#patlabor ezy

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 7: The Witching Hour Is Here!

Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for one Brave Bang Bravern. I'd recommend watching at least the first episode of Bravern before continuing.

Welcome to the final installment of An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time, we had some technical difficulties due to the Lich screwing things up with its time shenanigans covered what many would consider to be mecha's "Dark Age." Now, we will see how the genre has recovered. It remains to be seen how this decade will go down in history, but so far mecha shows have had a minor bit of a rebound. Though that insipid line of thinking (you've probably heard it at one point: "mecha shows are about the robots, not the characters") is still doing a bit of harm to the general reception of mecha shows, the canon is doing better than before. Not well, like it was in the 90's, but it's not in dire straits.

Victory is never decided by mobile suit performance alone.

Nor by the skill of the pilot, alone.

The result itself is the only proof!

Kyoukai Senki/AMAIM: Warrior At the Borderline (2021)

Kicking off the decade, 2021 would give us a new franchise in the form of the former Xebec, now Sunrise Beyond series AMAIM: Warrior At the Borderline. Sporting smaller robots in a setting similar to Code Geass but Japan was split into three by three world superpowers like it was Post-World War II Germany, AMAIM would be one of the few new mecha shows to come out that would be animated entirely in 2D.

Megaton Musashi (2021)

Developed by Level-5 Studios, Megaton Musashi is a game series that pays homage to the mecha stories of old, particularly that of Getter Robo. The game itself would suffer in terms of marketing, as Level-5 would end up shuttering their US studio in this decade. Which is wild, because this series would also get an anime adaptation that's only started airing this year.

Also, Megaton Musashi has a lot of crossovers with older mecha shows like Getter Robo and Combattler V.

SSSS.Dynazenon (2021) & Gridman Universe (2023)

Returning in 2021 would be Studio Trigger with the follow-up to SSSS.Gridman, SSSS.Dynazenon. Based off of the Dyna Dragon from the original Gridman the Hyper Agent, SSSS.Dynazenon would carry on the energy from its predecessor in terms of energy and heart.

2023 would also see the worlds of SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon collide with the movie finale Gridman Universe, bringing the casts of both shows together for one last hurrah for Trigger's Gridman trilogy.

Back Arrow (2021)

While 2021 was a good year for mecha in general, one show that doesn't get talked about more is Goro Taniguchi's Back Arrow. Set in the walled world of Lingalind, Back Arrow would give us a story where the mecha are powered by a character's convictions.

That's right! Back Arrow is quite possibly the single greatest series in terms of highlighting what piloted giant robots are all about. These stories were never about the giant robot itself; the giant robots were living extensions of the pilots who controlled them. Hence why the breiheights of Back Arrow are based purely on a character's core beliefs.

Getter Robo Arc (2021)

2020 would also see the surprise announcement of an adaptation of the unfortunately unfinished Getter Robo Arc. With the goal of wrapping up the story as best as possible without the guiding hand of series creator Ken Ishikawa, Getter Robo Arc's anime adaptation would finally release in 2021. With this, the Getter Robo saga can finally come to an end.

If you've already watched his video on Getter Robo, Cheese GX also has a follow-up covering Getter Robo Arc specifically.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash (2021) & Cucuruz Doan's Island (2022)

And in case you didn't believe me when I said 2021 was a good year for mecha, let me remind you of something: Gundam was featured as part of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Gundam would see the creation of the now-disassembled RX-78-2 Gundam in Yokohama as part of the celebration of the games. The RX-0 Gundam Unicorn would also make a cameo in the background during the Olympic Rock Climbing event, as Gundam Front Tokyo was the venue.

