The "PATLABOR" talk show was filled with love and hate! Report on "Ryusuke Obayashi (Kiichi Goto) and Yoshiko Sakakibara (Shinobu Nagumo) talk show with online pay-per-view captains" in commemoration of the "TV-Geki Patlabor 2+ Exhibition" in Tsuchiura City!

In commemoration of the "Mobile Police Patlabor 30th Anniversary Commemoration in Tsuchiura "TV-Geki Patrol 2+" Exhibition," a talk event with Ryusuke Obayashi (playing Kiichi Goto) and Yoshiko Sakakibara (playing Shinobu Nagumo) was held online on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

This talk event was held to commemorate the "Mobile Police Patlabor 30th Anniversary Commemoration in Tsuchiura "TV-Geki Patrol 2+" Exhibition" being held at the Tsuchiura City Civic Gallery from January 14 (Sat) to February 13 (Sun), 2022.

The event was a sequel to the captain's talk show that was very popular during the "Mobile Police Patlabor 30th Anniversary" exhibition held at Ikebukuro Marui at the end of 2018, so the two cast members who played popular "Patlabor" characters talked with each other for the first time in three years.

The host of the event was Naoki Yoshida, announcer of Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc. Yoshida, who first encountered "Patlabor" when he was in junior high school and is a freak, ranking it among the best anime of his life, enlivened the event with the kind of itchy talk that only an old-time fan can provide.

Viewers were also able to participate in the program by posting questions and comments in the chat room, and the event was a great success with a variety of topics flying around.

This time, we report on the event.

Encounter with "Patlabor

Yoshida has been a Patlabor fan for 30 years. His first job after joining Nippon Broadcasting System was the "All Night Nippon" broadcast in conjunction with the movie "WXIII: Patlabor" released in 2002. After joining the company, Yoshida said she had trouble reading the news and had no jobs available, but she was offered the job because she could talk about "Patlabor. This program was the catalyst for him to become known as "an announcer who can talk about anime," and has led to his current job. He is passionate about "Patlabor," saying, "It has saved me 30 years as an anime fan and 20 years as an announcer.

Mr. Obayashi and Mr. Sakakibara smiled happily as they listened to Mr. Yoshida, such an ardent "PATLABOR" freak. The delivery began in the studio, which was very friendly and filled with passionate feelings.

The first time the two of them worked together as main characters was in the early OVA series (Early Days) of "Mobile Police Patlabor.

At the time, there was no character list as there is today, and scripts were given to the actors on set. Mr. Obayashi's first contact with "Patlabor" was "just going to the studio and hearing from the manager that it was a police story in the near future.

He had no time to develop the character, but "I didn't want a macho, heavy-handed character just because he was the captain of a police force. That was my preconceived notion. That was my first image of Captain Goto.

Ms. Sakakibara, who played the role of Captain Shinobu Nagumo, was informed in advance by her office that "she is a competent woman who stands above men," but since she had previously played several charismatic female leaders, including Kushana in "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and Haman Khan in "Mobile Suit Z Gundam," she thought, "Isn't that too much? Isn't that too much up to now? It was time for me to play a different character," she recalls.

But since I'm a peasant, I thought I should do it if I was called upon to do it. That's why my lines were stiff at first when I read the script," he said, analyzing Nagumo's early acting. When asked how she had planned to play Ms. Nagumo, she replied, "I was just gradually becoming able to talk to people in various industries, and I had heard stories about my friends who were working hard as career women. It was also time for the Equal Employment Opportunity Law to come into effect, so I was talking about how I should think about being a woman who would be considered wonderful by both men and women, both my boss and subordinates, in the future. Since I had just entered my thirties, I added to the image of the original character and played the role with the hope that I could become an adult woman along with the character. She says that she created her character by overlapping her own career and the life of Shinobu Nagumo, a career woman, as she explored and grasped the character.

Early OVA (Early Days), in which the characters were explored and grasped.

The first episode of "Early Days" was recorded with each of the two with their own thoughts in mind, but their impressions upon seeing the completed video were, surprisingly, "The whole story was vague, so at first I was like, 'Hmmm'" (Sakakibara) and "I didn't know what was going to happen next, so I had a strong feeling of how things were going to turn out" (Obayashi). (Sakakibara), and "I didn't know what was going to happen next, so I was wondering how it was going to turn out.

