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The World of Patlabor?

Time Enough

"Enthusiastic Cis Male Partner"
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So I've been wondering recently about the world of now honorary alternate history Patlabor franchise.

So for those don't know Patlabor was an anime franchise starting in 1988 set in the late 90s/early 00s about Police Unit in Tokyo that uses Mecha's to fight Crime caused by people using industrial Mechas...although usually it's a drunk builder who's hijacked one than evil terrorists or shady corporations (although they do turn up). Essentially imagine Brooklyn Nine Nine set in Japan, made in the late 80s and the police use Mechas to fight crime.

Anyway very little is mentioned about the world outside of Tokyo, we know the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact still exists, global warming is occuring faster than expected and that science is more advanced in some ways (Mechas and robots) but less advanced in other ways (Cassette Tapes and VHS is still common). Essentially the show could be best described as Japan BubblePunk.

Anyway on the other place I thought up some ideas although it's flawed in a few different ways (for example I bet LGBTQ+ issues would still be big like the early 90s in otl) but it's a start:
Been watching the cult anime series Patlabour recently and it made me think how the possible world the SVU 2 inhabit could come around.This was mainly made as a curiosity experiment bases on the vauge infomation provided by the series used as a starting point for that world's bizarre late 90s. Enjoy.

The Labour of Man: A Patlabour one shot
The late 20th Century showed the best and worst of humanity. New and brilliant technology was created that helped enhance the world people lived in but old political rivalries and greed almost plunged the world into apocalypse. The story starts when in 1976 a British scientist accidentally created a new composite material similar to carbon fibre whilst working at Chobham Common. Dubbed with the name “Wells” Metal it became popular with the defence, automotive and construction industries due to its strength and durability but its relative lightness compared to other metals.

This seemed to start an age of creativity and scientific breakthrough with computer programming and electronics advancing the most. In 1986 the first labour a Mecha which could be used for a variety of tasks but mainly construction was designed by Japanese designer Akria Yamzaki and former Toyota engineer Jitsuyama Shinohara and became a reality by 1988 thanks to the advancements in computing and the improvements in “Wells” Metal. Which was good as the world needed them due the effects of global warming.

Although global warming had been predicted since the 1970s but it was only in the 1980s that signs of its effects were seen. As the sea levels increased and the threat of global climate change became a reality various scientists around the world tried to convince the various governments of its effects but the west were ignored due to the ideas proposed to curb its effects were deemed as not gelling well with the politics of Reganism and Thatcherism whilst in the east it was seen as dissidents and often silenced by overly paranoid communist governments.

However in 1987 its effects were felt as large portions of the world were flooded in a series of horrifying storms followed by a series of heat waves and droughts. In 1989 the worst of storms Hurricane Ira damaged large portions of New York and London which helped cause an economic downturn not seen since the 1930s followed by a widespread famine in the middle east which helped cause a war between Syria and Iraq and Iran which almost lead to World War 3 before America and the USSR forced the various countries to the negotiating table. The world decided to start trying to curb the effects of global warming and for the most part was successful apart from some rough spots here and there. The world of 1997 is very different from our own in variety of ways.

In North America the U.S.A is still top dog however it’s been rattled thanks to economic downturn caused by New York turning into a modern day Venice and climate change causing areas of country down south to be uninhabitable or difficult to live in. President Ross Perot who just managed to become president leads a America that’s slowly becoming divided between the increasingly left wing democrats, a republican party that’s fighting it’s self and Perot’s own party on the ropes after a variety of political and economic failures. Not helping is the declining fossil fuel companies who are trying fight back against various regulations and the rise of various labour corporations like Schaft and Leyland-Toyota who have their own plans for future.

Meanwhile in Canada things are going well. The rise in global temperature has lead to large areas of Canada becoming farm land and the various Canadian cities are popular manufacturing sites for Labour companies. Even a large amount of Hollywood has moved to Canada but that’s mostly due to the new California heat being rather unbearable for most people. However a large amount of corruption and bribery behind the scenes is threatening to reveal particularly after a labour disaster in Toronto the year before revealed a corruption scandal that lead up to the office of the mayor.

