"Patlabor" (Anime)

[pkristen]

TV Series/”New Files” OVA. Originally reviewed April 23, 2001

Summary
Viewed most of the TV episodes and the second OVA series (“New Files”), plus both movies — which all seem to be part of the same universe. Near future representation of Tokyo police squad who use “Labors” (mobile suits in the spirit of Gundam) to fight crime.

Review
It took me a while to finally pop this one in the DVD player even though I had bought it months ago. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the quality of the series. Animation in the movies is excellent, characters are distinctive and fleshed out, and definitely not insulting to the brain. The movies are a bit
too conspiracy oriented for my taste, and very visually obsessive with machines. Obviously, I prefer the eps of the TV and OVA series where there’s more emphasis on character development and interaction.

Lesbian Analysis
Okay, I will admit that this series caught me completely off guard, not only for its high quality in character development and storyline complexities, but even after watching most of the episodes, I really had not planned to make a lesbian entry for this series. Needless to say, after absorbing most of the material above, I have since changed my mind.

Actually, given that this series has very strong female characters and it’s about a police unit, I probably should have known better, but I was used to the non-lesbianism of “You’re Under Arrest.”

Noa Izumi: The “lead” character, and operator of the Division 2′s police mobile suit Patlabor

# Noa’s personality is based on the idea of a sweet, well-meaning and down to earth country girl, though mixed in with the complexity of a tough and competent police officer. There’s a definite innocence about her personal actions and relations with the other characters.

# She’s quite the tomboy and apparently has a personal history of interest in sports and efficiency in her appearance. The episode where she’s being profiled by a news crew and does such activities as worrying about her appearance and wearing make-up is viewed by herself and her coworkers as very out of character
for her.

# A lot of valid speculation could support the assessment that she’s in a deep romantic attraction/devotion to her partner, the male Asuma Shinohara. Their relationship borders between brother/sister playfulness and (unrecognized/unaccepted?) love.

# She does make an interesting comment to her father how he shouldn’t wait for her to get married.

# When another woman openly expresses romantic interest in her, Noa does not reciprocate, explaining it away as being similar to girls developing crushes on other girls in an all-girl schools.

# She’s aware enough of female beauty to openly comment about the beauty of Super cop Takeo Kumagami.

# So what do I think her orientation actually is? I could be convinced of anything at this point. I just didn’t get a sense that romance and love was a priority for her. So if she actually fell in love with Asuma, I could see how she’s blind to what her feelings could really be. It’s the Asuma factor which makes me label her as straight more than lesbian or even bisexual.

Kanuka Clancy: The first super cop of the series. Cool and competent police officer on loan from New York. Also Hawaiian-Japanese.

# No romantic male significant other or interests throughout all of the episodes I’ve seen.

# Her personality of being all-business and a strong woman in general just shows a very butch personality but no conclusive proof of being attracted to women.

# Okay, I admit she totally registered on my gaydar, but I was afraid it was wishful thinking and didn’t want to make that assessment only to have it be negated in later eps.

Kana: Japan’s most famous Idol Singer on a temporary assignment to learn how to operate a Patlabor under Noa’s tutelage

# The title of the episode in which she appears is “I Love You, Miss Noa!” Just how obvious is that?!

# She makes two very public and clear romantic overtures to Noa, which (as I stated above) causes a bewildered reaction rather than reciprocation. [Both times in front of Kanuka, who doesn't bat an eye from what we can see.]

# Backs off pursuing Noa when she’s convinced that Asuma are really in love with Noa (to which both of them strongly deny.)

# Basic question: Doesn’t anyone else find it curious that Japan’s most popular Idol Singer would be such an open lesbian?!

Captain Fuwa: Military Captain of a Labor Division

# This woman is butch. No ifs, ands or buts about it. And she carries it well.

# The series does play a bit with you guessing if she has a real thing for Noa, or just wants her “labor” talent.

# Otherwise, no relationship depiction that I could see but with the fact that the series gives you the impression she could be attracted to Noa (which is later proved wrong) then at the least I would label a strong suspiciously inconclusive. You don’t get that impression that she could show any similar interest in any of the guys.

