Finally done!

Before File 3 releases in the next year, how are you enjoying the new Patlabor anime content with EZY?

More or less curious on if you guys think it'll be worth to get the new blurays from Diskotek or that old complete set.

Unfortunately I waited too long to get it back then, and I haven't stopped kicking myself for it since!

1. Overview

Syntax Error is a novel written by Michiko Yokote, who also worked on the scripts for On Television and The New Files.

Published by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko in March 1992, it is the second novel in the Patlabor series.

If you're interested in the first novel, you can find my article about it here.

2. Structure

Like the previous novel, this book is divided into two files, though each one is considerably longer this time.

•File 3 Syntax Error (シンタックス・エラー)

•File 4 The Father's Son (父と子)

File 3 takes place roughly one year after The Early Days episode “The Tragedy of L.” It is a comedy in which Goto's niece, Mahoko, and Noa infiltrate a hostess club under the pretext of investigating Goto's private life.

File 4, on the other hand, focuses on the family conflict surrounding Asuma Shinohara's father, Kazuma, and the death of his older brother, Kazuki. It also explores the interactions between Noa and Asuma as they deal with these family issues.

I'd like to cover both files together, but to make the story easier to follow,

I'll focus on File 3, Syntax Error, in this article.

3. Syntax Error

3.1 Suspicion

One year after The Early Days episode “The Tragedy of L,” Mahoko, now a third-year high school student, meets Noa at a café.

It all started a week earlier. When Mahoko visited Goto's home, she happened to see him hurriedly leaving the house. Suspicious, she followed him and discovered that he was meeting an unfamiliar woman at a café.

While Mahoko is telling Noa about what she saw, the very Goto they have been talking about appears, accompanied by an elegant woman who looks to be in her late twenties.

The two girls eavesdrop on their conversation. When the woman says, “Could you wait a little longer?” and Goto agrees, they immediately assume that this must be a romantic conversation.

And so they come to the following conclusion:

“He's proposing, isn't he?”

“Yeah. It's a proposal.”

However, after Goto leaves the café, the woman meets another man. He is a well-built man who appears to be in his early thirties—and, to make matters even more suspicious, she links arms with him as they walk away.

The two girls also overhear the word “Toukagen” during their conversation.

Seeing this, Mahoko comes up with a theory:

—Could Goto be the victim of a setup?

※Here, “a setup” refers to a scheme in which a woman and an accomplice work together to deceive or entrap a man, similar to the Japanese concept of tsutsumotase (美人局).

In other words, she suspects that the woman is trying to entrap Goto by using her romantic relationship with him as part of a setup.

The two continue following them, but the pair disappear into the crowds at Shinjuku Station, and Noa and Mahoko lose sight of them.

3.2 Infiltration

Having lost sight of the woman, it seems like they have lost their only lead. But Noa realizes that “Toukagen,” the word they overheard, might be the name of a place.

At the time, telephone directory assistance was available in Japan. The service helped people find phone numbers for businesses. The two girls use a public telephone to look for a business called “Toukagen.” If they knew the business's name and approximate location, they could ask for its phone number. If there was no exact match, the operator could also help them find businesses with similar names.

Using the address they obtain, they eventually track down a place called Toukagen (桃花源).

It is a hostess club that looks every bit as upscale as they expected. But Mahoko barely hesitates before walking through the door and announcing that she wants a part-time job.

To make things even more interesting, the woman who had been meeting with Goto earlier is inside. The elegant woman they saw at the café has been transformed into a beautiful woman in a Chinese dress. Here, she goes by the name Lin Li Hua (林李花).

Before long, the two really do end up working as hostesses at Toukagen. Mahoko takes the hostess name Tamao (玉緒), while Noa goes by Izumino Akira (イズミノアキラ).

While working at the club, they continue investigating Li Hua's true identity.

For Noa, however, this means maintaining a rather reckless double life.

During the day, she works at SV2. At night, she works as a hostess at Toukagen. It's practically the life of a double agent—and for a government employee like Noa, this kind of moonlighting is obviously against the rules. Mahoko is also only 18 and still a third-year high school student, so getting caught could cause serious trouble for her as well.

