Patlabor (Japanese: 機動警察パトレイバー), also known as Mobile Police Patlabor, is a Japanese science fiction franchise in the mecha genre, a portmanteau of "patrol" and "labor". It is set in near-future Tokyo, where construction machines called Labors are widely used and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police operate their own police Labors. The franchise spans a manga, television series, films, light novels and short film compilations, and is known for showing mecha used for industrial and municipal work as well as for policing and the military.
Origins and creators
Patlabor was produced by Headgear, an artist collective whose members were manga artist Masami Yūki, director Mamoru Oshii, screenwriter Kazunori Itō, mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi and character designer Akemi Takada. The idea arose in the mid-1980s as a response to grim, militarized mecha anime such as Gundam, aiming instead for a lighthearted, realistic near-future story centered on a local police officer. Early attempts to pitch it as a television series failed to find sponsorship, and the project later became viable as an original video animation (OVA).
Media expansion
The franchise began with the Patlabor: The Early Days OVA in 1988 and soon expanded into a manga serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday, three television series, several feature films and other media. The films and series occupy separate continuities, and the manga is separate from both, although some episodes and the third film draw on its plots. The later films were produced with animation studio Production I.G. and Madhouse.