Patlabor 2 (DVD)

After the first movie, saying that I was eagerly awaiting this movie is an understatement. And after watching it, my feeling were mixed. Labors are now used all over Japan, and much of the old Police Labor crew have scattered to various jobs over Japan. Of the old crew, only Captain Goto and Shinobu are left. This movie focuses on them, largely an old figure from Shinobu's life who may be manipulating parts of the Japanese government, bringing Tokyo into civil unrest. I'll start by saying that this movie is really beautiful. The long, elegant sections of animation are wonderfully done, and the design that accompanies it is superb. There are a ...  Read the complete review

I have never watched Patlabor 1, but knew the basis of the plot, and so when Patlabor 2 came on the TV I thought I would watch it. The animation for this movie is superb, better than critically acclaimed movies, such as Akira/Ghost in the shell. The movie is very realistic, it has obviously had a lot of work put into it, and so that is why I am giving it 3 stars. The plot is confusing though, I watched it and I still didn't get what it was really about. A bridge gets blown up by someone, and it seems like a cover-up job, to do with the "labors" which are huge (mecha) machines that are part of the police force. Somehow some officers get ...  Read the complete review

The one thing Japanese animated science-fiction films seem to have in common is that detail and attention are poured out on technical drawings, while things like story and character fall by the wayside. That's certainly true of "Patlabor 2," the follow-up to an original film. The setting is Japan in the year 2002, where unknown terrorists have destroyed a bridge that connects two major cities. When the mastermind behind the crime appears to be a former military cop, it's up to the Tokyo Police Department's Special Vehicle Division to track him down. The SVD employs giant ...  Read the complete review

From the creator of Ghost in the Shell, comes a brilliant anime that shatters all the stereotypes of the genre. The mecha, or giant robots, are almost abesnt from the film until the end. Little action, and lots of plot and character developement. Unlike some of his later work, there is relatively little philosophizing, and no confusing psychobabble. Instead, the film explores the relationships between a the three protagonists (Gotoh, Nagumo, and Tsuge) as well as the very real tension between the JSDF and the occupying american forcers, who are still there to this day. An excellent movie that I reccomend highly to anyone who enjoys political thrillers, or anyone who ...  Read the complete review