‘Patlabor’ Watch Order: The Complete Chronological Guide! (Including the Movies)
Mobile Police Patlabor, better known simply as Patlabor, is a Japanese animanga franchise that started in 1988 with a manga series that ran until 1994 (with a total of 22 collected volumes), as well as a 7-episode OVA series that aired between 1988 and 1989. While this science-fiction series never became a major title, it has a cult following and is one of the most respected animanga franchises in the world. The series has spanned several works and in this article, we have decided to bring you the complete chronological watch guide to the whole Patlabor franchise, including all the OVA and ONA series, the movies, and the TV anime series. Enjoy!
Editor’s Note: This post is regularly updated to provide you with the latest content and streaming updates related to the Patlabor anime franchise which is at the moment, on a hiatus, but we’re expecting the Patlabor EZY anime series to premiere sometime in 2024.
How many Patlabor seasons and episodes are there?
The overall structure of the Patlabor series is quite complex and there are several animated works that form the franchise; to make things simpler, this article won’t include the live-action adaptations of the series. It all started with the 7-episode Early Days OVA series, after the first anime movie was produced. A sequel anime series, Patlabor: The TV Series, consisting of 47 episodes appeared in 1989, followed by the 16-episode New Files OVA series. These were followed by two anime movies in 1993 and 2002. In 2002, a 3-episode OVA series, Minimum, was also released, followed by a short OVA titled Patlabor REBOOT. A future project, set to premiere in 2024, titled Patlabor EZY was also announced.
Having said all of this, there is a total of 74 Patlabor anime episodes (one anime series and several OVA series), as well as three movies, with an upcoming anime series set to premiere in 2024, according to the information we have at the moment.
Patlabor watch order at a glance
In this section, we are going to bring you the complete list of Patlabor works by their respective release orders. As we have said, the overall structure of the Patlabor series is complex, which is why it is good to have the whole series at a glance. This is what it all looks like:
- Mobile Police Patlabor / The Early Days (OVA, 1988-1989)
- Patlabor: The Movie (anime movie, 1989)
- Patlabor: The TV Series (anime, 1989-1990)
- Patlabor: The New Files (OVA, 1990-1992)
- Patlabor 2: The Movie (anime movie, 1993)
- WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 (anime movie, 2002)
- Patlabor Minimum (OVA, 2002)
- Patlabor REBOOT (OVA, 2016)
- Patlabor EZY (anime, 2024-?)
Do you need to watch Patlabor in a specific order?
There are two ways of approaching the Patlabor series and both are more or less fine, but one of them is better. Namely, the production order is really fine and you won’t have any problems with it, but the chronological order is somewhat better. Now, you have to know that the TV continuity and the movie continuity are completely different (save for the original OVA, which can serve as a prequel to both continuities), so there is no order of precedence between the two of them. But, as we’ve said, you can just follow the production order and that is also fine.
What is the best way to watch Patlabor?
In our opinion, the best way to watch Patlabor is by following the chronological order we are going to list below. You should definitely start with the Early Days OVA series and you should then pick whether you want to take care of the movies or the TV works first. In both cases, you should follow the chronological order and after you finish one timeline, you should return to the one you skipped. This is, in our opinion, the best way to experience the Patlabor franchise.
Patlabor chronological watch order
Mobile Police Patlabor / The Early Days (OVA, 1988-1989)
The OVA series serves as a prequel to the whole franchise, so whether you stick with the movie timeline or the TV series timeline, you should start off with this OVA series. The episodes are as follows:
| No. | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | “Second Unit, Move Out!” | April 25, 1988 |
| 02 | “Longshot” | June 25, 1988 |
| 04 | “The Tragedy of L” | September 25, 1988 |
| 05 | “The SV2’s Longest Day (Part 1)” | November 10, 1988 |
| 06 | “The SV2’s Longest Day (Part 2)” | December 10, 1988 |
| 07 | “Go North, SV2!” | June 25, 1989 |
Movie timeline
This section will bring you the chronological watch order of the movie timeline of Patlabor.
