Reviews

This TV series take on Patlabor expands upon the developments of Section 2 implementing the mix of action, comedy and everyday developments facing the cast of the series compared to the first OAV series and first movie. While the series is mostly focused on the developments of main heroine Noa Izumi throughout the series, Patlabor still takes its time to focus on the other prominent characters of Section 2 from the manipulative superior of the group Kiichi Goto to impulsive gun-nut Isao Ota. The action element of the series involves Section 2's use of their Ingrim units in handling Labor threats that can be as mundane as construction labors to military prototypes wrecking havoc on the SDF's forces for illegal field testing. In particular, the latter makes for an ongoing plot where Section 2 and other police agencies try to find details on who is responsible for the testing of Labors against military units. However, it did feel like this particular storyline was left unresolved towards the middle of the series where the show went back to relying on its comedy and focus on Izumi's developments.

The comedy for Patlabor had me drawing some comparisons to it with Police Academy as the personality quirks of Section 2 quite often got in the way of them performing their duties and they were considered the incompetent members of Tokyo's police force. Otherwise, much of the show's comedy comes from the usually unpredictable antics of Section 2 while both on duty and going about everyday routines in their headquarters, which I admit had me laughing on many occasions throughout the show when the show focused on them and the occasional bizarre comedy filler episode.

The series can be an acquired taste for some viewers. In terms of its approach to the "real robot" genre of mecha anime, Patlabor gets as real as it can get exploring the great lengths one has to go through to maintain Labors, minimize damage to any crime scene that police and military forces are employed to in order to handle Labor crimes and the financial difficulties of securing new Labors and parts needed to repair them. Action isn't so much the prominent element of the series compared to most mecha anime as it is more focused on the challenges faced by Noa and Section 2 while on duty and living normally. Depending on what you look forward to with mecha anime, you might find the series lacking in terms of grand plot and fighting scenes or find it to be a unique and original premise that makes a more down-to-earth approach to the mecha genre.

In terms of visual presentation, Patlabor is standard quality for the time it was developed as a TV anime. Mecha and character designs are reasonably detailed with subdued color shading with animation that gets the job done in depicting crime scenes that Section 2 are called in to handle, though much of this is certainly outdated compared to modern anime titles. The soundtrack to the series does well to complement the comical and serious elements to it yet, with exception to the title's first OP song, there was nothing memorable that stuck out for me.

Overall, Patlabor offered up a fun, solid mix of comedy, action and everyday developments facing the members of Section 2 while also offering up quite the realistic take on the mecha genre. Anyone looking for a unique and original take to the mecha genre should give this a look, especially if you have interest in looking into older anime titles.