The popular franchise includes a manga, a TV series, two OVA series, three feature-length movies, two light novel series, and a short film compilation, named Minipato (ミニパト) because of its super deformed (chibi) drawing style.[4] The series has been adapted into video games and licensed products from OST to toys. Patlabor is known for using mecha – designed by Yutaka Izubuchi – not just for police or military purposes, but also for industrial and municipal jobs.
The series is one of the earlier examples of what is called a "media mix" in Japan, where there is no one source material: Multiple forms of media (in Patlabor's case the anime and manga) are worked on at the same time independently of each other.[4]
The story takes place in what was, at the time of release, the near future of 1998–2002. Robots called "Labors" are employed in heavy construction work. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has its own fleet of Patrol Labors ("Patlabors"; as opposed to patrol cars) to combat crimes/terrorism and deal with accidents involving Labors. The story arcs usually revolve around Tokyo Metropolitan Police Special Vehicle Section 2, Division 2. Noa Izumi is the main protagonist of the series, but all of Division 2 play roles. Hata and Kusumi are main protagonists of the third Patlabor film.
The Next Generation takes place in 2013, with an entirely new cast with the exception of Shige and Buchiyama in maintenance, but the new members of SV2 have similar names and personalities to the old ones.
The feature films follow a separate continuity, referred to as the "movie timeline", as opposed to the "TV timeline", with the Early Days OVA following the "movie timeline", and the New Files OVA following the "TV timeline".[citation needed] In addition, the manga follows its own continuity.
The Next Generation features episodes that directly reference the TV series, while its final episode and movie are a direct sequel to the second movie.
Media
Manga
Released by Shogakukan through Shonen Sunday magazine from 1988 to 1994, the 22-volume series takes place in a separate timeline.
A series of random labor incidents across the Greater Tokyo Area puts the SV2 on the case. The incidents turn out to be part of a dead programmer's diabolical plot to create a much bigger rampage.
A secret group of terrorists engineer a crisis in Tokyo in the winter of 2001–2002. The members of SV2's Section 2, who have been reassigned to other duties since the events of WXIII, reunite one more time to stop the threat.
Taking place a year after Patlabor: The Movie, the film features two MPD detectives who investigate the case of missing scientists working on a genetic engineering project that runs amok in Tokyo Bay. SV2's Section 2 is later called in to help rein in the danger.
Taking place in a different continuity, the series features more adventures of SV2 Section 2, which includes an arc involving their efforts to combat an advanced Schaft Enterprises Labor called the Type J9 Griffon.
Also referred to as Patlabor 2, the series contains episodes that took place at several points between certain episodes in the TV series and after the latter's final episode. The OVA also features the conclusion of the Griffon story arc.
A three-part series of short films known as "Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum: Minipato" were shown before screenings of WXIII in 2002, Minipato uses paper puppets, CGI, and claymation to explain the rationale behind the whole concept of the series, especially how the Labors functioned in a realistic hard science fiction setting.
Patlabor REBOOT
Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor REBOOT is a short animated film released as part of Japan Animator Expo 2016 featuring a modernised version of Patlabor with new characters and utilising CG for the Labors,[6] animated by Studio Khara and Studio Rikka.[7]
Patlabor EZY
On November 24, 2016, it was announced that a new Patlabor project had started.[8]Patlabor EZY was announced at Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2017.[9] Kazunori Ito said on his Twitter account in June 2017 that he is involved in the project.[10] In August 2018, GENCO opened social media accounts to promote Patlabor EZY.[11]
A pilot was reported to have debuted in August 2022.[12] During the "Mobile Police Patlabor Bucchake Talk!" event at Wonder Festival 2022, Yutaka Izubuchi said that EZY is set to debut in 2024.[13]
In October 2023, MOVeLOT revealed that they're working on an Ingram-type mech in relation to EZY.[14] They invited anyone to follow their social media accounts for updates on the progress.[15] They reported in June 2024 that a working Ingram will be publicly unveiled in August with a ceremony held in mid-September.[16]
On September 12, 2024, the two-minute pilot was shown at theater screenings for the first Patlabor movie in Japan.[17]
