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You're Under Arrest (Taiho Shichauzo) is a manga by Kosuke Fujishima which ran from 1986 to 1992. It eventually became an OVA, and now has been through three TV anime series (with the first having 52 episodes, the second having 26, and the third having 24 respectively), an animated movie and a Live-Action Adaptation with a Playstation game, followed by an OVA set in Los Angeles and another OVA spinoff centering on the officers in Bokuto in a slice of life-type setting in wacky situations. It was announced that a one-shot chapter by Fujishima will be serialized on February 2023.

Natsumi Tsujimoto is a new recruit, late for work on her first day at Bokuto Precinct's traffic division. She hops on her moped and drives recklessly at top speed toward the police station on the sidewalk, down the stairs, and with consummate skill. Unfortunately, patrol officer Miyuki Kobayakawa spots her and chases her down.

When Natsumi gets to the police station, she learns that she has been assigned to be Miyuki's partner. The two spar at first, but eventually become close friends, with Natsumi occasionally deploying her moped from the back of their kei police car to corner traffic offenders...


You're Under Arrest provides examples of:

  • Adaptation Distillation: The Live-Action Adaptation is almost completely unrecognizable. Aside from the few chapters they did adapt,note  the anime is largely independent of the manga and in many ways bears little resemblance to its manga counterpart.
  • Adaptation Expansion: In the manga, Natsumi is already a member of the traffic division. The OVA expands on her encounter with Miyuki: Natsumi overslept on her first day as a police officer, so she ends up taking some illegal shortcuts. This, however, leads to her being pursued by Miyuki.
  • Age-Gap Romance: Yoriko later meets Prince Saki Abdusha, who falls for her despite him being a teenager and Yoriko being in her early to mid twenties.
  • Airplane Airport Of Love: Episode 48. An entire fleet of them, since it takes place in Narita Airport, with a special version of the opening theme.
  • Almighty Janitor: It might not be obvious at first, but this is essentially what Miyuki and Natsumi are. Despite being mere traffic cops, they've received more specialist training and are more skilled than most other cops shown in the show. For example, by Full Throttle, Natsumi has both been a former member of the Tokyo MPD's Special Assault Team as well as receiving Ranger training from the JGSDF.
  • Almost Kiss: Happens in the episode 26 of the second season.
  • Ambiguously Bi: Miyuki and Natsumi leak into this almost constantly.
  • Anime Accent Absence: Variation. In the English dub, Aoi has a naturally feminine and high pitched voice. In the original and the Latin-American dub, her voice is a bit lower than the other girls.
  • Animation Bump: All over the series, with the OVAs having the best overall animation, episodes 2 and 4 in particular.
    • The movie, while not as well-animated as the OVA episodes, still looks far more detailed and has far more nuanced and detailed animations than the TV seasons.
    • Full Throttle, thanks to the gradual Art Evolution of the anime series, is the best looking of the TV seasons.
    • The Beach Episode in season 1 also stands out due to the animation of regular Naruto contributor Norio Matsumoto.
  • Anime Theme Song:
    • "100 MPH no Yuuki" (Courage at 100 MPH), the first opening theme, sung by Miyuki and Natsumi's seiyuu.
    • And "Boku de Aru Tameni" by Flying Kids, immediately succeeding it. The song has proven popular enough for contestants to sing it on an NHK singing contest.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Aoi and Yoriko are sent undercover onto the train lines to catch a pair of thieves, Aoi spends far more time arresting perverts. Justified in that this was Aoi's original assignment going undercover as a woman and train molesters are still a big problem in Japan.
  • Art Evolution:
    • Originally, the OVA's stayed pretty close to Fujishima's designs, but then there's a noticeable change (de-evolution) from the OVAs to season 1. But as the seasons progressed, the characters began to look more in line Atsuko Nakajima's other character designs, especially in the movie and seasons 2 & 3. The most noticeable being the eyes which have gotten more big, colorful and bright.
    • Aoi gets a noticeable change in appearance over the pace of the anime. Her design changed the most between seasons.
    • Very apparent in the manga, where originally the characters looked nothing like their iconic designs.