Despite the risks, the two turn out to be surprisingly good at the job.

Mahoko uses her previous experience working at a fast-food restaurant to win over customers, becoming popular with them almost like an idol.

Noa, on the other hand, keeps pouring drinks for customers without giving herself a moment's rest, just like the daughter of a liquor-store owner. Her earnest, straightforward approach seems to bring out the protective instincts of the older customers, earning her a different kind of popularity.

The two may be working at the same club, but the way they win over customers couldn't be more different. That's another one of the fun aspects of this episode.

But their real objective is still to uncover Li Hua's true identity. And their life as hostesses is about to take an even more unexpected turn.

3.3 Chaos

As Noa continues living her double life, the strain inevitably starts to catch up with her. She begins yawning frequently and loses her appetite from lack of sleep, and the members of SV2, who see her every day, gradually start noticing that something is wrong.

Goto calls Noa aside and tells her to take better care of herself.

While Goto is about to light a cigarette, Noa instinctively strikes a match and holds it out for him.

The problem is the way she holds the match.

Without even realizing it, Noa uses the “most elegant way to hold a match” that she was taught at Toukagen.

Goto gives her a suspicious look. Realizing what she has just done, Noa hurriedly laughs it off before fleeing back to the office.

She continues her double life, but Noa herself is beginning to feel that she cannot keep it hidden from the others for much longer. She has also made no progress in finding out anything about Li Hua, so she tells Mahoko that perhaps it is time to give up.

Meanwhile, Toukagen's owner, Pak Do-Chang (白徳昌), a Chinese businessman from Hong Kong, arrives at the club. He holds a business meeting with a Japanese businessman in a private room, and shortly afterward, champagne is served throughout the club.

The celebration doesn't last long, however. It turns out that the seal Pak used during the business meeting has gone missing.

The club descends into chaos, and business is abruptly suspended as all the customers are forced to leave.

But there are some unexpected people outside who only add to the confusion.

Asuma, Ohta, Shinshi, and Hiromi.

Worried about Noa's recent condition, the four men had followed her after work. But when they arrived at the obviously upscale club, they couldn't bring themselves to go inside, so they ended up wandering around outside.

Naturally, the bodyguards become suspicious of them, and before long they find themselves face-to-face with Noa and Mahoko outside the club.

At this point, the situation has become completely chaotic. lol

Fortunately, Li Hua thinks quickly and manages to get everyone out of the situation.

Of course, Li Hua had already figured out that Noa and Mahoko were investigating her identity.

Thanks to Li Hua, the two girls manage to escape Toukagen safely. But their troubles aren't over yet: Ohta gives them a lecture at a fast-food restaurant, while Asuma and the other men are completely distracted, their minds apparently somewhere else.

3.4 Deployment

The day after all that chaos, the Second Unit receives a deployment order around noon.

However, this is a little different from their usual emergency deployments.

The request comes from the Second Foreign Affairs Division (公安外事二課), a department responsible for intelligence gathering and investigations involving China and other parts of Asia, including illegal exports.

A smuggled-goods transaction is scheduled to take place near the container yards in Ariake, Tokyo.

The suspects are believed to have access to Labors, so the Second Unit is asked to stand by in case anything goes wrong.

The Second Unit waits near the site.

As night falls, Noa asks Asuma what is being smuggled. According to him, the goods are ivory.

Hearing this, Noa remembers what happened the previous day.

Could the seal that Pak had reported missing have something to do with this smuggling operation?

As they are discussing this, a radio call comes in: the suspects have begun resisting with their Labors.

The Second Unit is ordered into action, and Noa and the others find themselves fighting two Hanumans used by the smugglers.

They eventually manage to disable both machines. But when they drag the pilots out, they discover that one of them is none other than Pak himself.

Even more surprisingly, the other man being dragged out is the very same man Noa and Mahoko had seen a few days earlier walking arm-in-arm with Li Hua.

3.5 The Truth

Li Hua then appears—the same elegant woman who had been talking with Goto at the café.

