Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum: Minipato (2002)

Directed by

Kenji Kamiyama

Country

Japan

How it feels

The film is a parody within the Patlabor universe. It makes fun of the franchise's own tropes and the mecha genre. The story involves the characters from the police's Labor squad getting mixed up in silly adventures.

playfulwhimsicallightheartedcomedicself-awareaction-comedybreezyquirky

What happens

Mobile Police Patlabor (Japanese: 機動警察パトレイバー, Hepburn: Kidō Keisatsu Patoreibā), also known as Patlabor (a portmanteau of "patrol" and "labor"), is a Japanese science fiction media franchise in the mecha genre. It is produced by Headgear, an artist collective consisting of manga artist Masami Yūki, director Mamoru Oshii, screenwriter Kazunori Itō, mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi, and character designer Akemi Takada. The concept of Patlabor originated from a desire to create a more realistic and light-hearted mecha anime than militarized works like Gundam or Space Runaway Ideon which were popular in the 1980s. Set in near-future Tokyo, construction mecha known as "Labors" are increasingly used in large-scale engineering work; the Tokyo Metropolitan Police also have their own fleet of police Labors. Incorporating elements of the workplace comedy and police procedural genres, the series follows the misfit Division 2 as they deal with Labor-related crimes, terrorism, and accidents. The franchise began airing in 1988 with the Patlabor: The Early Days OVA, and quickly became a multimedia franchise including a manga, three TV series, four feature-length movies, three light novel series, and an animated short film compilation. Patlabor is known for using mecha not just for police or military purposes, but also for industrial and municipal jobs. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Patlabor: The TV Series (1989)
• Mobile Police Patlabor: The New Files (1990)
• FLCL (2000)
• Patlabor The Movie (1989)
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002)
• Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion (2006)
• Patlabor: The New Files (1990)
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