It’s a more philosophical, more nuanced and more thoughtful look at weighty topics like terrorism, the role of Japan in the world and the dark art of media manipulation. Patlabor 2 is a more complex and challenging film than the original. As the JSDF takes to the streets of the city and declare martial law, the SV2 reunites to pursue a former tank commander, Yukihito Tsuge (Jinpachi Nezu) whose men were killed in a failed United Nations peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1999 and who is looking for revenge. The JSDF denies any knowledge but an attack by gunships apparently from the Japanese Ground Self-defence Force that leaves SV2 headquarters in ruins creates panic among Tokyo’s population, especially after Special Assault Team snipers shoot down a blimp that releasees a gas that eventually turns out to be inert. Following a missile attack on the Yokohama Bay Bridge, faked video footage points the finger of blame at pilots from the Japanese Air Self-defence Force. The members of Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Special Vehicles Section Division 2 (SV2) have been separated – Noa Izumi (Mina Tominaga) and Asuma Shinohara (Toshio Furukawa) are testing a new generation of the piloted exo-skeletons known as “labors”, Isao Ota (Michihiro Ikemizu) is an instructor at the police academy, Mikiyasu Shinshi (Issei Futamata) has since been promoted to Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s head of General Affairs, Seitaro Sakaki (Osamu Saka) has retired, Shigeo Shiba (Shigeru Chiba) has taken over his role as head of the labor maintenance team with only Hiromi Yamazaki (Daisuke Gouri), Kiichi Goto (Ryunosuke Ohbayashi) and Shinobu Nagumo (Yoshiko Sakakibara) remaining on active duty. In the guise of a standard-issue giant robot/cyberpunk thriller, Oshii presents an unexpectedly thoughtful political thriller, informed by concerns that were being debated in Japanese society at the time, particularly the on-going role of the Japanese Self Defence Force.Ī far more complex film, thematically and narratively, than the original, Patlabor 2 is set in 2003, four years after the events of the first film. The success of Kidô keisatsu patorebâ: The Movie/Patlabor: The Movie (1989) meant that a sequel was called for and as he would later do with his follow-up to Kokaku kidotai/Ghost in the Shell (1995), Innocence (2004), director Mamoru Oshii opted not to take the easy route and tried something different instead. Original title: Kido keisatsu patoreba: The Movie 2
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