Patlabor: Difference between revisions
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Characters L-R: Shinshi, Ohta, Captain Goto, Izumi, Captain Nagumo, Shinohara & Yamazaki]] |
Characters L-R: Shinshi, Ohta, Captain Goto, Izumi, Captain Nagumo, Shinohara & Yamazaki]] |
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* '''Captain Kiichi Goto''' (後藤喜一 ''Gotō Ki'ichi'') ([[Seiyuu]]: [[Ryunosuke Ohbayashi]]), Section 2 Division 2: Captain of Division 2 of SV.2 he seems quite laidback and very nice but is a highly capable officer. He has a razor sharp perception and is very well known for it. It was rumored that the top |
* '''Captain Kiichi Goto''' (後藤喜一 ''Gotō Ki'ichi'') ([[Seiyuu]]: [[Ryunosuke Ohbayashi]]), Section 2 Division 2: Captain of Division 2 of SV.2 he seems quite laidback and very nice but is a highly capable officer. He has a razor sharp perception and is very well known for it. It was rumored that the top officials in the police force assigned him to SV.2 so he couldn't cause trouble. Despite that and his general attitude, Goto is on top of most events long before most others are aware of what's going on. |
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* '''Captain Shinobu Nagumo''' (南雲しのぶ ''Nagumo Shinobu'') ([[Seiyuu]]: [[Yoshiko Sakakibara]]), Section 2 Division 1: Leader of Division 1 She is highly regarded by everyone in the police force and has a solid relationship with all of her coworkers. This is especially true of her relationship with Goto which is difficult to sum up but can be described as interesting. Nagumo is a by-the-book style captain as opposed to Goto who will often do many unconventional things to meet a goal. Despite her conventional mentality, she is always there to lend a hand when Division 2 needs it. |
* '''Captain Shinobu Nagumo''' (南雲しのぶ ''Nagumo Shinobu'') ([[Seiyuu]]: [[Yoshiko Sakakibara]]), Section 2 Division 1: Leader of Division 1 She is highly regarded by everyone in the police force and has a solid relationship with all of her coworkers. This is especially true of her relationship with Goto which is difficult to sum up but can be described as interesting. Nagumo is a by-the-book style captain as opposed to Goto who will often do many unconventional things to meet a goal. Despite her conventional mentality, she is always there to lend a hand when Division 2 needs it. |
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Revision as of 09:33, 15 December 2006
| Patlabor | |
| File:Patlaborthemovie2006edit.png Patlabor the Movie, 2006 L.E. US DVD cover | |
| Genre | Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Mecha, Police, Science Fiction |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Masami Yūki |
| Published by |  Shogakukan Kabuto  Viz Communications (Defunct)  Star Comics |
| Anime | |
| Anime | |
| Patlabor the Movie | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Oshii |
| Anime | |
| Kidô keisatsu patorebâ | |
| Directed by | Naoyuki Yoshinaga |
| Anime | |
| P Series | |
| Anime | |
| Patlabor 2 the Movie | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Oshii |
| Anime | |
| WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 | |
| Directed by | Takuji Endo, Fumihiko Takayama |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| Anime | |
| Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Oshii |
| Studio | Production I.G |
Patlabor (a portmanteau of "patrol" and "labor") refers to Mobile Police Patlabor (機動警察パトレイバー, Kidō keisatsu patoreibā) a manga franchise created by Masami Yūki.
The popular franchise was adapted into a TV series, two OVA series, three feature length movies, and a short film compilation, named Minipato (ミニパト) because of its SD drawing style. These adaptations have been adapted into video games and licensed products from OST to toys. Patlabor is known for using mecha - designed by Yutaka Izubuchi - not just for police or military purposes, but also for industrial and municipal jobs.
Storyline
The story takes places in what was, at the time of release, the near future of 1998-2002. Robots called "Labors" are employed in heavy construction work. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has its own arsenal of Patlabors to combat crimes and deal with accidents involving Labors. The story arcs usually revolve around Tokyo Metropolitan Police Special Vehicle Section 2, Division 2. Noa Izumi is the main protagonist of the series, but all of Division 2 play roles.
The feature films follow separate continuities, referred to as the "movie timeline" and the "TV timeline." The different OVA series follow either the movie or TV timelines.
