Justice League is hitting screens across the UK today and to commemorate the first time the superpowered ensemble have hit the big screen together, we decided to cast our own squad which we have affectionately dubbed the Jutsu League, here are our picks
Cyborg
Our first potential candidate for this role was obvious, Ghost in the Shell’s Motoko Kusanagi. You can’t think cyborg without thinking of this femme fatale. She has the intelligence and the physical abilities that make her perfectly suited to superheroing (Is that a word? It is now). The only thing that puts us off putting her in our final line-up is she’s flaky. Often portrayed as a bit of a loose cannon, Major can run off and disappear into the internet at a moment’s notice. While she worked well within Section 9, we’re not convinced she’s the perfect team player. So then we considered Genos of One Punch Man fame. This Class-S warrior is already a registered superhero, has immense power and is willing to fight until he physically cannot continue. However, despite his tenacity and physical strength, the sheer amount of times we saw Genos get his ass handed to him in just one season of OPM throws in a lot of doubt. At this point the answer was clear…
Franky, One Piece’s resident cyborg is arguably the most well equipped we’ve ever seen. With the ability to spit flames from his mouth, make his arms into shields and turn various parts of his body into firearms including his fingers, shoulders and hair (as well as being able to shine light from his nipples and turn into a centaur for reasons we’re not entirely sure of), this one-man army is the perfect starter for our squad.
Aquaman
This was a tough one to cast because to be honest we initially struggled to think of characters who could breathe underwater. At one point we thought maybe just go with Kintaro Oe of Golden Boy just for his sheer swimming prowess, but that idea was quickly shelved (if that reference is lost on you I highly recommend you search Golden Boy swimming on YouTube, you won’t regret it!). We very nearly cast Julian Solo, from Saint Seiya. The geezer is literally Poseidon reincarnated, the only thing niggling at the back of our minds that stopped us from putting him in our line-up is that he’s so damn evil. If he wasn’t so keen on world domination he’d be a shoe-in. But then we caught glimpse of a shimmering light in the depths…
Zed O’Brien, who can be seen on Blood Blockade Battlefront, is a Merman who may not carry a trident like the OG Aquaman but can make one out of his own solidified blood, and if that’s not good enough for you I don’t know how to help you. Plus his voice actor, Midorikawa Hikaru also voiced Heero Yuy in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, so you could say he’s already a hero. (I know we’re stretching, we did tell you we struggled with Aquaman. To be fair, it’s not like he’s anyone’s favourite Justice League member anyway so let’s just move on and forget this ugliness!)
The Flash
Turning our thoughts to speed a few names spring to mind. Hiei showed some incredible pace in Yu Yu Hakusho but is often led by his own agenda, so we can’t imagine him taking orders and working with our group. And of course, how can you even think of characters that “gotta go fast” without bringing up Sonic the Hedgehog who thanks to Sonic X very much qualifies to be part of this conversation, no matter how annoying he can be. Ultimately though, we saw sense and went with the only logical choice…
Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage, father of Naruto. He earned the nickname Konoha’s Yellow Flash for starters. Boruto’s Dad’s Dad is the fastest Shinobi in the Ninja world and that is not an achievement to be taken lightly, which is why this speedster is the perfect addition to our team.
Wonder Woman
Women who kick ass are not a rarity in anime so the issue here isn’t finding someone, it’s whittling the list down to just one. Revy, Black Lagoon’s lead, is one of the most bad ass women we’ve ever seen on screen, but while she can take down almost anyone who is unlucky enough to cross her path, she doesn’t have any kind of superpowers (although you wouldn’t know it sometimes the way she moves), so ultimately she’s out. Kill La Kill’s Ryūko Matoi was in strong contention, she’s an absolute beast, but Wonder Woman is known not just for her strength, but also her grace, and while our scissor blade-wielding warrior is many things (hot-headed, loud, brash), gracious she is not. But there is one lady that fits the mould…
Courageous, smart, strong and beautiful, Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail is our choice to take the role of the Daughter of Hippolyta. Thinking on it, we wouldn’t be even slightly surprised if it transpired that she actually had some Themysciran armour somewhere among her hundreds of battle outfits
Batman
As most people know, the Caped Crusader got his start in DC’s Detective Comics, and who is a better detective that L Lawliet, Light Yagami’s rival in Death Note? He was one step ahead of Light at almost every turn and even seems to have some kind of martial arts background. He is a little eccentric though. Actually, that’s an understatement, the guy is freaking weird. Nowhere near as suave as Bruce Wayne, Gotham socialite, billionaire playboy, star of Batman: Gotham Knight and next year’s Batman Ninja. You’d think since we have the actual Batman here that he would be the obvious choice. Well…
Imagine if Batman had a giant robot because that’s what the creators of Big O did when they thought up Roger Smith. Also partly inspired by James Bond, this suave gentleman wears black, doesn’t carry guns, has a Batmobile-style car and is very selective about who he lets into his mansion (only lovely young women may enter unconditionally). He also has the aforementioned giant robot, which makes him better than the original Dark Knight because, well because he has a giant robot. Plus if Spiderman’s Japanese counterpart can have a huge mech, it’s only fair.
Superman
So who will head up this crime-fighting crew? Dipping a toe back into the One Punch Man pool, the titular male Saitama certainly has the skills, but his constant look of stoic resignation is not exactly emblematic of hope. Our thoughts then drifted to My Hero Academia, All Might embodies all the qualities of the Last Son of Krypton and then some, but he’s already on his way out right from the start of that season. So brace yourself for the inevitable conclusion to this saga…
Yes, you guessed it. How can you not pick Dragon Ball Z’s Son Goku? He and the Man of Steel have damn near the same origin story, crash-landing on Earth from a distant doomed planet, raised by kind-hearted humans, eventually learning of their true capabilities and saving the world. They share the powers of flight, god-like strength, super speed and can both produce projectiles from their own bodies. He is Japan’s Superman, there’s a reason why if you Google Goku Vs Superman you get approximately eighty-one trillion results. Would we have liked to do something different, surprise you a bit? Maybe. But when it’s right it’s right and at the end of the day, Son Goku has selflessly defended Earth, other planets and even the universe more times than we can count and knows how to lead a team, Clark Kent would be proud to be compared to him.
So come on then. What did we get wrong? (We know there’s gotta be a better Aquaman out there, no disrespect to Zed, we love BBB) Give us your rosters in the comments below, or shout at us on our various social media channels!