yoru Sensei's star pupil, Kairi, has been kidnapped by Kyodai Ken. Ken is trying to use her as leverage to gain a map to a scroll that details fighting art, Kiba no Hoku ("The Way of the Fang") Yoru Sensei is the last living descendant of the warrior that created it. There is a pressure point that can cause instant death and Kyodai Ken believes that he can use it to defeat Batman, who he knows is Bruce Wayne, once and for all. Can Batman save Kairi and stop Kyodai for good?

Bad touch.

Kyodai Ken's first appearance in "Night of the Ninja" was not my favorite if you'll recall and one of the first times my childhood memory of an episode really differed from my adult viewing.  I will say that I enjoyed this episode much more and some of my issues with the previous episode are remedied here.

For one thing, Batman and Kyodai Ken are much more evenly matched this go round then they were in the original. That was maybe my biggest issue with his original appearance. He's supposed to be this great warrior, but Bruce dispatches him so easily that's it's not super believable. Here, he is definitely a formidable opponent for the Dark Knight. 

Each fight scene between the two is really well done, from the rooftop where Batman rescues Kairi to the volcano. The volcano is one of the most visually stunning sequences I've seen on the show so far. The silhouettes of Kyodai Ken and Bruce against the erupting volcano is really gorgeous. 

If I had one major critique of the episode is that it's a little overly wordy and really hammers this samurai/ninja dichotomy home. It's like it's on the fence about whether or not people will get it and just decides to really spell it out. It robs the episode of some moments that it could have had, if the writers would have had just al little more trust in the audience.

Grade: B

Batman: "Reports of a huge bat creature the size of a man. Remind you of anybody?"

Alfred: "Certain company excepted, indeed it does."

The Man-Bat is back in Gotham and Batman is on the case. When a DNA test confirms that the Man-Bat terrorizing the city is not Kirk Langstrom he has to figure out who it is and fast. Can Batman stop this new Man-Bat before it costs the Langstroms everything?

Rawr.

This episode keeps it simple and I think that is why it really, really works. The She-Bat reveal isn't mind blowing. I feel like they give up on hiding it when She-Bat attacks Batman after he visits Langstrom. She's wearing pink pants for God's sake. Francine only wears pink pants. And she keeps part of her shirt to cover her... modesty, I guess? Make her stand out from Man-Bat? I'm not sure. And Batman still doesn't figure it out. For being the World's Greatest Detective, he can be a touch dense sometimes.

All kidding it's a solid episode, that is also a nice call back to the very first episode of the series that featured Man-Bat as it's primary antagonist. I never thought I would watch a B: TAS episode about a marriage in turmoil, but that is really at the forefront of the episode. Langstrom is freaking out about his transformation and Francine is worried Kirk is lying. The episode handles the dynamic really well and while it comes close, Francine never devolves into a caricature of a hysterical, nagging wife.

The reveal that Francine's father, Dr. March, is responsible for the new serum and Francine's transformation is nicely done and carries the right amount of weight and drama. The final act of the episode is a good old fashioned action set piece on a plane. Francine transforms into She-Bat and mayhem ensues. It's thrillingly and well staged and Kirk rescuing Francine after Batman administers the antidote is a nice touch to end the episode on.

Grade: B+

A nice rebound this post from the crappy episodes that I watched last time. Sorry for the little delay there, but I'm excited to be back in it.

Next time, be prepared to be regaled with tales about how some of Batman's notorious Rogues "almost got 'im" and The Penguin finally gets a spotlight episode without some annoying kids fouling things up.

Did you think Kyodai Ken's second appearance was better than his first? Which is a better bat creature? Kirk or Francine? Let me know in the comments.