Division 2 (plus Kanuka) heads to a hot springs on vacation. Asuma complains to Hiromi about having to walk in the cold so far to the hot spring. Noa and Kumagami join them, and Kumagami mentions she has to get something from her room first. Kumagami joins everyone for dinner and sits down next to Kanuka. Goto gives a toast and thanks everyone for a year of hard work. Kanuka starts drinking when Kumagami tries to toast her, and Kumagami asks for a word outside. Kumagami tells Kanuka that she left her underwear in the hamper, so she took it and put it in her bag. Kanuka becomes upset and tells Kumagami that opening her bag was an invasion of privacy. Kumagami apologizes, but Kanuka says nothing and goes back into the room. Hiromi starts distributing sake to everyone. Kumagami offers to pour for Kanuka, but Kanuka says she doesn’t need anyone to pour things for her and does it herself. Shinshi takes Asuma, Noa and Hiromi outside to discuss the problem with Kanuka and Kumagami. Noa thinks that Shinshi is overreacting, and Asuma asks Noa if something happened in the bath, but she doesn’t know. Ota isn’t happy with a small cup and pours his sake into a large mug. Kumagami tells him he shouldn’t overdo it, and Kanuka cuts in that Kumagami doesn’t have to take command. Shinshi tries to change the subject by telling Kanuka that the sashimi is delicious, but she says she can’t eat raw fish. Kumagami asks how not drinking too much is taking command, and Kanuka responds by asking Kumagami if she isn’t using their ranks to her advantage. Hiromi says he doesn’t think so, Asuma ignores them by stuffing his face with food, and Noa changes the subject by saying they should have fun. Kumagami wants to hear Ota’s opinion, and he nervously fumbles and offers her some sake. Kumagami declines, but he keeps insisting, which causes Kanuka to yell at him. Kumagami then changes her mind and says she wants a drink. When Asuma goes to the toilet, Noa accuses him of trying to run away. Kanuka mentions the Four Emissaries of Tensho, and Kumagami starts reciting history. Noa and the others huddle outside the room to discuss the situation. Ota comments that he fears for his life, and Goto ignores them on the way to the toilet. Kumagami can’t remember the name of the last emissary, so Asuma suggests they all just get drunk and go wild.
Kumagami and Kanuka keep drinking more and more sake, so everyone else keeps drinking to catch up. Kumagami comments that it’s not necessary to know every bit of trivia because interpreting data is more important. Kanuka responds that she doesn’t completely agree, and Kumagami asks what she means. Kumagami runs out of sake and asks everyone else what they’re doing since they’ve turned their backs away. Asuma tells them not to worry, and Kumagami asks him to come over and join their conversation. Goto makes a phone call and asks Shinobu how things are going in Tokyo. Shinshi and Ota start to feel sick, and Asuma is caught in the middle between Kanuka and Kumagami as they continue to bicker. Kanuka says they can’t make fatal mistakes in their line of work and that important information should be memorized before going to the crime scene. Kumagami asks why the names of the emissaries are so important, and Kanuka notes that Kumagami is a Japanese woman working in Japan. Kumagami asks Asuma for his opinion, so he tosses it over to Noa. Ota announces his farewell and falls asleep. Kanuka asks Kumagami how she’s holding up and notes that for someone who didn’t want sake, she’s drinking a lot. The two then start competing by saying a series of tongue twisters and compliment each other on their skills. Shinobu tells Goto that he has a dispatch, but he doesn’t want to go back to the room. Ota snores loudly, so drunk Shinshi turns him over to shut him up. Kumagami keeps trying to remember the last name, and Kanuka says this is why she needs to memorize things. Kumagami asks Kanuka if she knows, so Kanuka starts reciting the names of U.S. presidents and bits of Texas history. Hiromi starts crying, and Shinshi starts rambling about different people. Ota wakes up and starts shouting out the window, but he leans over too much and falls into the hot spring where Goto is. Ota runs back to the room and asks who pushed him, and Hiromi gets up. Kanuka tells Ota to sit down, and Kumagami asks if that’s an order. Drunk Kumagami walks over to Ota and tells him he fell out the window himself. He doesn’t accept that, so she grabs him and tosses him out the window. He runs back up again, and this time Kanuka tosses him out the window. Noa panics and tries talking to Asuma, but he’s drunk. Noa then wakes Goto up and complains that she can’t get drunk, but he tells her she is drunk. Ota keeps drinking more as everyone sleeps, and he sneezes from his dips in the water. The next morning, Kumagami remembers the last name. Kumagami and Kanuka feel normal, but everyone else is hung over. However, the two keep competing and try to walk faster than each other.
As with many other episodes in the second OVA, labor action takes a backseat in this story. This time, the members of Division 2 have gone on a vacation at a hot springs and Kanuka is along for the ride. Things immediately go south when Kanuka gets offended by Kumagami going into her bag, but I don’t see what the big deal is. The tension gets worse and worse as the two women start drinking and arguing with each other. The tension isn’t surprising given how compulsively competitive the two are. I think most people can relate to this scenario because everyone has been in an awkward situation that you can’t get out of. While everyone else tries to change the subject or lighten the atmosphere, Goto has the best solution by just ignoring them completely and running away. It’s also fun to see everyone drunk, and as Ota learns, even when they’re drunk, you don’t want to mess with Kanuka or Kumagami. Since this is Kanuka’s last appearance in Patlabor, it was good to see her one more time.
Patlabor: The New Files Info
Director:
Naoyuki Yoshinaga
Writer(s):
Kazunori Ito
Mamoru Oshii
Yutaka Izubuchi
Michiko Yokote
Hibari Arisu
Mechanical Designer(s):
Yutaka Izubuchi
Yoshinori Sayama
Character Designer:
Akemi Takada
Musical Composer:
Kenji Kawai
Format:
16 episodes
Video Release:
Japan 11.22.1990 – 04.23.1992
U.S. 06.14.2005 – 10.11.2005
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