You're under arrest!

The charm of a uniform has always worked on girls. It’s quite easy to see why, since a uniform would make even someone like Goku look charming (It’s all envy for my fantastic orange fighting suit with the turtle symbol. – Goku’s note)(Dream on. – Ryo’s note). If that holds for guys, imagine two girls, already well equipped by mother nature, wrapped in two skin-tight policewomen’s uniforms complete with miniskirts… if all that had a real-life counterpart, the people crowding the various civil-service exams would probably be even more numerous than they already are. All this talk was to introduce the first two OAVs of “Taiho shichauzo!” (also known as “You are under arrest!”), based on the debut work of Kozuke Fujishima, author of “Oh My Goddess!” (I LOVE URD! – Goku’s note).

In short, the plots of the two OAVs are as follows: Natsumi is a girl who loves engines and high speed, so much so that she doesn’t mind at all racing and performing daring stunts on the streets of Tokyo with her folding motorbike(!). Unfortunately, the policewoman Miyuki notices her and, with a calm worthy of a Sinai platypus (a relative of the missile sloth? – Goku’s note), starts chasing her. Because of a kitten crossing the road, Natsumi is forced to stop her race, and Miyuki pulls her over and, with a smile on her face, hands her a mega-fine for speeding, dangerous driving, etc…

At this point a normal person would say “Holy cow”, “darn it all” (Gosh darn. – Goku’s note), would swear like a sailor… Not Natsumi, Natsumi thinks it over and decides to become a policewoman (the Japanese are really out of their gourds). Hired right away (even though it’s unclear how, apparently in Japan you don’t have to take civil-service exams), guess who is assigned to her as a partner? Miyuki herself! Natsumi doesn’t seem to take to her partner right away (I should hope not), but the two have time to bond right afterwards, when they find themselves chasing a red Mini Minor that is roaming undisturbed through the streets of the city. The Minor escapes the policewomen, but thanks to the computer that all police cars (Japanese ones, of course) are equipped with, the two discover that the car’s route isn’t random… well, I don’t want to spoil the surprise. The second OAV follows the lines of the first, except that the one sowing panic is a yellow Lancia Delta(!) and that there is also a cat about to give birth involved.

What immediately strikes you about this series is the high technical quality: everything is taken care of down to the smallest detail. The animation is impeccable, very fluid, the shading, shadows and reflections are the most realistic I have seen in animation, even better than those of Macross Plus (which were already excellent); not to mention the reproductions of the various cars and motorbikes, so realistic as to border on perfection. The character design is by Atsuko Nakajima (famous for designing the characters of Ranma), and is more faithful to that of the Fujishima of “Oh My Goddess!” than to that of the Fujishima of “Taiho shichauzo!”, although unmistakable traces of his hand remain. The only weak point of the whole production is precisely the story: it perfectly reflects Fujishima’s style, that is, short self-contained stories that are moderately funny. In short, then, an average production, perhaps a bit lacking as far as the story goes, but still pleasant to watch and very enjoyable, above all thanks to a very fine technical side that pushes the rest into the background; worth considering if you are a Fujishima fan since, being produced by Pioneer, there are good chances of seeing it in our country too.