Anime publisher Maiden Japan today announced that they have acquired the original OVAs of the action-comedy anime classic ‘Patlabor’, for release in North America.
The (1988-1989) 7-episode OVA series is produced by Studio Deen (Umineko When They Cry) and directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell). The series features scripts by Kazunori Ito (Dirty Pair), character designs by Akemi Takada, mechanical designs by Yutaka Izubuchi (Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack) and music from Kenji Kawai (Vampire Princess Miyu).
Here is a description of the series from Maiden Japan.
Drunk drivers are bad, but put a drunk driver in a giant robot called a Labor and you’ve got a disaster waiting to happen. And when REAL criminals get their hands on those same giant robots, the cops need giant robots of their own just to maintain the status quo, right? Well, in any case, that’s the logic behind the development of the Patlabor program and special Labor Crime units like Japan’s Section 2. But what logic fails to take into account is where to find police officers who’re equally conversant with both robots and the regulations? And THAT’s where the motley crew of Section 2, Division 2 comes in! With ridiculously perky tomboy Noa Izumi and gun-happy madman Isao Ohta as primary Labor pilots and the impossibly laid back Captain Goto in what passes for command, SV2 is ready to hit the streets with their twenty ton feet! But will they be taking a byte out of crime or have they bitten off more than they can chew? The law of the land and the laws of robotics are about to collide in “Mobile Police Patlabor”!
No official release date was given for “Patlabor” but Maiden Japan did reveal they would be releasing the series in conjunction with Section23 Films in bilingual DVD, Blu-ray and digital formats.
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