Patlabor is a rare gem of the anime/manga world in that unlike almost every other Mecha related anime, this one really focuses on the characters more than the big robots called "Labors" and feels more down to earth. Its particular flavor is generated by the kind of awkward feeling we would endure if faced with having to become accustomed to giant robots walking the streets TODAY. Labors initially began as straightforward tools of construction and their eventual use in acts of terrorism led to their military applications and from there a form of Police patrol labor was developed and dubbed "PatLabor". The Original manga by Headgear and the OAV & TV series were lighthearted and comical, placing their focus on the rookie labor Pilot, Noa Izumi. The movies however, took an entirely different spin that has an almost film noir feel to it and it also changed their focus to that of the brilliant, yet eccentric Captain Goto of Special Vehicles, Section 2. Typically involving some seriously dangerous stuff that puts all of Japan and even the entire world in peril which involves a lot of in-depth investigation, puts a lot of human nature and philosophy on the table and as a whole feels like an episode of Law & Order as opposed to an anime about big police robots and those who pilot them.
In an odd twist of betrayl, The focus in the third movie switches to that of Detectives Kusumi and Hata as they deal with a disturbing series of attacks on Labors in and around the Tokyo waterfront area. Boldly going forward with the same level of intrigue, mystery and drama that the previous movies touted, can our heroes stop a despairing mother before it's too late? Will the creature known as "Wasted-13" terrorize tokyo unopposed? Will this thing be worth watching at all without the original cast we all know and love in the spotlight?!? Read on!
Why it sucks: Personally, I couldn't get enough of seeing Goto and Matsui pick apart the puzzle of the schemer de jour they were trying to stop in the previous movies and naturally, I'd hoped for the same from this... However, this simply follows Hata and Kusumi as they more or less stumble across clues as opposed to hunt them down. Were it not for Hata's coincidental run-ins with the monster maker they probably wouldn't have gotten as far as they did. It just doesn't have the same flair of conspiracy or mystery behind it in spite of the fact that there's generous amounts of both which are in the story. Weird, isn't it? It feels awkward and half baked when stacked next to its predecessors which are some of the best pieces of Cinema (animated or otherwise) I've ever been given the opportunity to enjoy.
The old-school cast being swapped out aside, Pioneer snatched this hot number of an anime and while the subtitled japanese is just dandy... this is a piss poor dub. I say this because Manga Video was the lucky company to reel in the first two movies which were incredible and their dub actors perfectly reflected the personalities and affects of the original japanese characters to the point that I prefer Manga's english dubs of the movies over their subtitled japanese! Pioneer took this rich opportunity to craft an english dub of similar proportions and hired 2-3 guys to do almost all of the background people. You keep hearing the same voice over and over and yet you see different lips flapping, it's extremely annoying. On another note, when you DO see the SV2 make their cameo appearance the characters are awkward and don't feel right when you hear their voices. Ota for instance sounds terrible, Goto sounds too serious and Noa sounds way too timid and high-pitched. Awful dub, weird material, definately a renter first.
Why it rules: It's something new, an interesting twist on one of the most captivating series out there which puts a plethora of the angsty, melodramatic mecha garbage in its place with a well penned story and an even better visual style. It takes an x-files-ish story of a manmade monster running amok through Tokyo, feasting on people and establishing its territory in the Tokyo Waterfront and adds a lot of bizarre twists and shady actions which lead up from pharmecutical companies, right up to the Japanese Self-Defense Force. Albeit, the twists aren't as intense or surprising as its predecessors, but it's a fairly gripping story that covers the investigation and uncovers some surprises along the way.
I smell Tie-in: Nobody calls dibs on big robots (especially profitable ones) like Bandai! There's plenty of Ingram-98 model kits in varying scales, made in the same spirit as the extremely popular Gundam kits. For the original manga, check with Viz Comics; The TV and OAV series, check with Central Park Media's US Manga Corps; Finally, for the first two movies, you should check with Manga Video.
Aside from that, check around with eBay and import stores as you'll find all sorts of things like keychains, posters and more lying around as you will for just about any popular anime.
Can you say DVD?: Nothing stunning to report here, folks. Original Japanese trailers, US Theatrical release trailers (this was in theatres?!?), character profiles, Pioneer previews and the usual thang. The menus do look pretty neat, I'll give them that much. There's a Special addition that'll run you anywhere from $45-$65 depending where you shop and I wasn't going to chance my hard earned cash just for some special features to a movie that I wary of buying in the first place.
Overall: It's a great movie, not orgasmically great like the previous two, but for any fan of the first two movies, this is as least worth a rent. It's just as visually rich and beautiful as the other movies, with some strong character exposition and some gut-wrenching (if slightly overexaggerated) human drama. The ending alone had me choking a little and my brows furrowed, in a stark contrast from the other movies, the ending here is about as far from happy as you could get as it makes you wonder who the REAL monster is. I always thought of the Patlabor movies as more of a thinking man's anime and while WXIII is cast from the same mold, they tried a little too hard to exercise innovation. I had no trouble suspending my disbelief for the labors, as that's just what the series capitalizes on and makes the concept of modern day robotics making a jump by leaps and bounds to the point that it might not be so surprising to see Noa piloting Alphonse through your neighborhood. WXIII on the other hand is not as simple, alien DNA goop scraped off a meteorite (Nishiwakitrophin, or so it's called) mixed with a little girl's cancer cells producing monster goby-type-things? That's... going a tad too far. Not to mention that the thing grew breasts?!? *shudder*
Though I'm sure it's something that goes without saying, the fact that SV2 is confined to cameo appearances is grating, if not utterly jarring. It took me awhile to accept that Detective Kusumi was not a ragged old Matsui, but someone completely different. I even mistook Hata for Shinohara at first sight and since I knew nothing about the movie at first, I assumed this was Patlabor set like 10-20 years in the future. This thing seriously played with my head and after watching it 7 times (its good enough that I wanted to watch it several times to througly drink in everything), it not only made sense, but made the two detectives more likeable than I thought they could be. All in all, WXIII is a great film that deserves watching, I recommend subtitled though since the dub has some great talent handling Hata and Kusumi, but has mostly amateurs with crappy direction handling everyone else. This is a movie that will eventually find its place on my shelf, but it's not good enough to merit the overpriced boxed set and not good enough to risk buying without having seen it first.