Story: 5/10
Coppelion begins in the beautifully illustrated ruins of the post-nuclear accident city of Tokyo. We're introduced to our three protagonists: Ibara Naruse, Taeko Nomura, and Aoi Fukasaku, which are high school girls that have been genetically engineered to withstand the incredibly dangerous conditions of the city, trained since their coming into being to be a medical team tasked with locating and rescuing any survivors that may be within the city's limits. They are known as the Coppelion. The series introduces you to the premise and builds the world effectively through an episodic structure until the overarching plot and main conflict present itself.
This seems like an incredibly interesting idea for a series, and had it kept the episodic structure it could have been a pretty engaging experience. Once the major plot kicks in the story takes a nosedive and gets into a rhythm of problem solving, deus ex machina, and cliffhangers.
Art: 9/10
The art is the reason I was able to watch the series in its entirety. The background art depicting the ruins of the city in all of its grime and former glory is absolutely stunning. The muted color palette across the desolate buildings, crumbling city streets, and vacant ruins sets the tone for the beginning of the series to be a rather somber one. With such an intense presentation the choice to make the characters have thick, comic book style outlines was a welcome one. This helps them stand out from the backgrounds and gives the show a sense of conscious stylistic direction.
Sound: 8/10
I realized the sound in this anime had a lot more thought put into it the further along I got in the series. The music choices were all chosen well for the context they were presented in. The VAs do their job of presenting the character's personalities, their frustrations, trials, and burdens. This becomes very important as there are a lot of moments when characters have moments of introspection and their purpose.
Character: 4/10
I understand why the creators took the route they did with the girls. The reason for the characterization written into them is not lost on me. But it is annoying.
Ibara Naruse is the leader of the group. She does most of the work while the other two protagonists either serve as plot devices or to support her. She has one goal of saving lives, and will do what she must to make sure that happens. Her passion for this makes her failures her moments of weakness. This contrasts with her incredibly super-human exterior.
Taeko Nomura is possibly given the least characterization of the group. While she is somewhat competent and more useful than Aoi, her role remains much of the same as the focus is never shifted to her enough to get a read on her internal struggles. She exists to present the idea that Coppelion students can have engineered abilities, hers being that her senses are heightened.
Aoi Fukasaku is the weakest link in the group. She is incredibly whiny and will continue to whine throughout the series. Her character, I believe, is supposed to represent the idea that even genetically engineered humans can have more of a sense of humanity, compassion, and empathy than real humans. I couldn't force myself to like this character, as she's never given any redeemable qualities within her characterization. You will tire of this character quickly.
The rest of the cast is littered with people that either stand in the way of the protagonists, represent the duality of people in desperation, act as deus ex machina, or act as recurring villains that the protagonists must repeatedly be at odds with.
Enjoyment: 6/10
Overall: 5/10
After my first few episodes of Coppelion I could not understand the hate it was getting, because I was enjoying it a lot. The premise was interesting, the art was interesting, the story up to that point was okay and the characters weren't destroying the show for me. Once the rest of the plot unfolded I started to understand the criticisms for this anime. The major flaws lie within the characters and the story, which are the most important aspects. I think Coppelion is passable, and memorable in it's own way, if not for a lot of the wrong reasons. It's worth a watch if you're in the mood for something different and are willing to forego some logic and forgive some bad characters.
