Patlabor - The Mobile Police, The TV Series Boxed Set (Vols. 1-4)

Rating:
Summary: One of the very first series I followed while in Japan
Review: I was a senior in high school when Patlabr debuted in 1989, and I really enjoyed it! So havng the boxed set for sale brings backs some great memories. The "Midnight Blue" edning theme song in particular rocks.

I don't bother tyring with the english versin on the dvds--why should I? But rest assured, you'd want to see Ohta and Shinshi go off on their infamous tantrums and episodes of madness--watch for those shiny glasses and scary voice! It's like meeting some old friends again, and soon the new patlabor movie will be ot on dvd as well.

Rating:
Summary: One of the very first series I followed while in Japan
Review: I was a senior in high school when Patlabr debuted in 1989, and I really enjoyed it! So havng the boxed set for sale brings backs some great memories. The "Midnight Blue" edning theme song in particular rocks.

I don't bother tyring with the english versin on the dvds--why should I? But rest assured, you'd want to see Ohta and Shinshi go off on their infamous tantrums and episodes of madness--watch for those shiny glasses and scary voice! It's like meeting some old friends again, and soon the new patlabor movie will be ot on dvd as well.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent content, but so-so DVD transfer
Review: Patlabor is certainly one of the best series of its time. You'll find some great characters here, along with memorable episodes of both drama and comedy. Don't go into this expecting a lot of giant robot battles and explosions, though. Patlabor has a few of those, but this series is mostly about the people, not the robots. If you like character-driven anime, this is the series for you.

The first few episodes of this DVD set aren't quite the best Patlabor has to offer, but the series finds its feet very quickly, so much so that this set has some of the best of the 47 episode run of this series. The two-part plot of "Eve's Trap" and "Eve's Shudder" will please action fans, and "Ota's Afternoon of Puzzlement", "You Win!", and "Captain Goto is the Target" are some of the funniest episodes of Patlabor. The rest of the episodes on the disc are also great.

The DVD transfer is just about average, though. There aren't many obvious video or audio errors, but the menus are a bit lacking, and the extras are weak. The subtitles are also slightly off. They miss almost all of the onscreen text, making a few scenes hard to understand if you can't read Japanese. Unfortunately, this DVD version is also saddled with a terrible English dub. As if overacting and cheesy delivery weren't enough, most of the actors can't seem to properly pronounce the characters' names. A real shame, especially considering the sterling quality of the original Japanese voice acting. Be sure to watch this one with subtitles!

All in all, I give this DVD set 5 stars for content, and three for presentation. It's too bad that Central Park Media didn't spend more time on the production for these DVDs... but this set is still the best way by far to see this classic series, so don't hesitate to buy.