  • Art Shift: the mini episodes animated by Yumeta Company would have the original season 1 designs colored digitally. Something the later seasons would permanently shift over to shortly after (along with a design overhaul as mentioned above).
  • Ascended Extra:
    • Saori Saga in the anime. In the first season, she only appeared on a couple of episodes as nothing more than a Recurring Extra. In the second season, she becomes a police officer with about the same screen time as Yoriko and Aoi, appearing on almost every episode. Subverted in Full Throttle where she was transferred to another precinct. Later in the season, The Bus Came Back for nothing less than a Beach Episode. For comparison, she's only a minor character at best in the manga
    • Chie Sagamiono who only appeared once in the final volume of the manga, but 3 times in the first two seasons of the anime.
  • Automobile Opening: The OVA, but it's easier to list which openings don't spend a lot of time on the cars or bikes.
  • Badass Biker: Ken and his father Daimaru. Natsumi too, though she is prone to push too hard and end up crashing.
  • Bad Santa: Episode 11 of the first season had a crook who pretended to be Santa break into people's houses. Natsumi and Miyuki find the children distraught over what happened, cuing one of their many heartwarming moments.
  • Bait-and-Switch Lesbians:
    • The series pulls a (probably) unintentional version of this. Miyuki and Natsumi are extremely close in the first few OVAs but then they get male love interests.
    • The anime also pulled an intentional version with one of the Full Throttle endings being full of Homoerotic Subtext, none of which is present in the actual anime.
  • Batman Gambit: A pair of thieves pull one using Strike Man to rob a bank for them. The cops pull another using Strike Man to catch the thieves.
  • Beach Episode: Three in total. One in the first season, another in the mini-specials (though somehow, it's officially part of the first season) and the last one in Full Throttle. And every single one of them does EXACTLY WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Played straight with Miyuki, whom Natsumi admits is the scarier of the two of them. Aoi also appears to fit this trope at times. Perfectly illustrated in one episode where Yoriko imagines herself stealing Natsumi and Miyuki's love interests. While Natsumi is just standing open-mouthed in shock, Miyuki ends up firing dual Uzis into the air!
  • Big Damn Heroes: While Miyuki and Natsumi have several, Detective Tokuno when he saves Miyuki and Ken from a knife-wielding maniac.
  • Big Damn Movie: The anime is about a close group of cops living life, going through romance problems, and whatever else comes their way. It's typically humorous, with an occasional Drama Bomb. The Movie deals with the gang defeating terrorists, and is more or less non-stop action and drama.
  • Big Eater: Natsumi and Toukairin.
  • Big "NO!": From all of the women in the station when they realized that, yes, they beat up a pervert who was taking pictures of them, but they forgot to destroy his film!
  • Black Comedy Rape:
    • Aoi is sexually assaulted in two consecutive episodes in the first season. Both times it's played for laughs that her would-be rapists freak out over finding a penis.
    • Possibly also the "Scooter Mama" to the two thieves of her beloved scooter.
  • Brain Bleach:
  • Brand X:
    • Averted in that their cruiser is not only obviously a Honda Today, but even has the stock Honda "H" on the hood that's normally replaced with an Imperial chrysanthemum badge on Japanese police cars (including the others in the series).
    • Averted with all the vehicles in the series, for that matter.
    • Bland-Name Product is played straight however, with most non-vehicle brands.
  • Buddy Cop Show
  • Busman's Holiday: When any of the officers from Bokutou Station are depicted on leave, there is a high chance they will encounter cases that require their attention.
  • Butt-Monkey: Ken Nakajima, even more so in the dub where characters go out of their way to make fun of him (himself included).
  • Calling Your Attacks: Both Natsumi and Strike Man are prone to this. Miyuki joins the fun in the beach volleyball episode.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Ken and Miyuki. It's perfectly summed in their character song, "Suki da yo" Nante Ieru Wake Nai Ja Nai - It's Not That There's No Reason I Can Say "I Like You." Averted at the end of the manga (which is the ONLY time in every series they finally, officially get together). Also at the end of the third season, though it's a little more ambiguous and, sadly, not followed up on.
