Patlabor

[The Almighty Hamster]

Patlabor is a combination of mecha action and slice-of-life. All I'm gonna say for those who haven't seen it. There's the OVA and the films which are very different from each other. Would definitely recommend.​

 

[fake-kun]

I heard a lot about this one back when I was a regular at /m/.

 

[Tinhornjam]

watched the ova and its 3 movies a little over a year ago and really enjoyed them. the first two movies are like masterpieces.

 

[chrismas]

Patlabor's something I want to like, but the OVAs and especially the TV show did nothing for me. First movie was easily the best of what I saw, by a long shot. The changes made to Kanuka Clancy for the TV show are unforgivable. My memory of the comic is pretty fuzzy.

 

[The Almighty Hamster]

I heard a lot about this one back when I was a regular at /m/.

Never frequented that board, /vr/ was my go-to until /qa/ got invaded and flooded it's cancer onto other boards. Not the same site as it used to be.

 

[Stingy Perry]

Never watched the ova but I watched the two anime movies If you’re a fan of Mamoru Oshii (director of Ghost in the Shell anime movies) it’s a must try.

 

[davshap]

Never watched the ova but I watched the two anime movies If you’re a fan of Mamoru Oshii (director of Ghost in the Shell anime movies) it’s a must try.

Oh yes !

 

[MononokeDS]

One of my all time favorites, always wanted a decent figure.

Need to read the manga as I do believe it's been fully fan translated now.

 

[MrFabulous]

Patlabor 2 is one of my favorite anime films of all time, the crazy variety of projects that Headgear was involved with makes it pretty unique and the content of each entry varies pretty strongly as a result. I can understand not enjoying parts of it because once you get used to one 'flavor' the differences in tone can be unappealing. It's hard to recommend every Patlabor project to different people but the original show is worth watching just to understand the characters, it's not essential but I found it valuable after having seeing the movies first (anime releases being what they were in the early 00's that's all that was available).

Patlabor 2 in particular is a strong recommendation from me generally, for how well it captures the zeitgeist of Japan in the early Heisei era, at the beginning of their huge economic slump, and tries to articulate some of the anxiety about things like international relations and the legacy of post-WWII policy (I think it even directly anticipates some events that would become major political issues in japan a year after it was released). It's kind of slow for an action movie and they don't get as much use out of characters like Noa and Ohta but it has pretty strong leads in Goto and Nagumo. Spare as they are with it, Patlabor 2 also has one of the best opening credits drops and mecha sequences ever -

It's almost worth checking out just for the score, which boasts some particularly rich and haunting tracks. I think it's pretty heavily imitated (indeed much of the imagery was shamelessly stolen by some big western directors, not unlike other Oshii films like GITS) but seeing how well its used here makes it easy to forget about the imitators. Obviously I would recommend watching it in the original japanese with subs but with its initial international release dub was the only option, and I have to say I quite like the original english dub by the distributor Manga Entertainment but my understanding is that this is only available in a low quality mono mix and the new bluray features an all new dub by all new hacks. You can still track it down online and if you're the kind of person who prefers the dub it's one of the (very) few good ones.

The best thing about Patlabor, and other 'creative committee' works by artists/writers/directors of that era is how well it uses all the same elements to make very different products. Some of them are deep, intensely specific works like Patlabor 2 and some of them are just sort of goofy, simple fun (like much of the original OVA series) but none of these things conflict at all. I was never a big fan of the next movie or the live action series but there's enough of what I like in the mix that I still consider myself a Patlabor fan overall.

 

[Karaswinglet]

I always love the Patlabor franchise. While it has its slice of life vibes it also tackles a lot of very serious arguments. I consider it to be the best "real robot" series as it doesn't need world wars, aliens or similar threat to create very scary and serious episodes. Sure, there are wars, fights and sprawling problems that could threat more than just Japan but everything is treated with a care that doesn't aim at bombastic drama but at a more, intimistic, psychological one without forgetting to add fun and happy moments. It's also a franchise that was able to delevope its characters really beautifully, with Noa being an extremely well developed main character. Of its main versions (the Early Days OVAs, the movies, the new OVAs, the Tv series and the manga) and the different approach at their bases I can't find a favourite one, they are all amazing in a way or another.