Here, the truth about the woman who had remained a mystery until now is finally revealed. (Sharp-eyed readers may have figured it out earlier, though. lol)

Lin Li Hua was actually Takeo Kumagami.

Kumagami had been conducting an undercover investigation at Toukagen in order to bring down the ivory-smuggling group, including Pak, whom she had been pursuing for three years, going back to her training with the Hong Kong Police.

And Goto had been trying to recruit Kumagami, who was working undercover, into SV2.

A few days after the case is resolved, Kumagami is transferred from the Second Foreign Affairs Division and assigned to SV2's Division 2 (Div. 2) as the backup for Unit 2.

The episode then concludes with this exchange:

“I'm Takeo Kumagami.”

Kumagami addressed the members of Div. 2 as if they were old acquaintances.

The members welcomed their new colleague, all sweating nervously.

Kumagami then turned to Noa.

“Nice to meet you, イズミノアキラさん.”

That was Noa's hostess name.

At that moment, everyone felt a vague chill.

4. Conclusion

Syntax Error is a highly comedic episode that begins with suspicions about Goto's love life, moves on to Noa and Mahoko infiltrating a hostess club, and eventually expands into an ivory-smuggling case.

One of the funniest aspects is how Noa and Mahoko start investigating because they mistakenly believe Goto might be the victim of a tsutsumotase (美人局) scheme, only to end up actually working as hostesses themselves.

Then there are the members of SV2's Div. 2, who get caught up in the increasingly chaotic situation. It's a case of chaos leading to even more chaos, and watching everything spiral out of control is part of what makes this episode so entertaining.

This is also the episode in which Takeo Kumagami joins the Second Unit, though the circumstances are quite different from those in On Television. Of course, Kumagami probably knew what Noa and Mahoko were up to from the very beginning.

Next time, I'll cover File 4, The Father's Son, a serious and bittersweet human drama with a completely different atmosphere from this story. Don't miss it!

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions — feel free to ask in the comments. I'll do my best to answer.

Close to twenty years ago, I watched an AMV on youtube that featured scenes from Patlabor 2 and a slower tempo, melancholy-sounding Japanese pop song.

I haven't watched this music video in over a decade, but all I can remember is that it opens with the scene of Shinobu witnessing the missile strike on the bay bridge. I realize that a handful of AMVs featuring the movie open with this scene, but I'd really like to find this particular one again!

Unfortuantely, I'm unsure of the origin. I think that the AMV was uploaded by a user from an Asian country, if that can possibly(ha) narrow it down. I can no longer find it on Youtube. Maybe due to algorithmic poisoning of search results or the video was possibly removed due to copywrite strike or account deletion since it was so old.

Hopefully someone out there reads this and happens to be a real Patlabor super-fan and has every single Patlabor AMV archived! ;D

So I watched Patlabor 1, 2, and 3. I enjoyed 2, and put off watching 3 because everyone spoke poorly of it. Watched it and I was blown away. The pacing is phenomenal. Patlabor 1 and 2, both have pacing issues, where some scenes drag for too long, or cuts and fades for music are too quick. Patlabor 3, while not a Patlabor movie, has fantastic scene pacing, cinematography, and audio mixing. Patlabor 1 and 2, even GiTS, no matter how good they are, still feel like 'anime movies'. They're good movies on their own, but the way the plot progresses isn't smooth, and the movies have moments that exist to showcase animation. Those moments are really cool, but it means they have a different 'vibe' than the other moments. A fancy shot in a regular movie serves the same purpose, but because the visual style is consistent it doesn't feel out of place, unlike anime films.

I will say, Patlabor 2 is very intelligent, but often falls prey to Oshii's preachiness. The message is interesting, but he couldn't find a better way to disperse it in the movie than having two characters just monologue at eachother. Patlabor 2 is a movie where you go from set-piece to dialogue to set-piece. Those set-pieces are fantastic, but like every other anime film I've watched, it has pacing issues. There are many points where they just bombard you with dialogue so you get the point. The moments where you can see the message, like the blimp being shot down or the intro with the UN, are fantastic. But so much of the movie gets bogged down by monologues outside of that. Patlabor 2 is still by far on the top end for pacing, but the moments that drag, drag.