  • Canon Foreigner:
    • There are several anime-only characters, including Shouji Toukairin, Kaoruko Kinoshita and the preschool kids.
    • And as for the live action version, the cast is mostly replaced by 'em, the only characters from the source material that appear are Natsumi, Miyuki, Yoriko, Saori, and Nakajima.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Borderline case. Natsumi is nowhere near big enough to be that strong.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The Scooter Lady appeared a few times briefly before being formally introduced.
  • Chickification: Played for Laughs with Miyuki, during the mini-specials after the first season. Notably screaming her lungs out when assaulted (and proceeding to electrocute the guy with her car's engine) and her fear of ghosts getting being emphasized, wherein even a ghost story make her cry and cower in fear. However, any time Miyuki is scared, Hilarity Ensues. Especially the snake with a crush on her.
  • Cool Bike: Ken's souped-up Suzuki GSX (In the manga his bike is fitted with NOS like Today) and the patrol-modified Kawasaki KLE-500 offroad bike he rides in "Tokyo Typhoon Rally." Also, Natsumi's Moto Compo
  • Cool Car:
    • The girls' Honda Today mini-patrol car, which Miyuki retrofitted with a larger (and then re-bored) dual-overhead-cam engine, a turbocharger and a nitrous oxide system. Also, Miyuki's personal Toyota S800.
    • Subverted at one point, when the poor thing just cranks over despite desperate attempts to get it started - Miyuki's modifications went a bit too far...
    • The red Mini that a Shinto monk uses to outrun any of them takes the cake.
    • Chie Sagamiono's Porsche 911 patrol car (which her father bought for her), as far as she's concerned.
    • Natsumi's Subaru R2. When she bought it because she had just destroyed her brand new bike, it was a wreck. But after learning she was scammed, she starts feeling depressed which prompts Miyuki to transform it from the Alleged Car into a chain driven, motorcycle powered police go-kart.
    • Strikeman's modified Shelby Cobra sports car, the Strikemobile, which he fits with "crime-fighting" equipment in the finale of the manga.
  • Cool Old Guy:
    • The Section Chief and Detective Tokuno, senior officers at Bokuto, are both about fifty (which is, on average, twice older than most of the other people in the show) and steer their precinct rather impressively.
    • Daimaru, Ken's father who's still a Badass Biker despite being almost in his 60's.
    • Oshou, much? A 70-odd-year-old ex-cop Shinto priest who bombs around Tokyo in a Mini ERA Turbo?
  • Covert Pervert: Ken "Mr. Nosebleed" Nakajima.
  • Crime Time Soap
  • Cultural Translation: Subtle but still there. A few western references were added to both the manga and anime, most obviously the "Elvis in a UFO" reference in the first OVA.
  • Cute Bruiser: Natsumi.
  • Darker and Edgier:
    • The Movie is pretty much this comparison to the whole series.
    • Also the anime which is a bit more down to earth compared to the original manga which leans more towards the Denser and Wackier side.
  • Date Peepers:
    • The second half of the third OVA has Miyuki and Ken ordered to go on a date by Da Chief so they can sort their troubles, then several officers peep on them and keep him informed. The reason? Miyuki mistakenly believes that Natsumi had a one-night stand with Nakajima, since she saw them racing together very early (when in truth, they just went out to talk and ride their bikes). That seriously disrupted their partner dynamics, and everyone was worried for their sake ("These love triangles, they never end well!").
    • Just any date between the two of them afterwards will have these not far behind, usually at the instigation of Yoriko.
  • Defeat Means Respect:
    • Strike Man comes to regard Natsumi as his arch-nemesis, whom he dubs as "the infamous Homerun Girl," after she repeatedly knocks each of his pitches out of the park. Their alleged rivalry is one-sided, as Natsumi thinks he's a nutjob, and would rather not have to put up with him.
    • It gets lampshaded in episode 25, Run, Strike Man, Run!:
    *watches in awe as Natsumi runs up a flight of stairs, while carrying her motocomp*
    Strike Man: (in admiration) "Great Day in the morning! I stand in silent awe of the explosiveness of your glutinous biceps! I'M GLEEFUL TO BE YOUR NEMESIS!!"
