Anime: Taiho Shichau zo: You`re Under Arrest (1996)

As the anime industry developed over time, a few tried and true anime formulas have come to light. Such formulas we regard nowadays as clichés and it’s basically a bother to watch them in action. But the question arises: ok, it’s cliché…but is it good or bad?
Ok, what I mean to say is that this is an anime based on an old anime formula and it simply jumps with it in your eyes at the very beginning.Normally, such an anime features a lot of comedy (good or bad,depends), little character development as it bases itself on the interaction between the two main characters that are two complete opposites, a weak storyline (if any) and simply beckons the watcher to just go with the flow of the whole thing.
Of course…I’m talking about the type of anime that pits together a quiet guy/girl and an energetic type, very loud most often. And “You’re under arrest” is probably the anime that’s most representative for the genre.

Now, it’s an anime about police business. Sadly, it’s mostly traffic stuff and police business that’s fit for a children’s story. We’ve got ladies driving in skirts and high-heels, policemen that can stop and have a chat with the children, kids that obey all of the traffic rules(like that would have chance to happen in the next million years), people practicing mountain climbing on the sides of a building, a whole police station that seems like it’s some sort of high-school class and much more stuff that really shows nothing of the real police business that could’ve been fitted into this. Whatever…I’ll cover this a little bit later.

Things put into perspective, this is mostly a character driven series.It’s episodic for the better part of it and it relies heavily on character chemistry. Ok, this is not a bad thing at all since the anime manages to bring together a lovable cast and a lot of great moments between them. But, taken its episodic nature…this is one anime that’s better viewed on television, day by day, or week by week because each episode is a slice of that station’s life and watched back to back…weeeeellll, it gets a bit boring at times.

As the series opens, one can’t help but be dazzled by the animation.It’s a passing thing (don’t get your hopes high) but the first 4episodes are simply perfect in terms of animation. It’s actually incredible to know that those episodes date from 1994 and it just goes to show you how much the budget can impact the animation quality of an anime.

What makes the first episodes so impressive is mostly the very realistic animation for the vehicles. Plus, there are quite a number of dynamic camera angles during different sequences of the action. Ok,it’s a technical stuff about the animation and you’re surely not interested in this; but the only reason I’m mentioning it is the fact that it’s very rare in anime, in new anime even. So, finding such things in a series so old was actually stunning for me.

Ok, but the novelty wears off as soon as the fifth episode from which the animation goes downhill fast and furious. Ok, I’m guessing they balanced the number of episodes to the animation costs and it turned out pretty much unwatchable. Everything from car movement details to character details and backgrounds have been simplified and the animation is terribly lacking in fluidity. Ok, the static panels have reappeared…I was actually missing an anime with such animation.

But, where the animation fails…the sound and music more than make up for it. Besides the first 4 episodes that are pure gold (I noticed classic music for very well balanced scenes…pure bliss), the rest of the anime does not disappoint at this chapter either.

YUA is probably one of the very few anime titles that manage to introduce about every type of music possible in an anime. From classic music to some rock tunes…you hear it all. And I must say that most of the time, all this is actually very well in tune with what’s happening on screen. Add to this mix of images the great sounds of the cars and you’ve pretty much got a winning formula in the sound department.

Oh, before I forget…the voices are good too. Not something extraordinary but good nonetheless.

As I’ve said earlier, the anime is mostly episodic with very short story arcs appearing from time to time. It’s understandable since is a slice of (police) life anime and a coherent plot line would not be extremely welcomed here. The immediate effect of this would be the fact that the anime is very hard to watch back to back as it gets boring after some time: case comes up, the two policewomen act like f*****g super-cops and put a stop to the evil plan via their superior skills and everything starts again the day after. To this formula add quite a dosage of comedy of all sorts, from situation to character, and you’ve got YUA in a nutshell.

The anime, most of the times, shows police problems that are minor and annoyingly unrealistic. Ok, let’s not bitch about realism in anime but it’s a drag watching the police taking care of cases in a most unprofessional manner and it simply becomes redundant to see how the main characters come out perfectly fine at the end.
Add to this the fact that the atmosphere is mostly that of a highschool classroom full of noisy, nosy girls and you kinda get the idea of what Bokuto station actually is. There’s absolutely NO indication that we are in fact dealing with a police station apart from the fact that everyone wears uniforms…and policewomen go on patrols dressed in tight skirts and at the same time drive like street racers…interesting concept of upholding the law.

But, there’s no need for me to be mean right now. The anime may not have a plot sort of say but it has many, MANY great moments. Have you ever felt relieved to see two characters finally kissing? Have you ever felt anger that a misunderstanding pushed two characters apart? Well, YUA shines by making you actually care for its characters and their fates. It is after all a character driven series done right.

Let me expand on that idea and the one I’ve presented at the beginning of this review. The team that Natsumi and Miyuki form up is probably best done here than I’ve seen in any other anime of the kind. There’s a chemistry forming between the two from the very get-go and it only gets better along the way…one doesn’t overshadow the other and together they’re incredibly fun to watch in action and cracking cases.

What makes this couple different from many others that have appeared in the anime is that, despite their inhuman skills, the characters are very humane in their essence. No perfect personalities completely tuned to one extreme character trait and thus, the characters become perfectly lovable as the show goes on and their relationship strengthens, with its ups and downs.

All’s well thus far but how are the other characters you’d come to ask I guess.
Not much can be said about the others except for the fact that we’re dealing with a diverse cast, full of surprises at every turn and equally lovable as the main team. Unlike most anime of the same genre,this one takes its time in the 51 episodes over which it spans to develop each character and to establish its motives, its past and its current situation. There are no characters that get thrown in without any use or without any explanation…only the villains are only passing by.

Overall, the cast of characters that this anime presents is what I’d come to call the ultimate crack-head police squad. They posses skills beyond those of normal policemen and are proud of it.

As a closure I can only stress out the fact that this is NOT an anime to be watched back to back but to be savored little by little by those that can bypass the horrible animation that ensues after episode 4.
It’s a slice of life anime and a damn good one at that.