 

[McWiggles]

I have to say I quite like the original english dub by the distributor Manga Entertainment but my understanding is that this is only available in a low quality mono mix and the new bluray features an all new dub by all new hacks. You can still track it down online and if you're the kind of person who prefers the dub it's one of the (very) few good ones.

There's a high quality FLAC version of the Manga UK dub that syncs with the Bluray perfectly. That's how I prefer to watch it; it's just such a fantastic dub. I think this comment nails it:

 

[OverTheMoon]

That movie is quite unique. It has its own atmosphere and Its relatively darker in contrast to the other entries in its own continuity. I haven't seen the TV anime yet so I'm not certain how it really compares (I'm aware that it's a different continuity in itself) but I look forward to it. The movie actually gives you a sense of progression in the world as time actually passes and characters are elsewhere in life and have a slightly more mature and grown up appearance to them compared to their previous designs, something you truly have to appreciate.

Also Kenji Kawai's amazing soundtrack greatly adds to the film's beauty.

I'd say that Patlabor 2 kind of leans more towards Jin-Roh if I am to compare it to other projects that involved Oshii. Also speaking of which, does anyone like his other works be it anime or live action?

 

[Asian girls lover]

It's on my watchlist, too bad can't find it in japanese dub.

 

[Ravl]

I heard a lot about this one back when I was a regular at /m/.

Patlabor gets a lot of hate there and understandably so, the franchise is kinda messy: the Early Days ova is all over the place in terms of quality (ghost episode, the sea monster episode); Patlabor 2 has nothing to to do with Patlabor and has about 10 minutes of mecha action; the best ones to me are the TV series the first movie.

It's on my watchlist, too bad can't find it in japanese dub.

Use Nyaa

 

[OverTheMoon]

I'm also curious, what do you all think of WXIII: Patlabor 3? I hear very mixed things about it from the other fans of the series. I personally like it despite being different from what you would expect, just nice that it shows you another aspect of the universe.

 

[AceOfAces]

I'm also curious, what do you all think of WXIII: Patlabor 3? I hear very mixed things about it from the other fans of the series. I personally like it despite being different from what you would expect, just nice that it shows you another aspect of the universe.

I really don't think Wasted XIII is a good movie, not because of its content but because of its execution. It doesn't quite live up to the Godzilla energy it was trying to have and most of the core cast are absent for huge chunks of it, which is interesting conceptually, but after a series and two movies you're pretty attached to those characters.
That being said, the last time I watched it in full I was like 13 and much less knowledgeable about... everything, but especially Japanese culture and how that influences media. Mr Fabulous' post is entirely true in hindsight but is not something I understood when I first watched Patlabor 2, and I watched WXIII not long after. Maybe I'll rewatch them sometime... I recently rewatched New Getter Robo, which I'd thought was a bit mid as a teenager (although it was my gateway into Getter Robo and super robots generally, after TTGL failed to grab me until I'd seen some stuff it was referencing), and now that my knowledge of Japanese history and folklore is much stronger I really enjoyed it.

The first movie I remember I got chills at the 'ghost story' that drives the narrative, especially the Hitchcock-inspired scene with the crows, despite being a dumb ten-year-old at the time (I was still getting an introduction to anime through shows like the good dub of Cardcaptor Sakura, Gundam Wing, Digimon, Zoids etc.).

To my understanding, there's sort of a conflict between people who liked the OVA and people who like the movies, especially the first one, since Mamoru Oshii basically did whatever he wanted and ignored the pre-existing characters and setting.

 

[OverTheMoon]

I really don't think Wasted XIII is a good movie, not because of its content but because of its execution. It doesn't quite live up to the Godzilla energy it was trying to have and most of the core cast are absent for huge chunks of it, which is interesting conceptually, but after a series and two movies you're pretty attached to those characters.
That being said, the last time I watched it in full I was like 13 and much less knowledgeable about... everything, but especially Japanese culture and how that influences media. Mr Fabulous' post is entirely true in hindsight but is not something I understood when I first watched Patlabor 2, and I watched WXIII not long after. Maybe I'll rewatch them sometime... I recently rewatched New Getter Robo, which I'd thought was a bit mid as a teenager (although it was my gateway into Getter Robo and super robots generally, after TTGL failed to grab me until I'd seen some stuff it was referencing), and now that my knowledge of Japanese history and folklore is much stronger I really enjoyed it.

