copellion anime

Plot:

Three girls are part of a special rescue team in the now contaminated Tokyo.  Following a large scientific accident of a catastrophic nature the whole city is now completely inhabitable.  Copellion is a group of genetically engineered girls who do not need hasmat suits to navigate through the ruins of the city to find remaining survivors.

Animation:

Copellion has an interesting style and flair to it when it comes to Animation.  It also varies a lot from scene to scene.  Some sequences are gorgeous with full color and attention to detail.  Others barely appear to be colored.  The whole of the anime has a tonal effect over it that sometimes fits well, but gets a little old.  I started out thinking it was nice, but then it began to wear.

Review:  

Copellion watches as a PSA for anti-nuclear energy/use.  Each of the girls’ adventures is its own self-contained story with some anti-nuclear message.  They range from losing one’s hometown, man’s greed destroying the world, the prior generation leaving a mess for the new generation, finding new sources of energy and their limitations… and so on.  The message becomes very clear only a few episodes in and gets a little exhausting because it makes things feel a little preachy and the story cheapened by pushing the message so hard.

The other thing that makes the story cheap is simply poor storytelling throughout multiple parts.  Naturally, without things happening to characters there wouldn’t be a story.  Yes, some of this must be coincidence.  But, it ends up feeling forced throughout Copellion.  The storytelling is loosely strung together.

Another problem the anime faces is the lack of a major overarching plot.  You end up hoping for something about how the world got into the predicament it’s in.  But, it ends up being very simple.  The plight of the survivors feels cheap and the dilemma the girls face regarding their own humanity is equally thin.

This anime also works very hard to make you care, a lot.  There’s a great deal of moments right off the bat where they try to really make you connect to the characters and their hardship but that too seems forced.  Perhaps it is a weakness in their presentation of the characters or my personal resonance with them.

Also, there’s a lingering question throughout the whole thing – why are they in school uniforms?  I get it, they’re part of a military school, but, I mean, are the sort skirts really necessary? I’d think a military school would be like ‘you’re going into a battleground of sorts’ here’s a pair of pants.

[starrater]