Cop Craft

Fifteen years ago, a hyperspace gate appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, connecting Earth to a strange world filled with fairies and monsters. The city of San-Teresa became a home for over two million of these otherworldly visitors. Unfortunately, the population boom also brought its fair share of problems—drugs, prostitution, and trafficking. To combat the rampant crime lurking in the city's shadows, a new department was established in the San-Teresa Metropolitan Police.

Former JSDF soldier Kei Matoba is one of the best cops that the department has to offer, despite his inclination to occasionally bend the rules. After a fairy trafficking case goes wrong, Kei loses Rick Fury, his friend and partner of four years, setting him on a quest for vengeance. To help him with the case, the department pairs him with Tilarna Exedilika, a noble of the Farbani Kingdom. As one of the Knights of Mirvor, her duty is to rescue the noble fairy that Kei encountered during his last case. Despite his distaste for non-humans, he accepts the arrangement at the request of his superiors. Now, the unlikely duo must come together and overcome their differences in order to return the missing fairy to her country and avenge the death of Kei's partner.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Exedilika, Tilarna Main

Yoshioka, Mayu Japanese

Matoba, Kei Main

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Epps, Cecil Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Estefan, Cameron Supporting

Inoue, Marina Japanese

Zelada Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Vampire Supporting

Uesaka, Sumire Japanese

Mcbee, Tony Supporting

Takahashi, Ryousuke Japanese

Fury, Amy Supporting

Maekawa, Ryouko Japanese

Fury, Rick Supporting

Sanpei, Yuuki Japanese

Mozeleemay, Marla Supporting

Mizuno, Risa Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Itou, Hirofumi Producer

Fukao, Satoshi Producer

Satou, Keisuke Producer

Reviews

Oct 8, 2023

Rian_Rahmat

Recommended

I've watched this anime three times, and the likes for this anime are starting to drop.

This anime is quite interesting with its own storyline, although there is no initial story before the two parties reconcile.
I think this will be a story for the next season, I hope there is a continuation.

The downside is the fight scenes, they are not well done.
For example, never PAUSE this anime, then it will be clear that the picture will be strange. Lol.

The opening and ending songs are very good, I think they are very harmonious with the story of this anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jan 4, 2026