The first movie I remember I got chills at the 'ghost story' that drives the narrative, especially the Hitchcock-inspired scene with the crows, despite being a dumb ten-year-old at the time (I was still getting an introduction to anime through shows like the good dub of Cardcaptor Sakura, Gundam Wing, Digimon, Zoids etc.).

To my understanding, there's sort of a conflict between people who liked the OVA and people who like the movies, especially the first one, since Mamoru Oshii basically did whatever he wanted and ignored the pre-existing characters and setting.

That's fair, to each his own at the end of the day. I hope you can possibly see it in a new light if you do rewatch it sometime.

I understand what you mean by that last part, there were some episodes in the OVA's that, when put next to the more serious tone of Patlabor 2 and even 1 to a certain extent, shows you how different they can both be and it doesn't feel like they can exist in the same continuity at times due to the tonal shifts.

 

[AceOfAces]

it doesn't feel like they can exist in the same continuity at times due to the tonal shifts.

More specifically, the complaints are usually that characters are drastically out-of-character in the movies, which is... honestly pretty true.
Incidentally, Patlabor has some video games! A pretty bizarre action RPG for the SNES (I've spent entirely too much time playing this one), a pretty crummy Contra-esque game for the Famidisk (this is the one with an English patch for some reason), and a 3D action game on the PSX which appears to be a clone of the various Gundam games.

 

[OverTheMoon]

More specifically, the complaints are usually that characters are drastically out-of-character in the movies, which is... honestly pretty true.
Incidentally, Patlabor has some video games! A pretty bizarre action RPG for the SNES (I've spent entirely too much time playing this one), a pretty crummy Contra-esque game for the Famidisk (this is the one with an English patch for some reason), and a 3D action game on the PSX which appears to be a clone of the various Gundam games.

Oh yes that too, I mostly focused on tone.

Thanks for the video games recommendations, It'd be fun to try them someday. I know that Patlabor has some novels and I would like to give the live action version a try too.

 

[McWiggles]

Oh wow, I'm all over that SNES Action RPG. Looks great!

There are a few things in the TV series that contradict the OVA/film timeline, but could watch most of it under the basis of it just being one timeline. I love all animated Patlabor; haven't seen the live action series, though.

WXIII: Patlabor 3... The first time I watched it, I enjoyed it quite a bit but re-watching after binging the TV series/OVAs/films gives it a different taste. Tonally, the violence doesn't fit in with the rest of Patlabor at all; I wondered why they even made it Patlabor in the first place. Still, I'll watch it again one day, I'm sure.

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

We talking about one of the greatest mecha series to ever grace the world, Patlabor? The one that has my beloved, Noa? The one I still rewatch all of every so often?

 

[iced_cooly]

I really liked the OVA and the first Patlabor movie, but Patlabor 2 is a masterpiece IMO. Mamoru Oshii directing and scored by Kenji Kawai - you just can't go wrong. So many beautiful sequences, you can see pieces of Ghost in the Shell coming into form in this one.

Still really need to see Angel's Egg

 

[Gamma]

Watched as a kid on Fox Kids here in Brazil.
I didn't remember much about It except that i watched some Episodes of the tv series and the moveis. After finishing Orb: on the movements of the earth I feel like watching something that think might be similar so i'll probably watch the patlabor moveis soon.

 

[DukeRed]

Patlabor's something I want to like, but the OVAs and especially the TV show did nothing for me. First movie was easily the best of what I saw, by a long shot. The changes made to Kanuka Clancy for the TV show are unforgivable. My memory of the comic is pretty fuzzy.

I felt the same way about Cowboy bebop, I did not like it on first viewing. But the second time I watched it I kind of got it, and appreciated what it was going for.

I have a friend who did not like Neon Genesis evangelion, but watched it recently and said he liked it more lol. I loved it when I first watched it.

 

[cjl8336]

best of the late 80s