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Live-Action Patlabor's Ingram Cockpit Unveiled in Photos
posted on by Egan Loo
The official website for mecha AV-98 Ingram.
At the end of the 20th century, the world was changed with the advent of labors — giant robotic mecha used in industrial tasks for the advancement of technology. To combat the crimes perpetuated in these labors, police established sections of patrol labors or "Patlabors." It is now the 21st century, when the next generation of Patlabor comes to the fore.
The project begins with a seven-part series, which is composed of an "episode 0" and 12 full episodes helmed by the project's chief director Mamoru Oshii and other directors. Then, Oshii is directing and writing a feature-length film that will open in 2015.
The first part is set to premiere on April 5 in the Shinjuku Piccadilly and other theaters, followed by the rest of the seven parts:
Part 1: April 5, 2014
Part 2: May 31, 2014
Part 3: July 12, 2014
Part 4: August 30, 2014
Part 5: October 18, 2014
Part 6: November 29, 2014
Part 7: January 1, 2015
Each episode is projected to be about 48 minutes long, with the prequel episode 0 scheduled for about 10 minutes. Finally, the feature-length film will open during Japan's Golden Week holidays in spring 2015, and it is expected to run about 100 minutes long.
The Next Generation -Patlabor- project is not a remake of the earlier Patlabor anime stories, but a completely new work. The story is set in Tokyo in 2013, and it represents the "third generation" of Patlabor. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has disbanded its Section 2 Division 1 of police robots, and Section 2 Division 2 barely survived the budget cuts due to the long recession.
Former Hello! Project singer and actress Keiji Gotōda (the successor to the anime's Captain Kiichi Gotō).
Other cast include:
- &TEAM 2 pilot Harao Ōta (rightmost in poster)
- Shigekazu Tajiri as &TEAM 1 carrier driver Hiromichi Yamazaki (rear row, second from the left)
- Kohei Shiotsuka as &TEAM 2 carrier driver Shinji Osakeya (rear row, second from the right)
- Yoshikazu Fujiki as Buchiyama, the maintenance crew's second-in-charge (second from the left)
The production is budgeted at 2 billion yen (US$20 million), and principal photography ran from June to the end of December. The two life-size Ingram robots were built at the cost of several tens of millions of yen (several hundred thousand US dollars). The film also used Suidobashi Heavy Industry's real-life rideable robot Kuratas as Labor robots.
Oshii commented that the seven-part series will have a "slapstick" ambience, while the feature film will be serious. Oshii and franchise to compose the music for both the series and the feature film.
The production company Evangelion films.
The series' original concept of police officers piloting robotic mecha (patrol labors or "Patlabors") was developed by HEADGEAR, a group consisting of director Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor WXIII, was released in theaters in Japan in 2002.
announced the rights for the video anime series in January.
Sources: Mantan Web, Comic Natalie
Images © 2014 THE NEXT GENERATION -PATLABOR- Production Committee
