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Patlabor (a portmanteau of "patrol" and "labor") refers to Mobile Police Patlabor (機動警察パトレイバー Kidō Keisatsu patoreibā), an anime and manga franchise created by Headgear, a group consisting of director Mamoru Oshii, writer Kazunori Ito, mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi, character designer Akemi Takada, and manga artist Masami Yūki. The popular franchise included a manga, a TV series, two OVA series, three feature length movies, and a short film compilation, named Minipato (ミニパト) because of its super-deformed drawing style. 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. Animations from Patlabor were used extensively in the music video "Juke Joint Jezebel" by KMFDM. The manga received the 36th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 1991.[1] [edit] StorylineThe 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 Patlabors to combat crimes 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. The feature films follow separate continuities, referred to as the "movie timeline" and the "TV timeline." The different OVA series follow either the movie or TV timelines. [edit] CharactersMain article: List of Patlabor characters [edit] Release history1988: 1989 - 1992: 1993: 1994 - 2002: The first two Patlabor movies are directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) and produced by the venerable development house Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire) with music from Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell). [edit] List of Productions[edit] Mobile Police Patlabor (1988-1989, OVA, 7 episodes)This starts the movie timeline. [edit] Patlabor the Movie (1989)Main article: Patlabor: The Movie The plot follows a string of incidents involving labors going berserk. The reason is unknown and it's up to the SV.2 team to figure it out. This film continues the movie timeline. [edit] Patlabor: The TV Series/Mobile Police Patlabor (1989-1990, TV, 47 episodes)Main article: Patlabor: The TV Series The TV series features an alternate telling of how Section 2 was formed. The main story arc involves the Griffon Labor. This begins the TV timeline. [edit] Mobile Police Patlabor P-Series (1990-1992, OVA, 16 episodes)This series is also referred to as OVA 2. Most of the episodes are placed in various points throughout the TV timeline. There are several episodes in the OVA series that takes place after the end of the TV series, including the conclusion to the Griffon storyline. [edit] Patlabor 2 the Movie (1993)Main article: Patlabor 2: The Movie Terrorists attack Tokyo and it's up to the Patlabor Special Vehicles 2nd Division to stop them. This movie has similar premise to episodes 5 and 6 of the original OVA. This movie continues the movie timeline. [edit] WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 (Wasted 13) (2001)Main article: WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 A monster has been feeding on Tokyo Bay. Two detectives are on the case. This is a side story to Patlabor, and takes place in the movie timeline, between the other two movies. It is based on a part of the manga and has a similar premise to a story in the original OVA series. WXIII's actual release date is 2001, as it premiered in a film festival that year. However, public release was made the following year to coincide with the release of Minipato. [edit] Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum: Minipato (2002, 3 short films)Minipato consists of three parts, each part 13 minutes in length. It is an adjunct to the Patlabor anime series. Along with WXIII, it is the last story told within the universe. Minipato was screened in Japanese cinemas before the start of WXIII in such a way that, to see the complete series, viewers were made to see WXIII three times. The animation style uses a combination of paper puppets and CGI, with a claymation sequence in the first episode. [edit] List of Labors[edit] Police Labors
[edit] Military Labors
[edit] Fire and Rescue Labors
[edit] Civilian (Industrial) Labors
[edit] Other Labors
[edit] LicensingAll of the Patlabor productions have been released in the United States in some form, except for most of the manga. All the movies have been translated into English and are available in stores in Region 1, 2 & 4 DVD format. Both the entire TV series, and the 2 OVAs are available on DVD in Region 1. 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 Beez Entertainment handled distribution in the UK. Madman has the distribution rights for the movies in Australia and New Zealand. [edit] References
[edit] External links
Categories: Manga series | Anime OVAs | Anime films | Anime series | Light novels | Anime of 1988 | Anime of 1989 | Anime of 1990 | Anime of 1991 | Anime of 1992 | Anime of 2002 | Comedy-drama anime and manga | Detective anime and manga | Mecha anime and manga | Viz Media manga | Production I.G | Shōnen | Shogakukan Manga Awards | Central Park Media | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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