Most important of all for us, is that 2021 would see the release of part one of a trilogy of movies based on the Hathaway's Flash novel. And as if that wasn't enough, 2022 would also see the release of a movie based on the infamous episode of the original series known as Cucuruz Doan's Island. And as a reminder: Gundam's not done yet. I haven't even gotten to the other big Gundam series yet. These were just the two major series released for the Universal Century in this decade.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)

Where Gundam made really big news in this decade was with the release of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. Set in the Ad Stella timeline, G-Witch would bring awareness to the franchise that hadn't really been seen since it's heyday in the 90's. G-Witch would also differentiate itself from the rest of the Gundam series by presenting us with Gundam's first female main protagonist, the very tanuki-coded Suletta Mercury (and that depends, because if we're saying Gundam protagonist, then I'd argue technically War in the Pocket's Christina McKenzie has Suletta beat by a couple decades; this isn't even getting into Ecoile du Ciel). And not only is she the first female protagonist, Suletta is also Gundam's first queer protagonist!

Bullbuster (2023)

If there is any series that I wish I had caught while it was airing last year, it would definitely be Bullbuster. Cut from the same cloth as Patlabor and Dai-Guard, Bullbuster presents to us a construction robot is used to fight... aliens?

LEGO movie, is that you?

Okay, seriously though, I do think Bullbuster got drowned out due to being in a year that also included The Witch From Mercury.

Brave Bang Bravern (2024)

Man, if you thought The Witch From Mecury was gay...

2024 would open with Cygames Studio's Brave Bang Bravern. Directed by Masami Obari (a man who I have somehow failed to mention until now), Bravern would manage to capture the joy of the Brave franchise of old (and really mecha shows on the whole), all while making it very gay.

And I mean it. Bravern is quite possibly the single gayest show to come out in the 2020's. Maybe even of all time.

And that's really a wrap on pretty much everything that's come out, but there is one upcoming series set to come out next month...

Grendizer U (Airs July 2024)

Not seeming to want to be left out, the Mazinger saga would also get a surprise announcement in 2023 with a teaser for Grendizer U. Set to air in 2024, Grendizer U is going to be a reboot of the original UFO Robot Grendizer series, though some changes have been made (namely, Kouji has now brought along both Sayaka and Professor Yumi; more importantly, Kouji will now be piloting Mazinger Z instead of playing a support role like he did in the original Grendizer).

You can bet that I will be covering this series, especially if it's picked up by Crunchyroll this coming summer.

Looking Beyond Grendizer U & 2024: Live-action Gundam, Hathaway Parts 2 & 3, Gunbuster 3, and Patlabor EZY

Going beyond 2024, there are also other series that are set to be released some time in this decade. 2016 saw the release of the Patlabor Reboot promo, which is supposedly a test run for a new Patlabor series: Patlabor EZY. Supposedly set to air sometime in 2026 (at least last I saw), I'm as excited about this as Isao Ohta is about any type of gun that comes across his path.

Studio Gaina (again, not to be confused with the now-closed Gainax) also has plans to release Gunbuster 3, though that will probably be on the shelves for now until Grendizer U wraps up.

And of course, Gundam still has two more parts of the Hathaway movies to work on. There's also a live-action Gundam series that is also in the works at Legendary.

Conclusion

And that's a wrap, folks. Finally, after ten whole posts, I've covered an incomplete history of mecha! Yes that's right! Incomplete! Why did you think it was called abbreviated?

Jokes aside, I thought this would be a relatively simple project. Just cover a handful of mecha shows from the decades since their inception, say a thing or two about them, and move on. It turns out that, even when I cherry-picked the shows to talk about, there were still a lot of them.

Do I regret doing it, though? No. Well, maybe that bit about Valvrave specifically. Outside of that, I think it is important that this series of posts still exist. I tried my best to be as impartial as possible, and hopefully you, dear reader, have caught that. I really don't want this project to turn out to be identical in tone to Professor Otaku's Complete History of Mecha video series. Man literally cannot hide his disdain for shows he doesn't like very well, and I think it does a massive disservice to both his series and himself.

What I want you to take away from this series of posts is: every show I covered on here is someone's favorite. I've seen at least one person go to bat for every series I named here. I've done it for G Gundam and Patlabor, and I plan on doing it for a couple more series on here. The real important thing here is that this post helps in dismissing that wrong-headed claim of "mecha shows are just about the robots and not the characters." Which is a thing I will talk about soon.

But not right now. Now I want to rest. And by rest, I mean throwing my wrist out while playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

God Groose is such a great character.

