Throughout Tokyo, a frightening number of construction Labors have begun to suddenly go berserk and violently malfunction. The growing chaos of Tokyo is overshadowed by the looming edifice of the Babylon Project, the lynchpin of Japan's plan to reclaim the land under Tokyo Bay. To make matters worse, its lead architect recently committed suicide by throwing himself off of it into the waves below. How will the Metropolitan Police's Division 2 investigate the malfunctions in the midst of world-wide destruction, when the reliability of their own Labors lies in doubt?
A mysterious new hacker known only as the Puppet Master threatens to create chaos, erasing and rewriting the memories of his victims: humans who have cast away their physical body to become cyborgs. Is he an evil genius, or could he signal the beginning of a new age in the relationship between man and machine?
Both are told in a similar fashion thanks to master film director Mamoru Oshii. The atmospheres and moods are very similar and both deal with solving a mystery in a world with mechas.
As the battle against the angels continues Shinji and Rei receive reinforcements in the form of two new pilots: the temperamental Asuka Langley and the secretive Mari Illustrious. Between battles the pilots find time to try and create the semblance of a normal life, but following a traumatic battle Shinji decides to quit his position and leave Nerv. Just then the most powerful angel yet arrives, launching a devastating attack against Nerv headquarters, brushing aside all resistance and threatening to consume the only thing Shinji holds dear...
Sometimes the movie version can clarify, continue, or even in some instances improve the overall scope of the TV series.
In the case of both Patlabor , and Neon Genesis Evangelion's latest set of movies, you will see updated, crisp animation and tighter, non-fill type storyline.
Patlabor is an actual continuation, and 1.0 and 2.0 for Eva are more or less complete changes in continuity. But both are pleasant updates to well established franchises.
Two major world powers have constructed the most dangerous weapon on earth: Tactical Armor (TA), an elite fighting mecha with extreme agility and fighting strength. Yushiro Gowa is the top TA pilot and captain of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, an orginization that uses the TAs to try and bring honor back to Japan. Yushiro must make a hard decision and face the truth about his past and the secrets of the Gowa family, who will use their adapted spiritual powers to summon Gasaraki and unleash terror on all of mankind.
Aside from both focusing on Mecha, both also focus on a more political and social side to the story. Action isn't the most important thing going on. It's the political and social backdrop that both series -in my opinion- revolve around.
"I have only abandoned my body, I still live here" - are the words emailed to friends of Chisa, several days after her death by suicide. As Lain delves deeper into the world of the "Wired" (also known as the internet), the line between it and reality becomes more and more unclear. Close the world, open the nExt.
God is in computer viruses.
Does that sentence make any sense at all? Perhaps, perhaps not, but one thing the dark, serious-minded Lain shares in common with the first Patlabor film is a rather involved look at computer technology, how technology is changing our world, and the elaborate schemes of one programmer. Lain does this rather better and more directly than this Patlabor film, but it too is also good.
From the depths of the human imagination comes Twilight Q, a Twilight Zone-style set of two tales based upon the paranormal and supernatural. In one story, Mayumi and Kiwako find a camera that supposedly came from the future, with very interesting film and already-taken pictures inside. Secondly, a tale by Mamoro Oshii which chronicles a strange occurance of planes turning into carp in mid-air, much to the dismay of private investigators and the media alike.
The second episode of Twilight Q and the first Patlabor film - both by Mamoru Oshii - are brooding, contemplative works, prominently featuring a mysterious man with a trenchcoat and sunglasses. The Patlabor film is the more normal of the two works, with recognisable characters and mecha and so on, but if you enjoyed one you may appreciate the other.