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Assistant Inspector Kaoruko Kinoshita.
  • Denser and Wackier: The manga was basically fast paced short comedy vingettes focused mostly on Natsumi and Miyuki's hijinks. The anime was kinda the opposite.
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage:
    • The first opening theme is playing on the radio in episode 19, and Natsumi sings the third opening theme in episode 43.
    • In episode 11 of Full Throttle, Miyuki hums the opening theme while working on her patrol car.
  • Distracted by the Sexy:
    • Used by Miyuki and Natsumi to trip up a burglar in their apartment, though they're wearing black bodysuits underneath.
    • Also happens to a ninja who is helping the gang improve their traffic safety Sentai show, but he overhears the girls talking about lingerie and Miyuki's breasts getting bigger. Though when he finally gives in to temptation to peep, he sees Aoi.
    • Used by Aoi in the manga to catch a thief on Halloween.
  • "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The opening and ending themes of the OVAs were sung by Natsumi and Miyuki's seiyuu.
  • Double Take: Saori's reaction when she's told to "take the wheel" during her first high-speed chase.
  • Dramatic Wind: Parodied in one of Strike Man's appearances, where the wind itself was generated by a mini electric fan placed beside him.
  • Drives Like Crazy: While Natsumi is an excellent biker, do not be in the same car with her if she's behind the wheel. Though how she earns her license is one of the funniest episodes in the series.
  • Eagleland:
    • Yoriko's rival from the academy hires the best gunwomen from the world, including a Marine to challenge the Bokuto station to a mock gunfight. Two crooks see the apparent cold blooded killing of the losers and are spooked.
    • In the No Mercy!! special, Natsumi and Miyuki are temporarily transferred to the LAPD as part of an exchange program, and America is shown in a type 2 light.
  • Effortless Amazonian Lift: Natsumi picks up thugs after she kicks the crap out of them.
  • The '80s: In the manga, the clothing started as this but gradually switched over to early 90's clothes by the end. The anime of course, updated the series to be set in the mid 90's to mid 2000's (depending on the season).
  • Expy: A Halloween chapter in the manga has Nakajima in a Batman costume. In the English version he goes by the name of "Police Man."
  • The Faceless: Aoi's face as a male is never completely seen. The closest we get is in episode 5 when we see her face, with bangs covering her eyes, and in episode 6 of Full Throttle when we see it completely... while she's dressed as a girl.
  • Fanservice:
    • The manga of course has some, more so than the anime, but nothing too extreme. In fact in some instances Natsumi and Miyuki take advantage of it.
    • More in the mini-specials than the TV series, but it isn't entirely absent from those either.
    • The extra episode, "Directing Traffic at the Beach" is made of this.
  • Flanderization: As the anime went on, the characters became this. For starters, by Full Throttle, Natsumi's basically regressed into being the Dumb Muscle.
  • The Fool: Yoriko, in her Academy days.
  • Foreshadowing: The Section Chief's visit to the Tokyo Tower in episode 34 of the first season turns out to be an important plot point in The Movie.
  • For Science!: The motivation of a Mad Scientist in episode 10 of Full Throttle when he tried to interrupt a robotics convention with his Spider Tank, which he claimed would revolutionize law enforcement. He was promptly subdued by Natsumi. Within seconds.
  • Genre Shift:
    • Of Mood Whiplash proportions in The Movie; when they get attacked by terrorists. No, seriously.
    • Also the episode where the Boss and a little boy are trapped in a tower and the case with the rogue policeman that caused accidents on purpose.
  • Gentle Giant: Ken, so much. Heck, he's nicknamed "Ken-chan", using a Japanese honorific that is usually reserved for girls...
  • Good Is Not Soft: Natsumi and Miyuki are known to rough up criminals who they corner. If you do a crime don't expect to just get a warning from them.
  • Gratuitous English:
    • Natsumi likes spouting out small English phrases like "OK".
    • Also happens in the No Mercy OVA.