Meanwhile down South things aren’t as steady. A mixture of cold war dictatorships and rising capitalist powers is upsetting the natural order of things. The major powers are Brazil and Argentina with both being capitalist superpowers thanks to a mixture of fortunate timing and corporations interested in the countries rich resources. However both countries aren’t really free even with their limited democracies and a large number of profiteers and gangsters are using the opportunities presented to them to establish small fiefdoms for themselves.

In Europe the continent is still divided between the communist Warsaw pact and the capitalist west. However things are becoming more awkward. In Britain the Labour party is coasting on its overall victory it enjoyed for the past 5 years thanks to series of horrifying floods and disastrous economic policies destroying the reputation of Margret Thatcher and the Conservative party allowing Neil Kinnock and the labour party to win. Britain has been forced to change with the times with the capital now being York thanks flooding destroying large portions of London with a lot of the destroyed area being used turned into flood defence. Although the economy has balanced itself out and productivity is high there are problems particularly with the issue of Scottish independence and IRA bombing being a constant problem for the government alongside the usual.

On the continent itself things are quiet. West Germany and France are the local leaders and are mainly trying to deal with the large number of refugees coming from the Low Countries which have shrunk drastically thanks to the encroaching sea. Not helping matters is East Germany’s constant sabre rattling and the possibility of a large number of refugees from Africa and the Middle East thanks to Famine and War. Meanwhile in Italy the lack of jobs and the slow decline in farm land has lead to the possibility of the 70s repeating once again as various partisan potical groups and the mafia prepare to battle it out.

In the Warsaw Pact things are mixed. The nations of Czechoslovakia, Hungry and Poland are starting to become more free and liberal as the various nations and its people start to drift further away from the USSR’s influence helped by West Germany, Sweden, Finland and Yugoslavia who all have a personal stake in a westernized Warsaw pact. However East Germany, Romania and Albania aren’t as happy about the situation fearing revolution may come if westernize particularly East Germany that has recently put down an attempted coup by a cadre of generals.

Meanwhile Yugoslavia has become oddly the success story of Eastern Europe as Nationalistic tensions were put down rather swiftly with secret support from USSR paranoid about losing a possible ally and the nation going from struggling to success thanks to Labour corporations deciding to use the countries cheap labour force to help make labour’s for western Europe. This success is tampered though by the fact that Yugoslavia is still an authoritarian nation that is quick to silence dissidence and is terrified off an ethnic civil war breaking which is fuel by the occasional terrorist attack by nationalist groups.

The USSR is still around although it’s hanging by a thread. Global warming essentially caused the cold war to time out and the USSR used that time to try and fix its problems. Some progress has been made by Gorbachev and his progressive allies in the government but a coalition of KGB, Army and Ministers are pushing back against every attempt of democratisation. This has lead to the USSR being stuck between 2 worlds as it tries to become a China like state whilst dealing with communist dictatorship roots. This has lead to almost constant purges, arrests and attempted coups which is causing the USSR to nearly reach breaking point.

In Africa things are reaching tipping point. Due to global warming and bad leadership desertification is slowly increasing with every year. This is causing the nations of Eygpt and Libya to try and close their borders from refugees. Even to refugees partial or full dictatorships is better than what they have to deal with in their own home countries. Some African countries like Uganda and Zimbabwe have become rich thanks to western needs for uranium and diamonds. One country that was hoping to experience wealth but hasn’t is South African. With continuing apartheid and generally bad world relations the last 5 years have been year’s stagnation and decay. The South African government fears at any moment invasion, revolution or war and is willing to use its soldiers, labours and even nuclear weapons when the time comes.

In the Middle East things have been even more of a mixed bag. Most of nations have suffered famine which is affecting diplomacy. Nations like Iraq, Iran and Syria are at each other throats which please Saudi Arabia if it didn’t have a personal stake in the conflict. Israel is nervously expanding into Garza and the Lebanon hoping the other nations in the Middle East won’t notice what they are doing. Meanwhile the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan still around thanks to better support from the Soviet Union and a famine that wiped most of its opposition is preparing for war with Pakistan... or it would be if the various leaders weren’t plotting against each other. Meanwhile Pakistan prepares itself to finally combat it’s two greatest enemies crippling hunger and Marxism as it readies itself for eventually war between either Afghanistan or India.

