Greetings, everyone. I have brought my relentless charm to bear on the Austin Otaku and managed to secure myself a guest post here at AustinOtaku.com. Hopefully this post will succeed in persuading you to try an anime title that I’ve enjoyed immensely.
Most otaku in the U.S. have found anime they like and learned how to search out similar titles to enjoy. With rich offerings from genres like comedy, character drama, slice-of-life, romance, suspense, etc., otakus are never left empty-handed. The enterprising otaku continues to broaden his or her knowledge of anime by sampling new genres and seeing what they have to offer. That said, there is one genre that has trouble appealing to viewers outside of Japan.
Mecha, or giant robot, anime makes up a large part of the animation coming out of Japan. Ever since Mighty Atom and Iron Man 28 in the 1960’s Japanese audiences have enjoyed seeing giant metal men save the day. Mecha anime is so popular in the Land of the Rising Sun that it has become its own genre.
But for westerners it seems like too much to swallow. Brightly colored machines that dwarf automobiles fist fighting in the streets of Tokyo seems like the stuff of Saturday morning cartoons. The heavy use of strange technical terms doesn’t help, either. What’s a “minovsky particle” and why should I care? But to write off such a large portion of anime would deprive us of far too much. Is there any mecha anime that has a lot to offer a non-science-fiction fan? Perhaps something that will go easy on us non-techies? Enter “Patlabor.”
The members of SV 2's second division.
Patlabor started with an OAV series in April 1998 and was so well received that it went on to produce a 47 episode television series, three high-budget movies and another OAV series. Its popularity has continued for more than thirteen years because it has something to offer everyone. After looking at the promotional artwork and art books you would get the impression Patlabor is an action-packed mecha show, but actually Patlabor is a collection of stories that spans every genre. Action and suspense is mixed evenly with intelligent science-fiction, touching character drama, side-splitting comedy, slice-of-life stories and soap opera romance.
The stories center around the members of the Tokyo Police Department’s Special Vehicles Section 2 (SV 2). SV 2’s first division is made up of competent, dedicated officers, but the second division somehow became a magnet for talented misfits. The seven members of Division 2 are passionate and skilled people, but their personalities clash, and their offbeat approach to their work make for a very entertaining series.
Although sparse, there is mecha action that won't disappoint.
Placed ten years in the future, Patlabor features giant robots that are just entering the police force to try and stop the criminal use of construction and military robots that is on the rise. Although some stories involve mecha action, many don’t show the robots at all. Instead of the tense military storylines or technical terms we expect from sci-fi anime, you’ll enjoy comedy, office romance, character-focused stories and much more. Over the course of the television and OAV episodes you’ll get to know the characters well and what motivates each of them. The movies switch gear a bit and offer intelligent science-fiction stories that involve suspense and commentary on modern society.
Patlabor truly has something for every otaku. It’s sometimes surprising to me that so few of us otaku in the U.S. have given it a try. If you’ve never tried mecha anime, let me recommend Patlabor. If you’d like to read about Patlabor in more detail, GearsBlog has a few articles for you. If you decide you’d like to see more of what mecha anime has to offer, stop by Gears Online.