One of the biggest news stories to break recently surrounds a new live action adaptation of the popular PATLABOR series. With details now emerging that AKB48 have been approached to provide not only the theme song, but also AKB48 members appearing in the film, it looks like PATLABOR is going to be one of the most talked-about events of the year.
PATLABOR is a series created by Headgear – a group consisting of several creative talents, including director Mamoru Oshii and manga artist Masami Yūki. The popular franchise has included a manga series, several anime outings and 3 feature length movies. The series look at the work of “Labors” – robotic workers that are also employed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police force and also the officers of the Division 2 section of the police, including main protagonist Noa Izumi.
AKB48’s involvement is said to be in line with the new title of Patlabor – The Next Generation with a focus on appealing to a new younger audience as well as the die-hard older Patlabor fans. Members of AKB48 have previously honed their acting abilities on the anime series AKB0048 and although precise roles have yet to be announced, Team A captain Mariko Shinoda is strongly expected to play the part of Noa Izumi.
AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto is said to be working on the theme song for the new Patlabor series, although no details have emerged on the track as yet.
As most of you probably guessed, this post was purely a 1st April gag. It certainly got picked up by some sources as legit news, thus proving the power of J-Pop Go. Maybe next year we’ll try for something really implausible, such as Kyary Kyary Pamyu being declared Empress Of The Moon (although on her current career trajectory we wouldn’t rule that out…).