WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 explained

WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3
Native Name:
Kana:WXIII 機動警察パトレイバー
Revhep:Weisuteddo Sātīn Kidō Keisatsu Patoreibā
Director:Fumihiko Takayama
Screenplay:Miki Tori
Producer:Masahiro Fukushima
Tsutomu Sugita
Music:Kenji Kawai
Cinematography:Hisao Shirai
Editing:Kyoko Mizuta
Takeshi Seyama
Mutsumi Takemiya
Megumi Uchida
Studio:Madhouse
Triangle Staff
Distributor:Shochiku
Runtime:94 minutes
Country:Japan
Language:Japanese

is a 2002 Japanese animated science fiction thriller film directed by Fumihiko Takayama and written by Miki Tori. The third and final installment of the Patlabor film trilogy,[1] it takes place in between and and serves as a side story, focusing on two police detectives and SV2 as they investigate a series of mysterious acts of deadly destruction occurring in and around Tokyo Bay that may be connected to a genetic experiment gone wrong. It was animated by Madhouse and produced by Bandai Visual and Tohokushinsha.

Plot

In 2000, a series of unknown attacks on Labors have led to two police detectives, Shinichiro Hata and Takeshi Kusumi, being assigned to investigate these string of events, assisted by members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's SV2 unit.

As they begin to unravel the mystery behind the attacks, the two detectives find reason to suspect that the attacks may have something to do with the American military stationed in Japan, elements of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces, and a female scientist involved in a biological weapons program known as Wasted XIII.

Cast

CharacterJapaneseEnglish
Detective Takeshi KusumiKatsuhiko WatabikiAlfred Thor
Detective Shinichiro HataHiroaki HirataDave Wittenberg
Saeko MisakiAtsuko TanakaKari Wahlgren
Toshiro KurusuTakanobu HozumiSimon Prescott
Shizuo MiyanomoriShingo HiromoriSteven Chester Prince
Goro IshiharaJunpei MoritaKirk Thornton
Hitomi MisakiRisa SuzukiJulie Maddalena
Captain Kiichi GotoRyūsuke ŌbayashiDaran Norris
Noa IzumiMiina TominagaMichelle Ruff
Asuma Shinohara Toshio FurukawaRichard Cansino
Isao Ohta Michihiro IkemizuRichard Epcar
Mikiyasu Shinshi Issei Futamata
Hiromi Yamazaki Daisuke Gōri
Captain ŌsumiMasaru IkedaDan Lorge

Development

Triangle Staff was the original animation studio entrusted with the film, however the studio went defunct during its production. Madhouse then took over the project, though Triangle Staff's involvement would be acknowledged in the film's end credits.

Very similar in premise and plot to episode 3 of the original OVA The 450-Million-Year-Old Trap and the manga arcs in volumes 7 to 10 that greatly extended the plot of that episode.

Release

WXIII premiered out of competition during the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival, which had special screening on December 10, 2001. WXIIIs Japanese theatrical release took place on March 30, 2002 to coincide with the release of Minipato. Geneon Entertainment licensed WXIII for its North American theatrical release on January 10, 2003 and DVD release on May 2003, which was eventually followed by later DVD releases to Europe and Oceania. It was licensed in Australia by Madman Entertainment. Section23 Films has licensed all three Patlabor films for North America.[2] Section23 Films released the movie on Blu-ray and DVD on September 8, 2015.[3]

Reception

WXIII garnered generally mixed reviews, and holds an average of 47/100 on aggregate web site Metacritic.[4]

Animerica gave it a favorable review calling it an "ambitious work which holds its own with both Oshii's justly acclaimed Patlabor movies and with the best works of Japan's live-action horror cinema."[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lenburg . Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons . 2009 . Checkmark Books . New York . 978-0-8160-6600-1 . 3rd . 244.
  2. Web site: Section23 Films Adds Patlabor Film, The World God Only Knows OVAs. Anime Network. 2015-01-22.
  3. Web site: Hamatora Anime Gets English Dub . Anime News Network . 2015-05-19 . 2015-05-20.
  4. Web site: WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3. .
  5. Web site: Animerica: Animerica Feature: Patlabor the Movie 3: WXIII . 2004-04-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040407172058/http://www.animerica-mag.com/features/11.04/patlabor.html . 2004-04-07 . live .