Genres: action, comedy Themes: police Objectionable content: Mild Plot Summary: Natsumi and Miyuki are policewomen at the Bokuto Police Station. This story recounts the exploits and adventures they have in dealing with the strange characters they are forced to deal with ‘all in a day’s work’. Number of episodes: 52 Vintage: 1996-10-05 to 1997-09-27
Genres: action, comedy Themes: police Objectionable content: Mild Plot Summary: Megami Sama creator, Kosuke Fujishima, is back with the second season of Taiho Schihauzo (You’re Under Arrest). Same characters, two policewomen, the gentle Miyuki and the wild Natsumi teamed up together in Bokuto police station’s traffic division. Number of episodes: 26 Vintage: 2001-04-07 to 2001-09-29
Genres: action, comedy Themes: police Plot Summary: Miyuki Kobayakawa, fresh from forensics training in the United States, and Natsumi Tsujimoto, from completing Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) ranger training, return in the long-awaited 3rd season of the highly popular series. This time, the duo rejoins active duty at Bokuto Police Department, fighting against crime using their wits and brawn, plus having some misadventures along the way. Number of episodes: 24 Vintage: 2007-10-04
I am thoroughly enjoying the show! It’s one of my “must watch” shows-I watch it as soon as it downloads from DirecTV on Demand.
I loved everything about the OAV episodes 1-4, from the open to the close! The animators put in so many little touches to make it seem so film-like. Here’s a couple of examples. In the close, as the car drives down the street you see the reflection of the street lights in the windshield. They don’t follow a straight line, they curve as the car passes under each light. That’s to simulate the curvature of the windshield. They must have studied film of a similar car driving down a street at night. The other example from the close is the shot with the “Don’t Walk” sign in it. When the camera pans left, there’s a red smear as the camera moves off the light. This is not so much film-like as it looks more like a night shot with a tube-type video camera. The red tube experiences a bit of burn-in and smears when the “camera” pans off the sign. As one who has worked with tub-type video cameras, that looked very realistic!
However, I have one question about episodes 5 and on in the first season. Was the graphics department off to Siggraph or something when those episodes were posted? I mean, there are absolutely NO graphics at all in episodes 5 and on. No graphics in the open, no graphics over the close-not even a graphic on the page where the episode title is (supposedly) displayed. Now I know they can’t recall all the DVDs that are missing the graphics but it would be nice to have a version with the missing graphics restored.
here’s the deal: I freaking OLEV patlabor. It’s one of my all time favorite shows. This show kinda looks like it has that patlabor feel (story and character-wise). Is this a correct assumption.
ALSO - wouldn’t it be awesome if there was patlabor to be watched on the online player? Just saying…
It’s strange, my friends have all told me this show is perfect for me, but I never tried it. Guess I will now though.
I laughed so much! Ken’s dad is wonderful! The fact that he has chosen a 20 year old to be Ken’s step mom is just great - it shows how young he really is. I liked the condition of having Ken call her “mother” before they would marry, although Ken is older than her. I also liked that Daimaru suggested a double wedding and got Ken all flustered, then Daimaru ended up calling him a wuss!! :laugh:
Is it just me, or is the Strike Man gag just getting a bit too tedious? To me, it doesn’t just seem like it slams the brakes on the show, it seems like it throws it in reverse and stomps on the accelerator.
Ken and Miyuki visit Daimaru’s new bike shop. I think it’s funny that guys come to the shop to get a look at Sena and then leave when they see her husband. Can’t be good for business.
When Natsumi’s bike breaks down, she ends up at a creepy repair shop. The mechanic makes her do the repairs herself and she learns how to take care of her bike. It turns out that the mechanic was once a friend and partner of Daimaru. They had a dream to break a speed record, but an accident caused that dream to die. Natsumi revives that dream for them and with everyone working together, makes it a reality. A very touching episode!
The department puts on a play for the kids regarding traffic safety. But to grab the kid’s attention, the play features Ken as a traffic monster and the girls as superheroes. Love it! However, the kids think the play is lame. They cat call and heckle, teasing Ken that he wants to take Miyuki to a secret place and kiss her. Embarrassment!
The kids get bored and go eat lunch, ignoring the play. Some ninjas show up called the “Black Brothers of Sumedha” (they look even more comical than Ken as a traffic monster!) and put smoke bombs in the girl’s costumes, while they are changing. When the play starts again, the ninjas show up, set off the smoke bombs (impressing the kids in the process), and take the children hostage.
The ninjas say that they will fight against justice and their leader forces Ken to attack the girls. There are more explosions and Natsumi begins to fight him in earnest, causing the kids to cheer. Ken and the ninjas are defeated; the play is a success and the kids learn the lesson on traffic safety. It turns out that the ninjas weren’t really bad – they just wanted to make the play better, so the kids wouldn’t lose interest and actually learn the lesson the play was supposed to teach. And the adults learned what will hold a child’s attention in the process. But what a way to help! I hope these guys show up again. They are so much better than Strike Man! :laugh:
This episode was great. I love Miyuki and Natsumi robbing a bank for a training exercise. They sure had a detailed plan. That was one mad lieutenant. He should be happy they went into law enforcement instead of crime. :laugh:
Natsumi line to the riot squad about needing TP was great. :laugh:
The girls get to be bank robbers! It is just a training exercise, but Miyuki and Natsumi do so well that the inspector compliments them. I loved how they outsmarted all the big, tough policemen. If they ever really decide to break the law – watch out!!
This one was more on the serious side and a little sad.
It’s Yoriko’s day off and while everyone else is out searching for a missing prince, she spends the day in town. She saves a man from crossing the street against the light by grabbing his hand and he makes an odd comment that no woman had ever held his hand before.
She later sees the same man with an angry waiter. He was leaving the restaurant without paying the bill. Since he has no money, Yoriko pays his bill and he leaves while she is talking to the waiter. She looks for him and finds him with some thugs. She tries to intervene but gets into trouble with them herself. The man ends up saving her.
Yoriko would like him to go home and get the money to pay her back, but he tells her that he doesn’t have a home. She goes to help an old woman with her bundle and he asks why she did it. She tells him that it was the right thing to do.
They start over and introduce themselves as friends. He needs to find a shrine and she takes him to one. He tells her about his country and why he is praying and she tells him to follow his heart. He says that he ran away because he was scared and she says that he should follow his feelings. Just then a car pulls up and two men come running calling Yoriko’s friend “Highness”, which surprises her. He informs them that he wants to go home. They leave and Yoriko realizes that she still hasn’t been paid back for the restaurant bill.
She later finds out that he is a prince. He is going back to his country, perhaps to die, but wants to meet with her before he leaves. Yoriko goes to him and he tells her that he must go to lead his people and protect their rights. That it’s the right thing to do and she helped him with that. He shakes her hand and all of the guards gasp. The prince tells her that if they were in his country, when a man and a woman touch, they must marry. Since they’re in Japan, he guesses the custom doesn’t matter, but then he hugs her and asks her to go with him. Yoriko doesn’t know how to answer him and he says that he understands that she can’t go.
He promises to return to Japan under better circumstances and asks if she would then be his escort. She says yes and salutes him. He kisses her and leaves. He looks back once and Yoriko is still saluting. After he’s gone from sight, Yoriko is still saluting and a single tear runs down her cheek. I wanted to cry too - she should have gone with him!
