Cop Craft Review Episode 3

Finding Fairies

Cop Craft Episode 3

I know saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts is a little bit trite particularly when that means there are some parts that aren’t so great, and yet it is apt in this instance. Cop Craft is treading fairly familiar territory to those who have watched many buddy-cop type movies and shows over the years and the inclusion of fairies isn’t quite novel enough to make it in anyway feel unique. Couple that with sub-par action sequences and you could have a disaster on your hands, and yet Cop Craft has so far had enough charm to keep me engaged and wanting just a little bit more.

Part of the reason for the anime drawing me in so far is Kei and Tilarna, the duo at the centre of the show. While neither is a particularly exceptional character on their own, and I’m really not a fan of Kei’s voice work at all, when Tilarna asked Kei to trust her as a partner toward the climax of this episode, it felt genuine and earned. While these two still aren’t exactly best friends they’ve found a grudging respect for one another and the means to work together.

The throw-away villain introduced last week turned out to be exactly that and while he does get a fight scene, the reliance on stills during the fight kind of kill any real sense of excitement for what should have been a pretty dynamic exchange of swords. Surprisingly though the villain that I thought was just a lackey turned out to have a bit more significance and they’ve thrown in a prior connection with Kei as well just to really twist the knife.

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While there’s no genuine surprises to be found here as cop shows have been a dime a dozen in western media forever, for an anime it kind of stands out so far this season. The story is working well, the character designs are kind of cute, and the music feels on point. Cop Craft may not be a must watch for the season but it is certainly settling in to be fairly good pop-corn viewing each week.

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Images from: Cop Craft. Dir. S Itagaki. Millepensee. 2019.