The
Next Generation - Patlabor - (Live Action Theatrical
Releases)
|
Released
26 April 2014 to 10 January 2015 |
Runtime:
15 mins (Episode 0), 48 mins each (Episode 1 to 11),
32 mins (Episode 12) |
|
Cast:
Erina
Mano, Toshio Kakei, Seiji Fukushi, Rina Ota, Shigeru
Chiba, Yoshinori Horimoto, Kohei Shiotsuka and
Shigekazu Tajiri |
|
Staff
|
Director:
Mamoru Oshii |
Episode
Directors: Takanori
Tsujimoto, Kiyotaka Taguchi and Hiroaki Yuasa |
Screenplays:
Mamoru Oshii and Kei
Yamamura |
Original Work: Headgear |
Music:
Kenji Kawai |
Production: Omnibus Japan/Tohokushinsha Film Corporation |
Set in 2013, some 11 years
after the events of "Patlabor 2 the movie", this series finds
the SV2 just barely existing. With the completion of the
Babylon Project is a long forgotten memory, there was a
significant drop in Labor crime due to the end of the project.
Coupled with a deep and long recession, Division 1 has been
disbanded in favour of a single team comprising of two police
Labor. Shigeo Shiba (or just plain Shige to everyone) remains
the only member from the original SV2. Everyone else has moved
on. In fact this series follows the third generation of the
SV2. Apart from having to deal with constantly remodeled AV-98
Ingrams and almost no spare parts to speak of, the members
have to deal with mad bombers, giant monsters, hired killers,
runaway military Labors and worse; their parent branch, the
Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department, who
would prefer to see the whole unit shut down. Regardless, the
SV2 continue on with their work.
In March 2013 at the Tokyo International Anime Fair,
Tohokushinsha Film Corporation (TFC), who had previously
co-produced all of the Patlabor anime, announced that they
would be producing a Patlabor live action project which took
the form of a 12 part series comprising of 48 minute episodes
and a 15 minute "Episode 0" prologue. The episodes were
released as a seven part limited theatrical release. This was
a similar release pattern to then recent anime projects such
as "Yamato 2199", "Gundam Unicorn", "Ghost in Shell: Arise"
and "Code Geass: Akito the Exiled"; first a limited theatrical
screening, a broadcast on pay satellite TV station Star
Channel three weeks after and then a general home video
release a month or so after the theatrical release (fans could
acquire early copies of the blu-ray and DVD versions if they
attended the theatrical releases). The Episode 0 prologue was
broadcast early on 8 March 2014 before it's theatrical release
as part of a promotional push for the series. The total budget
of the project was ¥2 billion and two full size (8 metre tall)
AV-98 Ingram Labor props were built for the project at a cost
several tens of millions of yen The series veers between
manga-like slapstick (occasionally with some rather strange CG
manga-like effects) and serious drama, though it is weighted
more heavily on comedy side. Much of it parodies or satirises
other film genres or even certain sections or elements of
Patlabor itself. All of the main cast are essentially variants
of the original anime cast and many themes and ideas from the
Patlabor anime have been reused in this series including some
sections of dialogue. Two of the episodes are practically live
action versions of their anime TV episode counterparts. The
series was not well received by fans and critics alike in
Japan and in the western world. Home video sales for the
series in Japan were rather mediocre with each volume selling
around 3,500 copies. A 48 minute director's cut of episode 12
was released as a part of DVD and blu-ray box sets of the
series in December 2016.
