In anime-circles, Mamoru Oshii is sort of a God. Perhaps not an infallible deity, but certainly one of the few directors in the business who've spent their career creating consistently excellent projects. His 1995 film, Ghost in the Shell still resonates at the height of Science-Fiction and his earlier works, like this one, Patlabor, are still of high interest to those looking for the very best works of the medium. In Patlabor 1, Oshii takes his oft-used notion of technology and power, turning it into a Biblically-inspired detective story and finding a happy-medium between enjoyable action and serious reflection.
On the surface, it's a mecha-anime but underneath it's very much a story about the ill-use of power by technocrats. The technocrat in question is Hoba, a genius-recluse who, in addition to creating software that the entire world relies on, has designed a new project that will turn Tokyo into a 'Cosmopolis'. Shortly before the project's completion though, a band of labour units (robot mechas known as 'Patlabors') run amok, functioning autonomously without their intended human-input. This puts the onus on Division II to search for clues about the episode, leading them to a discovery about the horrific truth behind Hoba's planned suicide and technological ambitions.
Similar to the principal antagonist in Paul Auster's, City of Glass, Hoba's obsession with wrath plays towards his misuse of power. He sees his new vision of the world as an homage to the Tower of Babel -- as a a way of invoking a Godly wrath through his own software. His creation of the Ark projects his desire to remove vice from the world, but why? We're never given an insight into his character but through symbolism and imagery, Patlabor segments a blend of old and new Japan, pitching a reflective take on the notion of progress and change in an anime that, essentially, ends with a massive fight between two mecha units.
Is this Manga version with UK dubbing? Is this the version taken from a VHS tape? Does it have 5.1 sound?