KIDOU KEISATSU PATLABOR

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE DramaKidou Keisatsu Patlabor: The Movie
MANGA ActionKidou Keisatsu Patlabor
MOVIE ComedyKidou Keisatsu Patlabor REBOOT
ANIME ComedyKidou Keisatsu Patlabor ON TELEVISION
OVA ComedyMiniPato
NOVEL ActionKidou Keisatsu Patlabor
OVA ComedyNoa no Ichinichi
ANIME MechaPATLABOR EZY

REVIEWS

• 

  Yas

  81/100
  How to make an effective Mecha and make it fun too

  “For Pete’s sake, this isn’t some Mecha anime” - Goto Kiichi

  There's a multitude of Mecha shows that are talked about now and before, Gundam, GitS, and with this year we had FranXX, Gundam (again) and Planet With. As is obvious to an avid anime fan, Mecha shows are very big in Japan and as such we see a lot of buzz on such shows. Sometimes though, some shows do not get the love they deserve, especially when they're in many ways superior than most, this is where Patlabor comes in.

  

  Patlabor is perhaps the best sense I found for Mecha, in policing and the law, no, I'm not talking about Code Geass esque law enforcement, Patlabor is far better in showing how and why the Mechs called Patlabor are necessary for the country and the police. Not to fight Klaxosaurs, but to fight crime. And this Patlabor showed us effectively. Despite being a 7 episode OVA that's 30 mins long for each episode, we saw a good amount of information and not a second was wasted, that too despite being a little shorter than a single cour anime, which goes to show length doesn't always factor for quality at least for anime. 

  

  Patlabor's biggest selling point is how the police are depicted. They're not gruff individuals who always rush off into life-or-death situations. The police aren't always involved in such cases, but neither are they always in jest. We saw the fun our characters had in the first four episodes along with the crime dealing as well, making for a nice blend of both seriousness and light humour, something less seen since striking a balance is so tough. Light humour obviously brings us to the colourful cast. Since this is a police anime, we see young adults as our main cast and this shows Patlabor is another of those few mechas with an adult cast and not teenagers. Getting into the details, the characters were bright, distinct and amazing in their own way, they felt real. Noa was our female protagonist who was in love with her Patlabor Alphonse, showing she's a cute mechanics lover and she had her fun moments. Though Patlabor is anything but romance, we did get a few nods with Asuma, a fellow police officer. Oota was your average short-tempered gun lover. Kanuka was the fun American transfer student who thankfully knows English and not Engrish (a huge plus point to the Voice Actor for doing well) along with Hiromi who wasn't seen talking much as he's a rather silent individual. Gotou was a relatable depressed looking man who would play an important part as the captain of the group and his role in episodes 4-6 were amazingly done. 

  

  The rest of the cast was a playful bunch who was serious when they needed to be and hilarious when the situation demanded it too. Why did I spend so much time on the characters? It's because they were well done, we didn't see any major development over the course of the 7 episode OVA but that could be excused because their establishment AS a character was brilliant. Something else that was brilliant was the OST. The simple but intricate background music complimented the situation effectively and the Opening theme song was something I think will be stuck in my head for a few months, catchy and cute, it is an excellent way to start off a fun show. Since it was somewhat of a semi-slice of life show, the OVA had an episodic nature with the exception of the 2 part “Longest Day” arc which was in episodes 5-6. Despite being episodic, the independent episodes stood up for themselves and were all well done. The first three were an introduction to the Patlabor world and it introduced us to the daily life of the police, combining fighting crime and topping it off with light humour which as I covered above was an excellent blend of both. I never felt out of place with the plot or this approach but it being episodic meant things aren't tightly held up and so we couldn't see a long underlying plot although episodes 5-6 scratched that itch to a certain extent.

  

  Another thing I didn't feel out of place with was the artstyle, despite airing over 30 years ago it's artstyle was something I didn't find hard to watch and actually enjoyed and appreciated the art direction. From the character design to the emotions of the character to the action scenes involved, Patlabor’s artstyle was consistent, easy to watch and attractive despite it's age. As a comedy fan I always look for fun comedy shows to watch but I do step out of the comedy bubble a lot and when I tried Patlabor after a friend recommended it to me, I didn't just get a well done Mecha, I also got some comedy added as well. “Why do you call this a good Mecha?” you may ask. It's because the premise was explained clearly, it wasn't an obscure explanation with any external influences or aliens or whatever, Japanese technology evolved to the point that Labor could be used, but this could be used for crime as well, and so to monitor this, Patrol Labor, therefore Patlabor was implemented. Easy right? Apart from that even though it was episodic, it was a GOOD episodic show because each episode stood up for itself and there was still a small line connecting the episodes together. 

  

  A lovable cast, interesting developments and a perfect blend of seriousness and comedy show that Patlabor Early Days is how a Mecha can be made fun, approachable, and funny. I haven't watched enough Mecha as most Mecha fans would but I really doubt I'll find something as fun as Patlabor Early Days. Definitely a show worth trying out, it's shorter than a single cour anime and yet covers a lot, an excellent introduction to the Mecha series and genre!

