/cel/ - Retro Anime & Manga

Eve's Shudder and Trap. Very strong character episode for Kanuka which gave her some humanity. The Phantom labor which was cool. And it had a nice poignant message about the fears of the families of those who serve. And it was also Christmas.

>>854
Good picks. I know Oshii said that he didn't care for Kanuka as a character since he thought she was too perfect and that's why he wanted to get rid of her, but those episodes do a good job of demonstrating her as being a bit more nuanced than just "attractive SHADDUP lady."

I wonder if they got the idea for the recurring bright red on soft background motif that they use way later on in Snow Rondo from this episode (pic 1 is Eve Trap, 2 is Snow Rondo), I wouldn't be surprised. It seems like it's a way the show/director likes signifying memories.

Yeah the writers of the TV series have always done a pretty good job of developing her beyond just being Ms Perfect Super cop. The one where they all go drinking is another fine example. Plus I think her more perfectionist attitude actually really did play very well with Noa's personality and watching the two develop a sense of respect before she left is really something the latter half sort of lacked. I don't want to come down to hard on Takeo but she was never quite as interesting. And to be blunt about Oshii "Character" was never really his strong suit. Wonderful eye for shot composition and good idea for broad story and theming but generally not a character person.

>>856
Congrats on the first dubs anon

>>853
Haven't watched the tv series. only the ova and movies because people said those were a separate continuity. In retrospect it's a mistake, getting to know the characters better before the movies would have been preferrable, as they say production order is the only order.
that aside my favorite episode would have to be either the first episode because it's very comfy or the last episode because it's very comfy.
the episode with the giant lake monster and the episode where they go back to the academy I did not get at all.

>>856
Funny that you mention the one where they all go drinking as being a strong character episode, considering that Oshii wrote that one. By and large though, I do agree with you about Oshii's strengths as a creative and character being one of his weaknesses. Of the things I've seen that he's written (and not Ito), he tends to do comedy best. Maybe the drinking episode worked so well because he was approaching the characters from a comedic angle and developing them that way, as opposed to his more heavy-handed writing in dramatic works.

>>858
The giant lake monster episode is hilarious. I think it's supposed to be inexplicable.
For some reason I found the first OVA to be the funniest thing in the franchise, despite not being very outwardly comedic. It's very frank and relatable.

>>857
neat.
>>858
The TV is still good. It's basically more of the same, so if you like one, there's not really any reason you wouldn't like the other. I've always sort of felt that the whole continuity thing is a bit overplayed. Outside of maybe some small nuance the two are generally really the same to a point where if you watched random episodes out of order you probably wouldn't notice any difference aside from the production value. They probably could have done something like You're Under Arrest and had the TV series follow right up on the OVA if they were inclined but didn't for reasons I'm sure they had.

>>858
Oh dude if you like very comfy Patlabor you're doing yourself an immense disservice by not watching the TV show + 2nd OVA, they're peak comfy. Also yeah, production order > anything else, as always. I fell into the same trap too at first though, I don't blame you. People really tout the "separate continuity" thing a lot with Patlabor, but it seriously doesn't matter. OVA1 -> Movie 1 -> TV -> OVA2 -> Movie 2 is the best way to watch.

Also the lake monster + academy episodes are just goofy genre parodies, the former more specifically being a spoof of godzilla. There's nothing really to "get" about them, it's just the characters having fun in a famous movie scenario.

>>862
The first OVA really does serve as a nice sampler back for what the series was going to become. The characters being very adaptable to other genres and episode types but all still very in character. One minute you got typical cop adventure stuff, next they're going into a ghost story about gun safety, then it's a godzilla parody followed by a nice political thriller and cap off with a nice simple chase. Also I just saw we can post sound webms.

Role that beautiful Enrgish footage.

Honestly I'm surprised Minipato never went anywhere. It's rather charming and I could have seen it being more than just three theatrical shorts. I get that the series was pretty done by this point but it would have been nice if each character had gotten to narrate their own episode.

Friendly reminder there's currently someone translating the manga! Go check that out if you haven't yet.

>>864
Salute the greatest police officer of the US of A

The range in quality in the official Patlabor artbooks are hilarious. You go from great stuff like the first two images to... well, take a look,

>>868
that's not bad art though. it's just c.g probably good for its time too.

>What's everyone's favorite episode of Patlabor?
The episode where Shinobu and Gotou stayed in a hotel and the one where they parody Ultraman.

>>870
kek that's a good one

>>853
I quite liked the one where the team have to go to retraining and Goto decides to fuck with them by staging a fake ghost haunting.

I tried watching the TV series, but I just couldn't stay with it. There first few episodes were all just a bunch of "funny" things happening, with no real overarching story arch. Is the whole thing just one lame comedy gag after another or is there a point where things start to get interesting?

>>873
An overarching plot does develop, but if you don't like the comedy I wouldn't bother. Patlabor (TV) is a comedy first and foremost.