7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Giant Robots, sociopaths, madmen waving guns: these aren’t just the problems the Mobile Police have to deal with every day, these ARE the Mobile Police. But in a world where giant robots called Labors are frequently used for criminal purposes, the boys and girls in blue have to face things that are even bigger and scarier.
Starring: Mîna Tominaga, Toshio Furukawa, Michihiro Ikemizu, Issei Futamata, Osamu SakaForeign | 100% |
Anime | 90% |
Action | 22% |
Comedy | 4% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Much like the sometimes dunderheaded characters it depicts, Patlabor The Mobile Police didn’t do things in the typical fashion for most anime. A lot of anime properties are based on preexisting manga, and they frequently then port over to anime as television series, ultimately also offering “special” episodes or extended fare in the form of OVAs. Patlabor The Mobile Police actually got its start as OVAs (with a more or less simultaneously released manga tie- in), and only after the success of those properties (which were recently released on Blu-ray by Maiden Japan as Patlabor The Mobile Police Original OVA Series: Early Days) became an “official” television series. Complicating events is the fact that all three of these entries have differences between them, something that’s only further obfuscated by the fact that the feature film outings in the Patlabor universe also have significant variations in character and timeline. That may seem like a daunting hurdle to overcome, but in fact if viewers simply accept each individual property on its own merits, there’s not much that will need explaining. The television series is rather self-contained and does a good job delineating characters, back stories and basic plot. As with the OVA franchise, a narrator gives us a very quick introduction to the general Patlabor universe, where huge mecha called Labors have been invented to help with physical projects in the near future (which frankly now has become the near past). Unfortunately, the criminal element soon figured out they could use these gigantic Labors to aid them in their illegal activities, and a mecha based crime wave began. Our trusty heroes are members of a special police squad known as the Patrol Labor, or Patlabor for short, cops who have their own huge mecha to combat those commandeered by various bad guys. For better or worse, that’s the gist of Patlabor The Mobile Police, but the show ends up being as much about the interrelationships between the various characters as it does about the admittedly never ending battles between the heroes and the villains.
Patlabor The Mobile Police is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Maiden Japan with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Maiden Japan is trumpeting the fact that this is sourced from remastered elements (see the blurb in the audio section below), and the results are really nice looking, with a painterly, old school style that lovers of vintage anime should love. Colors are bold and nicely saturated and line detail is generally quite sharp and well detailed. There's a tendency for some lackluster animation at times, especially in establishing shots, but the action elements are uniformly well done.
Patlabor The Mobile Police contains the following text in an insert included inside the keepcase:
In order to provide the most satisfactory viewing experience for both old and new fans of Mobile Police Patlabor TV, Maiden Japan's production team has secured both the very latest Japanese high-definition video remaster of this iconic series, as well [as] the original audio masters produced for the classic English language dubbed edition. However, when the time came to marry the two versions of the TV series together, it became clear that attempting to sync all of the language options to the same video stream would have required making significant compromises in the quality of at least one of the two versions. Therefore, to preserve the best possible quality and presentation for each version, Maiden Japan's DVD and Blu-ray releases of Mobile Police Patlabor TV include the Japanese and English language editions as separate entities. Although you will only see each episode listed once on the menu of your disc, your player will be directed to the correct version of each episode based on your current language settings. Please be sure to the disc menu to select the language of your choice as you will be unable to do so via your remote.This might seem on its face to be a really odd disclaimer. What possible problem could there be "marrying" audio to video, whether or not that video is remastered? All becomes clear with the realization that the English dub of Patlabor the Mobile Police featured edited versions of the original Japanese language versions. For example, the first episode in this set runs 25:12 in its original Japanese language version but clocks in at only 24:28 in the English dub. (Some of the edits are really kind of strange, but that's a separate issue entirely.) This also explains why it appears that only four episodes are included on each BD-50, for in reality there are eight.
Patlabor The Mobile Police is a very sweet natured show that has a bunch of really memorable characters, some smart comedic writing and, once we get past the introductions, some nicely done action elements. There are some mini- arcs in these first twelve episodes that set up some nice back stories and point toward future conflicts. The series has a bit more of a rote aspect than the OVAs, but it's still hugely enjoyable. This Blu-ray set features excellent video and audio and comes Recommended.
機動警察パトレイバー / The Television Series
1989-1990
機動警察パトレイバー / The Television Series
1990
機動警察パトレイバー / The Television Series
1990
機動警察パトレイバー NEW OVA
1990-1992
機動警察パトレイバー アーリーデイズ / Patlabor: The Early Days
1988-1989
includes Minipato / WXIII 機動警察パトレイバー / ミニパト
2001
機動警察パトレイバー the Movie
1989
機動警察パトレイバー 2 the Movie
1993
THE ビッグオー
1999-2003
SD on Blu-ray / 装甲騎兵ボトムズ
1983-2011
1987-1991
2010
1986
Armored Trooper Votoms: The Heretic Saint
1994
2007-2008
1985
Armored Trooper Votoms: Red Shoulder Document: Roots of Ambition
1988
聖戦士ダンバイン
1983-1984
Armored Trooper Votoms: Alone Again
2011
1985
レドライン
2009
Perfect Edition | プロジェクトA子
1986
トップをねらえ! 劇場版
2006