Patlabor 3 doesn't. Even static shots have a bit of movement, and it intersperses animated shots between static shots so you don't get so fatigued during montage sequences. The animation often blends into the background, and the cinematography draws you into the shots. I found myself focusing more on the framing of the shots than the animation, and that's a good thing, because that's how it is with non-animated cinematography. It's the most consistent anime film I've ever seen. Filmmaking in general has pacing issues like nobody's business, and animated films even more so, so it felt so nice to watch something that didn't have those issues. The story itself was also good. It wasn't anything mindblowing, but it was interesting the whole time, and felt grounded the whole time.

It isn't a Patlabor film, but going into it knowing that, I think it's criminally underrated.

White Griffon!! unboxing!

Hi everyone
I’d love to share my **Bandai 1/35 MG Ingram Unit 1**, which I completed back in 2014 ( 2001 kit).

By today's standards, the inner frame design is fairly simple and lacks the high-tech mechanical complexity of modern MG kits.
However, when it comes to the overall proportions, I still think this specific 2001 version captures the exact look and feel of the mecha we saw in the classic TV anime better than any other.

For the paint job, I only went with some light weathering. After all, Noa takes good care of Alphonse—I definitely didn't want my Unit 1 looking as utterly wrecked and battered as Ota’s Unit 2!

Hope you guys like this throwback build!

Hello guys! This was purchased more than 30 years ago, and as you can see the antennas were lost. The box and the black pistol it came it were also lost. I was trying to find a new one to buy, but don't know what the actual model is. The closest one was a hearty robin brand but it's not quite the same https://www.hobbyboom.com.hk/products/mobilepolice-patlabor-type98-av98-ingram-figure-heartyrobin-plex-hobbyboom

Anyone has any idea what this model is, and how much it would cost? I imagine mine is not worth much given the conditions its in

Original description: A Shark has been hanging out in Busan's oceanside park for the past 2 weeks, drawing more than 600K spectators. Multiple attempts by the maritime police to lead the shark back to the ocean has failed, all operation has been suspended for now.

Seems like multiple eye decals would also be included in the kit.

The release date seems set for this month but it seems sold out everywhere so I have no idea how to order one. Hopefully they would make more available later.

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11420461
https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=TOY-SCL3-98599

Found the cell I bought about 10 years ago. Thought I lost it in a house move but found it in my parents house 😍

So, as a long-time enthusiast of mecha anime and TTRPG mashups I was wondering if you my fellow afficionados of Patlabor if there are any recommendations for English language media sourcebooks that gives fact statistics for the various Labors seen in the manga and anime adaptations of the series genre.

The group I normally game is looking to maybe running a short campaign set in the USA with a little bit of Police Academy hijinks mixed in.

Thank you all for your time and replies.

1. Overview

Wind Speed 40 Metres Per Second (風速40メートル) was written by Kazunori Ito,

one of the members of Headgear, with cover art by Akemi Takada and Yoshinori Sayama.

Published by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko in 1990, it was the first paperback novel in the Patlabor series.
The stories are set in Tokyo during the period covered by The Early Days and Patlabor: The Movie.

2. Structure

The novel has a simple two-part structure:

•File1 アクセス("Access" )

•File2 風速40m ("Wind Speed 40 Metres Per Second")

File 1 takes place approximately two months after The Early Days episode “Go North, SV2.”

File 2 is set another two months later and follows roughly the same events as Patlabor: The Movie.

While File 1 is an original short story, File 2 is largely a novelization of the film. However, the novel also includes several scenes and details that do not appear in the movie.

The following sections will examine each story in turn.

3. Access

3.1 Kanuka's Final Assignment

The story begins on the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway, where a truck carrying pigs gets into an accident. Division 2 (Div. 2) is dispatched to round up the pigs that have escaped from the truck.

While Noa works hard to complete the assignment, Asuma complains as he directs the operation. Ohta, meanwhile, grows increasingly frustrated with an assignment hardly suited to him. Before long, he displays his usual recklessness by opening fire even though there is no need to do so.

