The BEST episodes of Patlabor: The Mobile Police

Every episode of Patlabor: The Mobile Police ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Patlabor: The Mobile Police!

In the future, advanced robotics has created heavy robots ("labors") for use in a variety of functions: construction, fire-fighting, military, and more. However, though the robots are only machines, their operators are also only human—and humans sometimes turn to crime. Since a heavy labor unit can be a dangerous weapon, the police of the future are set to fight fire with fire, using advanced patrol labor units, "patlabors." This is the story of the Second Special Vehicles Division, a motley crew of patlabor policemen and women doing their best to fight crime and live a normal life.

Last Updated: 1/13/2024Network: Nippon TVStatus: Ended
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Special Vehicles Department 2
star
7.00
30 votes

#1 - Special Vehicles Department 2

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/1/1989

Noa must adapt to living in SV2.

Directors: Yasunao Aoki
Writer: Mamoru Oshii
Go to Demon Mountain
star
7.00
30 votes

#2 - Go to Demon Mountain

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/8/1989

A monster surprises a group of hikers in a forest. The police sends SV2 to capture it.

Kanuka Appears!
star
7.00
30 votes

#3 - Kanuka Appears!

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/18/1989

Kanuka comes to Japan from America. She participates in a labor combat tournament. Noa and the gang also compete in it.

Directors: Keitaro Motonaga
Ingram Activated
star
6.36
44 votes

#4 - Ingram Activated

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/11/1989

SV2 is assigned new AV 98 Ingrams. Asuma and Ota go to Shinohara Heavy Industries to pick them up. Noa also heads there to take her labor aptitude test. When someone steals one of the Ingrams, Noa gives chase.

Directors: Yasunori Urata
Watch Now:Amazon
Red Labor Landing
star
6.00
6 votes

#5 - Red Labor Landing

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/13/1989

Noa and Asuma are sent to investigate a terrorist who is going to steal a military labor of the Soviet Armed Forces.

Writer: Mamoru Oshii
Watch Now:Amazon
Labor X-10, Out of Control!
star
5.00
30 votes

#6 - Labor X-10, Out of Control!

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/15/1989

Runaway Labor X-10 is loose in the forest. Division 2 is sent to go stop it.

Directors: Shinji Takamatsu
Watch Now:Amazon
Griffon Resurrected
star
0.00
0 votes

#7 - Griffon Resurrected

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/22/1990

It's 30 December 1999. Utsumi and Bud have returned to Japan to challenge the SV2 again, and sell their team's services in the format of the Griffin. At the SV2, the AV-Zero is going though its paces. It has been improved and is now much faster. Kanuka has returned to Japan to visit her grandmother and has dropped by to visit her former colleagues at the SV2. Detective Matsui discovers that several top Labor specialists are in town and informs Captain Goto of his findings. Meanwhile, Momoko Sakurayama receives a tip-off that several arms dealers are also in Tokyo. She informs Kumagami, who in turn tells Captain Goto. Something big is going to happen. That night the Griffin Labor returns. Division 2 was previously called out to a fire, so Division 1 is called in to deal with the Labor. Bud soon figures out the Zero's weakness: it is programmed to stop near buildings to avoid damage. He takes full advantage of this and defeats both Patlabors.

Directors: Keitaro Motonaga
Noa's Big Adventure
star
0.00
0 votes

#8 - Noa's Big Adventure

Season 1 - Episode 36 - Aired 7/11/1990

Division 2 goes to stay by the mountains for a week for training. While out buying dinner, Noa finds 20,000 yen and goes to find where the money came from all by herself.

Directors: Keitaro Motonaga
Condition Green
star
0.00
0 votes

#9 - Condition Green

Season 1 - Episode 47 - Aired 9/26/1990

Noa goes back to her hometown and sees the grave of her dog Alphonse. Asuma goes to get her when a terrorist comes. Division 1 and 2 must find the terrorist without using weapons since it would cause a fire.

Directors: Yasunao Aoki
Watch Now:Amazon
His Name is Zero
star
0.00
0 votes

#10 - His Name is Zero

Season 1 - Episode 46 - Aired 9/19/1990

SV2 gets a new patlabor model called the Zero. It is superior to the ingram. After messing up during a mission, Noa is worried that she will lose Alphonse.

Watch Now:Amazon
Vocational Options
star
0.00
0 votes

#11 - Vocational Options

Season 1 - Episode 45 - Aired 9/12/1990

Noa is offered to become a pilot for a Helldiver. While Noa tries to make her decision, she must stop a criminal without Alphonse.

Directors: Keitaro Motonaga
Watch Now:Amazon
Long Live CLAT
star
0.00
0 votes

#12 - Long Live CLAT

Season 1 - Episode 44 - Aired 9/5/1990

Shige is being sent to New York. However, he gets hurt before he goes and has a dream that he is in New York working with CLAT.

Directors: Yasunori Urata
Watch Now:Amazon
The Working Woman
star
0.00
0 votes

#13 - The Working Woman

Season 1 - Episode 43 - Aired 8/29/1990

Momoko Sakurayama is interviewing Noa for "The Working Girl" show. Meanwhile, a sick man steals a labor in order to commit suicide.

Directors: Yasunao Aoki
Watch Now:Amazon
The Men Who Returned
star
0.00
0 votes

#14 - The Men Who Returned

Season 1 - Episode 42 - Aired 8/22/1990

Three old terrorists team up to steal some money.

Watch Now:Amazon
Terrorist Rescue
star
0.00
0 votes

#15 - Terrorist Rescue

Season 1 - Episode 41 - Aired 8/15/1990

Division 2 must save 2 very lousy terrorists that set off a bomb in the wrong place.

