Patlabor: The Mobile Police, Vol. 2 (1989)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Mamoru Oshii
Produced by Central Park Media

Features:

• Meet the Screenwriter
  
• Meet the Characters
  
• Behind the Scenes
  
• Art and Sketch Gallery
  
• English and Japanese audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• mecha angst
• character angst
• oni undies (and angst)

Rating: G

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Buy it.

Continuing the police drama introduced in Patlabor vol. 1, volume 2 introduces a new problem for Noa--is Alphonse, her beloved mecha Labor, outdated? Will she have to dump him for a newer, more advanced model? More police action as Noa strives to justify Alphonse's presence on the force while also rescuing politicians, preventing conspiracies, and defeating a rogue oni loose on the streets of Tokyo.

The characterization continues to develop nicely from volume 1, though it does slow down a bit to allow plot to gain more importance. Although the episodes again focus more on Noa and Alphonse, more secondary characters get some play here, like Goto and Shinobu. Overall, though, this volume is still character-driven.

With regard to plot, these episodes average a bit more amusing than the first disc, in my opinion, and that's not a bad thing. The scenes of the rogue, historical oni running amok in Tokyo are suspenseful and by turns amusing. The political situation expands a bit in this disc, giving viewers a more complete view of this near-future Japan.

The audio and video quality are both pretty standard on this disc. The sound is clean and clear, with no problems in either Japanese or English dialogue tracks. The video again has a few dodgy bits, but is improved from volume 1. The art isn't as dramatically beautiful as shows like Ceres, but it's still decent enough to stare at for a couple hours. You may not fall in love with the artists, but you won't go cross-eyed or get a headache either, and since the story is so strong here, they didn't need flashy animation to hide plot holes.

The extras are also quite nice again. This time, instead of a Meet the Director, there's a Meet the Screenwriter feature. It's about time that the writers got some attention, and this featurette is good, if a bit short and a little goofy. There's also a Meet the Characters feature again, which fans will appreciate. The art gallery is again rather nice and extensive, containing production art and screenshots.

Overall, volume 2 continues showing why the Patlabor universe is a fan favorite. It combines drama with comedy and adventure without confusing viewers, relying upon cliches, or just being so surreal that even David Lynch couldn't figure it out. This disc was overall not quite as gelled as disc 1, but is still very enjoyable for anyone who likes a little comedy with their character-driven dramas, or is just a fan of police shows. In any case, it's definitely worth checking out.