Taiho Shichauzo! - The Movie

Title:Taiho Shichauzo! - The Movie
You're Under Arrest: The Movie
逮捕しちゃうぞ : The Movie
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , ,
Notables: FUJISHIMA Kosuke
HIRAMATSU Akiko
KOZAKURA Etsuko
MASAMUNE Issei
MATSUMOTO Rika
SEKI Tomokazu
SHIMADA Bin
TAMAGAWA Sakiko

It has been a year since the end of You're Under Arrest! (TV) when Miyuki and Natsumi helped Inspector Kinoshita solve the big car theft case. Having been sent to seperate training assignments, Miyuki and Natsumi are scheduled to return to Bokuto Station much to the delight of the officers there. In addition, Natsumi learns that the man she loves, Officer Toukairin, is returning as well. But before the parties can start, Aoi-chan and Yoriko make a startiling discovery -- an abandoned car with a trunk full of powerful automatic weapons.

Chief Inspector Arizuka assigns Kinoshita to head the investigation. Meanwhile, Miyuki and Natsumi go on their first patrol together since returning to Bokuto Station and discover that some traffic lights are malfunctioning. Miyuki suspects this is the work of hackers and she's proved right. In addition, phones briefly stop working in the area too. Before that can be checked into, an anonymous tip leads the police force to a late-night night gun smuggling operation on the river. The raid on the boat goes without a hitch and uncovers more weapons and an optical computer disc. These events bring Arizuka to the station where he confronts the Chief about missing Detective Emoto, who's been missing for two years. It seems the brass have kept Arizuka in the dark about things and he's going to change that. When the chief doesn't provide any answers, Arizuka has him arrested.

Things quickly turn worse as terrorist call in a threat to the Bokuto Station to destroy several bridges and proceed to back the threat up by destroying the Sakura Bridge. As Kinoshita scrambles forces, Chief opens up with some information -- the threat is a ruse and the real target is the police station. As Natsumi, Miyuki, Nakajima-kun, and the others race back, the terrorist attack in broad daylight to retrieve the disc. What information is on the disc? What are the terrorists ultimate plans? How does this tie in with the chief?

[1 90-minute movie,]


See Also (in sequence of their release):
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 10 8 8 7 8 AstroNerdBoy #

This is a great sequel to the You're Under Arrest! (TV) series. We have the return of all of the characters including supporting characters except the priest. Aoi-chan and Nakajima-kun get used the least, but where they are used, it is effective. A similar story is told of Detective Tokuno and Aoi's partner Yoriko. Of the supporting cast, Toukaririn fares best as he and Natsumi do reunite and are involved in the action in the end. And while Natsumi and Miyuki are the stars, the focus on the chief was interesting.

There's lots of action, the Natsumi Braking Manuever (TM), hints of the Nakajima-kun (Ken)-Miyuki romance, stronger indications of the Natsumi-Toukairin romance, the Chief Inspector and female inspector, and more. There were other nice tie-in's to the original series including why the chief really was visiting Tokyo Tower & Miyuki's love of painball guns. The only thing missing was the comedy of the TV series. There are some smile moments, but that's it. This is a much more serious movie. I would have enjoyed a tender moment between Ken and Miyuki, especially since Natsumi and Toukairin got one (sort of). Oh well...

As one might expect, the artwork for this movie is outstanding. However, while most of the animation is good, there are a lot of still shots used, especially as the movie nears completion. It feels like the movie either ran out of money, ran out of time, or a combination of both. In a TV series, I expect still shots. I don't expect them in movies, and certainly not so many, especially in action sequences. And I didn't like the character design changes when it came to Miyuki's eyes. Her blue eyes in the OAV were so stunning. In the TV series, the blue would come through sometimes but not always. In the movie, her eyes are brown, as are Natsumi's. Bummer.

Bottom line: I really enjoyed this movie. Yeah, it was YUA gone Hollywood with the extra action, but enough of the charm from the TV series is there to soften that aspect. If you liked You're Under Arrest! (TV), I think you'll enjoy this as well.

Last updated Monday, March 29 2004. Created Monday, March 22 2004.


Other Sites
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Keishichou Network http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/keishichou_db/
This fan-made site aims to provide both old fans and new comers alike with indepth information and spoilers about Kosuke Fujishima's first and highly successful series, Taiho Shichauzo! (You're Under Arrest!)

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