Patlabor: Early Days Ep. 6: SV2’s Longest Day, Part 2

While eating at a stand, Goto watches news on TV about the areas occupied by the SDF. He then runs into his car to answer a phone call from Shinshi, who says the SDF has occupied the SV2 station house. Kanuka disguises herself as a food delivery person to find out what’s going on. Shige tells her that Unit 2 is in pieces, and Unit 3 has been cannibalized for spare parts, leaving them with just Alphonse at the Hachioji factory. Sakaki mentions there’s a Patlabor at the Nakano Police Academy, which he guarantees will run. Later, Kanuka calls Goto and relays that Shige overheard the soldiers talking about having a nuke. Elsewhere, Asuma and Noa fly by airplane back to Tokyo. Shinobu speaks to Police Chief Kaihou, who mentions that many politicians have been detained, so he’s running police operations outside the city. He appoints Shinobu as garrison commander and orders her to break past the barricade and regroup outside the city. Shinobu asks why they have to give up the territory without a fight, and he explains that a U.S. cruise missile was stolen two days earlier from Yokota. He says the rebels probably have a nuclear warhead, and if the police fight the rebels, it’ll probably trigger a full scale civil war. He tells Shinobu they have to buy time until things cool off, but she refuses to follow the orders. She says retreating without fighting would show the police were defeated and couldn’t protect the country. Kaihou tells her she has no place to object, and a politician asks how she knew what would be happening. She mentions that Goto told her, and Kaihou states that Kai and Goto were friends. He accuses her and Goto of conspiring with Kai and strips her of her rank. A man tries to arrest her, but she knocks him out and says she’ll be acting on her own. She then calls Goto, and he’s surprised by her insubordination. Shinobu reminds him that he dragged her into things and that he’s a criminal too. She asks what his connection is to Kai, but he says he has to go and hangs up. At the police academy, Ota steals a training Patlabor and hops into a truck with Kanuka and Shinshi. With Kanuka creating a mess on the road, a disguised Goto gets through a police checkpoint. Asuma calls Goto and mentions he saw Kai the day before. Asuma tells Noa that Alphonse is at the factory, so they have to go there to pick it up. Goto thinks about everything that’s happened up to now and wonders what the connection is between Tomakomai and Sendai, where the trailer broke through days earlier. As he drives through the city, he sees a billboard for a coastal ferry that travels to Tomakomai, Sendai and Tokyo. Kanuka speaks to an official from the U.S. military to get information on the stolen missile. She jokes that she’s entitled to some hush money for this, and that comes in the form of a Gatling gun delivered to Ota and Shinshi. Elsewhere, Goto calls Matsui from a stolen ambulance and asks for some help with the Maritime Safety Agency. Later, Goto and Matsui meet with a man named Kubo who tells them that the ferry Safflower disappeared on the way from Tomakomai to Tokyo. A helicopter was sent to investigate and snapped photos of a missile launcher on the forward deck. It also snapped pictures of the ferry Pacific with a missile launcher, and Goto guesses that one of the two is a dummy.

On the Safflower, Kai gets a call from Goto and says he assumes Goto saw everything in the pictures. Goto says there’s no proof any of it is real, and Kai says there’ll be proof if he uses it. Kai asks Goto to join him, but Goto refuses and reminds him he’s a cop. Kai says he sent out an ultimatum stating that if anything comes within one kilometer of either ship, he’ll launch the missile. He’ll also do the same if the government doesn’t respond before his deadline. Asuma gets a call from Goto and tells him about the missile’s specs. Jitsuyama grabs the phone and says he’s been given permission to donate a paratrooper labor, but Asuma thinks his father is doing it just to boost sales later. Goto says he can use the labor, and Asuma prepares to leave. At Sakuradamon, a gunship chases after the truck Shinshi is driving. Kanuka speeds ahead on a motorcycle and tells Ota to open fire when they reach the mouth of the tunnel they’re driving through. Ota opens fire and destroys part of the road, causing the truck to fall through. Kanuka leaps over the gap and crashes next to several soldiers, who detain her. At the factory, the prototype Helldiver is loaded onto an American submarine, and Goto explains the Americans agreed to it because the situation could go bad for them. Because of the high G-forces involved in launching from the sub, Hiromi is the only one who can pilot it. Kai is confident no attack will come because the ferries have hundreds of passengers. Two helicopters appear towing Alphonse, and Kai gets a call from Goto. Kai tells Goto to give up, and Goto tells him it’s a poor strategy to keep his trump card close to him. Kai recalls Goto’s strategy was to keep his opponent talking and not show his weakness. Goto then calls Asuma and tells him to target the Safflower only because Kai is there. Matsui brings up the possibility of Goto being wrong, but Goto says they have no choice because Kai is demanding that the Diet and political parties be dissolved and that the constitution be suspended. Matsui asks Goto if he thinks Kai will fire the missile, and Goto says he will. Matsui asks Goto if he’s sure he’s not on Kai’s side, but Goto says nothing. Asuma tells Noa to keep her cool, and the American sub moves into position to launch the Helldiver. The Helldiver launches and lands on the Safflower‘s deck. One of its arms is blown off, and Hiromi moves to destroy the launcher. Kai presses the emergency launch button, but Hiromi smashes the launcher’s barrel. Alphonse lands on the ship, and Noa tells everyone they’re under arrest. Kai laughs and sees that it’s all over, saying that it took 20 years to take what started as two people and get to this point.