PatLabor: The Mobile Police

     I love mecha! Shows like Robotron, Voltron and Evangelion really got me into the world of anime. PatLabor continues this great tradition. PatLabor: The Mobile Police is about a not-too-distant future where robots called Laborers are used to do exactly that, labor. Controlled by humans who pilot the Laborer, some actually use it for evil intentions and therefore a patrol force was needed to stop any humans/Laborers that got out of control. Of course, this means some really cool robot battles.

     Watching the show, I noticed something right away. There was some really nice animation, some cool robots and a great storyline. If anything, PatLabor really reminds me of Evangelion, because although the characters aren't mentally connected to their robots, they still have to put a lot of trust in it if they are going to succeed in battle.

     No words can do PatLabor justice, it just can't be described. It has action, adventure, and a lot of humor, plus some quirky characters, including a really strong female lead, Noa. Noa struggles with her own indecisiveness and fears to get the job done. She always has a question to ask, and ends up piloting the lead PatLabor she calls Alphonse. Noa is part of the second unit, and the unit seems to get all the strange assignments, pretty much doing all the dirty work. They are brought in on several occasions to clean up government experiments gone wrong and other situations along those lines. While the rest of the crew played stereotypical characters found in mecha anime, Noa seems to shine in each show. She has a certain charm about her that you just cannot help but enjoy. I watched five episodes in English and five later episodes in Japanese and in all ten shows, the characters all acted the same way, and even sounded similar, but Noa was still the endearing figure that drove the show.

     No matter how intense the action gets, the story never runs low on humor, so it is not always hard for these down and dirty officers. And this is pretty much how all the episodes work. Noa and the rest of her teammates get into tough situations and they work together to get the job done. As the series goes on, the storylines do get a little more intense, but the flavor of the show remains the same. My favorite show is basically a day in the life episode dealing with a Chinese restaurant and an order that just won't come when it is supposed to. It is the Seinfeld episode of the series; very well written and very smart. You have to see it for yourself.

     PatLabor is a truly interesting take on mecha anime. I repeat- 'I loved it!' Noa goes down as one of my favorite characters in anime. This show has some excellent character development, it is well animated, but what really made PatLabor great was the wonderful writing behind it, whether you see in Japanese or English. Don't let this one get away from you. If the cover art doesn't grab you, the story will.

     Send your comments and or questions about this article to JMinners@ybfree.com.

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