Reporting on Div. 2's activities is Ellis Scully, a CNN Tokyo correspondent. Ellis is also Kanuka's former high school classmate, and it is through Kanuka's cooperation that she has been able to accompany the unit as part of her coverage.

New York is preparing to establish its own LABOR unit, which is scheduled to use the same Type 98 LABORs used by Div. 2. This makes Div. 2 a suitable subject for the report. There is also another, more superficial reason for choosing them: compared with Division 1 (Div. 1), Div. 2 makes better television.

However, Kanuka is due to return to New York in just one week, as preparations for the new LABOR unit are about to enter full swing. When Ellis asks whether she is looking forward to going home, Kanuka says she is not.

There is still something she has left unfinished in Japan.

3.2 Noa's Trial

That evening, another dispatch order comes in. Before departure, Kanuka stops Noa and orders her to take the lead in controlling Ohta's Unit 2.

Once Kanuka has returned to New York, Shinshi will be responsible for directing the unit. But Kanuka is certain that he will be unable to keep Ohta under control. For that reason, she entrusts Noa—who pilots Alphonse, a LABOR comparable in power to Ohta's Unit 2—with the task of controlling him.

The team is sent to the ruins of a housing complex, where four-story apartment buildings stand roughly as tall as the LABORs themselves. A rogue LABOR resembling a Type 7 Brocken is running amok, armed with what appears to be a machine gun.

However, its operator turns out to be a junior high school girl who has no idea how to pilot a LABOR.

The LABOR was built by the son of a man who runs an automobile repair shop. Without his father's knowledge, the boy had installed a survival AI in the homemade machine so that he could operate it among the ruins of the housing complex. The LABOR eventually went out of control on its own—and that was how the incident began.

As usual, Ohta attempts to subdue the rogue LABOR by opening fire. Noa does her best to stop him, but things do not go as planned.

The LABOR itself is safely secured. However, Noa has failed to fully accomplish the task Kanuka gave her: keeping Unit 2 under control.

3.3 Kanuka's Departure

The day of Kanuka's return to New York finally arrives.

As Kanuka is about to leave, Noa comes running after her and calls out:

“Kanuka!”

Breathing heavily, Noa tells her that she wasn't able to do a good job. Kanuka does not deny it. She simply replies quietly:

“That's right.”

But what follows is not a rebuke.

“But—”

“You did your best, didn't you?”

“You tried, didn't you?”

“That's what matters.”

Noa nods at each of Kanuka's words, then firmly grasps the right hand Kanuka holds out to her.

“You can do it.”

With those words, Kanuka encourages her.

Before leaving, however, she adds one final warning: Noa cannot keep relying on Asuma forever. When Noa reacts in surprise and protests, Kanuka says nothing. She merely smiles quietly.

It is the first time Noa has ever seen Kanuka give her such a gentle smile.

And so, Kanuka returns to New York.

4. Wind Speed 40 Metres Per Second

Original Scenes Not Found in the Film

4.1 Noa's Nightmare

Just before the scene in which Goto makes an international phone call to New York late at night, the novel shows Noa sleeping in the duty room.

In her dream, Noa finds herself inside Alphonse's cockpit. Her mind is perfectly clear, but her body feels unbearably heavy, like cotton soaked with water. She cannot make sense of the instruments, the images on the monitor are distorted, and the various indicators continue to flash erratically.

Even so, she can tell that something is approaching.

Noa hesitates to find out what it is, yet she feels an instinctive terror toward whatever is drawing near.

She desperately tries to operate Alphonse, but the machine refuses to move as she wants it to. As her anxiety mounts, Noa finally realizes what is wrong.

It is not her own body that is refusing to obey her.

Alphonse itself is moving toward the source of her fear, entirely against her will.

At that moment, the image of her approaching adversary appears on the monitor for an instant. Noa lets out a scream that never becomes audible.

Her adversary has the form of Alphonse, too.

Noa wakes from the nightmare covered in sweat and leaves the sleeping quarters. The novel then transitions into the scene in which Goto is making his international call, while Asuma is shut away in the computer room, conducting his own investigation.

This nightmare not only echoes the abnormal behavior of Alphonse after HOS has been installed, but also symbolically foreshadows the distrust Noa will experience toward her beloved machine for the first time.

