“Patlabor : 25th Anniversary Memorial Book” is a publication to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the highly acclaimed franchise, which includes a manga, a TV series, two OVA series, three feature length movies, and an upcoming live action film/series.)

The first 10 pages or so of the book features beautiful illustrations by character designer Akemi Takada, manga artist Masami Yuuki and illustrator Jun Suemi.

To me, the true value lie in the above mentioned illustrations. The rest of the book includes content which have been featured in previous Patlabor publications like this and this, and in greater detail as well. It’s not exactly fluff in here, but we’ve seen them before.

The last part of the book contains fairly in-depth interviews with members of Head Gear, including Oshii Mamoru, but they’re of little interest unless one can read Japanese.

In all fairness, this book is not advertised as an “art book”, but more a digest collection of content from the numerous Patlabor films.

I would really love to see a dedicated art book for Patlabor illustrations, just like the ones featured at the beginning of the book. There’s a lot of great Patlabor art work out there, like these from the blu-ray covers; I’m more than sure there’s enough material to make a nice book. Perhaps with renewed interest in the series from the upcoming live action film, this might happen just yet.

ps Fans of the Patlabor mecha should definitely check out the Labor Industry.

“Patlabor 25th Anniversary Memorial Book 機動警察パトレイバー 25周年メモリアルBOOK”  details :

– Dimensions – 10.1 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
– Softcover, 191 pages
– Full color/B&W, in Japanese language

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