Release history
Mobile Police Patlabor began in 1988 as a 6 episode OVA series, along with a serial written and drawn by Masami Yuki in Shogakukan's Shonen Sunday Comics to help promote the OVA. The OVA was later translated into English by VIZ Media. A 7th OVA episode was added afterwards to help promote the first Patlabor movie in 1989. Soon after the first movie was released, a 47 episode TV series directed by Naoyuki Yoshinaga was released. The storyline from the TV series was completed in a 16 episode OVA which began after the TV series finished. This OVA ended in April of 1992, and a second movie was released in August of 1993. Work on another OVA was started in 1994, and this OVA evolved into the third movie, which was released in 2002. During the same time, "Mini-Pato" was released in theaters, playing before the third movie.
The first two Patlabor movies are directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) and produced by the venerable development house Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire) with music from Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell). The movies are more serious than the other productions, which are generally comedic.
List of Productions
Mobile Police Patlabor (1988-1989, OVA, 7 episodes)
With the exception of episodes 5 and 6, this is a comedy series with some action and drama mixed in. This starts the movie timeline.
Patlabor the Movie (1989)
The plot follows a string of incidents involving labors going berserk. The reasoning for it is unknown and it's up the team from SV.2 to figure it out. This film continues the movie timeline.
Patlabor: The TV Series|Mobile Police Patlabor (1989-1990, TV, 47 episodes)
The TV series features an alternate telling of how Section 2 was formed. Most of the series is comedy, but it still features quite a bit of action and drama. The main story arc involves the Griffon Labor. This begins the TV timeline.
Mobile Police Patlabor P-Series (1990-1992, OVA, 16 episodes,)
This series is also referred to as OVA 2. Most of the episodes are placed in various points throughout the TV timeline. There are several episodes in the OVA series that takes place after the end of the TV series, including the conclusion to the Griffon storyline.
Patlabor 2 the Movie (1993)
Terrorists attack Tokyo and it's up to the Patlabor Special Vehicles 2nd Division to stop them. This movie has similar premise to episodes 5 and 6 of the original OVA. This movie has a very philosophical and political edge to it, and continues the movie timeline.
WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 (Wasted 13) (2001)
A monster has been feeding on Tokyo Bay. Two detectives are on the case. This is a side story to Patlabor, and takes place in the movie timeline, between the other two movies. It is based on a part of the manga and has a similar premise to a story in the original OVA series. WXIII's actual release date is 2001, as it premiered in a film festival that year. However, public release was made the following year to coincide with the release of Minipato.
Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum: Minipato (2002, 3 short films)
Minipato consists of three parts, each part 13 minutes in length. It is an adjunct to the Patlabor anime series. Along with Patlabor WXIII, it is the last hurrah of the universe. Minipato was screened in Japanese cinemas before the start of Patlabor WXIII in such a way that, to see the complete series, you had to see WXIII three times.
The animation style uses a combination of paper puppets and CGI, with a claymation sequence in the first episode. It is a comedic look at Patlabor with intentional parodies of it and other mecha animes. Featured in each episode is a dog with a resemblance to Mamoru Oshii.
Minipato Trivia
Episode 2: The straight four minutes of 60 words per minute talk took its toll on Mr. Chiba. He reported he cut inside his mouth four times during the take, while Director Oshii was grinning behind him during the recording session, or so he complained at the premiere of the film. To quote Mr. Obayashi of Chief Gotoh (who narrated episode one), "I breathe in once in a while, but he just breathes out all the way." This episode probably contains the most spoofs, while all those so-called variations for Ingram is anything from Gun-tank, to powered suits from Dallos (which Mamoru Oshii directed).
Throughout the series, you notice some "unusual" brand or name on a soda or an airline company even clothing (mostly jackets). It leads to the name of both of the creators and producers of Patlabor - SUNRISE & Headgear
List of major characters
- Captain Kiichi Goto (後藤喜一 Gotō Ki'ichi) (Seiyuu: Ryunosuke Ohbayashi), Section 2 Division 2: Captain of Division 2 of SV.2 he seems quite laidback and very nice but is a highly capable officer. He has a razor sharp perception and is very well known for it. It was rumored that the top officials in the police force assigned him to SV.2 so he couldn't cause trouble. Despite that and his general attitude, Goto is on top of most events long before most others are aware of what's going on.
- Captain Shinobu Nagumo (南雲しのぶ Nagumo Shinobu) (Seiyuu: Yoshiko Sakakibara), Section 2 Division 1: Leader of Division 1 She is highly regarded by everyone in the police force and has a solid relationship with all of her coworkers. This is especially true of her relationship with Goto which is difficult to sum up but can be described as interesting. Nagumo is a by-the-book style captain as opposed to Goto who will often do many unconventional things to meet a goal. Despite her conventional mentality, she is always there to lend a hand when Division 2 needs it.
