Mamoru Oshii's live-action Patlabor anthology series has revealed its list of directors. The anthology series consists of 12 episodes that will be released in Japanese theater in seven parts. Each of the 12 episodes are said to be 48 minutes long. It's currently unknown how many episodes each part will contain. Takanori Tsujimoto (Bushido Man) will direct episodes two, four and eight. Kiyotaka Taguchi (Neo Ultra Q) will direct nine and ten. Hiroaki Yuasa (Iron Girl, Monster Killer) will direct three, five and eleven. Oshii will handle directing duties for episodes one and six. Here's a full breakdown of the release schedule for the live-action episodes for Patlabor:
Part 1: April 5, 2014
Part 2: May 31, 2014
Part 3: July 12, 2014
Part 4: August 30, 2014
Part 5: October 18, 2014
Part 6: November 29, 2014
Part 7: January 1, 2015
Once the anthology series is complete, a full-length motion picture will be released in Spring 2015.
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Patlabor also known as Mobile Police Patlabor, is a 1988 anime and manga that centered around the special robotics force of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police as they solved various cases in a then-near-future of 1998. There have been several anime films, anime series, mangas, light novels and video games to date.
The film will not be a remake of Mamoru Oshii's (Ghost in the Shell) original anime but will instead tell a completely new story. The project has been dubbed Patlabor - The Third Generation and is set in 2013, where the Tokyo Metropolitan Police force has been disbanded. The TMP has been dispersed into two separate divisions, Section 2, "police robots" Division 1 and Section 2 "barely holding on, budget cut" Division 2. Former singer Erina Mano will play the lead heroine, Akira Izumino. Rounding out the cast are Seiji Fukushi as Yūma Shiobara, Rina Oota as Ekaterina Krachevna Kankaeva, voice-actor Shigeru Chiba will play his anime character, maintenance squad chief Shigeo Shiba, and Toshio Kakei as Captain Keiji Gotōda. |