Cop Craft

With the Summer 2019 anime season, while I enjoyed El Melloi II Case Files, I found it somewhat lacking as a mystery or detective series and had hoped that Cop Craft would make up for that. Cop Craft executes its Urban Fantasy Buddy-Cop story well from a narrative standpoint, but less so from an animation standpoint. Cop Craft is based on a series of Light Novels written by Shoji Gatou, the author of Full Metal Panic, and illustrated by Range Murata, the character designer and artist behind Last Exile and Serial Experiments Lain. The series is set in the island State of Kariana Island, in the city of San Teresa. About 15 years prior to the start of the series, a magic gate opened between our world and the fantasy realm of Semania (with the people from that realm being called alternatively Semani or Semanians). After some initial hostilities, relations between Earth and the Semani have settled down, complete with Semani immigrants coming to settle in San Teresa, with a slew of tensions coming off of that. Cop Craft itself follows Kai Matoba, a vice detective in the San Teresa police department. When a drug bust goes horribly wrong due to the involvement of a kidnapped fairy that multiple gangs are after, Kei is partnered up with a magical knight from Semania, Tilarna Exedilica. Where Kei is a hard-boiled detective in the classic Chandler mold, Tilarna starts out, by comparison, as something of a Lawful Asshole Elven Paladin (or a Bladesinger, depending on which edition of D&D and how you interpret the character). After this case resolves (I’m not going to spoil how), Tilarna decides she wants to stay in San Teresa and be Kei’s long term partner. Or, if you want the short form version – Cop Craft is Miami Vice meets Red Heat with Arnold’s character being from Toril instead of the Soviet Union and is an elf played by Summer Glau instead of being played by Arnie. The world itself is fairly well thought out – for example, the Semani don’t have photography back home, so a plot involves smuggling ordinary, perfectly legal here pornography (i.e. Hustler, Penthouse, Playboy) through the Gate. Similarly, a supporting character in one of the episodes is a Semani immigrant who has gotten really into photography. That said, the descriptions of the immigrant experience here are clearly from someone who doesn’t have much knowledge of the experience and how it exists in the US bureaucracy. For example, the San Teresa PD has no Semani translators on staff, we don’t see a Semani family insistent that their kids speak Semani at home. Most of the Semani we see speak (basically) English like natives, and have assimilated very well. Maybe this is executed better in the novel, but it doesn’t come up that much here. I don’t know how well this compares to Bright, but on the other hand, Bright was written by an American author, Cop Craft wasn’t. However, all of those things are dependant on the source material. It’s up to the animation studio, Millepensee, to bring it to life. Unfortunately, that’s also where it all falls down. Now, most of your general cop procedural sequences are animated very well – Tilarna playing with Kei’s cat, conversation scenes, interrogations (which, from an animation standpoint, are very different from a regular conversation), etc. It’s when we get to the action scenes where things fall apart. There are several major sword fights where we really lose all sense of geography. In the case of one of them, it’s in a subway tunnel, where the third rail can (and does) come into play. Consequently, from a choreography standpoint, we need to keep track of that rail – as it’s both an asset and a threat for our protagonist (along with incoming trains). Unfortunately, with how the scene is blocked, it becomes hard to keep track of, until out of the blue it’s back. Ultimately, Cop Craft is a show that left me wishing the novels would get a US release, instead of hoping that the show got a second season (or if it did – it got animated by someone else).

The season finale brings the big fights to an end with great action, tension, and emotional moments. The character relationships stay most important, perfectly balancing with good scenes.

This episode is tense and emotional, pushing stories toward a major turning point. It stays exciting by mixing police work, action, and drama while making everything feel much more critical.

This episode is a big mystery that mixes police work, suspense, and character stories. It slowly adds new clues to keep us guessing and hooked on the work.

This episode moves towards city politics and the growing fight with the fantasy world. Big story details, rising tension, and important team-ups move forward in a big way.

This episode is strange and different, showing a weirder side of the fantasy world. It mixes funny moments, police work, and magic while getting closer.

This episode is fun and relaxed, taking a break from police work to show the characters hanging out. The slower speed with showing cool details about character's different cultures.

This episode is fast and full of action, chases, and police work. Their high energy keeps things exciting, and the partners work together. It focuses on thrills and speed.

This is a dark and sad episode, focusing on personal choices and critical decisions. The mystery is still good, but the feelings and stories matter most.

This episode focuses on the characters, their friendship, and their different cultures. The police work keeps moving, but the best part is seeing the main characters understand each other better.

This is an exciting and tense episode, mixing police work, action, and teamwork. Being trapped makes it scary, and the main partners get closer while solving.

This episode focuses on the characters getting closer while showing more of the urban-fantasy world. It merges police work, different cultures, and new friendship to make the story more personal and exciting.

This episode moves fast and mixes fantasy with crime stories in a cool new world. Good characters and a growing mystery keep us hooked while starting the main plot.

This ep is the ultimate finale and the Tilarna-Matba chemistry is honestly carrying. We finally get the closure and character depth needed to see how their partnership has evolved past the prejudice.

This ep is a total setup for the finale and the political tension is actually peaking. We finally get the lore and character depth needed to understand the conspiracy behind the election, and Tilarna’s resolve is so good.

This ep is a total political thriller and the tension in San Teresa is peaking. We finally get the lore and character depth needed to understand the racial divide between humans and Semanians before the election.

This ep is a total gritty noir vibe and the Tilarna-Matba chemistry is honestly carrying. We finally get the lore and character depth needed to understand the political corruption between Earth and Semani.

This ep is a total mystery grind and the Tilarna/Matba chemistry is carrying hard. We finally get the lore and character depth needed to understand the political corruption between both worlds.

This ep is a total gritty noir vibe and the Tilarna-Matba dynamic is finally hitting different. We get the lore and character depth needed to understand the political tension between Earth and Semani, and the kidnapping plot is actually intense.

This ep is a total gritty vibe and the world-building is finally clicking. We get the lore and character depth needed to see how Tilarna is actually adjusting to Earth's darker side, and that whole "precious metal" case is intense.