Note: TLDR at the very bottom.

Story - 8

As someone who was from a dictatorship country with a very corrupted police force, I really envy countries that have a reliable police force. How corrupted you ask? If you call the emergency line, the police might or might not come. If you file a robbery case, that case will never be solved let alone more serious cases. If they caught you running a red light, you can bribe them. The police will even find trouble on purpose so that you will give them money.

Watching Police in a Pod, I can’t help but feel envious of the Japanese police force which helps fight crime in one of the world's safest countries. It was also an interesting insight into the police force and how they operate.

Police in a Pod follows Kawai, who was a rookie policewoman about to resign because of all the pressure but got teamed up with Fuji who acted as her senior. Kawai instead of resigning keeps on staying in the police force for a bit longer and her view on police work slowly changes.

Since the location is in Japan, a lot of crimes are petty crimes, suicide or sexual assault. You won’t be seeing any shootout here.

Every couple of episodes is about the Kawai and Fuji doing different police work from traffic work, patrol, and all the way up to sexual assault as the story rev up. The way the Japanese police respond to these situations and the procedures are pretty interesting to see such as the reenactment of a molest case, paying respect to the dead body before checking the body, etc...

One fascinating thing is that Kawai and Fuji keep responding to one call from this guy who keeps saying he is going to commit suicide but every time they went and check on him, he seems to be just fine. The guy was also just let off with just a minor scolding too. However, the guy really tries to commit suicide on the final call and if Kawai and Fuji haven’t responded he would be long dead.

In the early episode, there is one scene where people verbally insult Kawai and Fuji saying things such as waste of tax money and the first thing that pops up in my mind is, you guys are lucky you have a police force that is functioning well and keeping you safe.

The anime is not all about police work with a serious tone all the way. Comedies are inserted appropriately such as the two detective pair Minamoto and Yamada often wrecking their police vehicle, how the detective department all look full of Yakuza looking peeps or trying to sketch the victim's face from description without drawing experiences.

I really like that the anime shows that the police are also human beings and are not perfect but they were also trying the best of their ability. The anime also shows the negative side of police work such as overworking, not enough sleep, irregular mealtime, getting called in for duty even if it is your off day, etc...

Character - 7

The character you will be seeing often in Police in a Pod are Kawai, Fuji, Yamada, Minamoto and Makitaka. A lot of character development goes into Kawai since she is the rookie police but the rest of the characters are likeable too.

Kawai joined the police force because she want a stable salary and not because she want to be a policewoman. She was assigned with Fuji when she was about to resign from all the pressure she is getting but following Fuji around and handling different cases, Kawai slowly change her view about police work.

The development of Kawai and her learning more about police work can easily be seen in each and every episode. In one scene Kawai suggested leaving after a guy who keep calling them that he going to suicide because she can’t open his front door but Fuji smashed the window and got inside only to save the guy on time.

An experience like this grows on Kawai and she slowly changes from just being there for the salary to actually being a policewoman. When the anime starts, Kawai looks totally green and cowardly but by the end of the anime, she is chasing a guy who is armed with a knife all by herself.

Fuji didn’t change much from start to end but she is an important character for Kawai to grow and for the plot to advance. Fuji is your role model of a policewoman but she was demoted from detective to sergeant. She can stand all the pressure, handled a lot of cases professionally and was a good mentor for Kawai.

Yamada and Minamoto are detectives. Both of them got used as comedic relief a lot but there are also moments where they do serious work. Fuji, Yamada and Minamoto graduated from the same police academy thus rivalry and argument between Fuji and Minamoto are commonly used as comedic relief but at the end of the anime in a more serious case, they all work together perfectly.

Makitaka mostly deals with sexual assault cases and plays an important role near the end of the anime which is about a sexual assault case. Despite her look, she is strong and stands firmly on the side of justice. Moreover, she is also very compassionate toward the victim. A really likeable character.

All in all, not a lot of character development apart from Kawai but solid characterization from the get-go. The characters are suitable for the story and the theme the anime is going for.

Art & Animation - 6.5

Police in a Pod’s art and animation are solid and they get the job done for an anime like this. It has an overall more realistic tone too. The art and animation are consistent from start to end too.

The character design leans toward a more realistic side, not your usual moe art and it looks pretty decent. Detail such as radio, whistle cords and baton are all accounted for though they are not drawn in much detail.

The animation looks natural, most are just regular human animations. There is some usage of close up mug shots in some running scenes to make it feel like the character is running without much animation work.

Background arts are mostly solid too. Police stations look and feel like one with all the whiteboards, cabinets, paper works. The usual stuff you may find at a police station. The outdoor arts are also decent but in terms of details, it is rather hit or miss. There is one scene where Kawai, Fuji, Yamada and Minamoto went on a stakeout mission and there are people and even car moving about in the city but there are also scene where the street is bizarrely empty.

The cars are made with CG and they are okay but didn’t blend exceptionally well with the 2D background but not sticking out like a sour thumb either.

Sound - 6.5

Both the opening and ending songs sound really nice. The opening song rap part is really lovely and the ending song is more chill and cute.

Background music is nothing exceptional but is very suitable for the scenes they were played be it heartwarming or funky scenes. The sound effects are pretty well detailed from background noise in a pub to the squeaking sound of the chair to people rubbing their shoulders. Nothing is amiss.

Voice acting is solid with each character having a voice that is appropriate for their personality and looks. Fuji is voiced by the same voice actress who voiced Mikasa from Attack On Titan. I am surprised how much she was able to capture Fuji’s personality which is way different from Mikasa. The same goes for Kawai voice actress who voiced Destiny from Takt Op Destiny.

TLDR:

An entertaining slice of life anime taking a good look into police work and police life in Japan.