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Rating: 
Summary: Above The Average
Review: I have been pleasantly impressed by other installments
in the PATLABOR anime series, and this second volume of
the TV series was no disappointment.PATLABOR concerns the adventures of a Japanese police
unit that operates giant robots, or "Patrol Labors", to
fight crimes committed by other labors. While this
might sound like a recipe for just another "SGRA
(Stupid Giant Robots Anime)", PATLABOR actually focuses
on the personalities of the Patrol Labor team, who, as
their boss, the devious Captain Goto, puts it, are
"a gang of losers". Production qualities are towards the higher end of the
range for TV anime series, as are the scripts, but
it's the character studies that make PATLABOR shine.
This set of five episodes from the series of course
takes up where the first set left off, and only seems
to get stronger with each episode. The last installment is the best, with one subplot
providing interesting background on Kanuka Clancy, a
super-professional Japanese-Hawaiian officer on loan
from the New York Police Department. HOWEVER, this
episode also ends with: TO BE CONTINUED -- so if you
want to get the full story, you'll have to buy the
*next* DVD in the series that comes out. Since I intend to, that's not such a problem, but it
is a bit of an annoyance. Although I have only given
this DVD three stars, even though it's above average
for TV anime, it still doesn't compare with the
good PATLABOR I movie, which gets four stars, and the
superlative PATLABOR II movie, which gets five and
is one of anime's best-kept secrets. It simply is
in too good company.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but you might want to wait-Update- Vol 3 is announced
Review: I have enjoyed all the Patlabors that have come to DVD. My only complaint with this one is, the last episode of this DVD is continued on the next one, and guess what, there is no announced date as to when volume 3 will be released. So my advice is wait until they announce the next one or even wait until it is available or you will really have a cliff hanger.
Good news Central Park Media has announced on their internet site a Nov 4 pre-release date for retailers and a Dec 2 public release. The cliff hanger may finally come to an end.
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