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Buried Treasure - Patlabor TV & OAVs


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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15572
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:53 am Reply with quote
Quote:
(There are a few too many "ghost story" episodes for my taste.)


The crocodile one's the one which dragged out too long for me. I also have to add that Kumagami was the only weak link in the show. She didn't really do anything special, and I always wondered
why she was added.

Quote:
An $800 boxed set of all three series was released several years ago in Japan, and is now out of print.


Wanna bet BV will yank the rights from CPM, and then charge the same amount of dough for a Blu-Ray version? Rolling Eyes

BTW, can you post a sequel where you go into Mini-Pato and WXIII? Those two really got shafted, because of Geneon's crappy prices.

Also, it might not be a good idea to say too many nasty things about the dubbers, since you still might need them for reference purposes. Wink
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JELEINEN



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 253
Location: Iowa
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:00 am Reply with quote
Wonderful series. Reminds me that I need to finish getting the rest of the discs soon.

One of the highlights for me is an episode of the so-called "New Files," entitled "Seven Days of Fire." It remains the absolute height of political satire in any anime ever made.
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bleuster



Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 455
Location: Orange County
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:03 am Reply with quote
Patlabor 2: The Movie is still one of my all time favorite films. Not just anime film - as film in general.
The way it was written and directed would have made a superior live action Tom Clancy-esque film (give or take the mechs), but because it was animated just makes it more gratifying. That said, I doubt many people saw it that way, let alone actually see it.

I hear the films are more "serious" than the series, but I'm looking forward to seeing them soon.
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zhir



Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 353
Location: Nampa, ID, USA
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:21 am Reply with quote
I just got the expensive BV uber-editions of the movies, and am wondering where to start with the show. I know the OVAs are worth getting, but what about the show? The TV show seems to generally be thought weaker, and Oshii seems to imply that he doesn't like New Files in an interview (contained in the nice book in first Patlabor movie).
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exedore



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:28 am Reply with quote
zhir wrote:
I just got the expensive BV uber-editions of the movies, and am wondering where to start with the show.


Officially, Patlabor follows two timelines:

OVA Series 1 -> Movies
TV Series -> New Files

The OVAs are darker and better looking, and the TV series retcons part of the first OVA episode. Unfortunately, the TV series also suffers some pacing in its metaplot and needs New Files to wrap up the main storyline which was brought over from the manga (and toned down - the villain on top of his numerous nefarious deeds is also a paedophile in the manga but not the TV series). This was, of course, before netizens used that term with pride.

My recomendation? Get the OVA first since you've seen the movies, and if you want more, get the TV series. Given the price ($30 MSRP for the OVA set, $40 for each of the three TV sets, always cheaper online), it's not like you're out a lot if you have your fill at a point and need to put it away for a while.
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JELEINEN



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 253
Location: Iowa
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:35 am Reply with quote
zhir wrote:
The TV show seems to generally be thought weaker, and Oshii seems to imply that he doesn't like New Files in an interview (contained in the nice book in first Patlabor movie).


I seem to recall that he only directed one of the episodes in it (the one I mentioned above, actually).

I'll second the motion of starting with the first OVA as well. In fact, even though the movies are quite watchable without seeing the it, the OVA makes them a lot better.

You know it's really too bad that they never finished releasing the manga over here. They were pretty good.
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Greboruri



Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 387
Location: QBN, NSW, Australia
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:39 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Today, only the movies and an hour-long "best of" compliation are available in Japan.
Hour long "best of" compilation? I've never seen or heard of this. Does anyone know what the catalogue number of this is?

The article does fail to mention that while the limited edition "Memorial Box" is out of print, the OVAs and TV series are still avalible and in print in Japan as seperate box sets (two TV box sets and New Series OVAs box) and two single discs (first OVA series).
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8501
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:53 am Reply with quote
I'm very happy about Mobile Police Patlabor being featured in this Buried Treasure article. I've been a pretty big Patlabor fan for a while. I like it just as much when it's serious as it is when it is silly.

It's also nice that Peter Marinker, who was a astoundingly good dub voice for Captain Gotoh in the sea of otherwise monotone voices in the English cast of the first two Patlabor movies. The new voice for the Honneamise re-releases just doesn't suit him as well, though they're somewhat better than his voice in the dub for the OVAs and TV series.

It's too bad about the dubs, but one should really listen to the original Japanese cast anyway, since it sports the talents of Toshio Furukawa and Yoshiko Sakakibara.

I have the boxset of the first OVA and the three movies in various releases. It's one of the quieter mecha franchises, but very entertaining. Certainly a buried treasure.
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bleuster



Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 455
Location: Orange County
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:08 am Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
It's also nice that Peter Marinker, who was a astoundingly good dub voice for Captain Gotoh in the sea of otherwise monotone voices in the English cast of the first two Patlabor movies. The new voice for the Honneamise re-releases just doesn't suit him as well, though they're somewhat better than his voice in the dub for the OVAs and TV series.


Despite purchasing the excellent Special Edition of the Patlabor movies, I always consider getting the Manga Entertainment release just to hear Marinker's awesome portrayal of Gotoh.
I remember seeing the old dub films on Starz and continue watching just for his performance.
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icepick314



Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 486
Location: Back in the Good Ol' US of A
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:10 am Reply with quote
i didn't think dub was that horrid...in fact, the dubbing from Patlabor was one of the best from CPM...

it was awesome series that still holds it's water to this day...satirical plots, great action scenes, funny and over the top characters....

it's one of my favorite series and sometimes i take it out once in awhile to watch from beginning to end....
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zhir



Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 353
Location: Nampa, ID, USA
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:11 am Reply with quote
Thank you all for your advice, I'll grab the OVA next time I buy stuff.
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BladeDragoonZETA



Joined: 31 Jan 2008
Posts: 586
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:31 am Reply with quote
Quote:
the hard working crew of young officers works hard


all i can say is "?"

I really should check this out sometime though..
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Nobuyuki



Joined: 22 Mar 2004
Posts: 536
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:41 am Reply with quote
I remember watching a few episodes on Toonami Reactor back in the day and thinking, "It's Hill Street Blues... with robots!" Wink

I really should make an effort to collect these.
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nargun



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 930
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:59 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
I also have to add that Kumagami was the only weak link in the show. She didn't really do anything special, and I always wondered why she was added.


She basically fills Kanuka's role in the manga [which I should finish one day]; I'd assume the manga fans lobbied for her.
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:29 am Reply with quote
Patlabor is indeed one of my all time favorite series. It is really hard for me to talk about Planetes without also mentioning Patlabor, and a quick search in the forums will show "author: Randall Miyashiro" "Planetes" will show you how much I adore both shows.

I agree that the television series does sometimes miss the mark, but the good episodes are really character driven. I also enjoy the huge ensemble and my favorite episode is when Goto and Shinobu have to stay in the hotel with each other overnight. I also love Clancy's going away party episode. It's these drama based episodes that move me the most, and I find the last episode particularly memorable. I love how the entire staff for the series and OVA 2 were listed in the insanely huge credits in the last episode as well. Overall I prefer the TV/New Files over the original OVA since it has more time to play out these character moments.

Patlabor is one of those rare anime that I occasionally show to my roommates who are film graduates and are not anime fans. It does have a certain adult appeal much like Planetes.

I remember Patlabor was aired on AZN (dubbed) at the same time as it was aired on IATV (subbed). I suppose one of their staffers recommended it and convinced them that the dub was awful Smile
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