Anime: Coppelion

It is the year 2036 and humans have successfully engineered living dolls called Coppelion. They are genetically-modified human clones that are immune to radiation, miraculously heal from serious injuries, and have unique special abilities. These coppelion are conveniently deployed into the shell of the former Japanese capital, now a radioactive wasteland, in order to save the remnants of humanity there.

When I think of nuclear wasteland, I think of the games S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Metro 2033, and Fallout. None of these games contain school girls in school uniforms who cry every time anything goes wrong. And yet this is exactly what GoHands has added to the theme, complete with mini skirts and an extreme dose of estrogen. While the animation of Go Hands does justice to the post-apocalyptic cityscape of "the Old Capital", the lively personalities of the characters and the caliber of action don't follow this dark tone. For me, this action-adventure only fares slightly better than Kyoukai no Kanata, another series that desperately lacks a coherent atmosphere.

Animation:
This work shares a lot with other GoHands works. Again, a major city holds the scars of a disastrous accident as in K. The amazing clarity and detail found in K is carried over in Coppelion, except that everything is now rusted and overgrown, in contrast to the sparkly-clean look of K. The character animation is a bit different in that there are very clear outlines around the characters, making it quite obvious that they are superimposed in front of the background. I also found it a bit odd how the girls were able to keep their uniforms tidy and clean, despite sleeping and rolling in the dusty, grimy deserted city. The character designs are fair with distinguishable important characters. Somehow, Naruse reminds me of Shino, the student council chair in Seitokai Yakuindomo. Unlike K, we don't have overly bishounen guys.

Though there is a lot of action in Coppelion, there isn't as much reliance on magic as in K. In its place is a lot of conventional firearm battles with antagonists who always spray lead almost universally resulting in a light show that misses the intended target. There is noticable CGI usage, especially in the earlier episodes. Expect blood and a bit of gore, though not anywhere near the level found in the games mentioned above. The more military/gamer-inclined viewer may take offense at the grievous misrepresentation of the B2 bomber, unrealistic effects of radiation, and copyright infringement of the Monkeylord from Supreme Commander. As there is no Neko in this show, don't expect there to be much in the fan service department.

Sound:
The show opens with a rock-based OP with weird-sounding gaps between the vocals. The show ends with a traditional-sounding song that feels like it fits with a Yakuza flick. It has a dark melody that, while not great, is much more melodic than the OP. The BGM is similar in instrumentation to that found in K, though with less emphasis, cohesion, and presence.

The VAs do a good job giving their respective characters fitting personalities. Kana Hanazawa and Yui Horie do well in their supporting roles but I particularly liked Rikiya Koyama's performance as the general.

Story:
This is one of those series that you shouldn't take seriously if you want any to derive any enjoyment. From the ridiculous "lead barrier" holding the radiation in to characters coincidentally discovering functional RPGs in the ruins at critical moments, this show isn't going for any realism awards. At least plot-wise, there's much more continuity compared to what we saw in K.

Basically, special "human dolls" called coppelion graduate from a special high school (training them in vital subjects such as how to use firearms and how to perform surgery) and are sent on various tasks in hazardous, radioactive environments. The show follows the medical team, a group of three whiny coppelion whose goal is to find and rescue/extract all the remaining humans in the city. The story is very episodic at first with the gals discovering various groups of people. Eventually, the story centralizes around rescuing a large group of people, which carries the plot to its climax. Along the way, convenient antagonists are introduced and mysterious winds interrupt at the worst of times. While there is continuity, the execution doesn't flow naturally.

Since Coppelion are essentially scientifically-created clones, the story attempts to invoke the same morality questions and themes also recently found in Railgun S. Unfortunately, the theme was only lightly explored and had almost no real effect on the viewer. The story also touches upon the idea that there are people who may willingly want to live in the radioactive zone, free from the burdens imposed by the outside civilization. Ultimately, none of the themes are explored with enough detail, and many seemingly important side plots (such as the Prime Minister's past) are hinted at but never explored.

In the end, this feels like an exploratory work; there are certain elements that are unique but a lot of core pieces are missing. What are the coppelion? Why is the rest of the world seemingly apathetic to the fact that Tokyo has been blown up? What kind of an engineer would think that building an experimental reactor in the center of mega city is a good idea? These critical questions, and more, will remain completely unanswered in the series.

Character:
The coppelion are as mysterious as the protagonist in K. Expect a lot of special abilities and cheesy last minute saves based on these abilities. While there is some depth to the main medical group, there isn't much explanation on the antagonists. A lot of emphasis is supposedly on the purpose of the coppelion and why they willingly follow what they are ordered to. My main gripe, however, is that antagonists completely change their mind, almost on a whim. One minute they're out to kill the protagonists, no holds barred. The next, they decide to just give up and join forces. This change in conviction just feels completely unnatural.

