Police in a Pod

Of all the series starting off the new year of a very dry Winter season, mangaka Miko Yasu's Hakozume a.k.a Police in a Pod definitely stood out for being one of the most interesting works ever made. A manga that clinched a win in the 66th Shogakukan Manga Awards in the Best General Manga category, alongside Inio Asano's Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction last year (which is now finally getting an anime adaptation), it's no secret that this work is truly something special, and it all had to do with the fact that Miko Yasu herself, was once an ex-cop working in Japan's kouban (a.k.apolice box) police force. Before I go further, I would like to elaborate specificially that the police culture of the East and the West are vastly different, and that has lead to some unnecessary triggering of comparisons made that could extend itself into a hate rant (I'm looking at you ANN), so please do not snare up any hateful rants here as well. Back to the main topic, Hakozume's main episodic stories and arcs are based off of Miko Yasu's personal real-life experiences working in the police force for approximately 10 years, but was saddened by Japan's culture of overwork, and this manga was her way to spread understanding about the profession to encourage public support. She joined the police force in her local kouban as a low-level officer doing crime prevention publicity campaigns, her inspiration for joining being that she felt empathy for families of crime victims, but ultimately left when the officer that filled her role when she took her childcare leave, died of overwork. Being the victim of someone's death can instill emotional guilt, and as best as Miko Yasu tried to cope with the trauma and rallied recruitment efforts, there is yet another turning point of disheartenment to see that the younger generation wasn't all that interested in being a police officer. One boy whom she asked, said that he expressed interest but had some skepticism of the profession, claiming that it was too high of an order for someone like him whom struggled to take care of himself. It was this reason that Miko Yasu decided to convey the message that police officers aren't necessarily upright and honourable people, just regular human beings doing their best on the job. And being a low-level officer herself, it was easy to pitch to publishing companies like Kodansha's Morning magazine to get her work serialized, but although she had experience drawing portraits during her time in the police force, it's because of her inexperience drawing manga that forced her to quit the profession and focus on refining her art to be suitable for serialization. So, to see all the effort finally getting an anime adaptation produced by Madhouse under Kaiji director Yuuzou Satou (aside from last year's Nippon TV live-action drama), everything has come around full circle. This story is supported by the fact that the main female police officer Mai Kawai, serves as a fictional person of the mangaka herself, who's all but done from the police force. Kawai joined the force to earn a stable income, unlike her crude father that ended up on the opposite end of the spectrum. Being a fresh graduate from the Police Academy, she wasn't treated all that well when she was transferred to the local Machiyama Police Box, being hurled hurting remarks that are spokesbeing of the culture and the reception of the outside people. These issues are serious enough for Kawai to throw her letter of resignation, but that was stopped when a new instructor steps in: Seiko Fuji, a once detective chief that got demoted to a sergeant and transferred out for harassing her junior. And man, is Seiko-chan such a ruthless woman to stand her grounda amidst pressure, guiding the almost-resigned Kawai into comedic antics from the usual rank-and-file cases ranging from burglary to assault. And every single one of these chapters has a purpose, referencing back to how Miko Yasu had seen and heard the exact same issues in her police lifetime. To edge the profession ever further, there's the Astro Brothers of Sergeant Seiji Minamoto and his detective sidekick helper Takeshi Yamada. Like Seiko-chan, Minamoto has an eerily similar personality to Fuji, so much so that they tend to clash a lot, putting both Kawai and Yamada as their juniors to shudder in fear. And since everyone knows each other from Police Academy, it's easy to say that both Fuji and Minamoto were in loggerheads with one another, brought to the real work life where the troubles never end. But as much as these two are tutors to their junior counterparts, they do act the role as superiors when life matters most in the fight against crime, solo or syndicate. The Machiyama Police Box has also Miwa Makitaka as a backup force, mainly dealing with stalkers and sex crimes, but with a drawback that her entire world was surrounded with girls and not being accustomed to men. Despite this, she's an iron-fist clad of a woman to stand her ground against the criminals oppressing her, and male-centric divisions like Criminal Affairs will step in if she needs help to handle the most difficult of men. Overall, to bring similar figures that Miko Yasu has known in her 10-year cycle in the police force be replicated to the manga, it really shows how much the audience can really mistake police control in the horrid ways of the real world, though depending on where you live, police brutality will always be the the central taboo. It's glad to have Madhouse produce more shows outside of their comfort zone, now with the studio's recent revival and dabbing into other genres. Along with last season's vampire comedy show Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu a.k.a The Vampire Dies in No Time, Madhouse is chosen to adapt yet another comedy series, albeit one that's focusing more on the police force, and I think like the many recent works Madhouse still has that unmistakable quality that's instantly recognizable. The elephant in the room is with director Yuuzou Satou, of which I've mentioned that he is famous for the Kaiji series. He hasn't had a breakout work since Kaiji Season 2 a decade ago, and finally found his stride with this show. It'll be a long while before he comes back with another work, so for now, enjoy while you can Satou-san. Music is pretty decent too with Riko Azuna and nonoc at the helm. I'd think that I gravitate more towards nonoc's ED "Change" because of famous Vocaloid composer DECO*27, and I know this because DECO*27 composes really good songs that I've heard before, so the standard is there. Works like this are rare to find, even one that's worth the inspiration to be adapted into anime, and I thank mangaka Miko Yasu for being a source of inspiration to draw and illustrate what was once her life's job into manga form, that you can't really find anywhere else. And because this is the AniManga industry, I hope that you don't carry over the overwork culture from your police days to drawing manga. Nonetheless, regardless of where you live in the world, try and see this show from a different perspective, and you might find something to like about it.