Score: 4/10, 1/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Drama, Action, Comedy, Mystery, Fantasy, Magic, Isekai, Ecchi
Availibility: Available on Funimation
Previously, in my Seasonal Summary, I described Cop Craft as a series that was "all flash and no substance." The more I think about it, though, the more I feel like that criticism isn't particularly fair. After all, the "flash" and "substance" this series has to offer bears some striking similarities to a guttering fluorescent bulb in a slum apartment. That's right; it finally happened. My opinion of a series has actually gotten worse with time, rather than better. Considering the numerous issues with Cop Craft's story, themes, presentation, and execution, though, that development hardly comes as a surprise. If anything, it's a solid sign that I've finally gotten past trying to justify this half-baked nothing's existence despite it being originally created by the author of the mecha classic, Full Metal Panic.
Though, if I'm being completely honest, I was never a big fan of FMP.
So, starting from the ground up, one of the biggest flaws with Cop Craft is that it feels like a series that never moved past the concept phase. While there are plenty of interesting ideas to latch onto throughout the series, some novel and some familiar, none of them are consistent or fleshed out enough to develop an actual story. For example, the main premise of the series centers around the concept of the "reverse isekai" where characters/beings from a fantasy world are brought into our own. Rather than being a single event for a handful of characters, though, Cop Craft's isekai is brought on by the same kind of phenomenon seen in another isekai series, Gate, in which a portal connecting the two worlds appears and remains open, allowing humanity and the Semanian people of that fantasy world to come and go as they please. Also like Gate, Cop Craft uses this hook less for wish-fulfillment and more as the spark for a more serious drama in which the connection of the two worlds brings about a bloody conflict where the magic of the other world and our technological military might go head-to-head. The key difference, though, is that this conflict has already come and gone in the world of Cop Craft. Now, the two worlds are engaged in tense but mostly peaceful exchanges that allow the peoples and cultures to mix, giving it's police officer main characters the difficult task of keeping the peace in a world that is only just starting to get used to the idea of magic and, to varying degrees, still resents these "aliens" for the war and the great, sudden upheaval their arrival has brought about.
As interesting as all that might sound in concept, the reality of all that world-building is that it might as well not exist at all.
The premise of Cop Craft might center around how things have both changed and stayed the same since the worlds connected but the actual force of the plot is little more than your basic "buddy cop" story. Each and every episode, we follow the misadventures of the jaded detective and veteran of the Semanian-Human conflict, Kei Matoba, and his petite, Semanian partner, Tirana Exedilica, as they crack down on crime, both magical and mundane. The nature of how each story plays out, though, is about as consistent as Cowboy Bebop's filler episodes. In one episode, they might be breaking a prostitution ring, allowing for some serious discussions on sexuality, hope, and the sacrifices desperate people will make to make their dreams a reality. In another, we see Tirana get body-swapped with Kei's cat, allowing for some objectively stupid hijinx and some mildly creepy fanservice moments. Unlike Bebop, though, Cop Craft episodic structure lacks both tonal and thematic consistency. Throughout the series, topics like racism, the cyclical nature of hate, and identity politics come into play but none of them are given the proper attention and dedication they deserve. What's worse, these half-baked themes aren't even given the honor of looking good half the since they're backed by equally inconsistent animation.
It's kind of hard to have a discourse on racism when the only difference between the two races are whether they have pointy ears or not.
It's even harder, though, when the animation team can't be bothered to consistently draw the characters' ears.
If there's any one theme that sticks out the most in this series, it's the show's focus on racism. During most episodes, we see Tirana and Kei getting bombarded by the resentment people still hold for the Semanian people. Tirana, being the Semanian of their buddy cop duo, is the one who gets the brunt of it. Ranging from being called an "alien" to ignorant bigots telling her to "go home" the kind of racism she faces is one that, unfortunately, is all to familiar right now. Kei, for his part, even gets occasionally ragged on for being "an alien-lover" simply because he's mildly willing to put up with his stuck-up, juvenile, tsundere partner. As true to life as some of these situations might be, none of it actually manages to stick since the level of racism displayed in this San Fancisco-like city is just as inconsistent and honestly a bit tone-deaf as well. At times, you can actually feel that the writers have no clue how to write racism into their story. So, rather than building something that would make sense given the Semanian's natural magical abilities and general ignorance of technology, which we see in Tirana, the racism we see displayed is little more than a copy & paste of the racial atmosphere of America. Borrowing from the racism against immigrants, we see protesters shouting "go home" and using a the word "alien" as a slur. Twisting those initial concepts, then, the series also turns "alien" into the equivalent of "nigger" as we see Kei justify calling Tirana an "alien" by saying he means it as a joke or a general, toothless barb whenever she gets on his nerves. Plaster on the drug-culture and economic statuses forced on the Semanian people and it feels pretty clear that the racism at play here is little more than a vague glimpse at the current state of America's race politics and maybe a textbook on the topic. Not once does magic factor into any of it outside of a case. Not once does the treatment of the Semanians feel unique or particularly directed at their fantastical origin. Pair that lack of creativity with the fact that it honestly becomes difficult to tell if a character is supposed to be Semanian or not, thanks to previously mentioned the lack of consistent ear shape, and it becomes impossible to take this show's themes and messages seriously, no matter how important they might be in reality.
One of my personal favorite inconsistencies was how, on top of being a publicly hated minority, the Semanians are apparently a great template for "White People Problems" as well since we're also greeted with a pair of Semanians who are are a very blatant parody of the Clintons.
Put bluntly, Cop Craft proves to be a a mindless nothing of a series handled with such little care that it becomes nearly unwatchable when all is said and done. There are some funny moments, sure, and it's fun to watch Kei and Tirana's fairly decent buddy cop chemistry play out but even that amount of fun is put into question more times than one. After all, the series goes well out of its way to sexualize the thin and petite Tirana any chance it can get--throwing her into compromising situations that give the audience plenty of sleazy eye candy. Even the easy, straightforward fun of the whole frienemy and buddy cop shtick falls apart on the regular thanks to Tirana's obvious crush on Kei and his supposed--since we only get this news from Kei's ex--insistence on making her a surrogate for his dead little sister. Nothing about this show actually works on any conceivable level other than it's balls to the wall, absurdist comedy.
That, at least, is a small bit of enjoyment this trash fire will never take away from me.
So, in case that blunt statement wasn't enough, I'll just say that I can't really bring myself to recommend Cop Craft as anything other than a "so bad it's good" to watch with friends and plenty of alcohol. It is just a mess of a series no one would waste their time on while sober since I'm pretty certain by now that none of the staff working on it were sober at the time. Rather than a buddy cop comedy full of action and social commentary, we get what amounts to a will-they-won't-they romance that is 12 different kinds of messed up and action that is animated about as well as that single frame of the Pain fight in Naruto and is as well-paced as a cheetah on heroine. Apart from the sheer stupidity of its comedy, nothing about this show works and thus just isn't worth the time. You'd be much better off watching Blood Blockade Battlefront, a series that tackles all the same themes as Cop Craft but is infinitely more competent at presenting those themes alongside a pretty damn good story.