Anime Profile: Patlabor 2 - The Movie

Unlike the Patlabor TV Series and first Patlabor Movie, the main character here is Ki'ichi Gotoh, and not Noa Izumi. Also, in this film, Patlabors are a rare sight... which I find kind of weird seeing as how it's called "Patlabor". And you know what else seems to be missing from this film? Action. Yeah, this is definitely not an action flick. This is a movie for people who like to think. I've watched this twice now, and I'm still shaking on the plot details. It involves some kind of whole political conspiracy thing that I just don't get.

So the story basically starts off with a bay bridge being blown up. Apparently, it was due to a missile fired from a jet fighter, though from what I understood, the jet was on a routine training mission when the terrorist or whoever hacked into the system and fired the missile, so it wasn't the pilot. And thus the investigation begins! Who is this mysterious hacker and what's his game? In order to hack into those highly secured computers, he must be pretty dang good... and most likely an insider, someone who worked on systems.

Ah, but that's just the beginning. Now, remember that jet? Well, a shadowy image of that jet fighter that was coincidentally caught on videotape by a crew who was filming the bridge for some TV show... but then apparently this footage had then been altered to look like a different type of jet... because of some political reason or something. I'm not really sure.

Okay, so basically the vibe I was getting was that these terrorists or whoever it is that was hacking into the defense department wanted to turn the government departments against each other in order to overthrow them... or something. Again, I'm not really sure. There's a whole lot of politics involved, and I've always been horrible with figuring that kind of stuff out. It's like chess, where they're always thinking several moves ahead, and I'm sitting here pretending like I see the whole plan but in reality am just thinking I really wish they were playing checkers so I could know who was wining.

Anyway, so stepping outside the confusing plot (or confusing for me, at least), the visual style and atmosphere present are extremely well done. It feels so much more real than many live-action Hollywood movies. It doesn't seem like an anime world at all, but rather like you've been living there in Tokyo with these characters all along. Quite an accomplishment, I must say! The first movie accomplished much the same feel, though I think this one got it even better.

Still, there is a lot of down time here, and I mean a LOT. Yes, the way each shot is set up makes the scenes more interesting that they would otherwise be, but... yeah... I just wish it would have been a bit more exciting, like edge-of-your-seat, what's-going-to-happen-next kind of tension, instead of making me do all this brain work attempting to figure out what's going on. Thankfully, the action does pick up again in the third act, like when the hellicopter starts blowing the crap out of everything! Anyway, if you're one of those individuals who loves these kind of thinking-man plots, then I'm sure you'll find this film a treat. Otherwise, if you're like me and love the action, you'll probably be disappointed.

The Patlabor 2 - The Movie - Special Collector's Edition was released on July 11, 2006, and just like Patlabor The Movie - Special Collector's Edition, it features an all new English translation and dubbing, a newly remastered anamorphic transfer, and new authentic 5.1 channel sound. Wow... still wish I knew what that meant. It's also a two-disc set, where the second disc contains a complete "making of", broken up into the following segments: Image, Location Hunting, Direction Plan, CG Works, Animation Works, Character Design Works, Mechanical Design Works, Shooting, Cast on Voice, and Special Talk (1994) Mamoru Oshii & Toshiya Ueno. These are all in Japanese with English subtitles.

The Special Collector's Edition also comes with two books, one called Patlabor 2 The Movie Archives, and the other called Patlabor 2 The Movie Storyboards by Mamoru Oshii. And I must say, both books are very impressive! The Storyboard book shows the storyboards for the entire film, with dialog and notes next to the sketches. And in the back it has a glossary of basic terms that are used, so you can understand their jargon. Then the Archives book is an in-depth look at the movie, with not only information and insights, but sketches, screenshots, photos of brochures, a map of Tokyo, and even actual photos of the city. It's everything you ever wanted to know about Patlabor 2, but didn't know that you wanted to know.