The show's staff announced on September 20, 2024 that it will be produced by J.C.Staff and will air in 2026.[18]
At the 2013 Tokyo Anime Fair, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation announced a live-action Patlabor project to be launched in 2014.[19] On July 4, 2013, Mamoru Oshii announced that he would be involved in the project, in an unspecified capacity.[20]
On September 25, 2013, it was announced that Japanese actors Erina Mano would star as pilot Akira Izumino, Seiji Fukushi as Yūma Shiobara, Rina Oota as Ekaterina Krachevna Kankaeva ("Kasha"), Shigeru Chiba reprising his anime role as chief Shigeo Shiba and Toshio Kakei as Captain Keiji Gotōda.[21]
Called The Next Generation: Patlabor, the project consisted of a drama series and movie. The drama series is divided into 14 "short story" episodes released to blu-ray and DVD and exclusively aired on BS Digital and Star Channel airing from 2014 and 2015, with limited advanced theatrical screenings dividing the series into 7 "chapters", each comprising two episodes. The movie THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Shuto Kessen ("Showdown in the Capital City") (THE NEXT GENERATION パトレイバー 首都決戦) released in theaters on May 1, 2015, and a director's cut version of the movie was released on October 10, 2015.[22]
The Next Generation takes place in the Patlabor world's version of 2013 Tokyo, and is a sequel to the TV series, the OVA series and the second movie. The completion of the Babylon Project led to disuse of Labors, and Japan is in the midst of a recession. Labors falling into disuse also means there is also no place for the patrol labor squads, which have been shrunk to only one division.[22]
The drama series follows the new members of SV2 as they solve cases and get into trouble like their predecessors did.
In the movie, followers of Yukihito Tsuge carry out terrorist attacks on Tokyo, re-enacting Tsuge's coup, and SV2 has to stop them.
Novels
Patlabor 1-5
Novels taking place in the same universe as the Early Days OVA and first movie.
Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor: Fuusoku 40 Meter (Kazunori Ito) – October 1990
All of the main Patlabor anime productions have been released overseas in some form. All the movies have been translated into English and are available in Region 1, 2 & 4 DVD format. Most of the manga is not available in North America in English, and the video games, novels and live action series have also not been released outside of Japan.
The TV series and OVAs were released in the U.S. by Central Park Media. The first two movies were released by Manga Entertainment, but later remastered and re-released in 2006 by Bandai Visual. The third movie (along with "Mini-Pato") was released by Geneon Entertainment (formerly Pioneer). Twelve sections of the manga have been translated and published by Viz Communications as single issues and in two trade paperbacks, but later dropped the manga before completing it.
Mini-Pato is available on DVD in regions 1, 2, and 4 in the Limited Edition Patlabor WXIII DVD packages.
In 2006, Bandai Visual's Honneamise label re-released the first two movies on DVD in North America with extensive bonus features and an alternate English track, and Beez Entertainment handled distribution in the UK.
Madman has the distribution rights for the movies in Australia and New Zealand in association with Manga Entertainment UK & TFC, Madman have been refused the rights to the Bandai Visual dubs of the films. In 2011, Madman Entertainment announced that they had secured the rights to the Early Days OVA series and the TV series from TFC, but announced on April 13, 2012, that due to unforeseen circumstances, Madman had indefinitely delayed their release into Australia and did not elaborate on the reasons.[23] However, Madman has since rescheduled the first OVA for DVD and Blu-ray release on June 19, 2013. In July 2013, MVM Films has licensed the first OVA & TV series for distribution in the UK and will release them on Blu-ray and DVD.
In 2013, Maiden Japan (in conjunction with Section23 Films) acquired the licence to the Patlabor OAV series, and released it on Blu-ray and DVD on April 30, 2013.[24] They subsequently licensed and released the TV series on July 16, 2013;[25] the second OVA series on February 17, 2015;[26] and all of the films, with the first film released on May 5, 2015.[27]
Headgear
Headgear (ヘッドギア, Heddogia) is a group consisting of five main writers and artists who work in the Japanese anime/manga field. The group was set up so that all the creators could retain full copyright to their work, achieve greater publicity for their work and sell their manga to anime sponsors for film production. The members are Masami Yuki, Yutaka Izubuchi, Kazunori Itō, Akemi Takada, and Mamoru Oshii. Together they worked on the anime series Patlabor and the two episode OVATwilight Q.
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