Value:
Coppelion is a nice looking show. It's got a pretty good atmosphere and a fairly unique setting. However, the characters didn't really grow on me and the unnatural pacing and execution didn't help either. If you're a huge GoHands fan then this might be for you. Otherwise, if you must get your fill of armageddon, watch something like Kaminai. It has a much richer atmosphere and likeable characters. If you're looking more for an action-scifi, Railgun S should be your recent-release choice.

PREMISE

Despite being a very new studio, Go Hands already lost all credibility. They have amazing production values to offer a level of eye candy very few are capable of, and they are always wasting it on subpar titles that offer nothing besides cool premises and lots of fan service (Seitokai Yakuindomo, Mardock Scramble, K Project), of which Coppelion is not an exception.

Many were mesmerized by the very good animation and artwork, which was creating a most creepy post-apocalyptic setting and thought it would be a very mature and thought-provoking series. Some were amazed by the voice acting, others considered it Fallout, the animated series. Me? Just reading about the premise was enough to make me laugh my ass off. I mean, SCHOOLGIRLS IN THE ROLE OF RESCUE RANGERS! How much more obvious did it need to be for you to see the BS from ten miles away?

What’s that? I am being too biased and rushed to condemn the show immediately just because I don’t like the way the premise sounds? So what if we have schoolgirls instead of properly trained military personnel sent to do these rescue missions? It is just a minor detail.

No, it’s not. When you have the military, organizing a military operation, you send military personnel. You don’t send schoolgirls. And if for some reason you need to, you at least have the decency to dress them properly. You don’t send them in their freaking sailor suits.

SYMPATHY

But it’s not like there is no reason of why they are dressed like that. It’s clearly done, so the audience can emotionally bind with the main characters, right away. I mean, just look at these poor little girls, sent to do such a hard task. Oh, this is so cruel, I feel pity for them!

Plus this is a modern anime, of course and it will have cute girls in sailor suits, so the otakus can get their willies up. I mean, what did you honestly expect? Serious military officers, dressed properly? That is not cute, and it takes time to get to like them. It’s much easier if you simply make them frail and victimize them right away.

And yes, I have heard of the in-series excuse that they look as such, so the survivors will find them adorable, and approach them, instead of running away upon seeing scary looking soldiers. Yeah, what a lovely reasoning. They are going to see some schoolgirls who are walking just fine in a radioactive area, without any protection whatsoever, and they are totally not gonna freak out. Also, they are going to believe said schoolgirls, that they are here to rescue them. I mean, check how they look, why would you not believe such a thing?

STORY

As if that wasn’t enough, they keep throwing in more and more bullshit. They couldn’t leave it as a stupid rescue mission, they just had to make the girls use military equipment in completely improbable ways, or face enemies that change their minds for no reason, and then a freaking giant robot appears out of nowhere.

They also give the girls a weird background story, where they are the results of a secret biological experiment, that somehow creates humans that are immune to radiation, by cloning mass murderers. Because only if you senselessly kill people your clones can gain immunity to radiation.

And I do understand that they did such a thing, so the audience can feel even sadder for the girls, by throwing even more forced drama, as well as building expectations, where we are supposed to await impatiently for them to meet the originals, or avenge the evil organization that used them as weapons. Too bad it had the exact opposite effect, since it just made me waiting impatiently for this travesty of a show to end. You just don’t give a damn because you were never made to take anything seriously, and yet the series keeps trying to make you think it’s not a comedy but a sociopolitical drama.

And do you know how all of that are eventually resolved? They don’t! The show ends in the middle of nowhere, without explaining or resolving a single thing. If you want to find answers, go buy the manga. Because that is why the show was made for after all, as a commercial for boosting the sales of the source material. I mean, what did you expect, a complete story that makes sense?

CHARACTERS

And holy crap, the characters are even worse than the story. What kind of specially bred and trained rescue rangers are these girls? They spend most of the time crying than doing the job they were created for. You can wave the “they are just teenage girls who can’t control their emotions” excuse all you want. You can also try to explain it as being forced to do a mission way sooner than they expected because they were pressured by politicians. They still don’t look or behave as they should, and they increase the chances of failure because of it.

There is not even a good explanation for why they sent 3 girls in the rescue mission, when only 1 of them is pretty much doing all the work, while the other 2 are just decoration. Yeah, ok, you need more than one characters present, so the capable one will have someone to talk to, instead of infodumping stuff by talking to herself. But how does that excuse the other two girls being completely worthless? Give them something to do, other than being a hindrance to the mission.

There aren’t even any other interesting secondary characters to take notice; most disappear after a single episode, and the rest change their minds out of nowhere all the time. Many of which are not teenagers, and having ridiculous mood swings is not even an excuse. But who cares if it makes sense, it just needs to make things more interesting, right? Wrong! This is exactly what destroyed the show. Keep the hell away from this piece of shit. It’s modern!