  • Gratuitous French:
    • A pastry chef in one second-season episode loves the phrase, "C'est si bon!"
    • In the manga, Strike Man once says "Adieu!" before running away.
  • Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: In fitting with their Tomboy and Girly Girl aesthetic, Natsumi is the one with nigh-Super-Strength and fights hand-to-hand, while Miyuki is the Gun Nut sharpshooter.
  • Hack the Traffic Lights: Done at the start of the movie.
  • Heavy Sleeper: Natsumi.
  • Heroic BSoD: Miyuki is prone to these because she does not like change. She'll often snap out of it when inspiration hits though.
  • Hero Stole My Bike: Both Natsumi and Miyuki did this before to deal with emergencies. Special mention goes to Miyuki in episode 1 of Full Throttle when she "borrowed" a van to escape from an armed assailant who was targeting a boy accompanying her, which culminated in a spectacular Chase Scene.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners:
    • Natsumi and Miyuki, obviously. Ostensibly they're just work partners and roommates, but they became inseparable almost immediately. Episodes when circumstances threatened to set them apart are the main sources of drama in the show.
    • Aoi and Yoriko fit into this, to a lesser extent.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: All of the rogue police officers featured in this series went rogue because they were too obsessed with their ideals and forgot that their primary duty was to serve the public and not hunting criminals like a vigilante.
  • Hot Springs Episode: Episode 13 of the first season, and episode 26 of the second season.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Whenever Aoi complains about trouble with men.
  • Idiot Crows: Flown past the Strike Man a few times.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Strike Man's arsenal gets more and more bizarre with each appearance, climaxing with spiked baseballs.
  • Improbably Female Cast: Of the whole main cast there's only three males — the Chief, Nakajima and Toukairin, and for Toukairin it's debatable: despite being Natsumi's Love Interest and the lead whenever he appears, he is a guest character and does so in barely a quarter of all episodes. Aoi is physically male too, but for all narrative intents and purposes she is a woman - starting with referring to her with feminine pronouns, and the implication of her being transgender rather than a Wholesome Crossdresser. All other males in the show are clearly in supporting roles.
  • Inexplicably Identical Individuals: The officers in the LAPD station where Miyuki and Natsumi are transferred to during the No Mercy!! special look just like the officers back in Bokuto Station, albeit with different skin tones and exaggerated personal traits compared to their Japanese counterparts.
  • In the Name of the Moon:
    • In the name of the penal code!
    • Also Strike Man's Strike Brigade, though the girls are just punishing the boys who like to tease them.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Miyuki's grief over Natsumi's departure for the White Bike Troopers in Episode 4 (OVA) is played for this.
  • Large Ham:
    • Nakajima and Strike Man especially, but almost everyone to some extent. Nakajima and Strike Man even hammed it up together once — in a requisite Beach Episode.
    • Natsumi breaks out the ham and cheese herself on occasion. Her "official apology" upon being late for her first day at Bokuto has to be seen to be believed. Also, any time they visit the preschool, Natsumi and Ken deliberately ham it up for the kids' amusement.
  • Late For Work: Natsumi is chronically tardy - see also Heavy Sleeper.
  • Live-Action Adaptation: With several differences, among the most notable being the kachou is a middle-aged woman and Miyuki has a different characterization.
  • The Load: Yoriko. Especially in the movie.
  • Lovely Angels: Natsumi and Miyuki. Also, Aoi is so feminine that she and Yoriko also fall here to an extent.
  • Love Makes You Crazy: After being saved from some muggers, a guy becomes so obsessed with seeing Natsumi and Miyuki's smiles again that he ends up trying to stage more scenes for them to respond to and even goes so far as to assault them.
  • Luck-Based Mission: How Yoriko made it through the academy.
  • Mask Power: Completely subverted — Strike Man is an amusing clown.
  • May–December Romance: Daimaru and his second wife Sena, who's younger than Daimaru's son Ken.
  • Meaningful Name: The Chief's name is "Chief" — or, more correctly, "Kachou", "section chief", his actual position, just written in different kanji.
