WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3

WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 (WXIII 機動警察パトレイバー, Weisuteddo Sātīn Kidō Keisatsu Patoreibā) is a 2002 Japanese animated science fiction thriller film directed by Fumihiko Takayama and written by Miki Tori. The third and final installment of the Patlabor film trilogy,[1] it takes place in between Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor 2: The Movie and serves as a side story, focusing on two police detectives and SV2 as they investigate a series of mysterious acts of deadly destruction occurring in and around Tokyo Bay that may be connected to a genetic experiment gone wrong. It was animated by Madhouse and produced by Bandai Visual and Tohokushinsha.

WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3
Theatrical poster
Japanese name
KanaWXIII 機動警察パトレイバー
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnWeisuteddo Sātīn Kidō Keisatsu Patoreibā
Directed byFumihiko Takayama
Screenplay byMiki Tori
Based onPatlabor
by Headgear
Produced byMasahiro Fukushima
Tsutomu Sugita
Starring
CinematographyHisao Shirai
Edited byKyoko Mizuta
Takeshi Seyama
Mutsumi Takemiya
Megumi Uchida
Music byKenji Kawai
Production
company
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • March 30, 2002 (2002-03-30)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

In 2000, a series of unknown attacks on Labors have led to two police detectives, Shinichiro Hata and Takeshi Kusumi, being assigned to investigate these string of events, assisted by members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's SV2 unit.

As they begin to unravel the mystery behind the attacks, the two detectives find reason to suspect that the attacks may have something to do with the American military stationed in Japan, elements of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces, and a female scientist involved in a biological weapons program known as Wasted XIII.

Cast
Character Japanese English
(Geneon Entertainment, 2003)
Detective Takeshi Kusumi Katsuhiko Watabiki Alfred Thor
Detective Shinichiro Hata Hiroaki Hirata Dave Wittenberg
Saeko Misaki Atsuko Tanaka Kari Wahlgren
Toshiro Kurusu Takanobu Hozumi Simon Prescott
Shizuo Miyanomori Shingo Hiromori Steven Chester Prince
Goro Ishihara Junpei Morita Kirk Thornton
Hitomi Misaki Risa Suzuki Julie Maddalena
Captain Kiichi Goto Ryūsuke Ōbayashi Daran Norris
Noa Izumi Miina Tominaga Michelle Ruff
Asuma Shinohara Toshio Furukawa Richard Cansino
Isao Ohta Michihiro Ikemizu Richard Epcar
Mikiyasu Shinshi Issei Futamata
Hiromi Yamazaki Daisuke Gōri
Captain Ōsumi Masaru Ikeda Dan Lorge

Development

Triangle Staff was the original animation studio entrusted with the film, however the studio went defunct during its production. Madhouse then took over the project, though Triangle Staff's involvement would be acknowledged in the film's end credits.

Very similar in premise and plot to episode 3 of the original OVA The 450-Million-Year-Old Trap and the manga arcs in volumes 7 to 10 that greatly extended the plot of that episode.

Release

WXIII premiered out of competition during the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival, which had special screening on December 10, 2001. WXIII's Japanese theatrical release took place on March 30, 2002 to coincide with the release of Minipato. Geneon Entertainment licensed WXIII for its North American theatrical release on January 10, 2003 and DVD release on May 2003, which was eventually followed by later DVD releases to Europe and Oceania. It was licensed in Australia by Madman Entertainment. Section23 Films has licensed all three Patlabor films for North America.[2] Section23 Films released the movie on Blu-ray and DVD on September 8, 2015.[3]

Reception

WXIII garnered generally mixed reviews, and holds an average of 47/100 on aggregate web site Metacritic.[4]

Animerica gave it a favorable review calling it an "ambitious work which holds its own with both Oshii's justly acclaimed Patlabor movies and with the best works of Japan's live-action horror cinema."[5]

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-8160-6600-1.
  2. "Section23 Films Adds Patlabor Film, The World God Only Knows OVAs". Anime Network. 2015-01-22.
  3. "Hamatora Anime Gets English Dub". Anime News Network. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  4. "WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3". Metacritic.
  5. "Animerica: Animerica Feature: Patlabor the Movie 3: WXIII". Archived from the original on 2004-04-07. Retrieved 2004-04-07.
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