「A KING MAKER」

In the end, Tilarna’s plight was handily resolved about ten minutes in, but the hijinks and gags that led to the way were genuinely chuckle-worthy. Plus, Cecil charging out of the building to chase the garbage truck so they could find the device that swapped Tilarna and Kuroi was downright heroic. If the purpose of a filler arc is to develop characters over plot, then this should be considered a success. After all, it allowed the audience to see how Matoba functions on his own – this is a man who does not know how to treat his informants – and how Tilarna behaves when she’s paired up with someone other than her partner. Overall, she and Cecil made for a great team, with Cecil doing all the talking/distracting while Tilarna searched for the Semani weapon in the garbage heaps. As it turned out, she needn’t have bothered, since the key to changing her back was destroying the crossbow, which meant she could have stayed home with Kuroi!Tilarna and things would have worked out roughly the same.

Luckily, she switched back in time to beat up a lowlife that had been brutally interrogating her body for information on the crossbow while she’d been otherwise occupied with being a cat. Also, I just really enjoyed how dynamic and fierce she looks here, and Matoba gets a properly dramatic entrance, as well. Nice job, you two! That’ll teach people to break into your apartment. Now if only someone could remember to tell Cecil that Tilarna wasn’t crushed in the garbage compactor.

At some point following that misadventure, the cops at the precinct all get together for a nice barbeque, which somehow has to be the most outlandish thing I’ve seen on this show. How often do you see coworkers spending time together outside of work in anime? Actually, how often do you see that happen in real life? Still, I’d say the decision to have the precinct get together and relax was a good one. It’s endearing to see the chief cooking burgers on the grill while everyone teases and banters like they’re not just people who work together but also good friends. Unfortunately, the atmosphere changed when it was announced that one of the candidates for mayor was assassinated, and it was time to head back to work. This led to an arguably fantastic scene where one of the cops sneered, “Alien,” as Matoba and Tilarna walked past, and Matoba immediately put him in his place. If it had just been that, it would have been satisfying, but then the scene went a step further by having Tilarna remind Matoba that she doesn’t need him coming to his rescue, to which Matoba replied that he was well of that, it just didn’t sit right with him. She’s a friend at this point, and it’s not in his nature to stand by while his friends are being treated unfairly.

 

「COCK ROBIN, JOHN DOE」

Matoba and Tilarna’s assignment to find whoever assassinated Tourte lead quickly to his competition and fellow candidate, Coal Molzeleemay. Now, Molzeleemay is a very flawed individual. He’s a cheater, a bully, and a coward, but his wife still manages to make him seem almost sympathetic in comparison, especially when she clearly terrifies him. She’s a murderer who hasn’t expressed a single honest emotion since her introduction, and while it’s still not clear who arranged for the assassination of Tourte, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was her. Wouldn’t surprise me if she had her husband killed, either. Still, she’s a fantastic villainess. For all we know she’s in cahoots with Zelada and no one suspects a thing. The only problem with that theory lies with motive. What do either of them have to gain from killing the mayoral candidates? It seems like Zelada might be aiming to increase tensions between the Semani and humans, but how does killing Molzeleemay benefit his wife? Any chance she had at political power dies with him, doesn’t it? Anyway, it’s all very suspect. Two politicians have been assassinated, and the perpetrator is currently too dead to tell Matoba or Tilarna who put him up to it. If only there were such a thing as Forensic Necromancers…

Now that tensions are at an all-time high in San Teresa, anything could happen. Most likely, the riots and protests are going to become more and more frequent, possibly breaking into violence, which is exactly what whoever is behind these attacks presumably wants. I wouldn’t call San Teresa a powderkeg quite yet, but it does seem like things are going to get worse before they get better. Unless Matoba and Tilarna find a way to go on the offensive, they’ll be hard-pressed to combat whatever this orchestrator of these assassinations has planned next. Fortunately for them, though, their teamwork has absolutely improved. Tilarna actually listened to Matoba when he called for her to stop, which is huge progress from where they were several episodes back. Somehow, they’ve evolved into an effective us-versus-the-world sort of pair and it’s great to see them in action.

 

Preview

20 Comments

      1. Just to compare shows.

        Takagi-san Season 2 Vol 2 – Amazon Japan ranking 66 (release Oct 16)
        Cop Craft Boxset 1 – Amazon Japan ranking 8496 (release Oct 23)

        That’s the difference between a hit series and a massive flop lol.

        Lyfe
  1. https://randomc.net/image/Cop%20Craft/Cop%20Craft%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
    wondering if technology has gotten this good in the real world. Is that even possible with what Kei just did to digitally narrow down people?
    https://randomc.net/image/Cop%20Craft/Cop%20Craft%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
    Wonder where do those people find the free time to “voice” their racism. Anyway, sadly, it happens in real life with the neo-nazi. And if there comes a day when we have space aliens or fantasy elves/faeries moving into earth, I can imagine that a number of racist people will voice their negatives. Sigh, the in-anime mobs sure are brainless. Yes, they fear fantasy people because of magic being very useful for terrorism but why can’t they notice the positives? Magic can be used to help the medical world and save lives.

    On the side note, weak logic with how it was said “if fantasy people can learn science then the reverse is possible.” Ummm, we had plenty of occultists in the past that tried to use magic, no luck. I am under the impression that, like how apes could gain and use intelligence if they somehow evolve, magic is an evolutionary aspect that requires humans to somehow go through some sort of evolutionary stage.

    https://randomc.net/image/Cop%20Craft/Cop%20Craft%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
    Sadly the only person that can talk to a racist cop is another cop. Otherwise a cop can abuse his authority on a civilian for “acting aggressive and violent.”

    Greed
    1. On the side note, weak logic with how it was said “if fantasy people can learn science then the reverse is possible.” Ummm, we had plenty of occultists in the past that tried to use magic, no luck. I am under the impression that, like how apes could gain and use intelligence if they somehow evolve, magic is an evolutionary aspect that requires humans to somehow go through some sort of evolutionary stage.

      It’s probably not so much “magic” as it is sufficiently advanced technology/materials/techniques that make it indistinguishable from “magic”. If anything humans are actually improving on this “magic”.

    1. It was admittedly… very bad. The lip flaps and audio didn’t always match up, plus the action scenes looked like poorly edited slideshows at times. Strange that the animation for the filler episodes looked so much better when this is arguably the climax of this arc

      Stars
  2. I thought that Mara showed some honest emotion when we first encountered her — when she slapped her husband’s hand away and told him not to touch her. She’s quite a character though.

    Mockman
    1. True. Her outburst struck me as cold, but rage and disgust are definitely genuine emotions, too. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me if she had her husband killed to tie up loose ends, except she doesn’t have anywhere near as much to gain with him dead as she does with him alive

      Stars
  3. I have two quite obvious suspects for the political assassination series…
    One is the nationalist/xenophobe candidate who not only benefits by his main rivals getting killed, but does get to spur xenophobic hatred for Semanians (two birds with one stone?).
    But he is also too obvious culprit, so if the Lady Macbeth wife steps up to fill the shoes of her deceased husband, I will be looking out for her as prime suspect…
    Also I loved how the shapeshifting metal has been tied up nicely to Tilarna’s magical robe/armor.

    ewok40k
    1. It would be interesting if she stepped up to take her husband’s place, though also suspicious. There’s always the possibility that she was responsible for the first or second assassination, but not both

      Stars

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