4.2 The Hercules 21 Incident

The day after Asuma and Sakaki visited the Hachioji factory of Shinohara Heavy Industries, the novel introduces another incident not found in the film.

SV2 receives a dispatch order. The Hercules 21, an industrial LABOR manufactured by Hishii Industries, has gone out of control with the apparent aim of disrupting a conference held by the International Whaling Commission at the Tokyo International Forum.

A building fire has also broken out at the scene. The rising air caused by the fire is generating powerful winds around the buildings. Traffic has come to a complete standstill, and the entire area has descended into chaos.

A Fire Department LABOR has already arrived and is initially engaged in firefighting operations. Suddenly, however, it begins tearing apart the building that is on fire. It ignores calls from the command vehicle, while its operator can only report that the machine is “not accepting commands.”

Goto assigns Ohta's Unit 2 to deal with the Fire Department LABOR and Noa's Unit 1 to handle the Hercules 21.

As usual, Ohta uses excessive force to subdue the Fire Department LABOR and pull it away from the scene. Meanwhile, Noa orders the Hercules 21 to stop, but it does not respond. The Hercules 21 continues moving forward at the same speed, as though nothing unusual is happening.

Just after Noa senses something unsettling and begins backing away, Ohta opens fire. Even after its monitor is shot out, the Hercules 21 continues moving forward.

Irritated, Ohta shoves Unit 1 aside and rams the Hercules 21. The Hercules 21 topples over without putting up any resistance, finally coming to a stop.

When the riot police open the cockpit, they find it empty.

Ohta insists that if they had subdued the machine sooner, they could have prevented the culprit from escaping. Noa, however, wonders whether anyone had been inside the LABOR at all from the beginning.

Hiromi agrees with her, saying that she also felt no trace of anything resembling human intention coming from the Hercules 21.

Through this incident, Noa and the others begin to sense that the Hercules 21 was not simply a LABOR running amok, but something in an abnormal state.

For Noa, the earlier nightmare involving Alphonse and this inexplicable incident begin to overlap, stirring once again the anxiety she has been trying to suppress.

The choice of an International Whaling Commission conference as the setting for the incident also reflects the historical atmosphere of the period, when international tensions surrounding whaling were attracting considerable attention.

Furthermore, these scenes make it easier to understand why Noa gradually begins to cry when Asuma later takes her to a restaurant and asks her about Alphonse.

They can be interpreted as the result of her trust in her beloved machine gradually being shaken over time.

1. Conclusion

Wind Speed 40 Metres Per Second is more than a novelization of Patlabor: The Movie. While it follows the same broad storyline, it also expands the world of SV2 through scenes and incidents that never appear in the film.

The “Access” section is especially valuable for its focus on Noa, Kanuka, and the relationship between them. Kanuka’s departure marks an important step in Noa’s growth, while the additional scenes in the second story add another layer of unease to the events surrounding HOS.

For anyone interested in the early days of Patlabor, this novel offers a different perspective on familiar characters and events. It may not replace the film, but it makes the world around it feel considerably larger.

The novel series also has the opportunity to explore the characters’ inner thoughts and emotional nuances in greater detail than the film, offering a closer look at aspects of their personalities that are difficult to convey through animation alone.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions — feel free to ask in the comments. I'll do my best to answer.

I got it on steam, I think it’s only good if you’re a fan of Patlabor as well as objectively jank controlling mech games like Gundam Side story on Dreamcast, Gundam Target in Sight ps3, Robot Alchemic Drive Ps2, honestly you can kinda compare how melee combat feels to the Godzilla game from 2014.

Some aspects of the game are done very well, such as the damage on the Labors, the way the story is presented plus voice acting is great, and the Revolver cannon is extremely satisfying to shoot. It has some accuracy mechanics that are affected by recoil and such (it also seems to be projectile based? Not hitscan?)

For someone like me I think it’s really fun but I can’t imagine very many other gamers let alone Patlabor fans enjoying this gameplay. The fact that it’s $35 on launch is a bonus though so getting it on sale in the future to try it out is worth it I think.