Taiho Shichau zo

You're Under Arrest follows the happenings of a police station and in particular those officers of the Traffic division. Aired as an OVA, this later came to be the first 4 episodes of the TV series bearing the same name. However, this review will assess it's performance as a stand-alone.

- ANIMATION -
As expected from an OVA the animation quality is superb; with great detail taken in facial expression and general movement fluidity. The backgrounds are also of high detail and do not have that colour tone difference otherwise common to most televised series. Fujishima Kousuke being an avid motorsports enthusiast, made sure that You're Under ... Arrest featured excellent animated footage of cars, motorbikes and other mechanicals. It was an obvious match for his love of cars and anime that brought us this series.

- SOUND -
The soundtrack is mellow most of the time, but with a gripping 'suspense/action' theme used during the chase sequences, you soon find your own heart beating with expectation! In terms of effects, this is mostly focused on traffic/vehical related sounds (drifts, revs, gear changes etc.). Do not expect to see/hear any firearms - disappointing, seeing as this is a police anime. The dub version is well directed despite some dialogue adaptation.

- CHARACTERS -
The story revolves around a partner relationship so you should expect a lot of time dedicated to the two leads. Although only 4 episodes, you get a flare for the cast's own personalities, which are very distinct to the point of perhaps being stereotypical. Eitherway, the designs show a unique style characteristic of this mangaka, but tend to inevitably resemble characters from his other titles (Ah My Goddess!).

- VALUE & ENJOYMENT -
As mentioned, You're Under Arrest tries to showcase the human drama of police officers and their daily relationships. With this in mind, it does not boast of much action apart from car chasing so hardcore police-drama viewers might be disappointed. The storyline although split into 4 episodes, should be viewed as 2 plots each coming to a conclusion by the end of the OVA.
Personally, I consider this an 'all-rounder' because it manages to fit various elements (romance, comedy, drama, action) into a light-hearted, realistic storyline. Because of that, I would not be surprised if you would still enjoy a rewatch of this come a few years time... I know I did.
Finally, the excellent animation alone makes for a worthwhile watch, so its short duration becomes a bonus.

This anime absolutely blew me away. Coming into "You're Under Arrest" I just expected some standard buddy cop cliches, mixed in with some anime ones. And boy does it deliver that and so much more. There's car chases taking you through beautifully animated scenery, there's romance arcs that actually keep you interested even though they only have 4 episodes to work with, and there's even character development that's realistic but still draws you in.
As a huge fan of 70s and 80s cop shows, the cliches in this don't bother me one bit and are perfectly executed. There's a car chase at least every episode, there's ... your standard partner drama between the two main protagonists, they even have a fan club of small children to cheer them on. If you like car chases and you like anime, this is THE OVA for you.

I'm going to go against the grain a bit here and admit that I did not enjoy this one in the least. The first episode seemed promising but it kind of never lived up to it.
The characters were all bland cookie cutter tropes. The plots focused way to much on a love story between two of the cops that wasn't even well written or well implemented. And while the animation was wonderful, the art it's self was bland and lifeless. In the end I had a very hard time caring about these under developed characters and their daily lives.
Maybe I'm being ... too harsh on this show, but it's from Studio Deen, who's output is usually of a much higher standard than this and on top of that already gave us the very similar and much better made Patlabor.