WXIII/Mobile Police Patlabor The Movie 3 (Review)
For our first review of the 00s, I decided to pick out something I've already seen. The divisive and criminally overlooked; WXIII: Patlabor, also known as Patlabor The Movie 3. As opposed to the previous two films and the OVA, or even the TV continuity and the manga too, WXIII doesn't focus on the SV2 crew at all. It focuses on an old detective with a healing leg injury, and a young detective who falls in love with the culprit. Hell, the iconic Ingram Labors are also barely present. At first, if you didn't know any better, you'd assume this would be the most grounded of the Patlabor entries, even more so than Patlabor 2, but the fact this is a monster movie saves it from that sort of definition. It's a very interesting premise, having the lead roles be regular everyday detectives with no mecha expertise at all being tasked with trying to find out and take down this mystery monster. It's certainly a film that wouldn’t work if the SV2 were the focus, at least not without a lot of tweaking.
From what I've read, Izubuchi Yutaka, one of the members of Headgear (the creators of Patlabor), wanted to make a new story in the same universe of Patlabor that doesn't step on the toes of P2's ending, which had a sense of finality that can't really be followed up on. And that explains why this film is the way it is. Not only does it not focus on the SV2, it takes place before P2. It's focus on the world outside of the SV2 is an excellent choice and I really appreciate that sort of bold decision. It's the type of direction I hope the Evangelion series goes in with that Yoko Taro series, though obviously not this extreme of a departure. I would still like to see the main characters in mechs in Eva, the lack of giant robot pilots works for patlabor, but not for Eva, at least not in a long term story.
Back on track though... Personally, I'm of the opinion that this movie is a masterpiece and one of the best entries of the series. Though most would say otherwise. I think it's a respectable opinion to have, and I can definitely see why someone would find this film unenjoyable. Although on the other hand, it does disappoint me that, because so many don't like it, they feel the need to say it's not worth watching in the first place. I feel like a lot of people are missing out just because of the time-honoured tradition of mecha fans refusing to watch things that take different approaches to the genre.
Anyway, about the film itself. I wanna go through this point by point. Starting with how this movie opens. Like the previous two films, it's all about that tension and building suspense. I like how it focuses on some fishermen talking about baseball, which I think fits in with the idea of this film being seperated from the SV2. It's just normal guys, you know, as opposed to the very action packed openings of the first two films. And that shot of the debris falling from the plane is really cool too. If you went into this film blind like I did, It really gets you thinking.
Also love the introduction of Hata Shinichiro, our primary main character, and the person we see most of the film through. Everything about him really screams 'average.' Plays baseball and is fairly athletic, doesn't smoke but used to, and has an unassuming presence, and is more of an assistant to his co-worker, Kusumi Takeshi, than the lead investigator or something. And I think all of that is really endearing. Plus, his empathetic personality really helps with that too. He tries hard to understand the culprit of the film, even if he doesn't fully get it, so he's really likeable to me, if that makes sense.
Kusumi is great too, though there's less of a focus on him. He's a grumpy old guy with a love for vinyl. I aspire to have a vinyl collection as big as his when I'm older. He works great with Hata. They bounce well off each other. You never doubt their friendship/family-esque dynamic. Plus his connection to Goto from the SV2 is really cool, I'm unsure if it was intentional or not but This one connection adds a lot to Goto too. He has a life outside of what we're shown in the previous entries. That's just one kinda neat thing, I think.
My favourite moment from early on in the movie is one that immediately sets the mood for the rest of it. Hata meets a woman and drives her to a university in the rain. The first time I watched the film that was when I knew I'd enjoy it. The overall tone of the film is set with this scene, with Kenji Kawai's ethereal OST in the background, it's kind of a relaxing. And the movie does that a lot. It lulls you into a false sense of security, I think, which works well in scaring you when they finally reveal the monster. This car scene really sets up the film as a sombre and cosy film all so it can gut-punch you later in more ways than one. It also sets up the romance between Hata and the culprit, Saeko Masaki, who is probably my favourite antagonist of the three films. But yeah, the romance in this film is also nice. The two of them only meet a handful of times, but I really believed in the romance, it didn't feel forced or as if they didn't have any chemistry. It's simple, but it works well.
Saeko is without a doubt the best character here, but I'd like to talk about her later in the review. So we're moving on to the Kaiju this film is about; Wasted 13 (a.k.a. WXIII.)
Beyond a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene early on, we don't get to see this thing until a good 30 minutes into the film, and when you do, there's no signs it's gonna appear right when it does, so I actually jumped a little as it came into view. It's a great bit of horror, which, while not the main focus of the film, really works well for the introduction sequence. There are no mechs to help these guys, they just have to run away and hope it doesn't catch them. It's one of the best parts of the film in my honest opinion. It's an incredibly tense, spine-chilling chase sequence, given more suspense by the fact the one being chased can barely walk, let alone run. I really love how they find WXIII's weakness by complete accident in this part too. The way they deal with this thing without any Labors around is also really cool.
