Synopses for Patlabor On Television

21   The Phantom Returns
The Phantom Labor lands and is heading towards Sashiki. It has already destroyed one of the Holly Security Services Labors. Captain Fuwa and her military Labor team plan to lure the Phantom Labor into the military training grounds to destroy it. Division 2 arrive, but are ordered not to get involved, if at all possible. As Captain Fuwa's team are dropped from a military plane they are immediately attacked by the Phantom Labor's beam weapon, even before they land. One of the Labors is damaged but they still continue on with their plan. Kanuka decides that they should be the ones leading the Phantom Labor into the training ground. The plan certainly works but Ota is attacked and is severely beaten. Captain Fuwa manages to save Ota by forcing the Phantom Labor away. Ota notices that there is a second armed Labor lurking around helping it. Meanwhile Kurosaki decides that he needs more battle data. He instructs his team to get the Phantom Labor to steal Noa's movement disc at any cost. Noa is now the sole target of the of the Phantom labor. She has to fight it alone without any backup. Even if she does win she still may have to deal with the second Labor.

Note that the sequence of the military Labors dropping from the plane is quite similar to opening sequence to "Patlabor the movie". Screenplay by Kazunori Ito. Originally broadcast 14 March 1990.

22   Flowers and Labors
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police are holding a Public Safety Awareness Week. Division 2 are holding a seminar on Labor safety when a Yakuza boss decides to take an interest in what they're doing. He introduces himself to Noa and Kanuka. Are the Yakuza trying to intimidate them? But he seems quite freindly and even  invites them to his house to show off his Labor collection. All he wants to know is how set the defaults on his Labors so he can use them. Noa shows him but is a little concerned. He rewards the SV2 with gifts, but for a police unit to receive gifts from a Yakuza boss, well that's ruat with danger. The relationship begins to get a bit stronger, and the boss becomes so enthralled with piloting Labors he decides to do help out the SV2! The Yakuza are now helping to stop crime. Trouble brews when a rival Yakuza boss gets jealous and wants a piece of the action. This could lead to a gang war. Noa and Kanuka must stop them before blood is shed. Screenplay by Michiko Yokote. Originally broadcast 21 March 1990.

23   Kanuka's Report
Kanuka's stay with the SV2 is up. She must now return to the New York Police Department. She explicitly states she doesn't want a farewell party. However several members of Division 2 have other ideas. They literally break into her apartment to give her a surprise party. But Shinshi accidentally discovers a report she has been working on for the NYPD. It's a report on Division 2 and there is a dossier on every member. The report however does not give Division 2 a good review. Far from it. Eventually when they reach Ota's dossier, it is so bad he practically destroys the lounge room an d the computer, and Kanuka is due back any minute.

This episode is essentially a recap episode, but there's enough material in it to make it worthwhile viewing. During the episode, Asuma wears a "Headgear" jacket. Screenplay by Hibari Arisu and Naoyuki Yoshinaga. Originally broadcast 4 April 1990.

24   Goodbye Kanuka
Kanuka is finally heading back to New York. The team feel like they have disgraced themselves so Noa is the only one there to see her off. Before the plane takes off a strange man named Ginji Nekowatari enters the cockpit and tells the pilot that he has a bomb on board. He demands the release of one of the "Home of the Sea" terrorists currently in custody. Unfortunately Kanuka has had to check her gun in with the pilot before she boarded. She decides to disguise herself as an air hostess to get closer to the terrorist and move freely about the plane. Although it probably won't take much to fool this terrorist.

Yes, Ginji Nekowatari is meant to look like a cat, and Neko means cat in Japanese. On his jacket it says "Nyao", which means "meow" in Japanese. There is an error in the English adaptation of this episode. As Noa goes into to aprehend the criminal in a one of the airline's Labors, in both the English dub and subtitles, Asuma calls the Labor an Ingram, when it is in fact a Bulldog. In the Japanese dialogue there is no mention of the what model the Labor is.  Note that the plane that Kanuka boards is "Sunrise Airlines". Sunrise is the animation studio which produced the TV series. Though this is not the first time Sunrise Airlines has been seen in an anime. "City Hunter" also regularly featured passenger aircraft with the studio's name, and was also produced by the same studio. Screenplay by Kazunori Ito. Originally broadcast 11 April 1990.

25   Spring Storm
With the departure of Kanuka, Shinshi has has been given the unenviable job of being Ota's backup. Things are not going well. Shinshi just can't control him and he won't listen to any of his orders. Maybe he isn't cut out for this work. An opportunity comes up for him to return to his old line of work; computer programming. The job sounds good, he'll get three times more than what he's getting now and he'll be the head of his own department. But can he turn his back on his colleagues, his job and resign from the police force?

Another great character episode which this time fleshes out Shinshi character and shows that he struggles with the attitudes of some of his team mates. Also we get to see how unstable and violent his wife, Tamiko, really is. Screenplay by Michiko Yokote. Originally broadcast 18 April 1990.

