In ', Batou's personality closely resembles his manga counterpart. He is depicted as an outgoing jokester, but with a quick temper. Unlike the Major, Batou often expresses his anger at injustice and cruelty quite openly. He is sometimes shown to be impatient with Section 9's rookies, such as Togusa. At times, Batou acts as a voice of reason and displays great concern for the Major, and she in turn admits that she can confide in him. Like Oshii's films, the series suggests romantic tension between the Major and Batou. The film ' more openly addresses this tension, when Batou admits that he'd been covering up the Major's involvement in any cases prior to the Puppeteer case. The movie closes with Batou putting his arm around the Major, although whether or not this is foretelling of any relationship between the two is left ambiguous.