- Noa Izumi (泉野明 Izumi Noa) (Seiyuu: Miina Tominaga),Division 2 Team 1: the bubbly, perky, red-headed labor otaku. The main character of the show, Noa is usually the one at the center of the action. Noa loves her labor much like a pet and named it "Alphonse", a name previously held by a pet dog and a pet cat she had while growing up. She's impulsive and doesn't think things through but not nearly as much as Ohta. Noa is arguably the best pilot in Division 2 although both Clancy and Kumagami have shown extreme talent as well but rarely pilot. She has a natural affinity for labors and gets 110% out of it, much to her partner's amazement. She can drink quite a bit more than her coworkers and recovers from hangovers much faster since her family runs an alcohol store.
- Asuma Shinohara (篠原遊馬 Shinohara Asuma) (Seiyuu: Toshio Furukawa), Division 2 Team 1: Son of the head of Shinohara Heavy Industries, the company that makes 90% of the labors in the world. After a falling out with his father, Asuma joined the police force and requested to work with the labor units. Smart and honest, Asuma is a very good officer, though he's often used by Goto as a lackey. He is Noa and Hiromi's commanding officer when in the field. He has a soft spot for Noa. Gotoh recognizes Asuma has some talent in various fields which can be seen in various places throughout the series.
- Hiromi Yamazaki (山崎ひろみ Yamazaki Hiromi) (Seiyuu: Daisuke Gōri), Division 2 Team 1: The giant from Okinawa. He is soft spoken and kinda hearted. He wanted to join his father as a fisherman but easily gets seasick. He later joined the police force and eventually made it over to SV.2. Yamazaki's too large to fit in a labor's cockpit, so he is designated as the carrier driver for Unit 1. When not on duty he tends to SV.2's vegetable garden. He's extremely strong as shown in Movie 1 and 2 where Yamazaki mans the anti-labor rifle borrowed from the Narashino Parachute Labor team (apparently an M82 anti-material rifle). He shows the same strength in the TV series when he and Ohta fire the Ingram's Revolver pistol without the aid of a Labor.
- Isao Ohta (太田功 Ōta Isao) (Seiyuu: Michihiro Ikemizu), Division 2 Team 2: The psychotic gun-nut piloting Unit 2. With a look and attitude better suited for the marines than the police force, Ohta is extremely gung-ho and expects the rest of Section 2 to perform to his standards. He's very brash and very often will charge into a situation without thinking it through. In spite of his loud, obnoxious, and often overconfident personality, Ohta's a good cop and is a stand up guy.
- Lieutenant Kanuka Clancy (香貫花・クランシー) (Seiyuu: Yō Inoue), NYPD, Division 2 Team 2: A temporary member of Section on assignment from the NYPD. Sent to observe a labor unit with the purpose of helping build one for New York City. Highly capable in all duties. Her piloting skills are better than Ohta but was put as backup of Unit 2 since acclimating the Labor to a temporary officer would be a poor decision. Much like Nagumo, Kanuka is very by-the-book. Kanuka is usually all business and sometimes cold to the members of SV.2 with the exception of Noa. Kanuka was born in Hawaii but apparently moved to New York later on. When Kanuka travels back to New York, she stops in Hawaii to see her grandmother whom she loves dearly.
- Lieutenant Takeo Kumagami (熊耳武緒 Kumagami Takeo) (Seiyuu: Keiko Yokozawa), Division 2 Team 2: Joined Section 2 shortly after Clancy's tenure ended, she takes Clancy's place as backup to Unit 2. She trained with the Hong Kong police before getting assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was then offered a position with Interpol but ended up choosing the Special Vehicles department to continue her career. Calm and confident, Kumagami attends to her duties as effectively as Clancy did but disagrees with Clancy on how to go about it. She practices martial arts and can be seen tossing Ohta and her the rest of the Division 2 team around in sparring matches when not in the field. Kumagami's only weakness seems to be a fear of the supernatural. She is easily spooked and prone to fainting if scared sufficiently though. (TV Timeline only)
- Mikiyasu Shinshi (進士幹泰 Shinshi Mikiyasu) (Seiyuu: Issei Futamata), Division 2 Team 2: The lone married man of SV.2. Shinshi comes across as a meek man and that can be easily pushed around. He is very devoted to his wife, tends to snap and go off like a stick of dynamite when people make fun of him or his wife. He even scares Ohta when this occurs. He has quite a bit of programming and computer talent but is rarely seen because of his position as the carrier driver for Unit 2.
