Patlabor 2: The Movie

Set in 2002, three years after the events of the first movie,[4][5] Noa Izumi and Asuma Shinohara are now testing new Labors at a facility run by the Metropolitan Police. Isao Ota is a police academy Labor instructor. Mikiyasu Shinshi has since been reassigned as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's head of General Affairs. Seitaro Sakaki has retired with Shigeo Shiba taking over his position as head of the labor maintenance team with Hiromi Yamazaki, Kiichi Goto and Shinobu Nagumo remaining with the unit as Kanuka Clancy had permanently returned to New York. Most of them had been replaced by fresh labor pilots.

Suspicious events begin to materialize with the face of a military takeover of Tokyo by GSDF forces and martial law[3] after the Yokohama Bay Bridge is destroyed by a missile,[4] with belief that the JASDF was the culprit. Protests in various JSDF bases take place as a means of conveying their denial of the bridge attack. Before long, public panic comes as JGSDF-marked gunships attack in several bridges in Tokyo Bay, various communication centers and SV2 headquarters, coupled by the release of a supposed deadly gas after Special Assault Team snipers shoot down an auto-piloted blimp that was responsible for jamming all electronics in the Greater Tokyo Area.

Goto and Nagumo once more assemble the original Section 2 members in an abandoned subway passage as they embark on a secret operation to apprehend Yukihito Tsuge, a former GSDF officer who planned the terrorist attacks as a means of forcing the country to face its own military inadequacies after decades of peace. With the threat of military intervention by the United States Forces Japan looming unless the government controls the situation, the team uses an old stretch of the Ginza Line to approach an artificial island Tsuge uses as his hideout. Goto also takes care of things on his end by facilitating the arrest of Shigeki Arakawa, a GSDF intelligence agent who is actually one of Tsuge's former cohorts. After a fierce fight inside the artificial island's tunnel which results in flooding, the team evacuates the tunnel while Nagumo breaks through to finally arrest Tsuge.

Production of Patlabor the Movie 2 started after Kazunori Ito was appointed as the scriptwriter for the upcoming movie back in the early 1990s.[6] The original plan called for the same plot used in the original OVA series episode "The SV2's Longest Day", which showed renegade JGSDF soldiers and officers conspiring to undermine and overthrow the Japanese government.[7] However, it was soon abandoned when Mamoru Oshii told Kazunori Ito that maybe the scope of terrorists causing havoc under the cover of a coup would be a better movie idea.[6]

Ito soon met with other members of HEADGEAR to create some ideas that can be used for the movie, based on the theory that Patlabor 2 will be their last work on the Patlabor franchise. Soon after realizing that he couldn't take most of their suggestions, Ito had told them that he would end his consultation with them and announced that he would brainstorm the movie's script alone and isolated himself from the rest of HEADGEAR to give him some space to work on the movie's script with Oshii working on the storyboard.[8]

The amateur footage on the SSN new broadcast of the Yokohama Bay Bridge attack is a reference to Japanese history. The time shown on the amateur footage is 2:26, a reference to the February 26 Incident, where Kōdō-ha fanatics of the Imperial Japanese Army tried to occupy central Tokyo as part of a coup d'état attempt.[9]

It was shown originally in Japanese theaters on August 7, 1993.[13] Later in 1998, the movie was released again with Dolby Digital 5.1 channel remix and additional music.[14]

Patlabor 2: The Movie was dubbed and released in 1995 in Australia and the UK by Manga Entertainment and by Manga Entertainment in the US in 1996. In the mid 2000s, Manga Entertainment lost the licenses to Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor 2: The Movie in the UK and the US, but retained the license in Australia, where Manga Entertainment properties are distributed by Madman Entertainment. Bandai Visual later released the film under their North American label, Honneamise, with a new English dub produced by Elastic Media Corporation.[15]

Aside from Bandai Visual having the license to North America and the UK,[14][16] Panorama owns the license for Patlabor 2 to Hong Kong and Macau with a Cantonese dub and subtitles aside from the original Japanese dub.[14]

In Japan, Bandai Visual/Emotion has released Patlabor 2 on DVD, Blu-ray and on UMD.[14] Only the double disc DVD/Blu-ray and DVD/HD DVD sets as well as the single disc Blu-ray release has the remade English dub and subtitles.[14] The Blu-ray also includes a booklet that includes illustrations and screenshots from the movie.[17]

In Australia and New Zealand, Manga Entertainment UK still holds the rights to Patlabor movie 1 & 2 and is sub-licensed and distributed by Madman Entertainment on DVD.[14] Due to this ongoing license and the popularity of Manga's dub of the 2 movies in Australia amongst Anime fans, Madman & Manga were refused the remastered DVD & Blu-ray license from Bandai Visual which contained the new Elastic Media dub. Since Bandai Visual USA is no longer releasing new anime and letting current licenses lapse, the chances of a remastered release in Australia is slim.

Beez Entertainment licensed the film in Europe. Section23 Films has licensed all three Patlabor films, with the second film released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 21, 2015.[18]

Patlabor 2: The Movie has received critical acclaim.

One review from the Anime Cafe states that Patlabor 2 is an "intellectually stimulating anime," combining the movie's mecha concept with the plot similar to a Tom Clancy novel.[19] Anime World Order states that while the sequel is better than the first in terms of action and drama, some viewers may not understand the political aspects of the film, though its philosophical themes may be easier to understand, especially with the concept of just war and unjust peace.[20] Japan Hero's review of the movie commented well on the side story that the movie showcased the main characters who had to let go of their past and to move on and grow up, with the fact that they had to get back together and face a threat that could make a country ruled by civilian authority or one ruled by fear and paranoia.[21] Anime News Network has noted the background music used in the movie "favors heavy, pulsing techno beats backed by airy, haunting vocals for the intense scenes and soaring synthesized scores in other places ... If you’re looking for something wholly dramatic, insightful, and mature then you’ve come to the right place."[5] Raphael See of THEM Anime Reviews gave Patlabor 2 a perfect 5-star review, stating that "The nuances and elements of the plot are even more complex and involved than in Patlabor 1, although it's slightly easier to keep track of what's generally going on in this one. The storyline is intricate and political enough to make Tom Clancy grin in his military uniform. Philosophical undertones of the nature of peace and war keep this movie smart, brooding, and highly engaging."[22]

In 1994, the film won the Mainichi Film Concours award in the category for Best Animated Film.[23]

A sequence depicting an aerial interception of apparently rogue Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-16s was praised in a 2022 Task & Purpose article as "the most realistic portrayal of modern air combat ever made".[24]

• TOKYO WAR: Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor (Zenpen) (Mamoru Oshii) – April 1994
• TOKYO WAR: Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor (Kouhen) (Mamoru Oshii) – May 1994
• TOKYO WAR MOBILE POLICE PATLABOR (Mamoru Oshii) – June 2005

The 2005 release is a hardcover edition combining the two older volumes.

• THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: TOKYO WAR 2 Haiiro no Yuurei (Mamoru Oshii) – May 2015

Novelization of the live action movie THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Shuto Kessen, and sequel to the TOKYO WAR novels.

Many entries in the Patlabor series are disconnected from each other, but Patlabor 2 saw a direct sequel in the form of the 2015 live action film THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Shuto Kessen.[25]

• Official Site (in Japanese)
• Patlabor 2: The Movie (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• 機動警察パトレイバー２　ｔｈｅ　Ｍｏｖｉｅ
  Patlabor 2 the Movie at AllMovie
• Patlabor 2: The Movie at IMDb