Cop Craft

Episodes 1-3

Murdock and Riggs, Turner and Hooch, Hopps and Wilde, for decades buddy cops have been a tried and true formula. Whether the setting is gritty and violent or a fun family romp, these odd couples have become an incredibly flexible vehicle for storytelling. Even within anime, you have standout examples like Dirty Pair and Tiger & Bunny. Cop Craft from studio Millepensee is the latest attempt at this—or at least it appeared to be on the surface.

Cop Craft gets off to a strong start with its entertaining introduction. There's enough tongue-in-cheek dialogue and character to the opening scene that it's not until a literal fairy in a jar appears—and poor Detective Rick Fury is murdered after a sting gone wrong—that the show tries to remind you that it wants to be taken somewhat seriously. In terms of anime based around a rift to another world opening up to change society, Cop Craft is closer to something like GATE than Blood Blockade Battlefront, and I can't help but lament its refusal to be more weird and fun aesthetically, because there's plenty of fun to be had in the story of its first two episodes!

Surviving detective and lead character Kei matoba and the exhaustingly-named Tilarna Barsh Mirvor Lyata Imsedalya Iyeh Tebreina Devol Nelano Seiya Nel Exedilica make an entertaining if shallow pair. The dynamic of gruff dad cop and rich girl out of her element is another tried-and-true combination. It takes more effort to screw this up than it does to pass the bar, but the writing is snappy enough to clear it easily. There's an especially cute gag where Tilarna constantly pronounces matoba's name wrong, only for him to find out she's purposely mocking him in her own language. The way their tension translates into the first real action scene of the series is also well done, with a mix of police shootout and reckless fantasy swordsmanship capturing the way their personalities push against each other. Their foe being a gun-toting zombie assassin is another fun detail, and the end result keeps the story and character development moving as one.

However, that was only true as long as those elements were being given equal weight, but when the plot truly kicks in, it feels like all other parts of the show are swept away. Episode three reveals the problem of combining a buddy cop show and a light novel show, deciding that it was taking too long to get to a bigger conflict and jamming what feels like should've been the overall storyline for the entire season into this one episode. I'm still processing just how much director Shin Itagaki tried to jam into this one episode and only ever finding more, so here's a small list of things that are introduced and resolved within episode three.

1. Villainous drug trafficker is discovered, explains his plan, fights Tilarna and takes her hostage
2. Kei discovers the evil hideout
3. Tilarna breaks free and fights the bad guy again, killing him after he monologues his entire backstory
4. Bad guy dies but not before his evil wizard gets away with the bomb
5. The traitor in the police leaking information is revealed by the police chief showing up to yell “It was me because I'm racist!” and then he dies
6. The evil wizard is revealed to have killed Kei's squad in some barely mentioned War from the past

Maybe this could've come across better had the first two episodes not been more of a slow burn by comparison. I'm not entirely sure if there's any way to comfortably fit that much information and revelation into twenty minutes no matter how breakneck your story's pace, but I know for sure it would be easier to swallow if the production hadn't also jumped off a cliff. Gone is the fluid swordfighting from episode two, replaced with a series of still shots and speed lines. This would be bad enough for one scene, but when you decide to cram it into multiple scenes, against a supposed master swordsman who's less impressive to watch than a random zombie? Ouch. The other major downer of this episode is that one of the coolest effects in the OP that was highlighted in that episode 2 fight is Tilarna's Magical Girl-inspired battle costume. For some incredibly obvious reason, that sequence is gone in episode three. Instead she spends every fight scene in a plain white skimpy outfit, so even though there's nearly zero animation, we can be treated to shots of a sword through her panties. Seriously, priorities please.

I have no idea what to expect going forward. I honestly hope the latest episode was a production misstep and that the visuals and pace of the first two will return. If not, and all pretense of being a buddy cop show is thrown out in favor of trying to fit an entire season's worth of plot into each episode, then bring it on, Cop Craft. I'm a bit more prepared and I can't say I'm not curious, so let's strap in and go for a ride, wherever it takes us.

Episodes 1-2 Rating:

Episode 3 Rating:

Cop Craft is currently streaming on Funimation and Hulu.