- Chief Seitaroh Sakaki (榊清太郎 Sakaki Seitarō) (Seiyuu: Osamu Saka), Section 2 Mechanics: Leader of the labor mechanics that service SV.2 Gruff and loud, Sakaki doesn't like it when Division 2 brings back their labors in less than perfect condition. Threatens to throw all his mechanics into the sea when they don't perform up to his expectations. Sakaki has been a mechanic for most of his life but admits he finds it difficult to keep up with the ever advancing march of technology in the world.
- Chief Shigeo Shiba (シバ シゲオ Shiba Shigeo) a.k.a Shige-san (シゲさん) (Seiyuu: Shigeru Chiba), Section 2 Mechanics: second in command to Sakaki, and eventually replaces him when he retires. A total gearhead, he loves his job, probably a little too much as he can be very hard to relax when he gets fired up. Shige is good friends with Asuma Shinohara.
- Sergeant Tsutomu Gomioka (五味丘務 Gomioka Tsutomu) (Seiyuu: Akio Ohtsuka), Division 1 Team 2: one of the labor pilots for Section 1, much like his commanding officer, he's very by the book. A good pilot although his corowkers in Division 2 seem to have more talent.
- Detective Takahiro Matsui (松井孝弘 Matsui Takahiro) (Seiyuu: Tomomichi Nishimura), Tokyo Metropolitan Police: A calm and cool man, he has quite a deal of respect for Gotoh which is mutual. He assists Gotoh with the investigative work when Gotoh can't do it.
- Bud Renard, a 15 year old boy from India who likes computer games. He pilots the J9 Griffon labor. He is as talented as Noa is as a pilot and considers her to be his rival. (TV timeline only)
- Richard Wong (リチャード・王) / Utsumi (内海) (Seiyuu: Hirotaka Suzuoki), SHAFT Enterprises: Geeky, intelligent but scheming head of one of SHAFT's experimental divisions on Labor development. He was involved in a number of incidents in Hong Kong prior to coming to Japan (Note: "Shaft" also has the variant spelling of "Schaft") (TV timeline Only)
- Kurosaki (黒崎) (Seiyuu: Takaya Hashi), Richard Wong's right-hand man. (TV Timeline only)
(Section 2 is part of the Special Vehicles department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, composed of 2, and later 4 divisions)
List of Labors
- MPL-96 Asuka (Shinohara Heavy Industries)
- MPL-97S Python (Shinohara Heavy Industries)
- AVS-99 Helldiver (Shinohara Heavy Industries)
- AV-98 Ingram (Shinohara Heavy Industries)
- AV-98-I Ingram (Shinohara Heavy Industries) Ingram economy model
- AV-98-II Ingram (Shinohara Heavy Industries) Ingram Mark II mass production prototype
- AV-X0 Zero(Shinohara Heavy Industries, designated AVR-0 in the Manga)
- AV-2 variant(Shinohara Heavy Industries)
- AV-98T Dolphin/Doafun(Shinohara Heavy Industries)
- AV-0 Zero Peacemaker (Shinohara Heavy Industries)
- SRX-70 Saturn (Shaft Industries / Toyohata Heavy Industries)
- Type 7 Brocken (Shaft Industries Europe)
- M5 Abraham (Shaft Industries USA)
- 'Phantom' (Shaft Industries Japan)
- TYPE J9 'Griffon' (Shaft Industries Japan)
Availability
All of the Patlabor productions have been released in the United States in some form, except for most of the manga. All the movies have been translated into English and are available in stores in Region 1, 2 & 4 DVD format. Both the entire TV series, and the 2 OVAs are available on DVD in Region 1.
The TV series and OVAs were released in the U.S. by Central Park Media. The first two movies were released by Manga Entertainment, but later remastered and rereleased in 2006 by Bandai Visual. The third movie (plus "Mini-Pato") was released by Geneon Entertainment (formerly Pioneer). Also, twelve sections of the manga have been translated and released by Viz Communications as single issues and in two Trade Paperbacks. Viz dropped the Patlabor manga before releasing all of it.
Mini-Pato is available on DVD in regions 1,2 and 4 in the Limited Edition Patlabor WXII DVD packages.
Honnemise (Bandai Visual, US) is rereleasing the first two movies on DVD with extensive bonus features, and beez entertainment are distributing the movies for them in the UK. Madman has the distributation rights for Australia & New Zealand of only the movies so far.
External links
- Template:Ja icon WXIII * PATLABOR THE MOVIE 3
- Template:En icon Patlabor ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia