Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Mîna Tominaga | ... | Noa Izumi (voice) | |
Briony Glassco | ... | Noa Izumi (1995) (voice) | |
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Julie Ann Taylor | ... | Noa Izumi (2006) (voice) |
Toshio Furukawa | ... | Asuma Shinohara (voice) | |
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David Jarvis | ... | Asuma Shinohara (1995) (voice) |
Doug Erholtz | ... | Asuma Shinohara (2006) (voice) | |
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Ryûnosuke Ôbayashi | ... | Captain Kiichi Gotoh (voice) |
Peter Marinker | ... | Captain Kiichi Gotoh (1995) (voice) (as Peter Marincker) | |
Roger Craig Smith | ... | Captain Kiichi Gotoh (2006) (voice) | |
Yoshiko Sakakibara | ... | Deputy Section Chief Shinobu Nagumo (voice) | |
Sharon Holm | ... | Deputy Section Chief Shinobu Nagumo (1995) (voice) | |
Megan Hollingshead | ... | Deputy Section Chief Shinobu Nagumo (2006) (voice) (as Karen Thompson) | |
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Michihiro Ikemizu | ... | Isao Oota (voice) |
Martin McDougall | ... | Isao Oota (1995) (voice) (as Martin McDougal) | |
Sam Riegel | ... | Isao Oota (2006) (voice) |
A Japanese police unit who use giant anthropomorphic robots (called Labors) is caught up in a political struggle between the civilian authorities and the military when a terrorist act is blamed on an Air Force jet. With the aid of a government agent, the team gets close to a terrorist leader to stop things from going out of control when after the military is impelled to impose martial law. Written by <smckim@hollywoodreporter.com>
This is a fine example of what Japanese animation can produce at its best. The style of this movie strongly reminds me of a Tom Clancy novel, which is unusual for anime. At the beginning I was a little put off by the slow pace of the movie, but as the story unfolded, I was sucked in by its complexity and realism. Indeed, the conflict and the political games between the government, the army and the police are so well constructed that I thought "this could *really* happen!"
If you liked this movie you should try to see "Jin-roh". There's the same kind of political and military intrigue but the story is more personal and close to the action than the high-circle strategy atmosphere which permeates Patlabor 2.