Directors: Keitaro Motonaga
Watch Now:Amazon
The Painful Coastal Order
star
0.00
0 votes

#16 - The Painful Coastal Order

Season 1 - Episode 40 - Aired 8/8/1990

People claim to have seen some kind of monster on the beach. Division 2 investigates this.

Directors: Yasunori Urata
Mass Market Product Plan
star
0.00
0 votes

#17 - Mass Market Product Plan

Season 1 - Episode 39 - Aired 8/1/1990

Shinohara Industries has finished the new production model of a police labor. Noa, Ota, and Gomioka tests them. What will they think of them?

Directors: Yasunao Aoki
Mysterious Underground Labyrinth
star
0.00
0 votes

#18 - Mysterious Underground Labyrinth

Season 1 - Episode 38 - Aired 7/25/1990

Something is out stealing stuff from Division 2. It appears to come from an old tunnel. Ota and Shinshi go to check it out. When Division 2 loses contact with them, Noa, Asuma, Hiromi, and Takeo go to find them.

Directors: Nana Harada
Writer: Mamoru Oshii
Watch Now:Amazon
I'm Selling Peace of Mind
star
0.00
0 votes

#19 - I'm Selling Peace of Mind

Season 1 - Episode 37 - Aired 7/18/1990

Division 2 must get the Patlabor Insurance to cover for the cars they destroyed.

Watch Now:Amazon
All Quiet in the Second Unit
star
0.00
0 votes

#20 - All Quiet in the Second Unit

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/22/1992

Division 2 are on vacation. Noa is doing some cleaning at home, but can't find a personal item she had since she was a child. She goes to work but can't find it there either. She meets Kumagami there who is writing up a proposal to create two extra Divisions. Ota is also there, dismantling and cleaning his Labor's gun. Kumagami submits her plan to Captain Goto and Shinobu. He tells her that they are already planning something like this and ask if she would be interested in being captain for the third division. She says that she would have to think it over, which surprises both Goto and Shinobu. The next day Kumagami is taking a trip to see some of the new cadets who will eventually form the third division, and asks everyone to come along. Asuma says he and Noa can't and tells them they have something important to do. Despite her protests, Noa goes along with Asuma.

Directors: Yasunao Aoki
Schaft's Counterattack
star
0.00
0 votes

#21 - Schaft's Counterattack

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/22/1990

The remains of Division 1's Labors return to the hanger. Noa is somewhat scared of the prospect of having to fight the Griffin again, but Asuma assures her that she can defeat it. Meanwhile Schaft's section chief is livid at Utsumi's actions. Goto asks Kumagami about her relationship with Utsumi. She tells him it is none of his business. Bud leaves the ship where the Griffin is being hidden to visit the SV2.

Directors: Yasunao Aoki
The Greatest Showdown in History
star
0.00
0 votes

#22 - The Greatest Showdown in History

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/23/1991

The Griffin is ready to fight Division 2. Momoko Sakurayama races to the scene, but a traffic jam is holding them up. She decides she can wait no longer, and runs to the scene without her camera crew. Meanwhile, the Ingrams face off the Griffin across a bridge. In the ensuing battle, the Griffin escapes off the bridge into the water and Ota shoots a hole into the bridge with the shotgun in an attempt to hit it. But the Griffin pulls Ota's Labor down through the hole. Ota manages to escape, but his Labor is at the bottom of the bay.

Directors: Yasunao Aoki
GAME OVER
star
0.00
0 votes

#23 - GAME OVER

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/20/1991

Noa isn't moving, so Hiromi moves his carrier back, out of reach of the Griffin. Meanwhile Shinshi rams the Griffin with his carrier to enable Hiromi and Noa to escape. Noa's Labor is now totally out of power. She needs to recharge her batteries fast. Unfortunately, the Griffin has gotten past Shinshi, who tries to block it, but feels the Griffin's wrath for his trouble. The Griffin runs after the escaping carrier, but Kanuka arrives in the nick of time and starts fighting it. Sakaki has also arrived in machine 3's carrier with a new set of batteries for Noa. Kanuka needs to hold off the Griffin until Noa can change her batteries.

Watch Now:Amazon
One of Those Days
star
0.00
0 votes

#24 - One of Those Days

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/24/1991

Noa wakes up to discover she has a toothache. But some members of the team think it's more than that, especially when Asuma has been teasing her about her wisdom teeth all morning. The team force Asuma to apologize, but that just makes things worse, especially when there was no apparent reason to apologize. Shinshi gives Noa painkillers to ease the pain, but unfortunately she takes them all at once causing her to sleep most of the morning. Later in the afternoon, Division 2 are suddenly called out to an incident where a stolen Labor is running a muck in a forest. Only problem is that every time Noa takes a step in her Ingram, her tooth hurts like mad.

Directors: Yasunori Urata
Watch Now:Amazon
90% Viewer Rate
star
0.00
0 votes

#25 - 90% Viewer Rate

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/22/1991

The children's TV program Together With Mother has finally been axed after 20 years, and is about to begin its final broadcast. Unfortunately, one of the cast members, Kumagoro, a man in a bear suit, has decided to take the rest of cast hostage by grabbing them with a small a Labor. He demands ¥300,000,000 and a helicopter or he'll blow up the cast. To prove his claims, he sets off a car bomb in the parking lot. Division 2 are called in, but the producers of the show seem to want to prolong the situation in order to get higher ratings. Kumagami and Noa enter the studio disguised as waitresses in order to free the hostages, but the plan does not go well. The riot police are called in after Division 2's failure, but Goto thinks they'll just inflame the situation more. However, Goto does have a plan which is so bizarre it might just work.

Directors: Keitaro Motonaga
Writer: Hibari Arisu