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Hearing that the Special Vehicle Section 2, Division 2 1 had been called out to Kichijōji in Tokyo, I went to go look. It was part of the unveiling of the Namboku Jiyuu Way at Kichijōji Station held on April 13, 2014. A short while back, the chaotic dungeon-like interior that had long persisted since Yuzawaya 2 closed in 2010 completed the bulk of its sleek renovation. But the walkway was barely visible among the packed crowds on the day the Patlabor arrived.
The “decked-up” Ingram looking out from atop the carrier stood at 8 meters tall. It struck a good balance between the intimidating appearance Yuki Masami 3 aimed for with his “giant silhouette that makes bad guys slam the breaks” and the toy-like quality of the disproportionately large police light. In actuality, I believe it’s this toy-like quality that has served as the foundation for Patlabor’s ongoing popularity. For those of you who may object to saying it’s like a toy, you could amend it to say it’s like a toy that’s strangely for adults or invoke Sori Yanagi’s 4 idea of the “beauty of function.” Mobile Police Patlabor appeared amidst the “robots as tool” of the near future or alternate future conceived with Gundam and further established with Votoms, but was born at a distance from the initiatives of the toy industry, which luckily gave it a unique sense of realism. Many of the product models appearing in mass-produced lines look bad, not to mention the concept cars that get attention at motor shows. When put up against Mazinger Z or Evangelion, the Patlabors have a real-life ugliness to them. The internal-combustion engines equipped on some multi-purpose Labors 5 and the battery power of the Patlabors are no Minovsky particle. They can’t fly and they can’t shoot wave motion guns. Subject to traffic laws, they display license plates instead of service numbers, and they’re loaded on vehicles to be transported to job sites. This is irritatingly redundant and also true to life. It’s the exact dream and illusion of the “hydraulic sprouting” that led up to the excitement felt when watching the Suidobashi Heavy Industry “Kuratas” 6 move. Mechanical designer Kunio Okawara spoke about coming up with the specifics of the size of the articulating mechanisms based on strength and friction and the amount of heat created by the kinetic energy when designing Gundams, but Patlabor was one step ahead. At 8,020 millimeters tall, if the AV-98 Ingram were to walk on its two legs, it would keep cutting power lines and most of Tokyo would be out of power in an instant.
So at this deck-up display, people passing by who were unfamiliar with the series could be heard saying what a waste of tax dollars it was to build it. At the heart of the event was a parade of cosplayers, school dance clubs, and jazz bands from Musashino that had been decided well in advance, so there were quite a few locals gathered who had never seen Mobile Police Patlabor. Following the parade was the first Ingram to have a “street deck-up” as part of the promotion for the live-action series. On top of that, “Metropolitan Police Department” was also written in large letters. Among the actual police controlling crowds and directing traffic, a group of maintenance people were standing around in white jumpsuits with “Special Vehicle Section 2” on the back. It was easy to mistake them. From early on, the rotary area outside of Kichijōji Station was packed with fans who secured their spot and regular people just stopping to look or passing by, and the disregard for traffic created a chaotic atmosphere. As a result, the deck-up was interrupted twice by actual police requesting they stop, and The Next Generation: Patlabor main cast member Erina Mano went home without taking the stage...or so it was said. In actuality, it was so chaotic that it was difficult to watch.
And here’s where I had some issues. There was a major problem with how this deck-up showing was set up. The Ingram carrier was stopped in a location that, until the day before, had been a temporary police box for Kichijōji Station. Turning right off of Inokashira-Dōri, it’s located beside the rotary. Police cars waited here next to the police box. The unusual nature of this intersection in front of the station made it the one location that would not disrupt traffic. To this end, the choice made some sense. However, the front of the carrier faced north.
The Ingram was loaded on its back. There is no way that it could have been face-down. The part where it was taken down from the back of the carrier after the deck-up was understandable, as it would have had to go over the driver’s side otherwise. However, the people crowding the Starbucks side of the crosswalk further north of the rotary could only see the back, so they pushed their way to the station. But the fans who were standing in front of the Ingram to begin with and the lucky passers-by were of course not giving up their spots, so the small area between the rotary and the station became impossible to move through at one point. It was like Meiji Shrine on New Year’s Day 8. Then the schedule was cut short and the AV-98 Ingram was put to rest...
In short, it would have been better if the carrier had been facing south at that location or if they had put it in the rotary itself. If they had, the display would have allowed people to get around more easily and safely, and more people would have been able to take in the brave figure. Putting something up for display in an area where viewers can see it safely from the front──that’s a fundamental rule for events.
That this event was unable to do something simple was unfortunately due to a lack of understanding on the management side. Production I.G is in Musashino. Tatsunoko Production is there. Studio Deen is there. It’s an appropriate line-up in the “town of anime.” However, there are not many people in Musashino who truly understand what that indicates. This is something I always lament with public and semi-public events in the city, but, harsh though it may sound, I would find it hard to believe that any of the people organizing and making the decisions for this event have ever spent their own time or money on Patlabor before this. My only guess is that when they got the offer to take on the popular live-action Patlabor, they went with it in the easiest way possible for them without knowing anything about it or even bothering to look it up. At the very least, was there no one who could say, “Hey, this is backwards, huh?”
Although the event had a lot of unfortunate aspects, it was still a very heartfelt time for fans seeking this rare chance. At least the Ingram rose up in the city, whirr sound and all. The police light flashed round and round. Had there been more time, perhaps we could have seen a revolver cannon being shot up close (joking, of course), but we’ll have to look forward to that next time at some other event venue or street corner.
There is one more thing to keep in mind for that day: If you’re trying to bring people face-to-face with the brave form of a Patlabor, you can’t stand it at the front of the transport vehicle. Because an AV-98 Ingram looks at the sky when it’s lying on the carrier.
^1^ A fictional police division appearing in Mobile Police Patlabor.
^2^ A chain of stores in Japan selling arts and crafts supplies and other goods. It opened in Kichijōji in 1996. Though it was the largest store in the chain, it closed in February 2010 with the renovation of the Kichijōji Station building.
^3^ Manga artist. He who wrote Mobile Police Patlabor (1988).
^4^ Japanese product designer. He worked on toys, objects, and industrial design and his notable piece “Butterfly Stool” has been displayed in art museums such as the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The “beauty of function” refers to the beauty found in items used in everyday life. It’s different from functional beauty.
^5^ An industrial machine from Mobile Police Patlabor. It uses robotic technology and can walk. The main robot in the series is a Patlabor, which is short for “Patrol Labor.”
^6^ A giant robot completed by Suidobashi Heavy Industries in 2.5 years. It’s 4 meters tall and weighs 4 metric tons. It has 30 joints powered by hydraulic pressure.
^7^ There is a guard rail on the north side, which limited the places from which people could see the upright Patlabor.
^8^ Meiji Shrine becomes extremely crowded with worshippers on New Year’s Day.
This article was written by Boonie Boo.
