"You're Under Arrest" (Anime)

[pkristen]

OVA/TV Series. Last review updated July 10, 2001.

Summary
Focuses on the day to day adventures of two female buddy cops, the butch and energetic Natsuki and the femme but mechanic freak Miyuki.

Review of first 4 OVA on 7/10/01
I admit I was hooked within the first five minutes of watching the first episode, even though it was the dub version. The characters were interesting, the animation was incredible, and the story apparently had a lot of charm and heart to it. It’s refreshing to watch a show that emphasizes a female friendship with some intelligence and depth to it, even if they are straight. The rest of the cast is quirky and just as charming but a show that leaves you feeling like you’ve invested some worthwhile time for decent entertainment.

I have heard the rest of the TV series was lower in quality in animation level, which is to be expected, but the movie is breathtaking, (I actually own a Japanese copy.)

Jan 12, '10 Note: Yes, I know the additional TV series have been released since my original analysis. I may look at them later but from what I remember, I don't recall anything significant that would change my lesbian analysis.

Lesbian Analysis

Analysis originally written 3/25/01

This series is listed under a special circumstance. From what I’ve seen, the series itself does not have any direct lesbian-related scenes. However, supplemental material shown in art books is occasionally eyebrow raising. For example, the art books for both the OAVs and the movie show pictures of the lead characters Miyuki and Natsumi in various states of undressing each other with a combination of suggestive poses. The cover for one of the trading card releases also show them cuddled up to each other in a romantic setting.

The problem is that the characters themselves are not gay in the series itself, at least not in the episodes I’ve seen. Right now I’m of the opinion of these pictures are just fantasy elements based on the potential of lesbianism between two very attractive and charismatic female characters, (an idea briefly played with in one of the TV specials episodes for successful comedic purposes.)

Not having seen a majority of the television episodes, I don’t know if there are moments or additional characters which could change this assessment. When I do finally see the rest of the series, I’m sure I’ll update my opinion.

Additional Comment: In the movie art book, in the model sheets for the characters of babes Kaoruko and Aoi show a tiny picture of the two of them snuggling up to each other. This is a really nice picture except for the fact that Aoi is a male transvestite, which just throws a weird kink into my own definitions of orientation and gender identity, which were pretty fluid to begin with. I have a suspicious feeling that it’s an artist’s indulgence rather than reflecting anything concrete which happened in the series.