u/SonicTheReasoner

As the title suggest, The Next Generation Patlabor is a series that really befuddles me, whether it be it's setting, story, or characters. I'm sure you're all aware of how controversial it is amongst fans, some enjoying it, some despising it. If you are a part of the former then I recommend you stop reading now because this is pretty much going to be a thorough roast of the show. This isn't meant to antagonize or belittle anyone, but after rewatching it all for the third or fourth time I really felt like I should put my thoughts all in one place.

Originally when I watched The Next Generation I didn't think much of it, found the episodes either somewhat amusing or somewhat boring. To me it was just some batshit insane entry in the franchise solely under the supervision of Oshii alone. However, I paid close attention on my latest rewatch to all the little details and aspects The Next Generation presents. I think the most striking and controversial part of it is what it does with the established world of Patlabor that was set up in the previous entries, Shige has a monologue about what happened in the decades following the second movie. Characters came and went, the original cast had alright or lackluster legacies, and labors in general have started to decline after the failure of the Babylon project. I don't know how many people caught this, but they really lay it down on how labors had been a detriment to Japan in this scene. Shige states how the investment in bipedal robots had made Japanese technology fall behind developing nations. That's on top of the aforementioned recession caused by the Babylon Project. Buchiyama says he likes them and Shige concurs, which was almost hysterical to me. It's obvious they're trying to be self aware, that "giant robots clearly wouldn't work in real life, but they're still cool." However when it comes to Patlabor, that's like going "I'm ugly and I'm proud" when you look like a supermodel. Labor technology sprung robotics, engineering, software development, and artificial intelligence far beyond our own time, not to mention the speed at which infrastructure and land reclamation projects were being completed. They had already carved a niche into society within Patlabor, and the idea that one big recession would undo all of that is a little nuts. It's like going back from cars to horses and carriages during the Great Depression.

Here's the thing though, I think this concept of a great depression really putting the world of Patlabor to a halt and possible regression is an achievable idea. The implications of such an event just don't get explored beyond the dissolution SV-2 faces. If something like this were to happen, entire companies would go bankrupt, there would be mass layoffs across the countries, hundreds of works projects abandoned left to decay due to them only being maintained and developed by labors, hundreds of thousands of people who specialize in labor related fields would be looking to apply their trade and experience elsewhere. This is on top of all the land that was razed to make way for the new, now there's rampant homelessness and empty lots for a future that never came. Labor technology itself might only be used for military/security related tasks as only government bodies can actually support their maintenance and upkeep, becoming a complete and total inversion of their original intention. I'm not approaching this part from an "erm ackshually!!" fan perspective unlike I did in the last paragraph either, these ideas and concepts were present in the first and second movie, Hoba's own motivations were inspired by this future that very well could've been possible, and the beginning of the second movie clearly showed that infrastructural development, works projects, and labor utilization was spreading rapidly across the country. It would've been interesting for The Next Generation to actually explore this future, but it doesn't, it's really just Patlabor in 2013. I understand that the lack of labors was likely due to budget, but it's entirely possible to make a Patlabor series that doesn't feature labor action all that often without making up a really bogus reason.

I also want to talk about the characters since I think it also misses the mark there too. They're basically all caricatures of the original cast, and that isn't me being harsh, that's honestly what the show leads you to believe with how they are treated. And here's the thing, they all have traits that can really make them "separate" from the originals, but the fact they're nearly named the same doesn't help make them stand on their own. It honestly sounds like each character was made using cliff notes of each member.

Noa/Akira: Girl who likes labors, played basketball, and plays games, has somewhat of a temper

Asuma/Yuuma: Guy who is knowledgeable about technology and military, a bit of an ass but means well, always willing to take charge of any situation

Ohta/Ottawara: Bad out of control cop with a trigger finger, yells all the time

Kanuka/Kasha: Foreign beauty with ties to foreign government agencies, no nonsense gal with an affinity for firearms

Shinshi/Shinji: Meek salaryman looking guy with a psychotic side and an out of control wife

Hiromi/Hiromichi: Gentle giant who's emotional and likes raising chickens

Goto/Gotouda: Eccentric laid back Captain who's smarter than he looks.

