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.

Studio Deen sure does make a wide range of anime and seems to take chances on their directors. For You’re Under Arrest, the previous animation director of Urusei Yatsura, Kazuhiro Furuhashi got his real first chance in the role.

This anime is, to put it simply, a cop drama about officers in the traffic division. With many similarities to Patlabor, being about the daily lives of police officers in a somewhat quirky division has surprisingly a good amount of action and humour. Due to it only being a four episode OVA series, the animation and sound quality are superb, just like the Patlabor OVA series. Everything ... has so much detail ranging from the artistic backdrops to the speedometers on motor bikes. The mechanical detail is simply amazing, showing how much love of vehicles there are in the anime relating well to how much the main characters love them as well.

Unfortunately, because the anime is so short, the action chase scenes and the humour fades fairly quickly. Relationships are not really built other than short introductions, development is non-existent, and dialogue is rather simplistic. Most of which, it cannot be totally faulted for, but more of an issue with the length of the show. This is a shame considering You’re Under Arrest is so strong and had the potential to be something bigger than what it was.

Excellent art, animation, mechanical detail, and the lovely traffic cop duo do make it a nice afternoon watch none the less. Luckily, in the end, this show got picked up and went on to cross the eventual 100 plus episode mark. If anything, this OVA is a gateway to something special.