Sequel

Movie, 1993, 1 ep,8.09(1596),7.87(1608)

Parent story

OVA, 1988-1989, 7 eps,7.56(1150),7.44(1154)

Alternative setting

Movie, 2002, 1 ep,5.65(906),6.88(907)

OVA, 1990-1992, 16 eps,7.86(455),7.52(458)

Unknown

TV Series, 1989-1990, 47 eps,7.67(856),7.63(860)

Movie, 2002, 3 eps,4.97(277),6.29(279)

Movie, 2016, 1 ep,6.81(389),7.07(389)

Both movies are directed by Oshii Mamoru. Both movies are very similar.

byAgenor on2025-02-21 20:25

I really liked the animation with this one. The backgrounds were surprisingly rich, filled with details. Some though to the use of light and shadows, and now and then unusual camera angles to break things up.
The animation for the characters could have been a bit better, though.
Story wise it set itself apart from the OVA and the TV-shows. The movie hits a quite mature, grounded tone in the way it approaches things.

byrudimentary on2018-05-19 11:35

A true sci-fi in the reigns of Ghost in the shell. Robots are not inherently malicious but man's corruption can cause immense damage to society, that is the underlying theme of this story.

Animation and style are studio Ghibili level - I really enjoyed the beauty.

This might be the best of the Patlabor franchise and you don't need to have seen any other Patlabor to enjoy it. The story stands on its own.

And to Patlabor veterans, its wonderful to see the diligent and honest Patlabor team again in wonderful HD, and you can see the care and respect with which each character has been drawn.

Highly Recommended.

byDfactor on2013-07-27 15:41

Another great movie directed by Mamoru Oshii. The animation style, character design and atmosphere is quite similar to Ghost in the Shell movie and Jin-Roh. If you liked any of those or Oshii in general then this is a must watch. Same goes for Patlabor fans.

bymecharobot on2011-02-25 16:46

The best that Patlabor franchise has to offer. A solid real robot scenario for mecha fans.

bygambit on2006-08-05 16:37

For everyone who doesnot like mecha, this one isn't as bad as the rest. Give it a try.

Although I usually hate Mecha-anime, I found this one having a story which exceeded my hatred of mecha.
What is it about? First thing you see is mecha, next thing you see is also mecha. So why would I even want to watch it when it's about mecha? Curiosity killed the cat, they say - and while sometimes those anime nearly kill me, sometimes I also get pleasantly surprised. This Patlabor movie belongs to the latter, and I am glad I watched it instead of deleting it.

Animation: Pretty good for a 1989 anime.

1989, usually that stands synonymous to ‘pretty bad’ when it comes to animation, but this time I have to say that there were no scenes which made me cringe of embarrassment. The character designs are well-made, the characters look believeable and realistic, the surroundings and environment is clear and often detailed. Although there are limits to backgrounds, it's clear that they tried to make the best of it; after all, the detail-level isn't much less than anything else being produced after the millennium and the only thing which spoils it a bit is the fact that the coloring is pretty dark and they couldn't get things clear enough probably due to the limits of VHS-tapes.
I admit that the animation can be done much better nowadays, but in the time of 1989, this was really good.
The dark colors do add to the grim nature this series tries to emit though, so it does have its use and when it comes to atmosphere, this movie does a hell of a good job on that.

No reused frames?
Anime made before the millennium mark also distance themselves by having numerous reused frames going on a rampage, but again, this movie is nearly completely devoid of those. The pace of the story is by times slow and fast, but none of them end up in reused frames. Neither the dialogues nor the action. That alone is worth giving praisal for.

Sound: Good voiceactors.

I was pretty satisfied with the Japanese voiceactors in the movie. None of them were of a bad level and some of them even felt really good, so the level of voiceacting was definitely above average. It's clear that there has been spent money to find proper people for the voices. The same goes for the scripts, which sounded smooth and the dialogues were done well.

The English Dub
I also took the liberty to listen to the English dub, since it was in the file anyway and except for a few characters (read: only 2 or 3) the voiceactors were all on the level of the US cartoons made in that period. So practically none of those were really worth listening to for this show. The only one which had a decent voice to me was some guy in a white suit and sunglasses - and really, he didn't even show up much in the series.

Story: Focuses on the story instead of the mecha.

Usually the plot for a mecha anime is about who is the best at handling the mecha, or who has a knack for battle where they rule the grounds or something alike. Patlabor must've thought that would be boring and actually made the mecha-part merely an aspect of the setting. And while that may not please the standard mecha-lover, it does make the anime appeal more to someone who appreciates a story.

Solid story
The solidness of the story pleased me a lot when I watched this movie. While one may claim there are still gaps in the plotline, I don't really mind. There are anime without gaps in the plot which are still not good enough as this one - and with those they had some decades to learn from past mistakes as well. So Patlabor qualifies as a good anime, in my opinion.

Atmosphere
What Patlabor also does right is how it creates the atmosphere. From the start it is an anime which feels like it is about the daily life of the Mobile Police (which sounds more to me as if they're carrying cellphones instead of riding mecha) which encounters a problem. Usually I dislike such stuff where the setting is with the police - and then I think about things likeDominion Tank Police, for instance.
Fortunately, this movie shifts gears and comes up with a sort of conspiracy which seems to be pretty well done. The hints and revelations they make are not slow enough to let your brain catch up with it and figure it out on your own, but it also doesn't gotoo fast. The pace of the movie is quite perfect and the more we come towards the end, the more the pace starts to live its own life and rapid thinking of the characters take the show on trips which we are used to see in only really good thrillers or action movies.

Characters: A solid crew.

There are a bunch of characters who pop in and out of the movie, but while not all of them get sufficient screentime, they all play some role in the entire part. I admit, they do not all develop - actually, none of them develops, but at the end of the series you have a feeling that you have seen some of these characters for such a long time that you can understand how they feel and how they think. If you can get so familiar with characters, that usually means that they are well-done characters.
But what also helps is how these characters are displayed realistically in behaviour.

A couple of them also have a good sense of humor and while it is not of the ‘ha-ha-laugh-out-loud’ sort of comedy, it is the type which can make you smirk because it is daily-life humor. There is not really much of it, but they do add it when it suits the anime. I also have to say that the beginning is a bit more laid-back and then there is more room for jokes, but later on it gets more and more grim, so they also refrain from making jokes there.

Value: Broad-audience sort of movie.

This movie has a certain value since it is watchable by all kinds of people. There are no real timespecific things in this movie, so you can watch it without getting the feeling of it being old - except for the animation. It has a plot which is also good, so you can show it to other people who can appreciate a solid story. This makes that the movie has quite some value, although you of course already know how the movie ends, which is a setback because it is story-driven and knowing the ending isn't much fun rewatching it.

Enjoyment

Everyone who knows a little bit of me probably knows how I think about Mecha-anime, so when I say this movie was good, then everyone also knows that it should have something which could make me like it. I like story-driven anime and Patlabor managed to come up with a story good enough to make me enjoy this anime by following the show in a pace which suits the story. The characters were done well and I liked the humor in the movie as well, so I guess it's been a success in making me watch.