June 3rd, 2012 
AstroNerdBoy Taiho Shichauzo! Full Throttle
逮捕しちゃうぞ フルスロットル
You’re Under Arrest! Full Throttle — Final Thoughts
I recall when I first rented the You’re Under Arrest OVA DVD from AnimEigo (which they released as part of the TV series) and how that while the stories were kind of weak, overall, things were pretty sweet. The artwork and animation died in the subsequent TV series, but there were a lot of good things that came out of there. The TV specials were rather weak, but the movie wasn’t bad, and the 2nd TV series was quite good. So, when a third You’re Under Arrest TV series was announced, I was rather excited as there were things I really wanted to see accomplished in this latest installment of the franchise. Sadly, Full Throttle is a terrible conclusion to the franchise.
Things started off fairly well with a 2-part story featuring a kid named Randy, which help Miyuki and Natsumi, the female leads for this franchise, return to their old jobs at the Bokuto Police Department. After that, things become tedious rather quickly. The stories are OK for a while (and I did enjoy seeing Strike Man and Scooter Mama back), but then become boring because there’s just no core to anything. The characters aren’t developed further, which they were in YUA2 and why I enjoyed that series so much. A lack of character development means that the characters simply go through the motions and events carry them from point to point without meaning. The episode are mostly formulaic with some crime thing happening, the cops not being respected, and the dynamic duo laying the smack down. BOOOR-RINGGGG!
There were some things that really irritated me. Natsumi’s love interest from YUA2, Shouji, is gone and is NEVER EVEN MENTIONED! Ken and Miyuki’s romance gets touched a couple of times, but there’s no progress and a really weak attempt to make them a couple at the end. I didn’t want that. I wanted a REAL resolution, but that would require character work, which wasn’t going to happen. Saori-chan gets a cameo, which was nice, but her character wasn’t handled right and she annoyed me. Daimaru (Ken’s father) and his young wife Sana get a cameo toward the end of the series, but as with everything else, they are just there to be there and not to actually contribute to anything meaningful. Again, there’s just NO character development.
In the end, Studio Dean and director OHATA Koichi really do a terrible job with the franchise by simply attempting to cash in on the established fandom and not actually do anything other than go through the motions. Because of this, the lack of character development, and the lack of any proper resolution to certain story threads (like Ken and Miyuki’s romance), You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle is pretty much a pass.
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This is pretty much the reason I only have up to the second TV series. What’s really interesting is Full Throttle came out around the time Slayers got it’s own revival. It’s kind of an interesting contrast how Slayers got so many things right while YUA dropped the ball so much!
I liked this series. Its true that the (ex?) boyfriend was never mentioned, and that the relationships didnt really go anywhere, but this was only so that it opened a door for another series. Well its not like we all want to series to end now do we?
To be honest, after this one, I’m not sure I’d trust another series. However, I think that’s a moot point because I think the only reason this series was created was that there was still a demand for it. I don’t sense such a demand today.
I totally agree with you. I became a fan of YUA2 and was really looking forward to full throttle. But then I get this, whats up? Its like they just wanted another season even though they ran out of ideas.
I don’t think they ran out of ideas, but simply just chose to cash in on a popular series to make a quick buck. That’s how the mini-specials series was.
@Michael John, it’s not that they ran out of ideas it’s that the director and writers seemed intent of ignoring the tight continuity of the original OAV series through the second TV series. The original OAVs, first TV series, movie, and second TV series all had strong character arcs which carried over into the next incarnation. For example, the movie acknowledges that Natsumi’s boyfriend departed (I can’t recall if the movie placed between TV series 1 and 2 of if it came after both) by having his reappearance in the movie be significant. Full Throttle ignores his existence completely, in fact FT ignores a LOT of things and despite the better animation quality the characters become flanderizations of themselves. It’s like a complete reversal of the first TV series (which had inconsistent animation quality but made up for it with well developed and evolving characters and situations).
They went the mini-specials route, though without the irritating Miyuki that was there (thankfully). It really is a shame that this series was such utter dung. I had such high hopes.
At least the mini-specials made me laugh my ass off. There was just something extremely amusing seeing Miyuki (who is usually a more humanized version of Belldandy with a thing for auto mechanics) do some VERY sadistic things to the perpetrator of the episode. The mini-specials had the excuse of being something extra that came out before the movie and being based off the earlier manga strips where I’m guessing the characters were less defined. In general I would take the absurdity of the mini-specials over Full Throttle any day, heck I would prefer they kept Miyuki and Natsumi in gun happy America with all the convenient lookalikes (hint hint).
I guess the way the characters were out of character, like Miyuki screaming all the time (or so it seemed to me), is what bothered me about the mini-specials. I seem to recall that the final full length episode was OK.
As to the version where they were in America, that was dumb, but it was hilarious to see the cliched (and false) way that the Japanese see American police.
I have to agree. I was a pretty hardcore fan of the the OVA/Season 1 of YUA! While I didn’t think the second season was as good (they kind of recycled some episode ideas from the first season), I enjoyed it a lot. The movie was a good diversion, but I found Full Throttle to be a total drag.
I wasn’t even a fan of the visuals of Full Throttle. The female characters’ faces looked bland while their breasts seemed bigger than they did in the earlier seasons.
And it really is a shame that Full Throttle was the drag it was when it could have been so much more.
I just stumbled upon this after reviving my interest on YUA and marathoning the entirety of the three seasons and I have to agree with you on this season. No character development irks me, and it seems that Ken and Miyuki’s romantic attraction to each other are severely downplayed compaeed to previous season…what the hell? And also, why the hell did they recycle the renegade cop plot from season 1 for the finale? It wasn’t even the finale of season 1, and at least it got the badass Ken and Natsumi on that snappy bike. This…doesn’t even come close. Not to mention that half-assed resolution to Ken and Miyuki as well. Plus, so much supporting characters are not even mentioned, it bugs me. Speaking of Toukairin , it’s also funny that Natsumi’s attention seems to return to the chief…It gives me jmpression that they broke up or something (haha). Anyway, sorry for the rant. I am kind of disappointed.
Your rant was certainly welcome! 🙂
Yes, this series ranks up there as one of the most disappointing series ever done.
haha, yeah. I know how it feels, getting your hopes dashed after each episodes. What I am bitter about the most though, is the feeling that after this, I probably won’t get to see them again in another season, but I am forced to settle with the disappointment that is Full Throttle. Then again, considering that, I probably wouldn’t want another.
That said, I think even the manga is better. At least it got resolution.
Yeah, I’ve not read the manga. Only the last two volumes were ever released in the U.S., and those weren’t done well, from what I recall. Fujishima-sensei wouldn’t allow the other volumes to be licensed. I should go look in the ‘underground’ places for it. 😉
I got mine from a Nyaa torrent; it’s the raw for vol. 1 to 7. I think buying the Japanese one legally is almost impossible now, being out of print and all. Or you just can wait for it to be fully scanlated.
You know, I may have the tankoubons for the series. Several years ago, when I was making a lot of money, I was buying a lot of tankoubons, including Negima, Ah! My Goddess, and a lot more. I should go down to the basement and see if I can find my tankoubons and see if You’re Under Arrest was part of that.