It¡¯s a big year for ¡°Mobile Police Patlabor.¡± The anime, manga and live-action franchise ¡ª which revolves around a near-future division of the Tokyo police department that uses giant robots called patrol labors to keep the city safe ¡ª is getting its first anime series in decades, ¡°Patlabor EZY,¡± set to debut May 15.
Prior to ¡°EZY,¡± the last major ¡°Patlabor¡± anime project was ¡°WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3.¡± The 2002 film is now seeing a limited rerelease on 50 screens across Japan following similar revivals of the first two ¡°Patlabor¡± films in 2025.
¡°WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3¡± is the black sheep of the franchise, and not just because of its unwieldy title. It was the first ¡°Patlabor¡± film not directed by Mamoru Oshii, the lauded anime auteur known best for ¡±Ghost in the Shell,¡± who would later return to the franchise with a live-action series in 2014. And while the movie is technically set in the ¡°Patlabor¡± universe, it has little to do with the familiar characters of Special Vehicles Division 2, who make only the briefest of cameos.
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