Studio: Bee Train
Director: Hiroshi Morioka
Writer: Jordan Goldberg
Wha’ happen’?
In the aftermath of the shoot-out between Maroni and the Russian, both mob bosses are now hiding from each other on two coincidentally identical yachts in the harbour.
Bruce Wayne visits Lucius Fox who’s been using the Wayne Industries satellite to spy on the yachts in the harbour without even knowing why his employer wants him to do that.
He also shows Bruce a new machine he’s been working on that generates a forcefield when it detects the sound of a gunshot.
Bruce attends a charity golf tournament held by a shady real estate developer who’s been linked to the death of a community activist. Later that night, he pays a visit to the docks as Batman and pilots Maroni’s boat into the Russian’s. In the middle of the ensuing gunfight, he captures both bosses and gets them to agree to a truce until he can get solid evidence on them. But one of the Russian’s younger hoods tries to shoot Batman which activates the forcefield and he gets hit by the ricochet.
Batman races the kid to a hospital in the Batmobile but when he tries to hand him off to some cops, the kid pulls a gun on them because the WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE forgot he had a gun EVEN AFTER HE ALREADY TRIED TO SHOOT HIM.
Anyway, the kid surrenders and throws the gun down a drain and is taken into custody.
And Bruce returns the forcefield generator to Lucius and says that he’s willing to risk his life, but not the lives of others.
How was it?
Okay, let’s get the extremely bishy elephant in the room out of the way.
That design is honestly a little too pretty for Dick Grayson. Kevin Conroy really leans into it too, I don’t think he’s ever pitched Bruce’s voice as high as he does here.
That aside, the animation in this is probably the strongest of the three we’ve seen so far and if you can get past the fact that Bruce Wayne looks like he belongs on the cover of Tiger Beat and Batman looks like…
…he belongs on the cover of Tiger Beat if they catered to the BDSM crowd it looks pretty good.
The final note where Bruce gives up the device because he won’t risk the lives of others in his war is a very good, very “Batman” character moment.
However, I am irrationally angry that this short depicts Bruce Wayne, the ultimate WASP blue blood, cheating at golf.
There is also a lot of dumb, dumb shit in this. The fact that Bruce doesn’t disarm the kid before putting him in the Batmobile is such a head-slapper. Like, fine, I probably would have been too panicked and flustered to think of it but I’m not Batman.
But what really cheeses me off is the sheer idiocy of the whole object this short is based on.
A forcefield that activates on the sound of a gunshot would be real nifty if it wasn’t for the fact that a gunshot is actually a little sonic boom because bullets travel faster than the speed of sound.
unshavedmouse 
This kinda smacks of the whole “Reed Richards is Useless” trope, where someone can develop amazing sci-fi tech but can’t find a way to make it practical.
I mean, forget that he developed a force field that can detect the sound of a gunshot…he developed a force field! Take out the gunshot part, just give Batman a button to press, and then HE can decide when to use it and when it’s too risky. Next time he’s about to wreck the Batmobile, or facing an explosion, or hell when someone throws a punch. Those would be excellent times to have a force field that would not kill anybody else.
” he pays a visit to the docks as Batman and pilots Maroni’s boat into the Russian’s. In the middle of the ensuing gunfight, he captures both bosses and gets them to agree to a truce until he can get solid evidence on them.”
So he instigates a gang fight which almost certainly gets other people killed just to force the leaders into a détente until such time as when he can take them down under the illusion of following the law? You know it’s crap like this that makes me think Batman could make a scarily effective crime boss.
“but I’m not Batman.”
Where is your dog when you need him?
DEEP CUT. Well done.
I reread your old posts for a reason.
“In the middle of the ensuing gunfight, he captures both bosses and gets them to agree to a truce until he can get solid evidence on them.”
So the crime bosses agreed to let Batman find evidence on them?
They don’t really get a choice.
Given that Bruce Wayne is a WASP who happens to be the head of a major corporation, it’s not as though Dirty Sneaking Tricks (On the golf course or anywhere else) would be out of character …
Mouse, may I please ask if THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER has been released in The Republic?
GB seems to have been denied it due to some distribution issues, so I’m curious as to whether Eire shares those difficulties.