  • Meet Cute: Natsumi's first meeting with her new partner results in Miyuki pulling her over for reckless driving.
    Miyuki: (writing out a traffic citation) Let's see, we have driving the wrong way on a one-way street, driving on a pedestrian thoroughfare, failure to obey posted signs, failure to obey a police officer, and this is a 30-kilometer speed zone, so you were going... 20 kilometers over? But I'll overlook that one, since you did save the kitty's life.
    Natsumi: (stunned look, with the caption bar "Suspension of License")
    Miyuki: So, if you'll just sign here, Ms. Natsumi Tsujimoto...
    Natsumi: Wait... how'd you know my name?
    Miyuki: (saluting) Welcome to Bokuto Precinct.
  • Mistaken for Gay: The LAPD officers in the No Mercy OVA assume that the Chief and Shou, the undercover detective are thought to be gay when they were seen heading to a motel. Turns out that it was not the case.
  • Mood Whiplash:
    • Happens near the end of the first series, when a trio of rogue cops terrorize Tokyo. Ken breaks his leg and Natsumi breaks her arm trying to catch them, Miyuki has a near-breakdown over her two closest friends getting hurt, and the ordeal only ends when the ringleader rolls his car trying to avoid a blockade and dies from the impact.
    • The Movie. The series is a workplace romantic comedy; the movie is a straight drama about stopping a terrorist cell from destroying Tokyo's transportation network thanks to a rogue MPD officer's notes on a theory on how a first world nation's transportation system can be taken out by well-armed terrorists through careful planning.
  • Motorcycle on the Coast Road: Cars and bikes feature in many of these scenes.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Miyuki, Natsumi, and Nakajima have stopped the rogue officers, but also realize that they may have killed one of them. It's left vague.
  • No Indoor Voice: Natsumi, especially in the dub.
  • Odd Couple: Miyuki and Natsumi.
  • Oddly Named Sequel: No Mercy!! and Full Throttle.
  • Office Romance: One of the longstanding subplots of the series; of the two main characters, both their love interests happens to be their coworkers (Miyuki and Nakajima are in love with each other, and Natsumi has an infatuation on kachou, before she met Toukairin, who is also a police officer). Of the two, only Natsumi and Toukairin worked it out; Miyuki and Nakajima suffered from a chronic case of Cannot Spit It Out and thus goes (almost) nowhere. Perhaps being the subject of the talks of the entire office partially contribute to their predicament.
  • Oh, Crap!: Miyuki's face when she finds out that the paintball arena the group is going to has monsters for opponents.
  • Older Than They Look:
    • Kachou is fifty, but looks barely 35.
    • Oshou "still has it goin' on" despite the fact that he has to be at least in his sixties or seventies.
    • While their ages are never confirmed, the main girls seem to be this due to the fact they say they're old when compared to twenty something year olds. Then again they could just be exaggerating.
  • Out-Gambitted: No matter what elaborate plan the crooks have, Miyuki figures it out.
  • Overly Long Name: While acting as Santa Claus Man, Strikeman said his motorcycle's name was "Black Dragon" a.k.a. "Richard Mason Harrelsdion Primshewley D'erygore Provence Stuart Spowith Ventura Richardson Akitaka the Third". Even he wouldn't repeat.
  • Paintball Episode — One episode features Chie Sagamiono challenging Yoriko to a paintball match; another one features the Bokuto officers visiting an amusement park with a paintball arena (in the anime)/laser tag arena (in the manga).
  • Parking Payback: One episode has local Vigilante Man Strike Man getting angry at a bunch of cars parked right in front of a '"No Parking" sign. He proceeds to deflate their tires as punishment.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Episode 5 of Full Throttle featured a serial burglar who has been burglarising vehicles for over thirty years when he rescued a baby from a possible heat stroke from a locked vehicle in one of his burglary attempts out of nothing but compassion.