WXIII is a bit of a complicated kaiju, as it's clearly a threat, but the film portrays it in a way that you're supposed to feel at least somewhat sympathetic towards it. Especially with the way it's killed at the end of the film. Though that mostly comes from how you feel about its creator.
Speaking of kaiju, this movie has a lot of similarities with the 3rd episode of the original OVA, "The 450-Million-Year-Old Trap." Though you most likely already know that if you're watching the third movie of Patlabor, this isn't exactly a film for newcomers. I prefer this movie to that episode though. It's also based on a side story in the manga, though I've never read it so I can't say for sure how much alike the manga story is to this film.
WXIII having the cancer cells of Saeko's dead daughter is a major plot point of the film, and, the way I see it at least, the film kind of implies that WXIII sort of remembers on an instinctual level that it was once something else. But I could be reading too much into it and falling for Saeko's belief that her daughter has been reborn when I don't intend to. But the film does portray WXIII's death kinda cruel so I'm not really sure. It's something you'll have to decide on your own I guess.
Speaking of its death, the SV2's only major contribution to the plot, outside of an early cameo and Goto being semi-involved with Kusumi's side of the investigation, is their fight agaisnt WXIII at the end of the film. We finally get to see their mechs! The Ingram has never looked better if you ask me. Noa and Ota are tasked with taking WXIII down, and it's a really tense fight. They only have one bullet so if they mess up it's all over, and given WXIII is using another Labor as a shell it's even more difficult. I kinda like it. The fight is actually tense because of the limitations Noa and Ota are faced with. They almost lose too, I was on the edge of my seat. It's an excellent peace of mecha action. But while that may be the case, I was emotionally conflicted the whole fight. And that's mostly because of Hata's confrontation with Saeko while this is all happening.
Saeko is pretty apathetic and blasé about the whole affair, the two times she's called out as the culprit, she doesn't seem to care, and isn't worried. It's like she's saying, "so what? Why should I care?" She's a woman with nothing to lose, which makes her fate feel almost inevitable. While on my first watch I was sort of lost in the romance brewing between her and Hata to notice, It's very apparent when I paid more attention on a second and third watch that she's suicidal, and the signs are through the whole film in retrospect. WXIII is all she has left, she probably wanted to kill herself from the start, but she couldn't. She wanted to be there for her "daughter." This was all just one desperate attempt to see her again. Her listlessly watching the battle play out despite Hata trying to stop her, to convince her that this isn't healthy, that she just needs to move on. He doesn't say that exactly, but reading inbetween the lines, I believe that's what he meant. But I think by that point her mind had already been made up. She was planning to die along with WXIII. It's hard to describe my feelings during the scene, I just know that I couldn't bring myself to speak for a while after the film had ended. To add salt in the wound, Hata almost saves her, he was so close, it hurts to watch.
There's something almost deceitful about how this film plays out. By all expectations Hata should've been able to drag her back up, maybe with Kusumi's help, because that's what is set up. He doesn't believe she's necessarily a bad person, And when he's told she's the culprit, he denies it at first, but then decides to investigate her on his own. In a way it was like he wanted to save her. He had a personal connection to her so he could probably come to an understanding. Not to forgive her or to justify her actions, but just to understand her. You see that sort of love story a lot, but here, it's not so pretty. The guys Saeko was basically working for swoop in and burn WXIII to ashes as everyone watches in confusion. The only one that catches on right away what was happening being Goto. And with that, Saeko falls.
It's an unsatisfying ending, I'd say, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The scene after the battle shows what Hata, Kusumi and Goto are up to after some time has passed. The world is indifferent to what happened and they move on with their lives, and Hata picks up smoking again. Maybe to punish himself for failing, or maybe just as something to remember Saeko by. Because no words are spoken by the characters it's hard to grasp what they're thinking, but I think Hata's gonna remember Saeko for as long as he lives. It feels like nothing was ultimately solved in a way that leaves you fulfilled, but you gotta keep going on with your life, even if something ends in an unsatisfying or upsetting way. I feel like that's part of the message.
This film wasn't directed by Mamoru Oshii, but it sure feels like it. Takayama Fumihiko, the Chief Director of the film, does a fantastic job of replicating that style, and it holds up just as well when compared to the last two films. Plus the cel animation is incredible. The world really feels lived in, and that's very much in line with the previous films and the vibe that Oshii was going for. Glad to see that's still a part of this film too.
It's as interesting as it is baffling to me that no one talks about this one, yet I had so much to say here. And I still feel like I haven't said enough. But this is a certified classic. Please, please watch this if you haven't already, and if you have, tell others to if they love Patlabor. This deserves your time more than you know.
Overall, I'd give it a 5/5, It's one of the best animated films I've ever seen, and really needs more eyes on it. And I really hope Patlabor EZY lives up to my expectations. Thank you for reading.
00s Anime #1: (re)watched and reviewed on the 23rd of april, 2026.