To round out Mecha March, I’m returning to the world of Dominion Tank Police. This time, we’re looking at Dominion, Conflict #1: No More Noise. Now, the canon of this setting is different than the original manga we looked at last time, with less pollution and a more organized Tank Police. However, there’s some new characters and some of the old ones are missing. Visually, it doesn’t look nearly as run down or decayed but the same aesthetic is still there in the building designs. Oh, and all the tanks are mini tanks, which seems to make Bonaparte a little less unique.
Our story starts with Urushi-Maru, the Skyscraper Pirate, flying his plane through the city and getting attacked by the tank police. This makes him drop his stink bombs on the wrong target. The following day, we get some little introductions to the rest of the tank police, including Habana, who uses a wheelchair, and some of the returning cast, like Brenten, before Leona (now a squad leader or Sargent) has to go to a meeting. There’s an inspection, talk about the hunt for Urushi-Maru, and then Leona gets assigned the Puma sisters to her squad. So it appears that they’re still criminals, or at least they were, but since they’re androids, they can’t be held accountable for their crimes. Whatever they might be.
After this, the story becomes more of a cop drama, with the story following around various characters at various locations. Brenten is trying to track down where Urusi-Maru might have landed, and dumps a review thing onto Leona at headquarters. While she’s there, we learn a bit about how the Bonaparte class tanks work and what is being offered in the replacements. There’s also a line about how the bacterial cloud is now gone, suggesting that what happened in the other manga might be some-what canon. We also follow around various members of the squad around the station house, learning a bit about how this world works and how police work is done. It’s a rather interesting read, if you’re into that kind of thing. To make a more recent reference, it’s kind of what they do in Hot Fuzz but with more characters and with more discussion of explosives.
As things move on, the investigation of Urushi-Maru continues, with a piece of his place being analyzed and making it look more likely that Sagawa Armaments being the company funding his piracy. This, of course, turns out to be correct and Leona and the tank police set up a steak-out at the factory. Sending in a smaller Uni (or is it Anna?) to check things out, she catches the factory owner and Urushi-Maru discussing their plans. As she’s a “bimbo” she screws everything up and the tank police have to move in. Except for Leona because her tank ends up surrounded by protesters. They seem to be anti-war, anti-police protesters and they pick her to pick on. Which is about the worst thing they could have picked.
This fight takes up most of the rest of the volume and it is fantastic. There’s really two battles going on, with most of the tank police going after Urushi-Maru and Leona having to deal with the head of Sagawa, who’s behind the wheel of some kind of APC. This fight is really good, with each tank and crew having a role to play in combat. Leona, of course, does a lot of crazy things that she shouldn’t be done. This includes using HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) and Sabot rounds to blow open a hole in a wall that’s suppose to stop test rounds. While she tries to take out the corrupt boss, the others are going through the factory to try to capture Urushi-Maru and his female sidekick. You get to see both sides using all kinds of gadgets and equipment, as well as tactics and teamwork, trying to come out on top. Of course, the tank police come out on top and Urushi-Maru is captured.
With the main plot of the volume finished, the rest is tying up loose ends and the other plots woven into the story. And, yes, the paperwork. There are a few things left hanging but these were clearly there for another volume. Which never happened. As much as I like Shiro’s work, the man rarely finishes anything. And that makes this a very sad tale, as there’s plenty more to work with that’s just left on the table.
This is a much more polished version of the original manga, both in look and story, making for a mixed bag. While I like how much more cohesive the story is, the loss of the grit and grime in the setting takes away too much of it. It’s also really hard to tell stories about the police having tanks unless you strike a good balance between the two. The first version of the tank police was more focused on tanks and crime, while this one is much more focused on the police part of the tank police. Perhaps someday we’ll see that perfect version. Maybe it was already done in New Dominion Tank Police but I only saw one episode of that back in the day and don’t really remember it. That said, this is a fun read, despite the flaws.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Suggestion: If you
liked the first one, you might like this one, too. If you like police
dramas with a dash of the absurd and comical, this might be something
for you, too.
And with this, I wrap up another Mecha March. Next year, I'll finally be doing the OVA of Dominion Tank Police. If you have any suggestions for what else to do for Mecha March next year, let me know.
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