‘WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3’: The franchise’s melancholy, noir outlier

"WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3" is set in the "Patlabor" universe, but familiar characters of Special Vehicles Division 2 hardly appear
| © 2002 HEADGEAR / BANDAI VISUAL / TOHOKUSHINSHA
By Matt Schley
Contributing writer
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It's a big year for "Mobile Police Patlabor." The anime, manga and live-action franchise — which revolves around a near-future division of the Tokyo police department that uses giant robots called patrol labors to keep the city safe — is getting its first anime series in decades, "Patlabor EZY," set to debut May 15.Prior to "EZY," the last major "Patlabor" anime project was "WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3." The 2002 film is now seeing a limited rerelease on 50 screens across Japan following similar revivals of the first two "Patlabor" films in 2025."WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3" is the black sheep of the franchise, and not just because of its unwieldy title
It was the first "Patlabor" film not directed by Mamoru Oshii, the lauded anime auteur known best for "Ghost in the Shell," who would later return to the franchise with a live-action series in 2014
And while the movie is technically set in the "Patlabor" universe, it has little to do with the familiar characters of Special Vehicles Division 2, who make only the briefest of cameos.

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