    • While usually he's typically portrayed as a nutjob, one episode in season 1 shows that Strike Man is actually capable of remorse as shown after he hit Nakajima woth a ball after mistaking him as the one making a kid cry. After being explained that he was mistaken and that Nakajima are just trying to help the girl findingnher lost cat, he apologizes - and makes a genuine effort to help them find it. Though as usual, he went overboard and starts sending random cats to the station, including inanimate ones - luckily one of them is a maneki-neko that Tokuno are looking for,
  • Porn Stash: There's one in the station, supposedly for an investigation. Nakajima gets caught sampling the selection.
  • Posthumous Character: Episode 20 of Full Throttle featured a high school girl who was killed in a traffic accident. Her diary was found by Natsumi who, not knowing the identity of the owner, decided to read it and her life was recounted via Flash Back and Posthumous Narration.
  • Powered Armor: One episode of Full Throttle deals with Natsumi learning to use an experimental powered exoskeleton designed to help in police rescue work.
  • Power Limiter: Strike Man likes to think his arm guards are these.
  • Qurac: Episode 22 of the first season featured Prince Saki Abdusha from the fictional Middle Eastern kingdom of Aburada, who was on a self-imposed exile in Japan due to an imminent coup d'état in his country. He also mentioned it as a desert country. He decides to return at the end of his episode, and even offers asks Yoriko to go there with him - she refuses, but goes to the airport to say goodbye.
  • Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Scooter Mama, an old lady on a 50-cc moped who will break any traffic law to get to a department-store sale.
  • Ship Tease:
    • Artwork for the series loves showing Miyuki and Natsumi in a variety of interesting positions, and usually in various states of undress as well.
    • The second ending theme has Miyuki as a bride in a Fairytale Wedding Dress, with Natsumi bringing her flowers and acting as the groom, for all intents.
    • The ending theme to Full Throttle puts Miyuki and Natsumi in a few compromising, and rather romantic, positions.
    • There are also plenty of ship tease between Miyuki and Nakajima that shows their attraction to each other in the first season - that seemingly becoming less and less prevalent with each seasons...
  • Shipper on Deck: For Miyuki and Nakajima; his father and stepmother, and the busybodies of Bokuto Traffic Section, Natsumi in particular.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Shown Their Work: At the end of the first episode, Miyuki and Natsumi are eating a late picnic lunch and doing so well out of sight since police officers are not allowed to be seen eating in public while in uniform in Japan.
    • The show in general does its best to show an accurate representation of Tokyo's Sumida Ward and surrounding areas. Most obvious in the movie where you can actually track where everything is going in with a map of the area.
  • Sick Episode: Episode 17 of Full Throttle featured Natsumi bedridden as a result of catching a flu. By chance, a cat burglar was raiding the very apartment where Natsumi was staying the same day and had the misfortune of bumping into her, who despite being in a fevered delirium, managed to subdue the burglar... as well as passing the flu to him.
  • Sitting on the Roof: The main characters of the series like to hang out on the roof of Bokuto Station and do all kinds of things, ranging from musing by oneself to having lunch with each other.
  • Small Girl, Big Gun: Natsumi. Becomes Small Girl Even Bigger Guns in Full Throttle, where she goes for training with the JGSDF Rangers.
  • Taking the Bullet: Nakajima, twice. In the first one it's just paintballs, in the second the bullet doesn't actually hit. Both provoked reactions from his love interest though.
  • Technology Porn: This was created by Kosuke Fujishima, after all. The story can sometimes focus a little excessively on the nifty features of Miyuki's and Natsumi's police car. And her off-duty car. And the bikes. And the modifications made to all of those...
  • The Inspector Is Coming: Episode six revolves around this with Bokuto Station scared out of their wits over the arrival of Takao Arizuka, who is feared to send them to a deserted island for their sloppy work. In truth he enjoys the reputation, is bemused by their antics, completely devoted to his job and shaping up the police and willing to overlook the odd indiscretion if they are good at their job.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Natsumi and Miyuki.
  • Trans Tribulations: Aoi has one episode where she falls for a man however doesn't know how to tell him that she's a trans woman. It ultimately doesn't work out between them. In another episode, her former boss tries to coax her to act manly, however it bombs in his face as every attempt only accentuates how feminine she is.