I think the actors do their jobs well, no offense to them, but it's hard to see them as their own characters with all this in mind. This could at least be circumvented somewhat if they bothered to give them their own names, but this unfortunately isn't the last time this series finds itself tethered to the previous works. And in all fairness I'll clarify this; I know that The Next Generation Patlabor's whole thing was supposed to be "legacy" or whatever, but there's a difference between intention and actual execution. This "legacy" is portrayed through several episodes with nearly identical plot lines to episodes in either The Early Days or On Television, but it feels less like a passing of the torch and more just like appropriation. The situations nearly play out the exact same way, you'd think this "legacy" would imply that this new generation would learn how to approach similar situations with a bit of foresight granted by the previous one. In actuality, they just run into the same situations the same exact way, and don't really even resolve them any better than the originals did. Episode 1 is basically "you win"'s opening, the twist being that they blow up the culprit Gotouda chastises for being a loser. The giant monster two parter is essentially an extension of the plot of the 450 Million year old trap, and Division 2 is kind of there to just watch it happen, they're only there to take home at least some kind of credit by making the Jellyfish surface. Crocodile Dungeon is nearly bar for bar "The Dungeon Again" in just live action, which tries to play off the "we're the third generation granted with the experience of the first" idea but largely plays out the exact same way. Runaway Red Labor is also quite literally Red Labor Landing.

I think if they wanted to really incorporate the concept of tradition, legacy, passing of the torch, there would be a lot more ingenuity, something The Next Generation also struggles with within it's own stories too. In the previous entries, cooperation and ingenuity was always key to solving issues in the story. With it's limited labor action, The Next Generation doesn't quite utilize the screen time of the Ingram to it's full potential, I kid you not, all situations that involve the Ingram needing to be deployed results in it drawing it's revolver cannon to solve the conflict. Guy who got dumped by his girlfriend holding someone hostage? Solved by firing a bullet right at him. Ingrams need to stand while the Director gives his speech? The Ingram fires it's revolver cannon for a salute that also blows up the entire city. Another hostage situation where an arms dealer has a machine gun? Draw the revolver cannon and provoke him into firing it. Running out of time to give Division 2 a plausible reason to even be around for a situation involving an assumed giant monster? Unit 1 fires a few rounds into the waters causing it to surface. A literal dinosaur running around the hangar? Unit 2 fires several bullets at it and partially destroys the building. A rogue military labor rushing through the streets heading for Tokyo? Fire a shot at it's joints while tanking it's machine gun fire. Helicopter with stealth capabilities flying overhead? Shot down via combined fire of revolver cannon, machine gun, and AK-47. These were literally all the times the Ingram was activated, don't you think that'd get a little repetitive? The Ingrams were combat focused, the entire point was that the revolver cannon was used as a deterrent or a last resort, but The Next Generation would lead you to believe that it's the machine's primary method of solving these issues.

To add on to all of that, Unit 1 is really only the machine that does anything. I assume two Ingrams would cost way too much to animate at the same time, likely why Unit 1 and Unit 2 look identical despite every single other show making an effort to make them look distinct. As funny as Ottawara is, he is pretty much useless. He's done nothing of note in Unit 2, he is the first to go down against the Gray Ghost in Tokyo War after doing nothing. You can argue that Ohta is the same way, which I disagree. There are numerous times where Ohta has downed an enemy labor or made himself useful even without a labor. Ottawara doesn't have moments like these, he's purely a comedic relief and spoof on Ohta's character. Mikiya Shinji in comparison is also barely much of a character, he mostly just stands around during dispatches, whereas Shinshi was willing to throw himself in the line of fire multiple times if it meant helping the others. Shinji has like, one moment like that in Tokyo War, but he has half the spotlight Shinshi gets. Kasha is the only member of Team 2 that does anything, and that's because she the ideal Kanuka replacement character and action girl. She gets plenty of screen time, a couple episodes to herself, and several (admittedly well done) action scenes. At this point I don't even know why Team 2 exists when most of the team can barely act as support and the Russian chick is the only one who can do anything useful.

