This is my favorite in the franchise so far. It's still not incredible in my opinion, but it does have this certain charm that a lot of the best retro anime have which the previous installments were mostly missing. It technically came out before the movies I've already talked about, but I held off on it because on MyAnimeList the movies were listed as sequels to the OVA, where as this one was listed as an Alternative Setting, which I take to mean that it is a reboot. And the ones that'll come after this I believe are listed as sequels tothis. This 47 episode TV series is mostly episodic, but it does have an overarching plot, somewhat. The police use giant robots called Patlabors to protect people from criminals using their own Patlabors. It's basically the same premise as all of the previous entries in the franchise. Except this is the first one where I got truly invested in it. Aside from that, they also have to navigate the bureaucratic BS of the Japanese police and government. There's been countless anime over the years that showcases how frustrating that is, and this anime doesn't do anything new with that. What makes this anime so enjoyable is the characters personalities and banter with each other, which they finally managed to make funny, interesting, and enjoyable. I never laughed out loud, but there were many moments where I smiled, chuckled, or even a bit more than that. It did start to overstay its welcome a bit by the end, but it thankfully concluded before I got bored with it. My favorite character is probably either Noa Izumi or Shinobu Nagumo. They're both funny, cute, and likable, and Shinobu in particular has this inspiring strength to her in a field that's clearly primarily male dominated aside from her and Noa.