Fans of the classic Patlabor franchise have more content to look forward to, as an upcoming issue of Shogakukan‘s Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine revealed on Monday that Masami Yūki is preparing a second brand-new one-shot story for the series, slated for the August 17 release. Along with the manga, the upcoming issue will highlight a special conversation between Yūki and producer/notable Patlabor enthusiast Nobuyuki Sakuma, a collaborative piece alongside Snowball Earth author Yuhiro Tsujitsugu, and an exclusive manga panel sticker bonus.
© Shogakukan
This follows the initial one-shot released by Yūki earlier this year on May 18.
Yūki is well-known as a founding member of the Headgear creative team, which originally conceived the Patlabor universe. Between 1988 and 1994, Yūki serialized the property’s official manga adaptation within the pages of Shogakukan‘s Weekly Shonen Sunday, spanning 22 collected volumes. Though Viz Media introduced the English adaptation to Western audiences in 1998, they only published the first two volumes.
The property has continued to see diverse crossover projects, such as Naoto Tsushima‘s launch of Zoids x Patlabor -Code Name B.U.D.D.Y.- on IMAGICA Infos‘ Hero Comics platform back in September 2025.
To recap its storied history, the Patlabor concept—featuring law enforcement officers operating specialized robotic mecha units known as patrol labors—was formulated by HEADGEAR. This elite collective included director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Sky Crawlers), writer Kazunori Itō (.hack, Dirty Pair), mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi (Eureka Seven, Mobile Suit Gundam), character designer Akemi Takada (Kimagure Orange Road, Urusei Yatsura, Fancy Lala), and manga artist Masami Yūki (Birdy the Mighty). Over the years, the intellectual property expanded into multiple original video animation series, a television broadcast, and three feature films, concluding its theatrical run with Patlabor WXIII in 2002.
Home video distribution rights for major entries—including the Patlabor OVA catalog, Patlabor the Mobile Police: The New Files OVA, Patlabor: The Movie, Patlabor 2: The Movie, and Patlabor WXIII—are currently held by Maiden Japan, who previously acquired them.
Looking ahead, the upcoming Patlabor EZY anime initiative is structured as an eight-part release rolled out across three cinematic events on May 15, August 14, and March 2027. While “File 1” arrived on May 15 and “File 2″ is set for August 14—both functioning as omnibus collections featuring six standalone episodes—”File 3” will drop in March 2027 to wrap up the project with a final two-part narrative.
Source: Weekly Big Comic Spirits website