MiniPato

Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum / ミニパト

Genres: Parody
Themes: Parody
Studios: Production I.G
Producers: Bandai Visual, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation
Licensors: Geneon Entertainment USA, Maiden Japan
Rating: 6.32 / 10
Rank: #8363
Popularity: #10043
Users Listed: 3,810
Users Scored: 1,390
NSFW: No
Last Updated: 04/11/2022
Aired: March 30, 2002 – April 13, 2002 (Winter)
Type: movie
Source: original
Age Rating: PG
Episodes: 3

Synopsis:

This collection of three episodes offers a detached, almost analytical exploration of the mecha genre, specifically focusing on the Patlabor universe. Rather than presenting a cohesive narrative, each episode functions as a distinct commentary. The first delves into the practical engineering and design philosophies behind the Ingram units, examining their functionality. The second critiques the commercial aspects surrounding the SVU-2 Ingram 98 AV, scrutinizing its marketing strategies and production. The final installment briefly expands upon an underlying financial question posed in the original series, investigating the budgetary realities of the SVU-2 project. Presented with a dry wit and self-aware tone, these episodes provide a unique perspective on the mechanics, economics, and cultural impact often overlooked within popular mecha storytelling.

Characters:

Gotou, Kiichi (Main) - Voice Actors: Oobayashi, Ryuusuke, Vallés, Alfonso, Norris, Daran
Nagumo, Shinobu (Main) - Voice Actors: Ruff, Michelle, Sakakibara, Yoshiko
Shiba, Shigeo (Main) - Voice Actors: Chiba, Shigeru, Weisz, Ezra
Clancy, Kanuka (Supporting)
Izumi, Noa (Supporting)
Matsui, Takahiro (Supporting)
Oota, Isao (Supporting) - Voice Actors: Epcar, Richard
Sakaki, Seitarou (Supporting)
Shinohara, Asuma (Supporting)
Shinshi, Mikiyasu (Supporting)
Yamazaki, Hiromi (Supporting)

Staff:

Oshii, Mamoru (Producer, Script)
Sugita, Tsutomu (Producer)
Kamiyama, Kenji (Director, Animation Director)
Hyoudou, Mako (Theme Song Performance)
Ishikawa, Mitsuhisa (Executive Producer)
Kawai, Kenji (Music)
Kawashiro, Kazumi (Planning)
Nakamura, Shouko (Key Animation)
Nishio, Tetsuya (Key Animation, Character Design)
Ogura, Hiromasa (Art Director)
Uematsu, Junichi (Editing)
Watanabe, Shigeru (Planning)
Yuuki, Masami (Original Creator)

Reviews:

User kasumi_imai (Score: 10/10):
A light hearted Patlabor spin off, and the comeback of our beloved SV2, before that AWFUL 3rd Movie. Story: 8 Quite a funny story. Quite confusing because of the pace. You might have to pause it several times to understand it. Art: 10 Made in a totally new stile developed just for Minipato, the charachters are portraited as cardboard puppets, that magically move!! Really cute!! Sound: 10The OST is just as awesome as expected from Kawai Kenji, and the rest of the franchise. 'Hatashiai Kana?' is a super cute OP song which I think has some drugs involved on it's making. You gotta listen to understand.nnCharacter: 10nIt's the huge SV2 comeback.nGotoh, Shige and Nagumo in all their glory.nWith the nice participation of the other SV2 members, especially Otah.nAnd the SV2 mantainance team, 'the single most important part of SV2'nnEnjoyement: 10n30 minutes of pure epicness.
User zettai-jin-stray (Score: 9/10):
MiniPato appears unassuming, perhaps the SD Gundam concept applied to Patlabor? Some silly jokes with chibi characters? However, seeing Oshii had written the episodes made me reconsider, and I was right to, but MiniPato truly goes the extra mile for supposedly ancillary shorts. Episode one is narrated by Gotou and has him on a rant like treatise on Labors and their weapons. Gotou has a sarcastic wit while being insightful and has an Oshii gag style in the visuals and with slapstick. Episode two continues this but ups the ante by featuring Shige, whose actor Shigeru Chiba is iconic in Oshii’s work for his ability tospout off in a craze until fainting. Here, Shige is in a frenzy, going on a systematic, unhinged, and impassioned lecture on the Patlabor concept and its place and meaning to the mecha genre. From these two episodes, MiniPato has taken an essay style to its script, one that almost philosophically treats the mechanical design and function, relative realism, and the organization of SV2 with how much depth the characters are able to articulate. Oshii also uses his famous serious-silly style of tone where it will interval between the two in a moment, and where great jokes land in both. The third episode is more enigmatic, the hidden meaning is that the food culture of SV2 is a clever metaphor for the work culture of Studio Ghibli under Miyazaki, simply put, a parody of how they use in-house meals to keep the staff together like a family. Delivered by Shinobu, this one is sternly serious in its treatment of a bizarre yet silly mystery.nnAs for the animation, MiniPato uses a 3DCG paper puppet style which I.G would later use on Oshii’s intellectual masterpiece Tachiguishi Retsuden. This alternative style lends to a unique look and tons of inventive visual gags. The puppets with Tetsuya Nishio’s chibi style artwork with thick outlines look fantastic, which goes without saying as he’s one of the best artists in anime, and the other uses of 3D space were meaningfully and seamlessly used. This is overall one of the most visually perfect anime of the 00’s. Kenji Kawai made a stunning amount of music for this under 40 minute anime, original songs and remixes appear. What’s also great is that MiniPato largely bases itself on Oshii’s OVA’s and movies, with much reference to the masterpiece second film.nnOverall, MiniPato is gorgeous, hilarious, intelligent, and concise. Behind Oshii’s two films this is a must watch.

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Related Anime/Manga:

Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor (anime - Other)