AshParth

Mixed Feelings

Well, what better anime to look at, especially with how today's political climate has become, with anime called Cop Craft? Released before Funimation and Crunchyroll merged via their parent company, Sony. This is an interesting kind of buddy cop cliche but with a rather interesting concept. Yes, the old-fashioned buddy cop movie cliche that everyone either loves or hates since it has always been a thing since the 80s. I don't mind them too much, depending on how they're built up. Of course, I have a few favorites of my own. Cop Craft is more on the approach on ... humans coexisting with elves, fairies, and other fantastic creatures in both diplomatic and humane reasoning. Don't worry, it isn't as Isekai as you would think it is. I beg to differ. This is a reverse Isekai. Remember Inu Yasha and the Devil is a Part-Timer? Yup. This anime is one, too.
Before the story starts, we get a backstory on humanity and elves' coexistence. You will often have a reminder of it before each episode, too, in case you need a reminder. That was fifteen years ago. We cut to present day where the story takes place on Kariana Island and it's main city of San-Teresa that serves as Earth's "front door" to the magical world on the other side of the mystical gate located on the Pacific Ocean. Both humans and elves learn to live a prosperous life and grow with one another, yet crime would seek to take advantage of it. Kinda like society as a whole. Our main protagonist, Detective Sergeant Kei Matoba, voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda, of the San-Teresa Metropolitan Police Department, who was on a drug bust that goes wrong and loses his partner for four years in the process. The new drug involves a fairy being sold in the black market. Under the police chief's suggestion, Matoba is forced to work with a Semanian knight named Tilarna Exedilica, voiced by Mayu Yashioka. Tilarna is a noble Knight of Mirvor who actually needed to look for this fairy, who is a friend of hers since she was a child. Because she could smell and detect lacrema, which does help the police find where the fairies were stored in order for them to be used as new drugs. It became more than just what the police figured that it was going to be.
After the case has been solved, Tilarna decides to stay on Earth to become the first Semanian police officer while feeling accustomed to living amongside humanity. Meanwhile, Matoba starts to learn and tolerate the Semanian's the more he works alongside Tilarna. Yes, you could also make the argument that it's one of those "fish out of water" kind of tropes right next to the buddy cop cliche. However, it kinda works as both Matoba and Tilarna start to trust one another more with each case they get involved in since they never get along with one another since the first time they've met. Of course, it was a Semanian who killed his old partner. Even calling them "aliens," including Tilarna, until he grew out of it. Down the road, it's always better to learn that not every Semanian is as violent or as much a criminal as they are viewed upon by some of humanity. Yes, we're tackling racism in this anime. In all fairness, we even have human criminals in this anime, too. So it's technically equality, if you ask me. The first few episodes do give it away when it tackles corrupt authoritarians from police to politicians.
Thankfully, Matoba and Tilarna aren't the only ones on the scene. You have Cecil Epps, voiced by Fumiko Orikasa, who is the deputy coroner of the San-Teresa MPD, as well as Matoba's ex-girlfriend. Biz O'Neill, voiced by Wataru Takagi, who is a black market dealer who runs a strip club called "Lady Chapel" while putting on a guise of a priest. As well as acting like one. He also has a bodyguard, who is also the bouncer of the strip club named Kenny, voiced by Volcano Oda. (No, I am not kidding. That is his actual name. Look up Wikipedia or Behind the Voice Actor, in case you wanna know). Tony McBee, voiced by Ryousuke Takahashi, who is a police officer who is eccentric as he's a helpful asset to Matoba and Tilarna in some cases. Even talking about his multiple boyfriends as well as a good master of disguise. Cameron Estefan, voiced by Marina Inoue, and Jamie Austin, voiced by Mai Nakahara, who are detectives who assist everyone within the police station with various information while also having a couple of moments of their own. There are other minor characters who do get their time, yet they don't get much screen time. One of them is Zoe, voiced by Rie Tanaka, who befriends Tilarna, yet also working for a politician named Cole Mozeleemay, voiced by Yuya Uchida. It's a shame, too, because I do like her as a character and would be interesting for her to help out more. But I digress. Then you have Zelada, voiced by Houchuu Ootsuka, who is a Semanian mage who can control dead bodies who are overdosed on fairy dust like puppets. Apparently, Zelada has a history with Matoba. Yet that was mentioned once.
Yeah, I guess it's time to talk about some of the cons this anime has. Like I've said, some of the side characters are kinda short-lived with their use. Like Zoe, for example. To be fair, this anime is more about Matoba and Tilarna solving various cases per two-three episodes after their first case at the beginning since they'd first met. It would also depend on how you feel for each case. Honestly, the first case involving Matoba and Tilarna's first meeting to save the fairies used for the black market was fun. The vampire case was interesting for where they were going. The episode involving Cole Mozeleemay and his wife is interesting, including at the end of the series were interesting. The ending, especially. One of the most bizarre cases they went through was when Tilarna and Matoba's pet cat, Kuroi, swapped bodies because of this crossbow that was in this crate filled with objects.
The other problem revolves around the animation. Don't get me wrong. The animation is solid for the drama, the action, and the background that feels like San Francisco minus the Golden Gate Bridge. However, there are some times when some of it doesn't look that good. You could tell that they'd cut some corners. Thankfully, a few hiccups are better than a long, messy session. The voice acting is pretty good for what they'd delivered. I might've seen the English dub back then, so I wouldn't know much. Maybe I'll check it out just for the fun of it and share like an extra bit on what I'd thought about it. For the humor, a couple of chuckles came from me after hearing them.
Now, I know certain folks would always say to not insert politics in anime. I mean, art is political, especially, say One Piece, as several like-minded folks have pointed out. Granted, not every single anime can be political as this anime is. Hell, it does tackle racism when it comes between humans and Semanians, who have two things in common. Decency and crimes. There is a speech within the last episode that Tilarna says that would make a lot of sense to understand why coexistence is important for all races. Especially on why racism is getting worse in today's standards. Would you imagine what ICE would be like in this kind of worldbuilding? Hey, remember when the orange man was in a scene in an anime called Inuyashiki? That's as much of a cameo as his cameo in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. If anything, any ignorant person should learn from Kei Matoba. Sure, he wasn't too fond of Tilarna, yet at least he learned to be a better person the more they pursued each case. Kei even called out a cop who called her an alien. But the grifting community will always be that way. Wouldn't be surprised if they discovered this anime and cried wolf for pity pennies.
This is a nice approach to the ol' buddy cop cliche. Oddly, this reminds me of Netflix's Bright. You know, the movie that has Will Smith, who plays as a police officer who involuntarily partners up with the first orc police officer in an alternative present where humans and mythical creatures coexist with one another. Also, the same movie has thrown this weird plot point involving this elf girl. Granted, it's been a long time, and if I were to watch it again, it might be in-the-middle or below average. Sure, this anime does have a handful of issues, yet it's fun for my taste. Understandable that this isn't for everyone. Kinda wished that it lasted longer with the human cop and Semanian knight to further develop over the boundaries while solving more cases than what might've been written in the light novels. But I digress.
I will give Cop Craft six and a half Tilarna and Zoe having fun out of ten. 6.5/10. For real, I kinda wished Zoe was still around. Imagine she'd help a lot with Matoba and Tilarna.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 6, 2024

AnimeIsAMistake7

Not Recommended

As i sit here attempting to craft a review for one of the worst cop shows I've ever had the misfortune of watching, I am tempted to abandon the endeavor entirely and never again think of this anime. This show makes me want to retroactively subtract 1 rating point from every anime I've seen as it singlehandedly has diminished the entire medium that is Japanese animation and can be used as supporting evidence to the argument "anime was a mistake".

The vast majority of the effort and investment into this series was likely spent on a collegiate language experts to create an entire fictional elvish ... language, as well as consultations with Tolkein and the writers of Miami Vice. They also threw in a bunch of impressively original but entirely out of place music that never once matched the setting or events on screen. Im talling Arabic-prayer-singing-echoing-through-the-streets-of-2000s-Baghdad-during-a-drug-bust-on-the-island-of-Los-Angeles-2-levels of bad. I don't know who was cooking with this show but clearly they should not be let back in the kitchen again.

They set up plot lines and world building that could very well be decent and interesting but then do not follow it through at all. There's some sort of shadow wizard money gang manipulating things in the background at first but then we abandon this thread to iniect classic tsundere loli elf girl tropes and body swap shenanigans because the showrunners evidently thought fans would not have any interest in the story if it was not dripping with constant fanservice of child-like girls defacating in a litter box. The show is entirely predictable as well, you know right away that the loli elf will continue to be kidnapped and captured and put into these predicaments where the scene is pregnant with the threat of physical assault on her body.

There is a weird and very jarring use of cgi in some instances and in other scenes there's literally no movement for several minutes as they take every step possible to save on having to animate any movement or speech whatsoever. That could have been forgiven if what the show delivered was in any shape or form worthwhile. Of the friends I watched it with most were too appalled and only half were able to stick it out to the miserable conclusion.

The vampire chick was a baddie and the fact that they wasted her presence is also another cardinal sin I will count against this show, she was clearly fixable and it was deplorable how readily the show takes something that could possibly be cool and self sabotage it into the ground.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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