Mechs, called LABORS, are used primarily for construction, and a crime division is made for the police force, dubbed Special Vehicles Division. The show focuses on the rambunctious division 2 and how they deal with their day to day lives.
On the surface it seems just another re-hash of the original OVA, and in many ways it is. However, with more room to grow, and more mischief for division 2 to get into, the fun never stops during the three arcs Patlabor can be split into: one, the American Kanuka Clancy; two, the Schaft conflict; and three, to conclude it. This is how the show is broken down.
Patlabor is a more character driven show as opposed to the average mech anime featuring never ending ammo supply, space battles, weapons that take out moons, and more. It is more realistic in a way that the mech is just a heavy machine run by a person. During the course of the anime, the viewer can slowly understand each and every character and enjoy the ride along the way. Each person is an individual without pre-set tropes and has their own way to reacting to situations. Animation and sound is pretty standard with the remastered being even better, but mech designs being truly unique in the show’s approach to the real-robot genre. Even the music depicts the era it came out of, and still gives the show a nice personality.
With a solid unique take on real-robot mech anime, fun humorous characters, and normal day to day takes on division 2; Patlabor offers an enjoyable experience with some stories mixed in.
