Cop Craft – 09 [A King Maker]

While I am all for show that moves at its own pace – thus having the length as they see fit, Cop Craft would benefit better if it fits the whole body-swap affair into one single episode in my opinion. I know it sounds contradicting to my usual complain of Cop Craft (too rush), but looking back to this case I realize that the plot isn’t at all dense to merit that much length. I don’t necessarily think of it as a flaw, either, just to say that the whole decision-making regarding which chapters to adapt and how long for each case have been… weird.  Still, our Tilarna’s desperation to take the crossbow back, and the realization when she wakes up to find a guy seeing her butt-naked (no sexual tension, but still… HAHA), are all hilarious moments. Even more hilarious when you realize that if they have done nothing, the result would be the same anyways (the crossbow being destroyed negates the effect it had). While this case might appear to be slight, imagine what devilish things could have happened if this magical bow falls to the wrong hand. As for me, the body-swap story is still a delight.

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Cop Craft – 07/08 [Girls On Ice/ Smells Like Toon Spirits]

For some, Cop Craft might not deliver the ambition it promises in its first two episodes: the production values is still barebone for one, and it lacks the central narrative focus for another, it still burns through the material like gasoline on top of that. But for me, I enjoy Cop Craft much better when it isn’t dealing with heavy-handed overarching plot. The universe in Cop Craft is seedy, corrupt and crimes-ladden, but the show flirts around with its dark settings with light tone and even pokes fun at its absurdity. Sure, aliens are obssessed with human’s porno mags because why not, and in the case of episode 7, a politician gets tangled up in alien prostitute’s ring. Episode 7, titled “Girls on Ice”, remains one of the best episodes in Cop Craft, seemingly because it weaves seamlessly between its dark subject matters and lightheart screwball moments, making the case in this episode fun to follow and still has room for more thoughts if we want to dig a little deeper.

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Cop Craft – 06 [Need For Speed]

Cop Craft mixes up many unusual elements such as porno magazines, gay policeman, car chases and even romance into its trip this week. The result is that while it’s light in content, it proves to be more entertaining than when it deals with serious plot. While at this point I still prefer the relationship between Kei and Tilarna as partners, Cop Craft leans forward to the feelings Tilarna has for Kei, or more like how she wanted to be his equal. I have a good laugh of the running gags of her destroying his cars in pursuit for the chase. hey, she did the job marvelously, and Her facial expression is still as cute as ever. They still bounce off each other nicely at this point. In fact, their casual remarks and attitudes to each other makes the whole thing fun to watch.

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Cop Craft – 04/05 [In The Air Tonight/ Lonesome Vampire]

Even though the production values took a nosedive ever since episode 3 (and still isn’t recovering), and even though Cop Craft still has issues with its overall pacing, I have come to enjoy what the last two episodes have to offer. If you want to peep at the series’s quality in one single episode, all its strengths and weaknesses, there is no better place to look than episode 4, as it wraps up the first arc and quickly opens the door for the next one. My opinion on the first arc remains baffled to say the least. There’s undeniably many strong elements here and there, but when it’s told in that breaknecking-fast manner it fails to leave any impact. For instance, the prior chemistry between Tilarna and the kidnapped fairy, as well as her drive to save the fairy at all costs are all solid character developments. If only Cop Craft would spend more time to properly build-up that thread, the ending where the fairy sacrifices herself for Kei would make a much more powerful punch. Likewise, Zelada is an interesting antagonist, but through this rushed len he comes off more like an one-dimensional evil lord. Kei finds himself on the verge of death is interesting if not for the fact that it only takes mere minutes for him to get saved by Tilarna.

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Cop Craft – 02/03 [Dragnet Mirage/ Midnight Train]

For those of you who haven’t quite caught up yet, Cop Craft claimed our own “Season Sleeper” prize for its first episode. While at first glance, Cop Craft is a kind of mix between the buddy cop formula of Double Decker and the “multiple races live in the same city” world building of Blood Blockade Battlefront, for me it’s another case of Grimoire of Zero which air few years ago: both have an incredible leads’ chemistry and a mildly-interesting settings. For Cop Craft, the show is not shy on touching dark themes of corruption and racism so you can’t say that it doesn’t have any ambition. The problem with Cop Craft so far is the production values. Mind you, it didn’t even look polished in the premiere, but it still saddens me to see how the production falling apart just 3 episodes in.

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