[TokuKnight89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

Did you ever watch Patlabor by chance? I only came to know about it because someone showed me the robot designs and I though "Hey, that looks cool", and I feel like not that many people watched it.

The story behind the project is already a topic interesting enough in of itself, it's basically that a bunch of very creative people from Japan were fed up that they had to work on someone else’s property or change their creative vision to follow broadcast directions. So they formed their own studio with the intent that everything they create is 100% theirs and they only do what they want to.

Patlabor is a project from this studio. The story is set in the faraway future of 1999 (dear lord), during this time global warming has raised the global sea levels drastically and massive chunks of Japan are lost to it. Japanese government decides on a project to build giant constructs that allow the sunken land to be reclaimed, to build these giant constructions they invent mecha called "Labors" which are piloted by workers.

Our main plot follows a police division of losers and outcasts that fight Labor crime, criminals who use the Labors for evil. They pilot their own Patrol Labors or “Patlabors” for short.

What makes this franchise awesome are extraordinary great characters, clever plots and fun mecha action on top of it all. Sometimes it’s very deep in its plot and imagery, sometimes it’s a bubbly and fun character anime, but all of it is balanced to perfection.

The only thing you should know before you start is that this franchise is made out of 3 different media: A TV anime, 2 OVA series and 3 movies. All feature the same characters and basic setup, but the anime and one OVA series takes place in a different universe than the other OVA's and movies.

The anime is a bit more "standard", it runs for about 40-50 episodes and features more weekly stories, but also overarching plots that aren’t found elsewhere. An OVA series called "The New Files" serves as a sequel of sorts to the series.

Then there's an OVA series called "The Early Days" which basically starts from zero, introduces all the characters anew and features new stories to warm you up to this universe. These stories are then followed by the movies.

And here in lies something truly great, because I myself think the first Patlabor movie is a hidden gem. It's is truly fantastic. But, it does require you to know the characters for full effect.

So I would recommend either trying to watch the "The Early Days" OVA series and then head for the movies. Or, if you want to watch a masterpiece right away and don’t care about learning the characters on the go, watch the movie and then the OVAs after.

And if all of that isn't enough and you need more - then watch the TV anime and its OVA's.

I’ll post a trailer for the movie and the OVA that takes place in the same universe. Just from the vastly different tone of each you can tell what makes this franchise so unique.

Even I'm somewhat curious! Is any of this licensed for streaming?