I honestly think Gotouda is one of the better characters because he does have potential to be different that Goto despite having his name. He's an eccentric captain character, but he honestly feels like his own thanks to the actor who plays him. The only issue is that he ends up being tied to Goto thanks to Tokyo War putting a tiny Goto in his pocket that occasionally talks to him in the form of that cell phone. I think that movie really is a detriment to his character because he's caught up on what Goto would think way too often, having no room to make decisions for himself and stand on his own. This is one of the many gripes I have with Tokyo War as a movie, which honestly feels pretty pointless. I already know that Tokyo War was essentially just a tweaked live action Patlabor 2 pitched to Oshii so it's riffing on the second movie is fine, but that doesn't really excuse it at all. You can say the same for any live action adaptation of an animated film, no one was excusing The Lion King or Moana because the point inherently was a live action movie. The movie takes several cues, setpieces, and plotlines from the second film, and at that point, why would you even watch a live action film that is less coherent and generally inferior than the original groundbreaking thriller? Other than the spectacle I guess. The main antagonists are Tsuge sympathizers again, they blow up a bridge again, they (technically Haibara of her own accord) blows up SV2 HQ again, they launch a gunship assault on the city again. Even the things they do originally feel half baked, specifically a "rivalry" between Akira and Haibara I didn't even catch until my latest rewatch.

If you didn't realize it until now, then I am not surprised, because I am pretty sure after the raid on the supply base it's alluded that Akira has some kind of personal beef with Haibara. The only issue is that it kind of comes out of nowhere, and it's expected that the viewer is well aware of this too, which I doubt. Gotouda makes remarks about Akira's alleged beef, and Akira herself says things such as "I won't let Haibara beat me" and predicted she'd approach head on in the final battle instead of fighting using tactics. It's clear that this is suppose to be analogous to Noa and Bud's rivalry given how Haibara's headset looks like the Griffon's headset. However, there's a reason why Noa and Bud's rivalry works and Akira and Haibara's doesn't.

Noa is a character who grows and matures as the story goes on, her childish affinity for labors slowly being eroded by her want to mature and better herself as a police woman. Bud on the other hand spirals deeper and deeper into a childish fantasy fueled by Utsumi's own delusions of grandeur with the Griffon as a catalyst. Akira on the other hand is a pretty static character throughout the series, she starts the series as a girl obsessed with games and likes labors, and nearly ends the same way. THE LONG GOODBYE tries to develop her with themes of the past, fantasy, and growing up, but immediately as Tokyo War opens up, her first scene is her hyper focused on an arcade game to a comedic level. It's a short moment and it's probably semantics, but I can only imagine that this scene was included to give the viewers a rough idea of the characters to viewers who didn't watch the series. Most of the movie is spent following Gotouda, so we don't see Akira herself having any meaningful growth or change until after the raid on the supply base, which in my opinion, was already too late.

The craziest part to me is that this sudden change in character could easily be remedied by giving her the scenes that Yuuma had with Haibara. At the beginning he finds Haibara playing basketball and applauds her, only getting nervous and biking away after she flashes a creepy smile. Then at the supply base he got into a physical altercation with the girl, and then after the raid he makes the realization that the girl he saw and the girl playing basketball near the beginning was the same person, a scene lots of focus was put on due to the way it was framed. This entire "rivalry" could've been justified if Akira was the one who spotted Haibara playing basketball, being interested in her skills as she herself plays basketball from time to time. Then she could've been the one to scout ahead in the supply base and run into Haibara, it's not like she did anything of note during the full scale raid, so Yuuma's absence being replaced with hers wouldn't matter all that much. And you could argue that Akira isn't much of a fighter, but let me remind you there was an entire episode where she literally learned how to do close quarters combat. I still doubt she would've won, but that callback would've been cool. After this hypothetical of Akira fighting and losing Haibara, a scene where she sees the basketball with "Ash" written on it and the realization of who she just fought would've perfectly sold this rivalry the film suddenly started hyping up. But it didn't, this series just somehow always gets close to doing something interesting but doing something else instead.