[animenostalgia]

News - An life-size Patlabor EZY mech that was teased last year is almost finished....and fans may be able to actually climb into it! Robot maker MOVeLOT revealed that the Ingram would be unveiled in August, with a ceremony in mid-September. While the video in the company's Twitter post suggests fans can sit in the cockpit and pilot the torso of the Ingram, MOVeLOT has not confirmed this.

[fandompost]

‘Patlabor EZY’ Anime Project Sets Staff & 2026 Plans http://dlvr.it/TDTbg3

[mindsimagination]

[cobaltbluemarble]

[otakunews01]

El nuevo proyecto de Patlabor será una nueva serie de Anime y un live-action producido en EUA

El nuevo Anime “Patlabor EZY” será lanzado en conjunto con una película live-action producida en Estados Unidos 

Desde el festival de Annecy en Francia han revelado más información sobre el nuevo proyecto en la franquicia de Patlabor el Miércoles. El nuevo proyecto consistirá en una nueva serie de Anime titulada "Patlabor Ezy", y una nueva película live-action que será producida en Estados Unidos. 

Más información sobre el proyecto será revelada en una fecha posterior. La franquicia de robots vigilantes de Mobile Police Patlabor ya ha inspirado múltiples proyectos de Anime y adaptaciones live-action en Japón.  

El póster de arriba revelado para el Anime tiene un texto que dice:

Con la rápida aceleración en el desarrollo de la hiper-tecnología, una máquina de tipo humanoide llamada "Labor" se está utilizando en todos los campos de la industria. Sin embargo, esto ha creado una nueva amenaza social de delito usando a los "Labor". Con el fin de frenar este tipo de delitos que ocurren uno tras otro, el Departamento de Policía Metropolitana ha establecido un departamento especial llamado ”Special Vehicle Section No.2". El departamento consiste en una compañía de patrulleros "Labor”, conocido como Patlabor.

Además, desde el festival fue revelada nueva información sobre la adaptación a Anime para el Manga de Pluto por Naoki Urasawa. El estudio de animación Studio M2 se encargará de la producción de la serie que contará con 8 episodios en total.

Actualización: Desde ANN han informado que Taro Maki (Patlabor the Mobile Police, Nodame Cantabile, Millennium Actress), el director representativo de GENCO, esta confirmando la producción de la nueva serie de Patlabor EZY. 

[otaku-japan-news]

Se publicó el proyecto "Patlabor EZY"! Es la obra nueva!?

https://reydeotakujapon.blogspot.jp/2017/06/proyecto-Patlabor-EZY.html

Se inició nuevo proyecto "Patlabor EZY"Es una nueva obra!? Se publicó en francia. Es muy interesante.

[wanderersrest]

Some More Idle Thoughts on Patlabor!

So I've been sick these past couple of days, which means I haven't been able to work on the Iron-Blooded Orphans post. However, in the time that I was sick, I was able to read through some classic giant robot manga.

Which included Patlabor. And now I have more thoughts about the series and those lovable goofballs of SV2 Division 2. So here are some more of my thoughts on Patlabor.

Nagumo is Different in Every Timeline

I love that SV2 Division 1 Chief Shinobu Nagumo feels like a different character in each timeline. Like the OVA/Movie timeline has her as someone with a checkered past (and that's all from Patlabor 2, by the way), while the TV timeline has her be the more level-headed of the two division chiefs of SV2. Meanwhile, the Manga timeline has her as more of a hothead, though she's later written to be more like her TV anime counterpart. And yet, the core of her character is still there in all three versions: she's the hard-working, more reliable chief of SV2.

