Coppelion (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I recently finished the Dub of the 13-episode sci-fi anime series Coppelion, set in a near future Tokyo that has been decimated by a nuclear catastrophe. The ostensible heroes of the series are 3 genetically engineered female clones who have been genetically engineered to resist radiation and other environmental pollution and contamination. It sounds promising, potentially, as a series, but the show is so badly written that it leaves one nearly exasperated thinking about the plot holes and obviously improbable situations with respect to logistics, how science works, etc. I can suspend disbelief but Coppelion also gives us screwy character motivations that don't make sense, melodrama stretched to absurdity, and extremely preachy tirades to stand in for more substantive dialogue. It makes my brain hurt to listen to. The animation style is very unconventional and the girls themselves are drained of color, as if to emphasize their "doll-like" nature, which does make thematic sense. The title of the anime is borrowed from a French opera about a Pygmalion-like artist who created a life-like doll. The anime features a lot of earth tones and is dull and white, with only sparing use of color. The girls spend much of their time apparently rescuing reluctant, delusional middle aged Libertarians who seem to be willing to put up with living in a Nuclear wasteland because hey, at least they don't gotta pay taxes anymore, amiright?!
The show is kind of dull until this crazy one shows up and her equally crazy sister. The Uzo sisters are legitimately terrifying.
Like our 3 protagonists, the Uzo sisters are also Coppelion, but unlike the 3 protagonists, they've decided to "go rogue" and cause as much mayhem and destruction as they can, joining ranks with the abandoned First Division of the JSDF who now rule wasteland Tokyo as its defacto Warlords, who are plotting to spread nuclear and chemical environmental pollution to the rest of the globe out of spite, mainly.
However, the Uzo sisters are inconsistently written...they start out as remorseless psychopaths and are legitimately terrifying but by series end, they're like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and their hearts just needed to grow a bit and learn empathy and care about each other, yada yada yada. That's not how psychopathy works in reality, but hey. Also, the First Division gives up on its nihilism after the 3 good Coppelion still acknowledge their basic humanity despite their physical deformities from radiation and other environmental effects...though apparently their commander does still want to shoot the main character with a tank shell first. Their commander later sacrifices himself so their final evacuation mission can succeed.
At least the 2nd half of the series is action packed, which helps to redeem the bad writing somewhat. It's best just not to think about it to hard and just enjoy the visuals and the characters and the feels. The overall execution could've been so much better, but it's still worth a watch I guess, at least while it's still available on Neon Alley in dub format in advance of the DVD release from VIZ Media.
