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I fell in love with Patlabor from the beginning of the much-heralded 
series based on the popular manga of the same name. Mecha has been overdone in the anime genre, it has been driven into the ground with classics like Voltron, Robotech, Gundam and Evangelion. Then came this little engine that could, a story that goes beyond the pilot loves her robot theme prevalent in many similar series. Patlabor takes mecha to the next level.
Central Park Media has released the second videotape in the series containing episodes 6-10. This block of episodes furthers the storylines focusing on the Police Department's Second Division; a rag-tag group of officers who do the dirty work and make a mess while stopping the bad guys in the process. This group of officers follows a similar themes as the first group as the second division tries to prove themselves as legitimate police officers and struggle to prove that their Labor units (machines controlled by humans), are not obsolete, despite what the government believes.
Ever episode offers the viewer a smorgasbord of varying elements in the series, typical to only great space epics such as Labor. Episode seven explores division one and how the Labor team prepares for the possibility that their old Labor units are no longer needed. The group receives a new unit that is better than any other unit they have ever had on the market, but things appear too good. The division has not been incurred any costs for the new machine and to make matters worse, Shaft Enterprises, the organization behind the machine, are taking police combat data made from human interaction with the robot, and using it for the military. And that is just the start, in another episode the Second Division deals with the Russians and a terrorist group looking to capture a Russian Labor Military Unit. With episode being the cliffhanger of the volume as the PatLabor machines face a military Labor known as the Phantom which over powers the unit.
However, the most powerful episode is the very first episode, because it hits very close to home. The episode, entitled, The Tower: SOS is a very powerful piece. Thanks to the use of Labors, structures such as the Tower are made possible. It's a huge high-rise project, which upon completion will be 1000 meters high. While being shown around the structure, a foreign diplomat and others are suddenly trapped inside when a nasty fire breaks out only 300 meters up. The rescue Labors fail and the Second Division's Ingrams are the last hope. Stumbling and bumbling, the second division attempts the rescue as Captain Goto makes one astute observation, asking, "Why would anyone build something so huge?"
Patlabor is an excellent animated series complete with action, adventure, comedy and quirky characters. Noa, the main character of this series, leads the number one machine in the battalion. Noa shines in every episode, but in this group of episodes, the writers have decided to develop to put as much emphasis on the rest of the squadron as well. I feel this was an excellent option as it allows the viewer to get deeper into the series by the other facets that infuluence the characters lives.
Wonderful storylines, great character development and relevant material allow Patlabor to shine over all the other mechas. While, people are talking about how fast they finished their Gundam models, viewers will hope Patlabor never ends.
Send comments and questions about this article to JMinners@ybfree.com.