Patlabor isn't just the best mecha series, its the best anime series, and by a country mile and then some. Lets start off with the soundtrack, which is sublime. The catalogue of music for Patlabor is as deep as it is wide, with an assortment of classic, hard to get out of your head music littered throughout both the classic TV/OVA series and films such as Sea-Side Highway and If You Want It to beautiful, emotional pieces such as The Sunset of Ancient Times (Video contains Spoilers, sorry!) and just plain awesome tracks like Paradise no Kakuritsu. The TV/OVA soundtrack is both energetic and lively, while the Movie soundtrack has a sense of melancholy surrounding it such as The Second Movies Opening, with more upbeat music like Into the morning sunshine in juxtaposition to bookend the films more energetic scenes.
The animation in Patlabor has aged beautifully, looking stunning on Blu-ray. The mechanical designs are both grounded and tangible while still looking fun and exciting in motion.
The characters in Patlabor are seriously the best you'll ever see in any anime series, with the strongest female cast ever seen, and perhaps ever will see. Each character is lovable, interesting and fun to watch, packed with plenty of personality. Each character gets their time in the sun, with standout episodes for each and every one of them. It's also fair to say that the character designs are amazing too, again full of personality. Just seeing these characters again makes me smile, from the razor sharp Goto and the professional Nagumo to the hard boiled Kanuka and the main character, Noa who is both energetic and enthusiastic, with a passion for Labors, the name given to the mecha in this series.
Patlabor is without a doubt the most diverse series available, showcasing its ability to tackle any type of story, perfectly juggling drama and comedy with tones of action in the mix, it truly has something for everybody. From a groundhog day-esque episode to an Ultraman parody, episodes featuring sea monsters, haunted bath houses and even an episode where two people just talk to one another in a car during a storm, the diversity in narrative are truly unparalleled.
An episode where porn is banned, a clear satire of Japans student protests in the 1960's to an episode that deals with something as simple as a toothache. A bomber is on the loose; hiding in a public bath house, with the only bit of description they have is the mole that he has under his armpit. Some episodes surreal, others romantic, with many of them being funny, Patlabor does all of this and more in strides. The greatest achievement of anime is the ability to tell many different types of stories, with no boundaries in sight, and in this regard Patlabor is the greatest of them all. Patlabor is proof of the near limitlessness amounts of stories that anime is capable of telling, even all of these years later. The greatest mecha anime of all time? More like the greatest anime, period.
Macross/DYRL, Gunbuster and Gaint Robo are also cream of the crop.
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