Obayashi said, "It was not the usual pattern of having an original story, an animated TV series, a popular TV series, an OVA series, and a movie series. However, Mr. Oshii gave his approval, and the sound director, Mr. Shibami, gave his OK, so I trusted him and decided to make a series of six volumes of OVAs.

Sakakibara-san, on the other hand, said, "Personally, I was interested in Captain Goto, played by Obayashi-san, who is also an actor. I wanted to be the adult Nagumo-san who could dodge Goto-san's jokes or surprise him a little and enjoy it, so I went for it. I used to give meaningful answers, didn't I? I said various things with the intention of provoking him." "For example, the scene where Ms. Nagumo says, 'That's fine, isn't it? For example, in the scene where Ms. Nagumo says, "That's fine, isn't it? For example, in the scene where Ms. Nagumo says, "That's fine," I didn't say, "That's fine. It's like that. When I said it like that, Mr. Goto would say, "Hmm? I think that's what he meant. Goto-san's reaction is also attractive, isn't it? I wanted to bring out that reaction. I wanted to bring that out of him.

Looking back, it is true that Ms. Nagumo's phrasing had a nuance that seemed to stir up Captain Goto.

Mobile Police Patlabor the Movie" is a big hit

Following the success of "Early Days," the first theatrical version, "Mobile Police Patlabor the Movie," was produced.

Mr. Obayashi said, "At the time, we didn't know how well the OVA was selling. I didn't hear any rumors about it, so when I heard from the office that they were going to make a movie version, I was like, 'What? I was like, "Oh my God! I was like, 'Does this mean it's popular? I was like, "Does this mean it's popular?

The film was a huge hit, and Mr. Obayashi was delighted. When I received the script for the movie version, I was just beginning to get a sense of where I wanted to go with the character of Captain Goto," he said. There were various scenes that allowed me to test my ideas, so I felt confident even before I started working on the film. I didn't think it was a revolution in animation, but I really felt a new sensibility. I was happy that it was a hit because it was the result of our trial and error.

Sakakibara also felt that a new era had arrived with the success of this work.

I was surprised," he said. （I was surprised by the complexity of the case (depicted in this film). Since I was a child, my parents never showed me anime or manga, so I always thought that anime was for children. I had always thought that anime was for children, since I was never shown anime or manga by my parents since I was a child. I thought it was strange that they were doing it as a career, and when I saw "the Movie," I was relieved that an anime that adults could also watch had come along.

Mr. Obayashi also said here that he is very particular about having a "realistic mannerism" in his work as a voice actor, not only for "Patlabor" but also for his work as a voice actor.

He said, "From a personal point of view, nowadays, the use of voice acting has become so bad that it has become a genre of its own, but back then (he) wanted to speak realistically. So I changed the lines in the script myself in places. If Mr. Shiba gave me the OK, that was fine, and if he said it was not OK, I would change it back. I think that's what I was doing.

This may be the secret behind Kiichi Goto's unique tone and characterization.

TV Series Expands Fan Base

Following the movie version, the TV series "Patlabor" began. When asked if anything has changed since the series became a TV anime with regular weekly broadcasts, Obayashi replied, "No. The TV series has become a TV series with regular broadcasts every week. When asked, "As a worker, the work that used to be irregular has become regular. It was like becoming a regular employee. At the same time, I was happy. OVAs and theater versions are something that people pay to see, but TV was a huge medium at the time for getting a lot of people to watch. That gave me more motivation and the joy of being able to express my role in various situations.

Mr. Sakakibara said, "There were times when (Ms. Nagumo) was not in the show, and I was sometimes confused about how the story was developing. At those times, I would try to understand the story through the nuances of my co-star's performance, and it became an opportunity to stimulate my ability to kill throats. The show continued to air even when I wasn't on it, so I could see from small lines in the script that I had a relationship with this person," he said, describing the difficulties involved in the four-cour long series.

New OVA episode 12 "Futari no Karuizawa," a conversational drama for adults

The new OVA series was launched in response to the popularity of the TV series. The new OVA series consists of 16 episodes, including one short episode as well as an episode that depicts the final battle with the nemesis, Gryphon, which was shelved in the TV series.

Among them, episode 12, "Futari no Karuizawa," is described as a particularly unique episode. On their way home from a training course, Captain Goto and Captain Nagumo are trapped in a situation where the main road is blocked by a typhoon. They have no choice but to spend the night at a love hotel. ...... is a small piece of situation comedy.