  Story: 8
  Animation: 7.5
  Sound: 7
  Character: 9
  Enjoyment: 9

  Overall: 8.1

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• 

  christ4robin

  80/100
  A Short & Sweet Early Entry from Some of the Industry's Most Talented

  In the shadow of much more popular mecha franchises such as Gundam and Macross, and even eclipsed by its own movies and later TV adaptation, this OVA is likely to fly under most people's radar. It shouldn't. If you're looking for something bite-sized, entirely enjoyable, and dotted with hints of absolute yet unassuming brilliance, watch Patlabor.

  Premise:
  The series takes place in the "near future" of the 80's (around the early 2000's) in a version of Japan that's struggling against the effects of climate change and a rising sea level. Labors, this series' mechas, are developed as a means of keeping pace with the country's construction needs as they set out to build a massive seawall and undertake a land reclamation project. As "labor" crimes become more frequent, a section of the police is dedicated to stopping these crimes with their own force of "patrol labors," aka "patlabors."

  at 7 episodes, this show offers a look into the work of some of the industry's most talented writers and directors (in particular Mamoru Oshii and Kazunori Ito) on their "day off," the kinds of fun artists still experimenting with their craft get up to when nothing's expected of them. Though it is a decent mecha anime set in a pretty interesting and realistic universe, it'd be a lot easier to compare this show to something like Scooby Doo or Brooklyn Nine-Nine than Gundam for how little it focuses on robots.

  Far from the heroic cast of similar series in the genre, the group at the forefront of Patlabor is arguably the most realistic bunch of cops I've seen in anime: childish, poorly managed, and bad at what they do. The series' tentative lead, Noa Izumi, is absent-minded and naive. Ohta's overly zealous about "delivering justice," and you get the sense that he joined the force just so he'd have a legal entitlement to use a gun. Shinohara, the son of a labor manufacturer, doesn't even want to be there, but he stays out of combined feelings of laziness and attraction towards Kanuka. That's not to say they aren't loveable; their flaws play off of each other beautifully, making for some really comedic moments that're elevated by great writing and direction. I actually burst out laughing at some of the show's quieter moments of humor, scenes that had the same flavor of absurdity as a Wes Anderson movie.

  Which brings me to my favorite thing about this OVA: the writing and directing. The lighthearted tone of this show makes the beautifully directed shots and tightly-written scenes in each episode glide by without notice, but not without impact. A series like this almost doesn't deserve this kind of attention to detail. The animation isn't always great (there's one scene in the earlier episodes where a character's unblinking eyes in his car's rearview mirror gave me nightmares), but when it is it's simple and gorgeous the way only 20th-century animation can be. None of the series' high points overstay their welcome, making this one I'm looking forward to rewatching in the future.

  __My final recommendation:__ ___Give it a shot!___
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• 

  WeeabooInHiding

  80/100
  Oshii focuses on making a realistic world and characters

  I enjoy Patlabor's take on the mecha genre. It adds in a number of little details that give it a living a breathing feel. The focus on the mechs as a real machine that takes time consuming maintainace, the way Oshii treats time, the characters, how they interact with the world and how it lets you know that these actions have real consequences. The direction from Oshii was really nice too.

  The first episode is really breasy. Being the opener, the purpose of this episode is primarily expository. But it doesn't beat you over the head with it. Instead it sits you down with the characters as they finding things to keep busy when they're waiting throughout the day. The characters get to know each other in a very natural way and you learn about the world through their eyes and interests. None of this is rushed because Oshii really wants you to feel the passing of time with the characters. If they have to do a chore meaningless to the plot then you sit there and watch them do it. If they're excited to see a mecha then you discover it with them. It may not be the most exciting episode but it really does it's job to familiarise the audience with the world and characters. That makes the rest of this OVA all the more effective.

  The second episode shows the fragility of the mechs in combat and the danger that comes with it. It's really easy for a mech to lose an arm or a head, what would happen to a human that got caught in the wrong spot? Furthermore it introduces a political element to the story. The villain of this episode was someone you wouldn't think would be one so it gives the world a sense of chaos and chance. That sense of chance was also established in the climactic scene.

  Episode three, while not bad, was my least favorite episode. Some parts of the story didn't quite fit in with the rest of the OVA, all things considered. The premise was a little bit too far fetched for the series. Nevertheless it still did a good job at spinning a mystery that introduced some likable characters.

  Episode four really pushed the point that actions have consequences in this series. That was the whole point of the episode. The facade that was spun in this episode was engaging and tragic too. So I think they did a really good job of establishing it's point.

  Episode five and six continued to push the political aspect of the series. All while having some interesting character stuff go on. It starts by showing the loneliness of the holidays and the search for company and comfort. Later it got into the differences in the phyche someone who will go to great and terrible lengths to fight for a cause and someone who decides to protect the people and with it the status quo from those terrible lengths even if they are sympathetic to the cause. One this I wish they would have fleshed out more in these episodes is what exactly the political goal was in this situation. The two episodes are my favorite in this OVA

  Episode seven was fun, funny and engaging. It looked a bit more at the political aspect of Patlabor. Observing that common people aren't usually interested in larger political goals, they're interested in living their best life with their family. So while the common people are what the political extremists are fighting for, their cause and ideas don't win over or goes over the head of the people who don't have enough time in the day to worry about those things. The things they do care about is what is around them, like helping someone from getting hurt.

  All in all, while not perfect and underdeveloped in some areas, this OVA is a delight with an excellent world and characters.

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