Even then, Haibara herself doesn't have anything that'd make her much of a foil to Akira I should mention, her entire thing is that she's mysterious, she doesn't talk. Even her identity comes into question near the end, as "Rei Haibara" had been legally dead for years by that point. We know she was an expert pilot and had issues with following orders, but we don't know why she does. There's no way for Akira to know or predict anything about Haibara because the only time they interact is at the end of the movie, and it involves them just shooting at each other. I'm not asking that we know everything about Haibara since her conception, but there's no way you can sell a "rivalry" when both characters barely interact and one of them is completely mysterious to even the viewer.

I'd also mention that after the Gray Ghost attacks Tokyo, the antagonists basically won by that point. It's revealed that the last supply they did in preparation for the attack was going to be the last one period, that they all planned on turning themselves in and would have the Gray Ghost destroyed. You also had SV-2's existence, which was in a constant state of peril the entire series, basically being over as there was going to be a new Police Director, the current one having protstate cancer. The only thing stopping them from dissolving SV-2 was a "time bomb" that kept getting brought up, something that would come down on the entire police department acting as a deterrent to maintain the existence of SV-2. If you've watched Tokyo War, you'd realize that the TIme Bomb was one big bluff all along, and even if it was real, there was no way SV-2 could survive after the events of the movie. Gotouda effectively resigns from his position, going rogue with Division 2, machine 2 ends up at the bottom of the bay, and the only reason they're even fighting the Gray Ghost is to just get one last swing at the antagonists of the film. I think if the movie ended at the raid, having some tweaks here and there, and the Gray Ghost being destroyed somewhere around that time, it would be drastically improved. The entire supply base portion was honestly the best thing to come out of The Next Generation, and I would've excused a handful of critiques if it didn't just keep going and morph back into Patlabor 2 again. Nothing would've changed if the main characters did nothing the entire movie. In Patlabor 1 they were at least able to choose to fight and isolate the blowback from Hoba's plan to just the Ark, his will would've played out either way, but they still saved hundreds of thousands of lives. In Tokyo War, the entire situation was futile from the beginning, and nothing they did would've changed the outcome, Haibara even survives the crash too. Nothing they did in that film wouldn't already have been done by someone else.

Back on that time bomb thing, I found it quite silly how Goto was hyped up as this looming mysterious figure the entire time, suddenly vanishing one day and working behind the scenes doing.... something... we don't know. We're given the idea that he's supporting the main characters from the shadows, it's why the time bomb thing is even entertained at all. However, it doesn't feel like when Hoba had thought up of every step to a plan that would play out perfeclty without his intervention, I don't think Goto's presence really does anything outside of letting the main characters know that the events playing out lately that resemble events from a decade ago are playing out the same way. It's an interesting idea but I kind of just don't buy it.

My last criticism of this show are the aesthetics, most of The Next Generation has this really drab palette. Most of it is this tan or white color, if you look at any shot of the office most of it blends together. The uniforms are also a significant downgrade, the team looking like a PMC being deployed to the middle east than police officers. The entire point of the original uniforms were that they were wearing loud identifiable colors like orange, they work on roads and around heavy machinery, they need to be highly visible and able to be identified at a distance. The new ones don't give off that idea, I think Oshii wanted them to give that special forces vibe, but the second movie's uniforms already did that. The command car was also replaced by this WWII scout car, which honestly just looks like self indulgence. I think a lot of The Next Generation is self indulgence. Most of it is references to the original show, references to things that Oshii personally likes, and basically just a playground for his ideas. The Next Generation has good moments, jokes, and stuff like that, but I think it's at it's best when it makes a genuine attempt to explore it's world and characters, yet all the time that could go into doing things like that is allocated to song numbers, sequences that are callbacks to Kaiji, jokes and scenes that go on for far too long. If you're into fan service and don't think much about the implications of this world that Oshii has established, you'd enjoy The Next Generation, turn your brain off and enjoy. But there's a reason why the other members of Headgear went out of their way to make their own "proper" Patlabor. Again if you like The Next Generation that's fine, I won't hold anything against you. I just wanted to present all my thoughts in one place.

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