Anime Review: Police in a Pod
- Very Average Joe
- Oct 28
- 4 min read
English Title: Police in a Pod
Japanese Title: ハコヅメ～交番女子の逆襲～ [lit. packing/boxing: police box woman’s counterattack]
Director(s): Sato Yuzo, Park Jae-ik, Kang Tae-sik & others
Screenwriter(s): Kingetsu Ryuunosuke
Studio: Madhouse
Released: 2022
Runtime: 13 episodes, ~23m each.
Starring: Wakayama Shion, Ishikawa Yui, Suzuki Ryouta, Tsuchiya Simba, Hanazawa Kana
Based on the ongoing manga of the same name by Yasu Miko that started in 2017, Police in a Pod is a drama-comedy about the difficulties police officers face every day.
Set in the fictitious Okajima Prefecture, the series follows rookie cop Kawai Mai who works out of the Machiyama police box. Despite being new, she is already considering resigning as she is sick and tired of the long hours and paperwork.
But then, Sgt Fuji Seiko is assigned as her new partner and instructor. Fuji is transferred (in some ways demoted) from the Criminal Affairs Division, apparently for being too harsh to another officer. Although called a “mountain gorilla” by some of her peers, she is highly competent and is actually not unkind even though she is intolerant to stupidity. She is also stunningly beautiful. She inspires Kawai to remain on the force.
In the first episode, Fuji emphasizes that being a cop is like being a “punching bag” most of the time; their job is to serve the public despite that.
Every episode is split into two halves; each half is a story, most of them unrelated. Despite the episodic structure, it does not feel episodic. It mostly comes across as mildly slice-of-life, which is the point; that is part of the grind for police officers. The last three episodes, however, are centered on one case.
I am not a cop and I don’t know what cops would think of this, but having spoken to cops and read about their work, this anime has that same sense of realism. So, it’s not a surprise to find that Yasu Miko was a cop.
To someone not in law enforcement, the storytelling does well at achieving that balance between half-realistic drama and comedy. It shows the day-to-day beat cop activities like traffic infringements, but it also does not shy away from cases like sexual assaults and suicide threats.
However, it does not go heavily into or dwell too much on details either. The same goes for police procedures. There are enough hints of them, occasionally focusing on a particular aspect like Kawai’s inability to sketch composites, but the series is not heavily procedural.
Much of the comedy is due to Kawai being new, her expectations versus reality. One would think even a rookie would know better at times but it is part of the comedy. At other times, it is simply Fuji’s reactions to incompetence.
Occasionally, and the series could use more of these moments, it would play on the irony of the situation. For example, Kawai and Fuji are assigned to tail a suspect because the male officers blatantly look like hardboiled detectives. Whilst Kawai looks normal, Fuji is a stunner so she ends up drawing the attention of half the street anyway.
Visually, it goes for clean and sleek. Both the environment and the characters are nicely drawn and rendered. For linework, some styles use more-or-less consistent thickness for any given line whilst the other style varies the thickness. This series uses the latter, the variable thickness attempts to give a more organic look. Whilst the linework is not jagged, it can be a little subtler.
The voice acting is solid, with Wakayama Shion having a certain innocence. Despite her character’s inexperience, lack of confidence and sometimes surprise, she still has a degree of calmness that reminds one of Hanazawa Kana, who is actually the voice actress for a minor character.
As already mentioned, Kawai should know better at times but she typically gives it a go despite her lack of confidence, so she avoids being annoying. Her character development can arguably be more gradual but there is nothing jarring.
To provide balance to Kawai and Fuji are two male detectives they often interact and work with. Minamoto Seiji was a classmate of Fuji’s and Yamada Takeshi is their junior. They are not merely comic relief or placeholders but actually contribute to the plot and are a part of their professional lives.
As expected of a cop show, there is the regular use of voiceovers. These are usually Kawai’s thoughts and are brief. Kawai is the main viewpoint character, so it works. It wisely avoids its overuse so it does not become detective noir.
Overall, it is a balanced drama-comedy that is solidly produced. It does not shy away from heavier cases, but it does not dwell on details too much either. The cases can more often not end well just to be more realistic, but the point is to end on a positive note as a lesson for Kawai.
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