The TV Anime Timeline Still Has the Most Rounded Out Cast

Reading through the manga has reinforced my opinion that the TV timeline has the most rounded out cast. And as before, it's due to the fact that the TV anime (and by extension the New Files OVA) are more episodic in nature that they get to flesh out all of the characters. Though when the OVA and manga timelines do dedicate time to specific characters, it tends to be a bit more fleshed out. Great examples of this include how the OVA handles Gotoh or how the manga handles Kumagami and, amusingly enough, the peeps at Schaft Enterprises. But in terms of a rounded cast, both pale in comparison to the TV cast (just think about this: one of my favorite things about the manga is that Shige doesn't show up until closer to the end of the manga, not because I dislike Shige, but just because of how often he shows up in the other entries). None of this matters all that much, as the way Patlabor works in my mind is that a lot of these character traits are shared between timelines, as Patlabor is best enjoyed holistically and not as separate timelines that try to do their own thing.

Except Ota. Ota is Universal

If there is one character who remains the same throughout all three timelines that aren't the forward and backup of Division 2's first unit (that's Izumi and Shinohara, by the way), it's the living embodiment of ACAB himself, Isao Ota. I don't know what it is about SV2's resident gun nut, but he's one of the characters where their personality remains largely unchanged throughout the various entries. Even in Patlabor 2, Ota is still the hot-headed gun nut we know and love.

Granted, there are some nuances with Ota as a character. Famously, the insurance episode in the TV timeline plays on the fact that Ota does try his best not to cause so much destruction and mayhem. And in the case of that episode, it's just bad luck. But more often than not, Ota's hot-headedness tends to get him into more trouble than its worth.

And it's great. It's why Ota's such a lovable gun nut. He may be the living embodiment of ACAB, but he's my living embodiment of ACAB.

Conclusion

Patlabor will always be one of my favorite series out there. I think a big part of that is due to it being one of the first giant robot series I watched that wasn't either Gundam or Gurren Lagann. Like last time, I do think if you ever get the time, you should give the series a shot. Now, hopefully, Patlabor EZY will come out in the next couple of years...

This is a work of fiction, but in ten years? Who knows...

[thunderpot]

I heard they're working on a new Patlabor project called Patlabor EZY, but they're real hush hush about it so who knows when that'll be released.

OMGGGGG seriously!?!?!? Damn here's to hoping it will be good!!

[gonagaiworld]

Un nuovo manifesto promozionale per Patlabor EZY #Anime #Genco #Headgear #Patlabor #PatlaborEZY

[animationandmup]

Reporting new projects from the GENCO booth at the MIFA film market at Annecy. 1. Naoki Urasawa's Pluto manga is receiving an anime adaptation. It's a seinen re-imagining of the world depicted in Osamu Tezuka's manga Astro Boy 2. The Patlabor EZY anime project. 3. Anime projects for Hideyuki Kikuchi and Misaki Saitoh's Taimashin manga and director Shinji Kimura's Mechronicle. The booth also had posters for Windy Kliro, Sushi Ninja, and Girls Jockey.

[medakakurokami]

GENCO director Taro Maki revealed a new Patlabor anime project known as Patlabor EZY at the company’s booth at the MIFA film market at Annecy International Animation Film Festival. This reveal came alongside GENCO’s announcement that they will be making an anime based on Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka’s “Pluto” manga.

[otakunews01]

Anunciado un nuevo proyecto de Anime para la franquicia de Patlabor

El proyecto ha sido anunciado junto con la adaptación a Anime del Manga de Pluto por Naoki Urasawa

Desde el festival de Annecy en Francia han revelado un nuevo póster (en imagen superior a la izquierda) donde se ha confirmado que un nuevo proyecto de Anime en la franquicia de Patlabor titulado "Patlabor Ezy" tiene luz verde para su producción.

Además del título del proyecto, el póster no revela nada más sobre el mismo como su fecha o formato de estreno. Tendremos que esperar para saber más al respecto. La franquicia de robots vigilantes de Patlabor ya ha inspirado multiples proyectos de Anime y adaptaciones live-action.  

A la derecha del póster de Patlabor, otro póster esta confirmando una adaptación a Anime para el Manga de Pluto por Naoki Urasawa. 

(imagen)

[wotomo]

フランスのアヌシー映画祭で、パトレイバーの新しいプロジェクトが発表になりました。 私がプロデュースをします。 PATLABOR EZY http://pic.twitter.com/KWFlyYjFBY

— 真木 (@makitaro1997) June 14, 2017