WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3
Encyclopedia
is a 2001 Japanese animated
science-fiction/thriller film chief directed and storyboarded by Fumihiko Takayama, directed by Takuji Endō, written by Miki Tori
based on the concept by Headgear
, animated by Madhouse
and produced by Bandai Visual
and Tohokushinsha.
The movie is a side story to the Patlabor
series, and takes place in between Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor: The Movie 2
. It is based on a part of the manga and has a similar premise to a story in the original OVA series. 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 release on January 10, 2003, which was eventually followed by later DVD releases to Europe and Oceania.
As they begin to unravel the reason behind the attacks, the two detectives find out that the attacks may have something to do with the American military stationed in Japan, as well as elements of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces, coupled with a female scientist involved in a biological weapons program known as Wasted XIII.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
science-fiction/thriller film chief directed and storyboarded by Fumihiko Takayama, directed by Takuji Endō, written by Miki Tori
Miki Tori
, also known as Micky Bird or Mickey Bird, is a Japanese manga artist, character designer, essayist, and screenplay writer. Tori has won multiple awards for his work, including two Seiun Awards and one Bungeishunjū Manga Award...
based on the concept by Headgear
Headgear (artist group)
Headgear is a group consisting of 5 writers and artists who work in the Japanese anime/manga field. The group was set up so that all the creators could retain full copyright to their work, achieve greater publicity for their work and sell their manga to anime sponsors for film production. The...
, animated by Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
and produced by Bandai Visual
Bandai Visual
, is a Japanese anime, film production and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai Co., Ltd. and a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings, Inc., which is based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Since the reorganisation of Namco Bandai Holdings in 2006, Bandai Visual now heads the group's Visual and...
and Tohokushinsha.
The movie is a side story to the Patlabor
Patlabor
Patlabor also known as , is an anime and manga franchise created by Headgear, a group consisting of director Mamoru Oshii, writer Kazunori Itō, mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi, character designer Akemi Takada, and manga artist Masami Yūki.The popular franchise included a manga, a TV series, two OVA...
series, and takes place in between Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor: The Movie 2
Patlabor: The Movie 2
is a 1993 Japanese anime film directed by Mamoru Oshii, who also directed Patlabor: The Movie. The movie has taken some liberties from being a mecha-themed movie in theme to a political-themed one with domestic and international issues that the Japanese government had faced during the 20th century...
. It is based on a part of the manga and has a similar premise to a story in the original OVA series. 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 release on January 10, 2003, which was eventually followed by later DVD releases to Europe and Oceania.
Plot
In 2000, a series of unknown attacks on Labors have made two police detectives, Shinichiro Hata and Takeshi Kusumi, investigate these string of events alongside members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's SV2 unit in solving the case in which the labors that were attacked belong to Schaft Industries.As they begin to unravel the reason behind the attacks, the two detectives find out that the attacks may have something to do with the American military stationed in Japan, as well as elements of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces, coupled with a female scientist involved in a biological weapons program known as Wasted XIII.
Characters
The following only appeared in the WXIII movie, although they did appear at one point in the manga series with the exception of Detectives Kusumi and Hata.- A veteran police detective based from the Jounan Police Precient, Kusumi is partnered up with Hata in investigating the mysterious attacks against Schaft-made Labors. He has a leg injury sustained before the case and uses a crutch, which hampers his physical abilities in conducting his investigation. He is known not to be a versatile user of modern technology (e.g. using Music CDs) and prefers to use analog records for his entertainment or let Hata do the computer work. It's not known what happened to his family, but it's assumed that he had been estranged from them for a long time.
- A police detective and baseball player assigned to the Jounan Police Precinct, Hata is partnered up with Kusumi in solving the attacks on Schaft-made Labors. During his investigation, Hata begins to have a relationship with Saeko Misaki before realizing the extent of her involvement in his case. After the events of WXIII have ended, an epilogue depicts an imageboardImageboardAn imageboard or image board is a type of Internet forum that revolves around the posting of images. The first imageboards were created in Japan, and many English-language imageboards today are centered around Japanese culture...
thread discussing the cover-up and a suppressed web document revealing the truth about the 'terrorists' really being a monster; during the investigation, Hata twice says he will ask for help from some 'websites', implying that Hata was the leaker.
- A widow, Saeko works as a researcher at the Toto Bio-Medical Laboratory and a part time biology professor at a university. Her full name is Saeko Nishiwaki Misaki. After her daughter, Hitomi, dies from cancer, Saeko becomes obsessed with her loss to the point that she cultivates Hitomi's cancerous cells into a biological mutant creature named Wasted 13 in the Toto Bio-Medical Laboratory. Saeko commits suicide after seeing the monster she considers to be her daughter killed by Flamethrower-wielding JGSDF soldiers of the Chemical Weapons Division. Hata grabs her hand to try to save her from falling to her death but he loses his grip due to the rain.
- The head of the Toto Bio-Medical Laboratory, Kurisu secretly works with the Japan Ground Self-Defense ForceJapan Ground Self-Defense ForceThe , or JGSDF, is the army of Japan. The largest of the three services of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Ground Self-Defense Force operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Tokyo. The present chief of ground staff is General Yoshifumi Hibako...
in conducting the Wasted series biological weapons program before Saeko went rogue and cultivated cancer cells from Hitomi's corpse onto the Wasted 13 creature. He was also responsible for ordering the creation of a virus that would weaken Wasted 13. He is believed to be hiding overseas to avoid being prosecuted for secretly doing biological weapons with his consent after Colonel Ishihara had assisted him to facilitate his departure from Japan.
- A scientist in the Toto-Bio Medical Laboratory and the personal aide to Kurusu, he is responsible for the creation the vaccine that weakened and killed Wasted 13.
- An officer in the JGSDF's Chemical Weapons Division with the rank of ColonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, he is responsible for overseeing the capture and killing of Wasted 13 alongside Goto and Kusumi in a recently constructed stadium in the outskirts of Tokyo after getting the cooperation of Special Vehicles 2 Unit in weakening the beast before calling in Flamethrower-wielding JGSDF soldiers to incinerate it. According to the Wasted XIII Booklet included in the Limited Edition DVDs, it is said that Goro had ties to United States Forces Japan units stationed in the Japanese archipelago under means of cooperation in eradicating Wasted 13.
- The only daughter of Misaki, who died of cancer before the events of Wasted XIII. It was only due to her unfortunate death from cancer that Saeko is obsessed in wanting to see her daughter alive again after using Hitomi's cancer cells with Wasted 13's own cells, fusing human and monster DNA in it. Despite being called a monster and a biological weapon, Saeko still thinks of it as her own daughter.
External links
- WXIII * PATLABOR THE MOVIE 3
- WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 at MetaCriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
- Animerica review