Patlabor: The Movie
| Patlabor: The Movie / Patlabor 1 (alt. title) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original Manga | N/A |
| Director/Artist | Mamoru Oshii |
| Format | Anime (Movie) |
| Made By | Bandai, Studio Deen, Tohokushinsha Film |
| Episode Length | 83 minutes |
| # of Eps/Volumes | N/A |
Contents
Genre
Sum it up in a Sentence:
A futuristic special mecha police unit investigates in the cause of mecha going berserk.
Main Description
Mecha (called "labors") are virtually ubiquitous in the world of Patlabor, to the point that there's a special police unit dealing with labor crime. Patlabor 1 follows the events that transpire shortly after the release of a new labor operating system (and coincidentally, the death of its lead programmer). Shortly after the widespread adoption of the new operating system, reports of labors going berserk start coming in - apparently caused by a virus engineered into the OS by its now-deceased architect. But were a few isolated incidents really the scope of his diabolical plan? Most likely not, which is why the Tokyo Metropolitan Police is frantically trying to figure out what will trigger a berserk labors en masse, and (hopefully,) to prevent it, or at the very least to buy some time for software experts to figure out how to disable the virus.
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Personal Opinions
iddqd
Unlike most mecha anime, Patlabor isn't really centered heavily around the mecha - in fact, it's mostly character-driven. The mecha are just tools, used in a variety of industrial and municipal jobs, added seemingly as an afterthought. Patlabor 1 follows the events of the first Patlabor TV series, although I should add that it's in no way required watching. In fact, I'm of the opinion that the TV series is rather bad, while the movies are some of my all-time favorites. And if the whole "computer virus" plot seems cliche and overused, keep in mind that this anime is probably one of the first (if not the first) to do it.
TannhauserGate
(As far as I know the Patlabor movie is similar to the TV show, but there isn't a separate page for the TV show.) In the mood for an awesome mecha anime, with lots of missiles flying around, and constant PEW PEW!? Then you're on the wrong page, friend. Patlabor does have some great mecha bits, and the mecha bits are some of the best in the industry, but they're only bits. I was very disappointed to find out that the mecha anime I wanted to watch was mostly a slice of life, or maybe harem... sort of... school... thing? I don't know. At some point during the non-mecha bits I just hit the eject button and returned it. Not recommended for mecha fans, and instead recommended for people who care about character development who wouldn't mind some action scenes (Elfen Leid fans, perhaps?).
