Patlabor 1 (DVD)

Patlabor cops Noah and Azuma -- specially designed crime-fighting robots in 1999's futuristic Tokyo -- uncover a plot to infect the "Labor" robot population with a fatal Babel virus. The virus, emanating from the Babylon Project Tower, turns them into terrorists. Can Noah and Azuma save Tokyo's 8,000-strong mechanical police force from this biochemical warfare before it obliterates them completely? This is one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life. And not just for a cartoon. Had this been a live action production it would be equally good. Patlabor takes place in the year 1999 (though because the movie ...  Read the complete review

The mecha genre is one of those ones that can so easily go wrong. I've always been a little wary of it regarding it as childish. However watching some of the better mecha titles I've come to realise that my opinion in this matter was wrong. Sure you can have childish mecha where all that matters is big robots blasting each other to pieces, but titles like Patlabor and Gundam Wing have shown that it can be done intelligently and well. Patlabor 1 is the only Patlabor title I've seen, so my knowledge of the Patlabor world stems only from this. In the Patlabor world the development of robots (called Labors) has greatly aided the world with their ...  Read the complete review

I'm really not the biggest fan of Mamoru Oshii. I think he ruined Ghost in the Shell, and Urusei Yatsura Beautiful Dreamer really jars against the rest of the series. But this is one of his directorial’s I really, really respect. At the end of the 1990s, the Japanese have Labors in frequent use. A Labor is the general term for a mechanical vehicle, often humanoid, of some size used for certain tasks. Typically, they’re used as a sci-fi JCB, but they also have there use in the military, and of course the police. This series (hence this movie) follows the story of one of Tokyo's Police Labor divisions. In this movie, set in 1999, ...  Read the complete review