, also known as Patlabor (a portmanteau of "patrol" and "labor"), is a Japanese science fiction media franchise in the mecha genre. It is produced by Headgear, an artist collective consisting of manga artist Masami Yūki, director Mamoru Oshii, screenwriter Kazunori Itō, mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi, and character designer Akemi Takada. The concept of Patlabor originated from a desire to create a more realistic and light-hearted mecha anime than militarized works like Gundam or Space Runaway Ideon which were popular in the 1980s.
Set in near-future Tokyo, construction mecha known as "Labors" are increasingly used in large-scale engineering work; the Tokyo Metropolitan Police also have their own fleet of police Labors. Incorporating elements of the workplace comedy and police procedural genres, the series follows the misfit Division 2 as they deal with Labor-related crimes, terrorism, and accidents.
The franchise began airing in 1988 with the Patlabor: The Early Days OVA, and quickly became a multimedia franchise including a manga, three TV series, four feature-length movies, three light novel series, and an animated short film compilation. Patlabor is known for using mecha not just for police or military purposes, but also for industrial and municipal jobs.
Plot
The story takes place in what was, at the time of release, the near future of 1998–2002. Mecha called "labors" are used in heavy construction work. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has its own fleet of patrol Labors ("patlabors"; as opposed to patrol cars) to combat crimes or terrorism and deal with accidents involving labors. The story arcs usually revolve around Tokyo Metropolitan Police Special Vehicle Section 2, Division 2. Labor pilot Noa Izumi is the protagonist of the series, but all of Division 2 play roles. Detectives Hata and Kusumi are the main protagonists of the third Patlabor film.
Due to being released simultaneously, the manga, TV series, and feature films all take place in separate continuities. The movie timeline includes the Early Days OVA and the three animated Patlabor films. The TV timeline includes the original TV series as well as the New Files OVA. Masami Yūki's manga is separate from both, although some TV episodes and the third film draw their plots from it.
The Next Generation series and film take place in 2013, with an entirely new cast (except for Shige and Buchiyama in maintenance), but the new members of SV2 have similar names and personalities to the old ones. Some of its episodes reference the TV series, and the final episode and movie are a direct sequel to Patlabor 2.
The Patlabor EZY series is set in the TV timeline. Now set in the near future of 2033, Labors have become largely automated, and the Special Vehicles Section must continue to work as a Labor police force without becoming obsolete. Brash pilot Towa Kuga and her backup Kippei Atori are the protagonists, but, like the original series, the show features an ensemble cast of all Division 2.
Production Patlabor was originally produced by the artist collective known as Headgear, whose five members are Masami Yūki, Mamoru Oshii, Akemi Takada, Kazunori Itō, and Yutaka Izubuchi. Although their involvement varies between Patlabor projects (for instance, Oshii was largely uninvolved in creating Patlabor EZY), works belonging to Headgear split all their profits five ways regardless of contributions.
The concept originated with Yūki in the mid-1980s and was developed during low-stakes 'anime planning' sessions with friends like future Headgear member Akemi Takada. In response to grim, militarized mecha anime like Gundam and other shows directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, Yūki began to conceptualize a more lighthearted type of mecha anime:
Yūki, Izubuchi, and writer Isao Hiura attempted to pitch the concept as a TV anime, with potential for toy manufacturer sponsorship: the main Labor would be a transforming police car or a combination of a police car and a mecha. Although the project was unable to find sponsorship then, it became more commercially feasible later in the decade with the expansion of the OVA format, which didn't require the same levels of sponsorship as TV features but carried lower risk than a full theatrical feature.
The original Mobile Police Patlabor series (renamed to Patlabor: The Early Days in 1995) was forced to make several creative decisions to keep costs low: the retail price was set at only 4,800 yen (rather than the 10,000 yen many other OVAs sold at) so as to recoup costs solely through video sales rather than relying on toy sponsorships, and only six episodes were produced rather than a standard 13-episode cour. Many of the action sequences which the Headgear members imagined for the Labors could not be realized then, although some were later produced in the TV series and films. Yūki's manga serialization, which began in Weekly Shōnen Sunday just a few weeks after the first OVA episode was released, was originally meant to serve as promotional material for the OVA; Patlabors success meant it continued running for six years, until 1994.
After strong sales of the original OVA, Headgear produced the first Patlabor movie in 1989, directed by Oshii and marking the start of the franchise's work with animation studio Production I.G.. The same year, the TV series began airing, concluding in September 1990 after 47 episodes; a second OVA of 16 episodes, Patlabor: The New Files, was released in 1990 with the home video discs of the series. The second movie, released in 1993, was largely seen as a closure to the series.
The third movie, set chronologically between the first two movies, was originally conceived as an OVA before being produced by Madhouse as a full-length movie in 2002. Accompanying it in theaters was a series of shorts called Mini-Pato, using novel papercraft CGI to depict the characters and explain aspects of the world.
Media Manga Released by Shogakukan through Shonen Sunday magazine from 1988 to 1994, the 22-volume series takes place in a separate timeline.