1. Patlabor: The Movie (1989)
The movie deals with a series of seemingly unconnected labor incidents, which still alert the SV2 and send them on an investigation around the Greater Tokyo Area. As it turns out, the incidents are actually connected and are part of a larger plot by a dead programmer, who uses these incidents to create a much larger problem for the heroes.
2. WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 (2002)
Despite being the final installment in the trilogy, WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 is actually the second story in the chronology. It is set roughly a year after the first film and initially follows two MPD detectives who are working on a strange case involving some missing scientist and a genetical engineering experiment gone wrong. Not long after that, the SV2 is called in to take care of the problem.
3. Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993)
It is the winder of 2001-2002 and a group of terrorists decided to cause a crisis in Japan. The SV2 had been dissolved not long after the events of WXIII, but seeing that a new threat had emerged, the members of the old team decided to reunite for one last mission together.
TV timeline
As we have said, the television and OVA timeline is different than the movie timeline and the two are not connected. In that aspect, as you will be able to see, the television timeline is much simpler to follow:
4. Patlabor: The TV Series (anime series, 1989-1990)
The series was produced not long after the original OVA series and the first movie, but it was not connected to the movie and followed a different continuity, although it was part of the same lore. There are 47 episodes in total and you can actually watch them all in the order they were released, which is why we’re not listing them individually here. The final, Griffin Arc, is connected to the sequel series.
5. Patlabor: The New Files (OVA, 1990-1992)
The first four episodes of this OVA series are connected to the Griffin Arc of The TV Series and are a direct sequel, while the remaining 12 episodes feature stories that are randomly scattered between some episodes of The TV Series, as well as after the Griffin Arc.
| No. | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | “Griffin Resurrected” | November 22, 1990 |
| 02 | “A Bad Day” | December 25, 1990 |
| 03 | “Schaft’s Counterattack” | January 24, 1991 |
| 04 | “90% Viewer Rate” | February 21, 1991 |
| 05 | “The Greatest Showdown in History” | April 25, 1991 |
| 06 | “Black Trinary” | May 23, 1991 |
| 07 | “Game Over” | June 23, 1991 |
| 08 | “The Seven Days of Fire” | July 25, 1991 |
| 09 | “VS (Versus)” | August 22, 1991 |
| 10 | “It’s Called Amnesia” | September 26, 1991 |
| 11 | “The Day Goma Came in from the Rain” | November 21, 1991 |
| 12 | “Our Karuizawa” | December 19, 1991 |
| 13 | “The Dungeon Again” | January 23, 1992 |
| 14 | “Snow Rondo” | February 20, 1992 |
| 15 | “The Woman Who Came from the Stars” | March 19, 1992 |
| 16 | “All Quiet from the SV2” | April 23, 1992 |
6. Patlabor Minimum (OVA, 2002)
Officially known as Mobile Police Patlabor Minimum: Minipato, Minimum is a three-part OVA series that was shown before the screenings of WXIII, the movie. The episodes don’t really have a place in the timeline, as they are there to expand on the lore and explain the world of Patlabor a bit better using paper puppets, CGI, and claymation. They can be part of either timeline, but since it is an OVA series, we have listed them here.
7. Patlabor REBOOT (OVA, 2016)
REBOOT is actually a short OVA that was released in 2016. The main goal was to show the characters and the world of Patlabor using new animation and technology, but it also served as a foreshadowing of the EZY series obviously. It also doesn’t have a specific place in the timeline.
8. Patlabor EZY (anime, 2024-?)
A new anime project was announced back in 2017 and in 2022, it has been confirmed that the series would have a 2024 premiere. As of the time of writing, there is no official release date for the series and while we do have some production shots, we don’t know much about the show. We assume that it might be a sequel series, but we cannot confirm the setting at this moment so we are going to update this article once more information is released.
Where to watch the anime?
You can watch Patlabor the anime series on HIDIVE, the movies are only available for purchase on Amazon.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!