26   I am Takeo Kumagami
A new member is a about to join Division 2. Her Name is Takeo Kumagami. She's an excellent cop, good at cooking, a great typist, gret with computers, has mastered the basic pattern movements of the Ingram in less than a day and was even scouted by Interpol but turned the offer down. Why on Earth is she here at the SV2? Captain Gotoh is thinking of changing some of the positions in his team. Is Kumagami trying to take Noa's position? Will changing the team be a problem for morale? Screenplay by Michiko Yokote. Originally broadcast 25 April 1990.

While the anime version of Patlabor had Kanuka Clancy, Masami Yuuki's manga had Takeo Kumagami, who originally appeared way back in the second graphic novel in 1988. This episode marks Kumagami's first appearance in the anime version. Screenplay by Michiko Yokote. Originally broadcast 25 April 1990.

27   A Voice in the Darkness
Division 2 are out on a training mission at a group of abandoned buildings set for demolition. They are training for urban combat and hostage situations. Everything seems to be going fine until the nightshift comes. Local residents claim that the buildings are haunted. Voices can be heard at night and a ghostly group of samurai can sometime be seen. Shinshi discovers that disaster and death have always befell the area, with many deaths due to earthquakes, especially the big one which happened fours years prior. One night Captain Gotoh's computer malfunctions and the world "Help!" scrolls across his screen continually. Then he is attacked by a man with a sword who vanishes! Later Ota feels someone "tugging" at his Labor and Noa sees a ghostly vision of a young boy. Are these mysterious occurrences the work of spirits? Is the site cursed?

This episode is based on the manga story "Intermission", which appears in the third graphic novel (1989). When the scared Kumagami throughs a bundle of papers at Gotoh, on it it says "To those of you who went through frame by frame to see what is written here, we thank you for your effort". Screenplay by Kazunori Ito. Originally broadcast 2 May 1990.

28   The Suspicious Pair
On leave, Noa and Asuma head out to the city and end up in a game arcade. Asuama spots a Patlabor game, but both he and Noa are beaten by it. A man named Utsumi shows up claiming his company created the game and then proceeds to clear all the levels. Noa decides she won't be beaten and tries again, and fails. A young boy named Bud shows up and says he'll avenge Noa. Noa can't believe even a kid is better at this game than she is. Utsumi and Bud are actually employees of Schaft. They're getting read to make their next move. Utsumi and Kurosaki are heading up the Griffin project. An experimental Labor with battle capabilities higher than most military Labors. The Labor has been created to develop components for other Labors. The first part of their plan involves testing out Division 2. Utsumi sends out a Saturn Labor to cause havoc on a construction site hoping that Division 2 will show up.

A good episode that finally introduces Utsumi, Bud and the Griffin Labor. Unfortunately we don't get to see the Griffin in action quite yet. This episode is based on the manga story "Game Maker (Parts 1 to 8)", which appears in the third graphic novel (1989). Screenplay by Kazunori Ito. Originally broadcast 9 May 1990.

29   The Destruction of the SV2
With the SV2 hangers being out in the middle of an isolated reclaimed landfill, getting food has always been a problem. The Shanghai Restaurant is the only place that will deliver to them. In what should have been a typical order, the food doesn't arrive. Apparently the delivery boy has disappeared with the order. Ota rings the restaurant to complain and ends up insulting them. eventually the hunger gets to them and Ota is forced to apologise .But the restaurant now says it doesn't want to go out at night because of the stray dogs that live on the reclaimed land and the fact the there is no one to deliver the food. Fed up after waiting hours and hours, Ota says he will provide an escort for the restaurant but he doesn't return. A few hours later the mechanics take off to find Ota, but they also don't return. Where have they gone and why don't they return?

Noa's memory must truly amazing to remember every single member of the SV2's orders for lunch, including all of the mechanics. Screenplay by Mamoru Oshii. Originally broadcast 23 May 1990.

30   The Griffin Has Arrived
On a secret training ground, military Labors are fighting a large black Labor. All the teams are defeated including Captain Fuwa's team. Her Labor's movement disc is ripped out of her Labor. The mysterious black Labor leaves a message written in the sand; "The Griffin has Arrived". The Schaft team is delighted with the results, although some think that Bud is a dangerous pilot who takes too many risks. Utsumi now wants to take on Division 2 so that he can capture an Ingram to study it and for it's movement data. Shinobu meets her old friend Fuwa for a meal. Captain Fuwa takes the opportunity to ask Shinobu if she knows anything about a Labor called the Griffin that can mimic human movement. Meanwhile news comes though that the police chief is thinking of creating two new divisions. But all four divisions would get new economy Ingrams being developed by Shinohara Heavy Industries. This means Division 2's old Ingrams would have to go. Captain Gotoh isn't too sure this is a good idea. Are the Labors worse than the current ones? There's only one place to find out; The Tokyo International Labor Show.

This episode is based on the manga story "Out of Standard (Parts 1 to 6)", which appears in the fourth graphic novel (1989). Screenplay by Kazunori Ito. Originally broadcast 30 May 1990.

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