Only Goto and Nagumo (and the TV announcer) appear in this episode. It would be no exaggeration to say that the strangeness of the conversational dialogue is everything, and they tried their hand at their first prescreening (a production style in which lines are recorded first, and the pictures are applied later). Facing a desk, they recorded the film as if it were a radio drama, and Sakakibara said, "I was excited to be able to do it with my own timing and sensitivity! I was looking forward to it," said Sakakibara.

Mr. Obayashi said, "I think it was the best timing to do "Futari no Karuizawa" at Presco. I had been working on various roles and acting in various situations, and the timing was just right, so I think I was able to do it without too much trouble.

When asked what she thought of the actual film, Sakakibara said, "I had a different impression of it, although I had a feeling that we were going to get closer to each other rapidly. We are adults in the same social position, aren't we? Considering the surroundings in which we work, we don't approach each other so rapidly. So I thought this kind of interesting thing might happen many more times in the future," he commented.

Mr. Obayashi said, "We once talked about whether Mr. Goto really wanted to do 'that kind of thing' or not, but actually (I) was acting very skeevy. I think that led to the reality," he said, imagining that he was acting with no small amount of awareness, and a bit of mature Patlaboratory talk ensued.

Mobile Police Patlabor 2 the Movie" recorded amidst intense conflict

The talk event finally came to an end, and the final topic was "Mobile Police PATLABOR 2 the Movie. As Anna Yoshida said, "There are many ways to look at this movie, but one way is to see it as a movie in which the two are the main characters.

Mr. Sakakibara was very surprised when he read the script, saying, "The personality (of Ms. Nagumo) has changed.

Mr. Sakakibara was playing Ms. Nagumo as a character who was initially a stiff woman who gradually softens, but in this film, Director Mamoru Oshii told him that "Ms. Nagumo has a father complex" and "Ms. Nagumo is an authoritarian, so people like Mr. Goto, who dares to abandon his position and go to a remote place even though he is capable, are not to be liked. He confessed that he was quite perplexed when he was told, "I don't like people like Mr. Goto, who dares to abandon his position and go to the backcountry even though he is capable.

Since he had assumed such a characterization as the young Ms. Nagumo, this was a reversal, and he was quite concerned about how to connect the growth process he had accumulated up to that point with Ms. Nagumo in "2.

Particularly difficult were the speech scene in front of the executives at the Metropolitan Police Department in the latter half of the film, and the "Don't touch me! scene in the latter half of the film.

Actually, I resisted both of these scenes because I am not Ms. Nagumo. Because I'm not Ms. Nagumo. I pulled out of the scene twice, once at the end and again at the end. And at the last scene, "You are under arrest," I turned my back and said, "I can't say this. I had never rebelled against Mr. Oshii until now, so he might have considered me as one of his brains, but I heard that he was shocked by it and told various people that he had parted company with Mr. Oshii.

After that, Director Oshii and Mr. Sakakibara reconciled safely, but he said that he was so uncomfortable with Ms. Nagumo's portrayal in "2".

In response to Mr. Sakakibara's passionate talk about Ms. Nagumo in "2," Mr. Obayashi said, "Film directors are cruel to us.

I don't know if that was Oshii's intention, but as a result, "2" was very good. It was well received. I realized that, although she may not like it, Ryoko Sakakibara, who is an expressive person, had to deal with such problems, and after struggling with them, she came out with what she thought was the best film. I interpreted Ms. Nagumo's scene as having been created because of the actor Yoshiko Sakakibara's conflicts. I interpreted it that way." He did not hide his mixed feelings about the film.

There was still much more to talk about, but the time was up, and the talk event came to an end, leaving the 30-year old passion unquenched.

The talk event can be archived until February 13 (Sun.) (Tickets will be available until February 12 (Sat.) at 23:59). For more information on how to watch the event, please visit the official Patlabor website.

Event Outline

Archived viewing period: 1/17 (Mon.) 17:00 - 2/13 (Sun.) 23:59

Ticket sales will be held until 2/12.

Admission Ticket and Privileges

General price: 3,000 yen (tax included) (Ticket pay settlement fee will be charged separately)

Purchase page

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・Fansite members: 2,000 yen

Tickets will be sold at a discount for fan site members.

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*Please log in to the fan site and purchase from the special page. A special acrylic plate (postcard size) will be included.