  • Unsettling Gender-Reveal:
    • Practically every male who meets Aoi falls into this one. Notable examples include the Bokuto Precinct officers and then Aoi's former classmates in episode 5, and the idol singer Go Kitaoji in episode 24.
    • This happens to the girls in Episode 5, when Yoriko bursts into the locker room with all the hot gossip on the "smart, rich, eligible bachelor" who's just joined the department...
  • Verbal Tic:
    • Toukairin is from Akita and it shows, mostly in characteristic northerner's "-s" that he adds to anything he says.
    • Scooter Mama often ends sentences with zamasu (a variation of desu which connotes a condescending attitude) or zamasu yo. (The French version of the manga translated it as "nom d'une pipe!")
  • Vocal Evolution: Well.... it's less this and more of age really affecting Issei Masamune's voice. By Full Throttle, the Chief sounds noticeably older and more restrained compared to how he did in earlier seasons due to said aging and what's more jarring about this? Everyone else sounds exactly the same as they always have, which makes Masamune's aged voice much more noticeable.
    • This also affects a few of the other characters, mostly Natsumi and Nakajima, but it's not to the same extent like with Masamune's voice.
  • Wax On, Wax Off: As part of training a trio of boys in kendo, Toukairin takes them fishing and has them play catch. It isn't until the next actual kendo match that the boys realize the connections of the activities making it easier for them to read their opponent's movements.
  • We Named The Monkey Natsumi: In the second season.
  • Wham Episode: Both of the two-parters in the first season deal with more serious plots than any of the other episodes and have little-to-no humor in them. The first one with the Chief trapped in the Tokyo Tower with a kid, and the second one with the rogue police officers causing accidents on the streets.
  • What Could Have Been: Invoked in-series, by Kachou in episode 33, when he reveals why he doesn't reciprocate Natsumi's feelings.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: Subverted. Despite her initial introduction as a vice cop "gone native" in pursuit of sex criminals, Aoi may be transgender rather than a crossdresser. She does state on several occasions that her heart is that of a woman despite her male body, she's generally referred to as female rather than a crossdressing male, and she's in an online relationship with a man in the second season.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: See Oh, Crap! above.
  • Wire Dilemma: Happens in episode 30 of season 1 when the duo has to defuse a bomb in a department store.
    Miyuki: "Red, he loves me; blue, he loves me not." *cuts the red wire*
  • Wrench Wench: Miyuki, Natsumi, Sena. Again, this is Kosuke Fujishima we're talking about. Although in Natsumi's case she only works on her own bike when she's forced to. Miyuki's abilities are emphasized in the mini-specials, where she was shown to have designed her very own home security system, a handheld multi-fireworks launcher and a handbag with an in-built tracking device that clamps onto unauthorized users, releases tear gas, plays pre-recorded screams and shouts, among other gadgets and reaches its peak with the missile launcher shaped like a woman's bust.
    • This, by the way, is before getting into how Miyuki rigged her patrol car to be remotely operated by her in case of it being stolen in the manga. This shows up again in season 1 during episode 8 in an attempt to help Yoriko beat Chie in a competition.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko:
    • Miyuki might be one of the straightest examples created by Fujishima. She's tallish, dark-haired, beautiful but not a bombshell, well-loved and respected by everyone, soft-spoken but not to be trifled with, and very dedicated to her work and duty as a policewoman.
    • Aoi fits in as well, being very ladylike and gentle but also plucky as well. The most noticeable differences are: her hair is lighter than the standard, and she's a trans woman rather than a cis woman.
  • You Know What You Did:
    • Actually the reverse. An incident very late in the Manga has Natsumi waking up in Ken's bed with no clothes and a bad hangover. They think that nothing happened but due to a combination of alcohol (Natsumi) and blows to the head (Ken), they can't remember anything. Miyuki is not going to take this on faith and Ken's too honest and wishy-washy to lie.
    • Played for laughs in the first season's ghost story episode, where Edo-era Ken and Miyuki are husband and wife, and the narrator asks why they're blushing so much.


 
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Ah, eto... bleh!

Yoriko makes a silly expression when being confronted for making a mistake.

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Main / SillyMeGesture

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