Cast |
Akira Izumino
Akira Izumino is the first Labor pilot. She loves
Labors, Police TV Dramas and is a genius gamer who
enters a state of super concentration when "in the
zone". The one thing she doesn't like is being
compared to the first generation SV2 members. The
character's name is a just a rearrangement of the
kanji in Noa Izumi's name. Akira Izumino previously
appeared in Oshii's 2011 light novel, "Shocking Upset:
Metropolitan Police Special Vehicles Section 2
(Bankuruwase: Keishi-cho Keibi-bu Tokushu Sharyo
Ni-ka)". Akira Izumino was also Noa's pseudonym in the
"Red Labor Landing" TV episode. Izumino is
played by Erina Mano, a former pop idol previously
associated with idol unit Ongaku Gatas, which was part
of the "Hello! Project", itself an offshoot of popular
idol group Morning Musume. Coincidently Mano was a
member of the "Hello! Project" futsal team Gatas
Brilhantes in 2007, while her character, Akira
Izumino, also played in a soccer team in the 2011
novel in which she appeared. Mano has had a small
number of acting jobs prior to this project including
the film "Kai-Ki: Tales of Terror from Tokyo". |
Captain Keiji Gotoda
Captain Keiji Gotoda (Toshio Kakei) is Captain Kiichi
Goto’s successor. Like Goto he is resourceful and
cunning. Because of these attributes he is considered
to be like a reincarnation of Goto. Gotoda apprently
means "He's Gotoh", which further implies that the
entire cast in the this series are just clones of the
original characters in the anime. Keiji Gotoda
previously appeared in Oshii's 2011 light novel,
"Shocking Upset: Metropolitan Police Special Vehicles
Section 2 (Bankuruwase: Keishi-cho Keibi-bu Tokushu
Sharyo Ni-ka)". Toshio
Kakei has previously played Kentaro Shinjo in "Bayside
Shakedown", Koichi Fukaura in "Space Travellers" and
voiced Angel Benengeli in the anime film "Nasu: Summer
in Andalusia". |
Yuma Shiobara
Yuma Shiobara (Seiji Fukushi) is Akira’s backup. He is
a military otaku and can be found drinking on duty and
making plastic models. Seiji Fukushi has previously
appeared in the live action versions of "Nodame
Cantabile" and "Touch", as well as the feature film
"Swing Girls". |
Ekaterina Krachevna
Kankaeva (aka Kasha)
Ekaterina Krachevna Kankaeva (aka Kasha, played by
Rina Ota) is a Russian officer on loan from the
Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation to
train with the SV2. She is back up to the second
Labor. She is a chain smoker, backchats everyone in
Russian, owns an AK-47 and rides a Ducati bike. Rina
Ota has previously had a small number of acting roles
such as a guest part in "Neo Ultra Q" and the role of
Kazuko "Lady Jane" Matsui in the film "69". |
Shigeo Shiba
Shigeo Shiba, (played by Shigeru Chiba, who voiced the
original character in the anime) or just plain Shige
to everyone, is seemingly the only surviving member of
the original SV2. He took over Seitaroh Sakaki’s job
as head mechanic sometime before "Patlabor 2 the
movie". Shige was previously second
in command of the mechanics at the SV2. He is a man
that is truly dedicated to his work, though
sometimes he can go overboard. He is a proud member
of the SV2, and makes sure the Labors work
perfectly. Shige appeared in all version of the
anime except the third movie. Shige is played by
Shigeru Chiba who is best known as the narrator of
"Fist of the North Star", Megane in "Urusei
Yatsura", Garlic Jr in "Dragon Ball Z" and Buggy the
Clown in "One Piece". He also stared in Mamoru
Oshii's first three live action films. |
Isamu Ohtawara
Isamu Ohtawara
(played by Yoshinori Horimoto) is the pilot of the
second Labor. Ohtawara is an alcoholic which almost
got him fired from his job in the past. He is a
gung-ho violent, trigger happy cop who is merciless to
criminals. His official profile says his special
ability is drunken boxing. Horimoto recently starred
in the TV series "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger". |
Shinji Mikiya
Shinji Mikiya (played by Kohei Shiotsuka) is the
driver for the second Labor Carrier. He is divorced
from his wife and pays alimony through his winnings
from playing pachinko, which ironically was the reason
his wife left him in the first place. He is obsessed
with data and his official profile sates he previously
worked as a computer programmer and that he was almost
dismissed from his post because of his illegal actions
when playing pachinko. Due to his negative attitude he
is unsuited for Labors piloting or being a
backup, therefore he is in charge of the Labor
Carrier. |
Hiromichi Yamazaki
Hiromichi Yamazaki (played by Shigekazu Tajiri) is the
first Labor team's carrier driver. He is a shy, tall
man who is obsessed with taking care of his chickens.