The “Versus” Episode
This was the ep that truly inspired me to add this series to this page.

Background: half way through the TV series, Kanuka is transferred back to New York at the end of her assignment. She is replaced by another female super cop, Takeo Kumagami, who is far more personable in general but still a highly skilled and respected police officer that many thought was over qualified for being a Patlabor command officer.

In the first few eps of the “New Files” OVA, which seems to be a continuation of the TV Series universe, it is established that Takeo had a romantic liaison with the series bad-guy Richard Wong, but also reaches emotional closure with him by the end of those eps.

“Versus” takes place later in the “New Files” OVA arc, where the members of Division Two have a celebration stay at a hot springs retreat. And from what I’ve seen, it’s the first time Kanuka and Takeo really meet and spend time together, even though they’ve appeared in the same episodes but they never shared any scenes. Apart from being one of the funniest eps in a series that is pretty on target with its comedic moments, this episode was one of the most eye-brow raising for me in terms of a not so subtle exploration of character dynamics.

The episode starts off with Kanuka and Takeo not getting along at all due to believable character boundary issues. At first, I was afraid it was taking the somewhat sexist myth about strong women must instantly dislike each other and fall into competition. (But in the overall scheme of the series, where both characters interact quite well with female Division One Chief Shinobu Nagumo, I should have known better.) The rest of the Division Two team are all in attendance for dinner and recognize the tension with dread and terror. The very married male officer even comments on their tension based on his experience of being in a long term relationship, which I think is an interesting comment coming from that kind of perspective.

As the evening progresses and LOTS of sake is downed, the two women spend the entire time either passively or actively focused on each other. They compete with each other in the way drunks do: philosophical approaches to job performance, history trivia, and acts of physical dexterity and prowess.

What I found to be the most interesting is that their intensity and competition subtly changes throughout the course of the episode. In the beginning, there is obviously a “top dog” dynamic between them, trying to best each other by debating. But by the end of the ep, they are challenging each other with little (and not so little) tests, and are clearly pleased when the other person meets the challenge. They admit everything’s “a draw”, and seemed content with that.

As I told my best friend, I felt like I was watching two butch women flirt with each other. (Plus, there’s a lot of looks they give each other that are quite questionable.)

It was quite intriguing to note that when the entire group crashed for the night in the same room, the two of them fall asleep under the same blanket in a “chaste” but domestic arrangement. The camera even closes out the scene on a close up shot of the two of them sleeping together.

The next morning, when criticizing the other team members for drinking too much due to the group suffering from hangovers, both of them support each other as having been the only ones who were sober all night. And I loved the way the ep ended, showing the intensity between them was just as strong sober vs. drunk.

At the very least, I think the potential of romantic interest was quite there. And I do think they’d make a great couple!

Final note: In the last episode of the “New Files” OVAs, the series ends with a posed group shot of everyone in uniform. Kanuka is standing with Takeo kneeling before her. Takeo is smiling to the camera, and Kanuka is smiling too, but she’s slyly looking at Takeo. (I had to rewind this three times to make sure I wasn’t imagining this!) Hmmm….

Art Book Comments
In viewing the artwork that primarily focuses on the anime, if I didn’t have a previous neutral stance about Noa’s orientation, I would have guessed not only was she a lesbian, but Kanuka was her girlfriend. There are clearly pieces where the artists are having fun with the two “poster girls” for the series. I just find it ironic that such fun actually involves characters who really could be lesbians, instead of the promotional artwork used for such series as “Neon Genesis Evangelion” or “You’re Under Arrest!” The icing on the cake is a two page spread picture of Noa and Kanuka both looking sexy and pouty while showing that they’re handcuffed together!