Readers who frequent my blog will know that I’m a massive Patlabor fan; I have a decent collection of art books from the franchise and thoroughly enjoy both the OVA series and feature films, so when Maiden Japan announced the release of this Ultimate blu-ray boxset I knew I had to get it.

The boxset includes most, but not all of the Patlabor animation media out there – The 3 TV series ( Mobile Police Patlabor, Patlabor : The TV Series and Patlabor : The New Files ) and the 3 animated feature films ( Patlabor : The Movie, Patlabor 2 : The Movie and WXIII : Patlabor the Movie 3 )

What is not included – The short film compilation Minipato. At the time of writing this review, Amazon.com’s item page for the boxset list Minipato as part of the contents, but this is incorrect.

Check out some pictures of the box set below –

Some observations –

– The blu-ray video quality is fantastic, both for the TV series and feature films. I also own another blu-ray of Patlabor 2 : The Movie ( HK edition ), and the video in this Ultimate edition is noticeable better; I can see details in the background art that I was unable to make out before.

– The English subtitles offer good translations but can be inconsistent at times. The eco-terror group Umi No Ie ( 海の家 ) that exists in the films are sometimes referred to as “Beach House” in some episodes but “Home Of The Sea” in others. The latter is a better translation in my opinion.

– Often times English words are superimposed over Japanese writings in background images ( for the sake of translation ) but are woefully unsightly and distracting. Unavoidable, I guess.

In summary, despite my minor gripes, this boxset is still of fantastic value, and if you’re a fan of the Patlabor series or are looking to discover a fantastic anime series / feature films it comes highly recommended.

“Patlabor Ultimate Blu-ray Boxset” details :

15 blu-ray discs, total runtime of 1861 minutes
In Japanese and English ( dubbed ) language, English subtitles

Buy From Amazon Japan | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Amazon DE | Amazon ES

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