Lonesome Vampire
The fifth episode of Cop Craft focuses on the “lauden neiven” or vampire. Kei and Tilarna fight off the vampire. She escapes. Vampires can absorb latena and use humans to revive themselves. According to Tilarna, they were supposed to have been destroyed years ago. The vampire kills a truck driver and regains some of her magic. The find her and she tosses Kei off a balcony and into a fountain. The vampire kidnaps Tilarna, to ask her questions. They’re interrupted by the SWAT team and Kei. The vampire disappears. Using night vision goggles, they’re able to see her. She escapes by jumping out of the window. Tilarna feels badly for the vampire, who seems frighten by an unknown world see awoken in. She is saved by a wizard that wants to get his hands on the ancient “Book of Niba.” She rejects his help and bites him, killing him.
Tilarna and Kei engage in another fight with her, this time Kei unloads a lot of bullets into her. However, she’s not done yet and they struggle on the train tracks. A train is fast approaching, Tilarna rescues him leaving the vampire to be killed by the train. This episode felt a little flat to me. I don’t mind that the vampire arc was two episodes, but I feel cheated somehow. It maybe the issue regarding how magic and technology functions in this world. Tilarna make a huge claim that suggest that this vampire is a dangerous force. However, when she turns invisible, she’s easily seen with night vision goggles. Then she’s killed by a (incredibly slow moving) train. This may have been the point. Is the series suggesting that human tech is comparable to magic? I’m guessing that the “Book of Niba,” will matter later in the series because it definitely didn’t matter in this arc. Apparently, the vampire’s entire value was introducing the book.
Need for Speed
This episode is more upbeat than the previous ones. Tilarna “fixes” Kei’s allergy to cats, during the healing moment on the roof to episode ago. Tilarna neglects to inform Kei he was cured until a month later, leaving him to wear the mask every night. While, eating lunch the following day, Kei and Tilarna give chase after a speeding truck. Kei manages to successfully topples the truck revealing it’s cargo, porn. However, there was no driver. Tilarna is asked to move Kei’s car, which results in disaster. With his car totaled, Kei is pissed. The new chief offers to get Kei a new car at the police auction. He also tells Tilarna that she needs to get a drivers license. Later, she’s asks “what is porn.” She is appalled. I don’t mind her reaction, but how do you know to be appalled at something you don’t have any understanding of? I think her reaction would have been more convincing had she continued to be neutral, maybe asking more invasive questions.
Cop Craft could have gone further than they did. Detectives McCloud and Ivanov help with the investigation. They find the fence, Gavin in the Lady Chapel (which apparently is the only place where criminals gather). Gavin says that the nobles are now into Earth porn. The dialogue is crass and juvenile. Kei gets a new car and quickly forgets his attachment to the old one. Cecil reveals that Kei had lost his sister a decade ago. At the sting they capture the cargo, but one of the criminals escape. Tilarna drives Kei’s new car and crashes it. They capture the criminal though. Once again, this series introduces something that will probably matter later. Kei’s dead sister. It’s likely that Tilarna will be inappropriate and ask Kei about his sister. No new ground is broken in this episode, but a silly light heart episode was welcomed.
Reviews of Cop Craft:
The lighter tone was night and I enjoyed that some of the other police Kei works with had a chance to step up in episode 6. It would be nice for the larger cast to get a bit more development.
The world does seem small. I mentioned in my review how it seem like all the criminals got to the same club. I hope they expand the world more. Also, they’ve added several new detectives. I wonder if they will use them more.