He can be come quite emotional and cry at times and is
probably totally unsuited to working at the SV2. |
Yoshikatsu Buchiyama
Yoshikatsu
Buchiyama played by Yoshikatsu Fujiki) is second in
command of the mechanics. He admires the head
mechanic, Shige, greatly and generally gives orders to
the mechanics while Shige oversees everything. He can
always be found carrying a bamboo sword and wearing
geta. Yoshikatsu Fujiki has previously played Inui in
Mamoru Oshii's live action film "Stray Dog: Kerberos
Panzer Cops" and Kazuki Fuse in the anime film
"Jin-Roh". |
Staff
Mamoru Oshii was chief director of the series. Takanori
Tsujimoto ("Bushido Man"), Kiyotaka Taguchi ("Neo Ultra Q")
and Hiroaki Yuasa (director of photography for "Assault
Girls") were episode directors for the series. Oshii and Kei
Yamamura wrote the screenplays for the episodes. Omnibus Japan
produced the special effects. They are company well known for
the late night tokusatsu series "Garo". Cinema Sound Works are
credited with sound recording and special effects
company Dummy Head provided "special makeup design".
Kenji Kawai wrote and performed the music for the series.
Availability
in English
On Streaming Services
|
This series is
not available to stream legally anywhere in English.
Physical Home
Video Releases
|
Hong Kong company Panorama has released the series on blu-ray and
DVD. The discs include the original Japanese
dialogue, a Cantonese dub, English subtitles and
Traditional and Simplified Chinese subtitles. The
DVDs and Blu-rays are only available in Hong Kong, and
therefore will only work on NTSC compatible and region
3 compatible DVD players and region A blu-ray players. If you
don't live in Hong Kong, check your DVD or blu-ray
player's instruction manual to see if it will play
them) Please see the English Language Live Action
Releases Video List for a complete
listing of all releases, formats and product
specifications for this series.
Title |
Format |
Catalogue Number |
The Next
Generation - Patlabor - Box Set 01 (Episodes 0 to 6) |
NTSC DVD,
Region 3, Japanese Dialogue and Cantonese Dub with
English and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified)
Subtitles |
PANTD1603050 |
The Next Generation - Patlabor - Box
Set 01 (Episodes 0 to 6) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc, Region A, Japanese
Dialogue and Cantonese Dub with English and Chinese
(Traditional and Simplified) Subtitles |
PANTB1603050 |
The Next Generation - Patlabor - Box
Set 02 (Episodes 7 to 12) |
NTSC DVD, Region 3, Japanese Dialogue
and Cantonese Dub with English and Chinese (Traditional
and Simplified) Subtitles |
PANTD1603060 |
The Next Generation - Patlabor - Box
Set 02 (Episodes 7 to 12) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc, Region A, Japanese
Dialogue and Cantonese Dub with English and Chinese
(Traditional and Simplified) Subtitles |
PANTB1603060 |
Availability
in Japanese
On Streaming Services
|
Bandai Channel, Amazon Prime Japan and Hulu
Japan are currently streaming the entire series in Japanese.
Bandai Channel, Amazon Prime Japan and Hulu Japan's current
streaming rights only include Japan.
Physical Home
Video Releases
|
This
series is available as single DVD and Blu-ray discs as well as
DVD and Blu-ray box sets in Japan from Happinet Pictures.
These DVDs and blu-rays do not come with
English subtitles or an English dub. The DVDs and blu-rays are
only available in Japan, and therefore will only work on DVD
and blu-ray players that are both NTSC compatible and will
play region 2 DVD discs (the blu-rays are region free - if you
don't live in Japan, check your DVD player's instruction
manual to see if it will play the discs). Please see the Japanese Live Action Related Releases
Video List for a complete listing of all
releases, formats and product specifications for this series.
Title |
Format |
Catalogue
Number |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 1 (Episodes 0 to 1) |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-8461 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 1 (Episodes 0 to 1) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-0121 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 2 (Episodes 2 to 3) |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-8462 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 2 (Episodes 2 to 3) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-0122 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 3 (Episodes 4 to 5) |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-8463 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 3 (Episodes 4 to 5) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-0123 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 4 (Episodes 6 to 7) |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-8464 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 4 (Episodes 6 to 7) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-0124 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 5 (Episodes 8 to 9) |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-8465 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 5 (Episodes 8 to 9) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-0125 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 6 (Episodes 10 to 11) |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-8466 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 6 (Episodes 10 to 11) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-0126 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 7 (Episode 12) |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-8467 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Part 7 (Episode 12) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-0127 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Complete 7 Chapter Set DVD Box |
NTSC DVD, Region 2,
Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIBJ-9468 |
The Next Generation -
Patlabor - Complete 7 Chapter Set BD Box) |
NTSC Blu-ray Disc,
Region Free, Japanese Dialogue Only |
BIXJ-9467 |
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