Patlabor 2 - The Movie - Region 0 DVD

Set three years after the first film, Patlabor 2 draws police commanders Ki'ichi Gotoh and Shinobu Nagumo into the hunt for Tsuge, a rogue officer of the Japan Self-Defense Force connected with an escalating wave of terrorist attacks. But the investigation into the plot is guarded by secrets both personal and political, as the awakening fear of terror in Tokyo is slowly answered by the dream-like fade of democracy into martial law. Ominous, beautiful, suspenseful, and poetic, Patlabor 2 deserves the term visionary in every sense of the word.

Tokyo, rush hour: the dead of winter. A terror strike from the air shatters the Bay Bridge. When news footage shows an unidentified F-16 fighter jet in the vicinity, the investigation takes a darker turn, as the cops of the Second Unit begin to trace the outlines of the shadowy military and political coalition behind the incident. But the conspiracy itself is out of control, and what began as a gesture is becoming a game where the peace, the freedom, and the very lives of the people of Tokyo are at stake!


Labors are giant construction robots piloted by humans, and the Patlabor team is a mobile police force whose job is to protect the population from people who might hijack or sabotage these powerful tools. Though events of the first movie called Labor technology into question, the needs of big business outweighed the concerns of citizens, and eventually they came back into common use. The military had also begun to adopt and adapt the technology, amidst some controversy. The story picks up with a terrorist attack on a Tokyo city bridge. The suspects include Americans who want to destabilize the Japanese government, corrupt forces within the Japanese government who want to increase military spending, and Tsuge, the genius of labor technology who was misused by the government three years prior. The animation is gorgeous, particularly the cityscapes and long shots, but that's not surprising coming from director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell). Sparkling animation would mean very little without a good story or good characters, which Patlabor 2 has in spades. At the core of the story is a quiet dialogue about the nature of peace in post-WWII Japan--how the peace has been unjust because they've ignored poverty-stricken countries in times of prosperity. Then it's back to unraveling the conspiracy and the requisite action-packed ending. These Patlabor movies are excellent, and not just for fans of anime. --Andy Spletzer