In Asia the success stories of the last half of the 20th century are still around and are doing just as well as before with a few hiccups along the way. China is continuing its Communist in all but name policy embracing capitalism in nearly all forms and is doing well apart from dealing with the headaches of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Hong Kong is nearing it deadline for handover and the British council there don’t really want to after spending money trying to stop parts of it sinking into the water even with pressure from the Labour Government and Chinese Governments. The Gangsters and Corporations that really run the city couldn’t care less. The Korea's haven’t really stopped hating each other with the Kim family enjoying their communist haven supported by the soviets and Chinese whilst the not as bad but still bad South Korean junta is wondering how to finish it. But if the Soviet Union collapses expect war between the two. Meanwhile Japan is enjoying continuous growth even if the bubble looks rather precarious the fact is Japan is almost one of the richest counties in the world. Now only if it didn’t have to deal with Communists, Nationalist’s and Eco Terrorists angry with the proposed Babylon project being created in the Tokyo bay.

Elsewhere the countries of Australia and New Zealand have formed an economic and political union the ANZAC coalition. Mostly due to rising sea levels and also due to the mixture of countries and nations nearby going through economic collapse, nationalistic uprising, military coup or in the case of Indonesia all three which isn’t very good for the stability of Oceania.

The world of Patlabor is a mixture of the 80s, 90s and the early 2000s. Things like homosexuality, women’s rights and ethnic rights have been solved or will be solved mostly due to the near end of western civilisation causing people to think twice. However there is still a lot of the 80s still there as socialist and capitalist politics awkwardly clash causing a lot of friendly fire. Culturally though the world has stagnated. Most clothing is reminiscent of clothing from the late 80s whilst the popular music of the day is a mixture of dance pop, hip-hop, alternative and Synthpop with the underground music scene of house music and gangster rap slowly going into the charts. However due to most of Hollywood having moved north to Canada a lot of the movies have also. A lot of top 10 grossing movies of the last year were made in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan or West Germany however Yugoslavia and Britain are climbing up the charts whilst American based movies have been declining rapidly. It’s hard to make movies set in your major cities when half of them are under water and the other half boiling.

If things couldn’t get worse a raise in Labour crime in the last 5 years has cause the rise in so called “Patlabour” units or Patrol Labours in hope they will reduce crime. It seems only time will tell if they will succeed or not.
 
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Okay so I have a couple of ideas for the world of Patlabor and would be interested in replies:

-Britain:As I said London is flooded (cue hasty repairs with Labour's) and so York is now the political capital whilst Manchester is the economic capital of sorts with a tech belt from Birmingham to Nottingham being formed. Labour runs the country with a majority of 50 under Kinnock with a revived Conservatives under Portillo nipping at his heels. However both are dealing with competition from the Liberal Democrats under Ashdown, UKIP under Robert Kilroy Silk and the British Socialist Party lead by Derek Hatton with rumours running around that SCG may defect to it. To make things more awkward a variety of dodgy Labour companies keep on causing trouble and avoiding tax.

-America: New York is partially underwater, Los Angeles is boiling and San Francisco keeps on having Earthquakes. In this environment the Radical Centrist Populism of Perot narrowly won out over the Republicans and Democrats. Of course ties between big business and government is getting out of control, New York is essentially a fiefdom for a number of Labour companies, the various crises are still a massive, the police is rapidly militarising to fight cults, Militas and drug dealers and the CIA is still doing it's thang in South America.

Will add more later but this is a good start.
 
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-Japan: The world's economic powerhouse, technological powerhouse and generally one of the lead lights of Asia things just keep on getting better for Japan since the bubble just keeps on expanding...

Of course there are problems, it turns out that constantly inflating house prices,mass government and business scandals, a sharp rise in violence and mass Labor crime have kneecapped the LDP now in a loose coalition with the Rising Sun Party which is essentially a group of Eco-Fascists popular in rural affected by flooding. On the rise is the JCP and SDP due to slick campaigns based around social housing, increased funding for ecological projects like the Babel project, being tough but fair on crime and redistribution of wealth who many see as forming a Center-Left coalition government which is causing certain folks to become anxious, particularly the military in collaboration with U.S business backing draw up plans for a coup, just in case...

I like to think that during the events of Patlabor 2, Japan is under a Center-Left coalition government which helps explain why the plan to help stage a coup was given the go ahead. It's a better explanation than 'America wants to sell arms to a revived Japanese military for profit'.
 
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