Patlabor EZY Pilot Video to Play This Summer

The official website for the Patlabor EZY anime series announced on Saturday that a pilot video for the project will debut on August 13 at 4:00 p.m. JST at a special Patlabor Day screening event at the Sofmap AKIBA Amusement Center. The screening will be exclusive to members of the franchise's third fansite. The pilot video will then screen at the TV Drama Patlabor 2 exhibition in Osaka from August 14-21 and in Tokyo from September 3-19.

There will also be a talk event at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall on July 24 with director Yutaka Izubuchi, Teruhisa Tajima, and Senmu Miyawaki.

The screening event will also play the "Mobile Police Patlabor Reboot" anime short alongside the Patlabor EZY pilot.

Yutaka Izubuchi (Patlabor mechanical designer) is directing the video. GENCO representative director Taro Maki (Patlabor the Mobile Police, Nodame Cantabile, Millennium Actress) previously confirmed that he is producing the Patlabor EZY anime series.

The Patlabor franchise's original concept of police officers piloting robotic mecha (patrol labors or "Patlabors") was developed by HEADGEAR, a group consisting of director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Sky Crawlers), script writer Kazunori Itō (.hack, Dirty Pair), mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi (Eureka Seven, Mobile Suit Gundam franchise), character designer Akemi Takada (Kimagure Orange Road, Urusei Yatsura, Fancy Lala), and manga creator Masami Yuuki (Birdy the Mighty). The franchise spawned two original video anime, a television anime series, and three anime films. The last anime film, Patlabor WXIII, was released in theaters in Japan in 2002.

The Japan Anniversary Association officially recognized August 10 as Patlabor Day.

The "Mobile Police Patlabor Reboot" anime short debuted in Japan in October 2016 and began streaming on the Japan Anima(tor)'s Exhibition's (Japan Animator Expo) official website in November 2016.

The live-action The Next Generation -Patlabor- project, which debuted in 2014, consisted of a seven-part series and a feature length film.

Maiden Japan has licensed the Patlabor OVA series, Patlabor The Mobile Police: The New Files OVA, Patlabor: The Movie, Patlabor 2: The Movie, and Patlabor WXIII.

Sources: Patlabor EZY project's website, Anime! Anime!