Japanese volumes Original release:
Bunkoban release:
North America volumes Viz released first two volumes of the manga as individual comics in 1997 and 1998, then released them as volumes. However, due to a lack of sales, Viz dropped the series and the remaining 20 volumes have not been officially translated:
Crossover with Zoids franchise As part of Zoids's 40th anniversary celebrations, a crossover manga between Zoids and Patlabor called Code Name B.U.D.D.Y began releasing in 2025. The manga is written by Kazunori Itō and drawn by Naoto Tsushima. The story follows the Zoid (a type of animalistic mecha) Hunter Wolf working with Special Vehicles Division 2 to protect Tokyo.
Mobile Police Patlabor 2026 In May 2026, a new one-shot manga by Masami Yūki was published in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine, showing how Tokyo and Division 2 have changed by 2026. The short manga also provides an introduction to the Patlabor EZY series released simultaneously in theaters.
Anime
The Early Days Patlabor: The Early Days (1988–1989, OVA series, 7 episodes) The series was originally published in Japan as Mobile Police Patlabor. It details the origins of the Tokyo MPD's 2nd Special Vehicles Section, otherwise known as SV2.
Movies Patlabor: The Movie (1989) A series of random labor incidents across the Greater Tokyo Area puts the SV2 on the case. The incidents turn out to be part of a dead programmer's diabolical plot to create a much bigger rampage.
Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993) A secret group of terrorists engineer a crisis in Tokyo in the winter of 2001–2002. The members of SV2's Section 2, who have been reassigned to other duties following a decline in Tokyo Labor usage, reunite one more time to stop the threat.
WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 (2002) Taking place a year after Patlabor: The Movie, the film features two MPD detectives who investigate the case of missing scientists working on a genetic engineering project that runs amok in Tokyo Bay. SV2's Section 2 is later called in to help rein in the danger.
A three-part series of short films known as Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum (MiniPato) were shown before screenings of WXIII. MiniPato uses paper puppets, CGI, and claymation to explain the rationale behind the whole concept of the series, especially how the Labors functioned in a realistic hard science fiction setting.
The TV Series and The New Files Patlabor: The TV Series (1989–1990, TV, 47 episodes) Taking place in a different continuity, the series features more adventures of SV2 Section 2, which includes an arc involving their efforts to combat an advanced Schaft Enterprises Labor called the Type J9 Griffon.
Patlabor: The New Files (1990–1992, OVA, 16 episodes) Also referred to as Patlabor 2, the series contains episodes that took place at several points between certain episodes in the TV series and after the latter's final episode. The OVA also features the conclusion of the Griffon story arc.
Patlabor Reboot is a short animated film released on October 15, 2016, as part of Japan Animator Expo, featuring a modernized version of Patlabor with new characters and using CG for the Labors, animated by Studio Khara and Studio Rikka.
Patlabor EZY
Set in 2033 Japan in the TV series continuity, Patlabor EZY follows a new generation of officers in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Special Vehicle Section 2 dealing with Labor crimes and accidents, even as Labors are becoming obsolete from the increase in AI-driven automation. The series consists of eight episodes released in Japan as three theatrical installments from 2026–2027.
Studio J.C.Staff is creating the anime, with Yutaka Izubuchi as director and Kazunori Itō as scriptwriter.
Live-action series
The Next Generation: Patlabor is a live-action series and film created by Mamoru Oshii, as a sequel to the OVA continiuty, starring Erina Mano as pilot Akira Izumino, Seiji Fukushi as Yūma Shiobara, Rina Oota as Ekaterina Krachevna Kankaeva ("Kasha"), Shigeru Chiba reprising his anime role as chief mechanic Shigeo Shiba and Toshio Kakei as Captain Keiji Gotōda.
"Deck-up" events, where the full-scale, 9-meter tall AV-98 Ingrams used for filming are lifted from their carrier and into a standing position, were used for promoting The Next Generation at events around Japan (such as the Tokyo Motorcycle Show). Even after the series concluded in 2015, the deck-up events continued to prove popular, and the Ingram often makes an appearance at festivals around Japan.
Novels Patlabor Novels taking place in the same universe as the Early Days OVA and first movie.
Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor: Fuusoku 40 Meter (Kazunori Itō) – October 1990 Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor 2: Syntax Error (Michiko Yokote) – March 1992 Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor 3: Third Mission (Michiko Yokote) – September 1992 Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor 4: Blackjack (Zenpen) (Michiko Yokote) – July 1993 Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor 5: Blackjack (Kouhen) (Michiko Yokote) – October 1993
Tokyo War Novelizations of the second movie: Tokyo War: Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor (Zenpen) (Mamoru Oshii) – April 1994 Tokyo War: Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor (Kouhen) (Mamoru Oshii) – May 1994 A hardcover edition combining the two older volumes: Tokyo War Mobile Police Patlabor (Mamoru Oshii) – June 2005
The Next Generation Novels taking place in the world of The Next Generation. The Next Generation Patlabor 1: Yuuma no Yuuutsu (Kei Yamamura) – March 2014 The Next Generation Patlabor 2: Akira no Ashita (Kei Yamamura) – April 2014 The Next Generation Patlabor 3: Shiroi Kasha (Kei Yamamura) – June 2014 The Next Generation Patlabor: Akai Kasha (Kei Yamamura) – February 2015 The fourth novel by Yamamura is not numbered. The Next Generation Patlabor: Tokyo War 2 Haiiro no Yuurei (Mamoru Oshii and Kei Yamamura) – May 2015 Novelization of the live action movie Shuto Kessen, which is also a sequel to the Tokyo War novels.
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