An important note for Patlabor EZY File 1, is that this is an attempt to not just revive the classic franchise, but to welcome new audiences to it. A lot of attempts have been made to do so with this initial film, including updating the setting to reflect the modern world and bringing in Hololive VTuber Mori Calliope to sing the film’s distinctly-new main theme. Of course, they want to retain long-term fans, but the first in this planned three-film series bringing eight stories from the world of the series to the big screen is an attempt to lower the barrier of entry and offer a new starting point to engage in the fascinating concepts driving this new world.
I’m just not sure it does all that great of a job with it. That’s not to say it’s entirely bad. More that in trying to appeal to everyone, I’m not sure the film ends up feeling like a satisfying experience for anyone.
The original Patlabor had a simple yet unique concept. When we think about mecha, we often think of space and war, and scenarios that in no way correlate to what could be viewed as a normal life. In the original OVA and later movies, as well as the TV series that existed as its own unique story, all consider a futuristic Tokyo where mecha are commonplace. Labors are merely a name given to the mecha used in things like construction, while our lead characters in Tokyo Metropolitan Police Special Vehicle Section 2 have their own also to deal with police issues, known as patrol labors.
When such machines are commonplace, the need for the police to have them to fight back is inevitable. If anyone can use them, its likely someone could use them for evil just as much as it is for good, and the point of the police group using these machines is to support the city and particularly deal with any crimes in which they’re used. You had intense action when it was necessary in the line of work, but the appeal of the series was always in the division of the police itself and the relationships between its characters in this surreal area of public servant. The mecha are not fantasy, they're practical. You still need to file paperwork, and you need to go to meetings.
Patlabor EZY is not a reboot, though its story is created to be distinctly separate from prior iterations decades after the original story. By this film's 2030's setting the machines aren't novel like they were in the original, which creates new challenges. People know what to expect and things aren't as turbulent, but their integration into the fabric of life creates new considerations this series is primed to capture while commenting on the modern technological and social landscape.
So it’s a shame that, in introducing this new setting, the first episode is easily the weakest of the bunch. This is actually the most action-packed of the trio in File 1, taking place on Christmas Eve as a patlabor disguised as a snowman for Christmas festivities is stolen and must be captured. It’s a case of too much going on at once, with the film thrusting us into the action side of being a police officer before we really truly understand what it means for this job to exist.
Our opening scene, a safety PSA to kindergartners teaching them of the dangers and what to do in response, does at least emphasize that these are not the chosen ones of a typical mecha series. But when we’re being thrown a dozen new characters, putting us in the action and having us fear for their lives is maybe not the best approach.
The second episode touches on that mundanity and does give us a chance to more fully understand the personalities and dynamics of the pre-established team, but it does so in an oddly-paced, comedic bit that doesn’t quite land. The reality of such a job in the mobile police is that, while you will have days like we see in the first episode, a lot of days will be left on standby or training. It’s not the glamorous life they were led to believe or may have imagined when first joining.
Inside of a report notebook, the episode is structured like a fantasy mission, each writing their own dream assignment in stages, a game of crime-fighting diary-like written telephone through which by the end this distorted mission has been shifted and twisted by every member of the team until it returns to its confused original owner. The pacing of shifting between action and the dull office does emphasize how tedious these mundane days can feel, but it does mean neither section is given time to fully breathe.
The final episode is perhaps its best as it fully considers a blend of police responsibility and the transformative ways in which these labors would be used when their existence has become the norm over decades of use. The funniest of the three and serving as a dig at both the film industry and the safety of Japan that allows such time and resources to be put into this task, the police are brought in for the safeguarding of a film set where labors are being used to mimic kaiju in a jidaigeki film. Very clearly a parody of a film like Daimajin, we get a tribute to older Patlabor and a cascading cacophony of events as we watch the production fall apart from ego and incompetence in absurdist ways that you can’t help but laugh at.
Between the three episodes there’s enough to enjoy, and interesting considerations taken to how to update the franchise for a modern audience. With how technological literacy is becoming an increasing barrier to everyday life in the real world, its interesting to see the first episode of EZY particularly integrate this as a core twist within its criminal pursuit as the AI upgrades to modern machines complicate the pursuit and neutralization of the criminal’s labor. It’s a modern idea that wouldn’t ever have made sense to the crude original machines or was being asked within the context of the world at the time, but allows the series to maintain its social commentary in an updated context.
But its also where the issues are most exposed. The series has been overhauled with a modern animation style and CG mecha animation that mostly passes, though at times looks rough and lacks some of the grungy melancholic everyday present in the original. Mostly, however, Patlabor EZY doesn't seem to know whom it should most attract itself to, newcomers or loyalists. Episode order is bizarre in terms of introducing newcomers to this world, as I can't help but feel the final episode is not just strongest but does a better job in introducing this universe most effectively, while the need to introduce some concepts to newcomers but refusing to accept a full reboot leaves our two distinct audiences on different pages with their own pacing issues.
It makes the misplaced opening song by a singer chosen solely to bring gen Z VTuber fans into a series whose fans are mostly pushing past 50 years old by this point feel like a wasted endeavor. I never felt Patlabor EZY knew what it wanted to be or why it needed to exist. Perhaps that comes with time, and I’m personally interested in seeing more - this is, after all, just the first three episodes of a planned 8-episode OVA released over three 'Files' in cinemas - as the potential in this new setting and update remains. Achieving this potential may come too late for some audiences, though.
