Publisher: Sentai Filmworks (USA)Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 26 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2001
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes
After the deletion of ADV’s previous “You’re Under Arrest!” discs and AnimEigo losing the licence to the original OVA and TV series, I had given up any hope of any more of the anime being released. Somehow Sentai have the magic touch and have released not only the second series, but the final (so far) third series. Based on Kousuke Fujishima’s (of “Oh! My Goddess” fame) manga, the series reunites some of the staff from the previous YUA anime outings with animation production by Studio Deen with character designs by Atsuko Nakajima (“Ranma ½” anime). Interestingly only Aoi’s design is noticeably different. Everyone else’s designs remain the same as they appeared throughout the entire anime franchise. The series pretty much follows on from the 1999 film and no real new ground is broken in terms of story. Nothing much has changed from the 1996 TV series. Saori Saga, a high school girl who gets involved in case with Natsumi and Miyuki in the first series returns as a rather uptight cadet. Shouji Toukairin also returns (and leaves, then returns again), but his character is underutilised. Surely the romance between him and Natsumi could have been amped up.
Also making little more than cameo appearances are “Scooter Mama”, Strikeman and the Buddhist priest. Somehow Strikeman seems a whole lot stupider in this series and his brand of justice seems to be forgotten by the writers of the show. The local children, where were in kindergarten in the original OVA series return also, this time as primary school students. And of course Chie Sagamiono returns to hassle Yoriko. Nakajima’s father and new wife, Sena, are also heavily featured this time around. A new mechanic at their Zapper bike workshop, named Honda, becomes a rival to Nakajima for Miyuki’s affections. Another spanner in works rears its head with Natusmi being offered a new job with the Special Forces unit, which of course has the potential to split Natsumi and Miyuki up forever. As I said before, not much has changed from the original series. Even the music is the same. The animation is much better than the original series, that’s for sure, but goes off model numerous times. The quality of the stories is no better than the original, but I’d think I’d seen it all before and no new ground was being broken here. I was a little bored with what looked like a rehash. The end of the series with the tension between Nakajima and Natsumi and with Miyuki sort of made me like the show again though. Certainly I enjoyed seeing this likable cast of characters again, but not a great deal was done with them which hadn’t been done previously. I’ll still give it 6.5 out of 10.
“You're Under Arrest: Full Throttle”
Publisher: Sentai Filmworks (USA)Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 24 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2007 – 2008
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes
Unfortunately for whatever reason, Sentai never licensed the “No Mercy” TV special that was originally broadcast in 2002 after the Japanese TV broadcast repeat of the original series. I’ve never seen it, but after watching the initial episodes I suspected that it was a bridge between the 2001 series and this series. That’s not the case. Apparently the TV special takes place before the second season. A little explanation or just a small justification to audience would be nice. The series begins with Miyuki returning from training in the US and Natsumi returning from her training from the Japanese Self Defence Force. What annoyed me greatly about the beginning of this series is that Natsumi’s departure and sudden return at the end of second series is pretty much glossed over. Natsumi’s stint with the Special Forces unit, supposedly in aid for her to transfer permanently, there is never mentioned. It’s almost like the last few episodes of the second TV series never happened. Ditto for the leaps and bounds Nakajima and Miyuki’s relationship made in the final episode. Everything is set to zero. Honda is never mentioned again, Saori Saga has left before the events of the first episode and Chie Sagamiono doesn’t make any more appearances. For the most part all we are treated to is the usual self-contained stories, which this time around are rather weakly written. It’s as if the writers think the audience has an IQ of a walnut. One episode has the girls dressed in animal suits to entertain a group of children while simultaneously searching for a time bomb. Another is a beach episode coupled with a daft plot where high school boys take candid photos of bikini clad girls and post them to a website. These episodes don’t show any of the female police officers in good light. Most of the time they look rather incompetent. Is it really all that hard to write a reasonably intelligent plot?
The first two episodes start off the series fairly well with Miyuki helping a young rich American boy escape the clutches of jealous relatives. There’s also a great two part arc where Bokuto Station has to deal with a bunch of joyriders causing accidents and fails to curb their behaviour. This cleverly segues into another plot where a vigilante takes out the joyriders and Miyuki takes it on herself to stop the vigilante, against the chief’s orders, due to the injuries sustained by Nakajima due to her actions in attempting to stop the joyriders. It’s really quite well written and makes a fine end to the series (though two OVA episodes close out the show). In the end the last few episodes had won me over and I sort of forgave a lot of the earlier silliness. Unlike the previous two series, the animation here looks pretty darn good. Atsuko Nakajima’s character designs are treated with a lot more respect. What’s quite interesting with this show is the closing animation, with its very heavy Yuri overtones between Natsumi and Miyuki. Perhaps this explains why Natsumi doesn’t really seem to care that Toukairin has disappeared and Miyuki doesn’t seem all that interested if Nakajima never makes a serious move. With this series it really mystified me why the writers didn’t build up on the situations and characters that appeared in the previous anime. Most of the introduced characters and ideas were only briefly mentioned or forgotten entirely. Instead were where yet again stuck with the same cast from the original series. The ideas seemed to be running dry by the midpoint of the series. You really have to wonder why they would do this as it feels a bit like a rehash of the first two series. However there were some great moments here and some quite exciting episodes. I’ll still give the show 6.5 out of 10.
Remaining Backlog: 28 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).
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