Patlabor WXIII - The Movie (Ultimate Edition 3-Disc Set)

Patlabor WXIII - The Movie (Ultimate Edition 3-Disc Set)
by Fumihiko Takayama, Takuji Endo

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Movie Reviews of Patlabor WXIII - The Movie (Ultimate Edition 3-Disc Set)

Movie Review: The Classic Anime Returns
Summary: 5 Stars

WXIII (or Wasted 13) starts out with a new detective called Hata working for public security. Hata teams up with the lovable old Kusumi from the last film to take on a an investigation involving the murder of several people who were piloting Labors. As with the last film, the main characters of the TV series, Division 2, gets pushed aside for most of the film. However, Goto does show up often to make some funny jokes. Sadly, no one from Division 1 or the mechanics in Division 2 make an appearence in this film, which might turn some people off. Despite all those short comings, that little magic that makes Patlabor so good is still here and has not withered away at all. The story might be different from the past movies, but it is still an interesting one. I'd go deeper into the story, but if you've seen past Patlabor features, you already know it's very complex.

Mini-Pato: Mini-Pato is a parody of the the original Patlabor TV series that was made not too long ago. Warning: You MUST see the original TV series in order to understand the characters in these bits. The show uses a new type of animation called digital puppets. In other words, it's like claymation, except it's done with cardboard and 3D software. Very inventive. There are three individual 15-minute episodes on the disc. Captain Goto explains the Patlabor gun, Shiogi explains the history of mecha animation and Nagumo talks about the underground controversal matter of (if you've seen the TV series, you'll love this) the Gobi food conspiracy.

Supplemental Matterials: This should be helpful to some who don't know much about Patlabor or just want to know more. First off there are three documentaries. One on WXIII, one on the history of Patlabor and one on the Japanese vocal cast. Other extras include a storyboard gallery complete with the original Patlabor radio drama, Say Young 21. Sadly, there are no subtitles for it so you're left on your own to translate it. There is also an art gallery with two tracks from WXIII in 5.1. And lastly is the two minute pilot film.

All in all, if your Patlabor fan, I highly recommend this box, reguardless of what others say. If your not a fan, you may want to see the original series and then watch this. Otherwise the film won't make much sense.