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1[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coppelion_3602.jpg]]
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3In 2016, a catastrophe occurs after a nuclear meltdown from the nearby Odaiba nuclear power plant contaminates Tokyo, forcing the government to order its citizens to evacuate. 20 years later, Tokyo has become a ghost town due to the high levels of radiation which the government has banned entry for anyone. When a distress signal is received from Tokyo, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force dispatches 3 teenage girls from the Dispatch 3 Special Force Coppelion. Due to genetic engineering, the Coppelions are immune to radiation while also possessing special skills. Thus the Coppelions journey to the ruined capital to find survivors.
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5''Coppelion'' is a {{seinen}} manga by Tomonori Inoue, which was serialized from 2008 to 2016 (starting out in ''Weekly Young Magazine'', but it moved to ''Monthly Young Magazine'' in 2012). An anime adaptation by Creator/GoHands aired in Fall 2013 and is simulcasted in English subtitles by Creator/{{Animax}} in Asia, Creator/VizMedia in North America, and Creator/MadmanEntertainment in Australia and New Zealand.
6
7Not to be confused with the ballet ''Coppelia''. Though the name was inspired by the ballet.
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9-----
10!!Tropes:
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12* AfterTheEnd: A localized version. The story focuses on the main characters traveling through the irradiated ruins of Tokyo.
13* AmusingInjuries: [[spoiler:Shion, courtesy of Kanon. GoodThingYouCanHeal indeed.]]
14* ArtificialHuman[=/=]DesignerBabies: The eponymous characters. They have certain traits programmed into their DNA, principal of which is complete immunity to radiation.
15* AsYouKnow: The TV program the girls watch in the first episode, explaining [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo (somewhat vaguely)]] the nature of the disaster area they're exploring.
16* AtomicSuperpower: Mana's body constantly leaks radiation, making her an InstantDeathRadius for non-Coppelion living beings.
17* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Shiba Denjiro. The reactor he made suffered a malfunction and turned Tokyo into radioactive zone. He atones for this by creating super-Barrier Suits and life support system for the survivors.]]
18* AxeCrazy: The Ozu siblings. As of episode 12, they are showing signs of being [[DeathSeeker Death Seekers]] too.
19* BigEater: Aoi. Coppelion don't need to eat like humans do, but Aoi takes an entire picnic basket to Tokyo.
20* BittersweetEnding: The Coppelions managed to stop the Sarcophagus from blowing up and causing a second nuclear incident. [[spoiler:But Ibara is dying from her own Coppelion nature and although they managed to save her, she's now a normal human with no immunity from radiation which means she has to be separated from her friends. She can still visit them in hazmat suit, at least.]]
21* {{Bizarrchitecture}}:
22** [[http://i.imgur.com/GARtEjA.jpg The Planet]].
23** [[http://i.imgur.com/LdW19NX.jpg The hideout of the JSDF "ghosts"]]. Justified because it was built after the disaster.
24* BlessedWithSuck: Aoi doesn't have unique powers unlike the other Coppelion, but she's easily the most human of them.
25** [[spoiler:Actually, it turns out she's the most powerful of them all. Being able to levitate, absorb electricity, create an impenetrable shield around herself, move at incredible speed, etc.]]
26* ChildhoodFriend: Ibara and Haruto.
27* ColonelBadass: Vice Principal Onihei Mishima, commanding officer of the Coppelion. He's a perfectly normal humans, but he goes to the (irradiated) field anyway for survivor extraction. [[InsistentTerminology Also, he's a Vice Principal, not a Colonel]].
28* CosyCatastrophe: It's ''not'' exactly cosy-- the main characters are on a rescue mission to pin-point the location of survivors so the military can extract them. The survivors are often found clinging to dear life, in which case the girls administer Aether (read: [[{{VideoGame/Fallout}} RadX]]) to them to buy them just a little time before extraction. Aside from this rather bleak mission, post-apocalypse Tokyo is a nice place... if you're immune to radiation.
29** The reason why there are survivors in Tokyo [[spoiler:is that an [[TheAtoner atoning genius]] has been delivering food to them. However, when the story starts, the delivery has not been appearing for a week, driving the survivors to desperation and unraveling their social structure.]]
30* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: [[spoiler: Haruto gives one to Ibara during her NearDeathExperience in Episode 7]].
31* CursedWithAwesome: The main characters are immune to radiation, but they are not treated as humans, even by some of the people they save.
32* DeathByIrony: Those lowly grunts probably don't really deserve it, but [[spoiler:the Yellow Cake operatives get their plane downed by the Coppelion, forcing them to make an emergency landing. The only place viable to do so is a lake... in which the corporation dump their nuclear waste]].
33* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Both Ozu sisters due to despair from being clone bio-weapons with a uncertain life expectancy. By the end of the first story arc they just oppose the heroines to end it all. However, both wouldn't want the other to die. Kanon doesn't just leave her sister to die buried in rubble and Shion gets increasingly worried over Kanon's overuse of her powers.]]
34* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:After seeing the city he ruined is exploited further through illegal nuclear waste disposal, Shiba decided that [[RedemptionEqualsDeath the only way to atone is to die]]. But the persistent efforts of the Coppelion turn it into BungledSuicide]].
35* FacialHorror: The commander from the 1st Division. His face is basically rotted off under his mask.
36* FantasticNuke: A nuclear power plant suffers a meltdown, which contaminates Tokyo, forcing the government to evacuate the citizens of Tokyo. Also, Tokyo is perpetually shrouded by sometimes radioactive fog that only occasionally dissipates.
37* FoodPills: Ibara gives herself food ''injections''. It's implied that normal humans can't sustain themselves this way, though.
38%%* FriendToAllLivingThings: Taeko. It's even programmed into her DNA.
39%%* GenkiGirl: Aoi.
40* {{Greed}}: [[spoiler:Yellow Cake corporation use Old Capitol as nuclear waste disposal ground from other nations, which they dump from a B2 bomber. When the entire place is already a lawless poisoned hellhole, there's no one to stop them from adding more to the poisoning]]. This is sadly TruthInTelevision (see: Somali waters).
41* HazmatSuit: These are called Barrier Suits, and non-Coppelion characters have to wear them if they want to survive. The suits have the distinct appearance of old diving suits. Except the people of The Planet, they wear space suits
42** [[spoiler:Somehow, people living in Tokyo have better hazmat suits than those trying to save them-- the Coppelion are investigating this phenomenon.]] It turns out that [[spoiler:the man known as Shiba Denjiro made them-- the same man responsible for the disaster.]]
43* HealingFactor: The Coppelions all heal several times faster than normal humans. Ibara has a particularly strong one. Then it was revealed that [[spoiler: Haruto's HealingFactor is stronger than Ibara. It is one of his ''special abilities'']].
44* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:The leader of the 1st Division helps the survivors before he dies. Later the rest of 1st Division surrenders as well.]]
45* HeroicBSOD: Aoi does not handle being shot at or attacked by wolves very well.
46* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:The 1st Division's Leader and Haruto did this so the train could pass through.]]
47* AHouseDivided: [[spoiler:Episode 2. The father and the mother of the family are both (ex-)convicts, and being evacuated means they will have to continue their time in jail (maybe). The survivor support system has broken down, and evacuation is the only way to go. The father is resigned to his fate, but the mother is not willing to tear apart the family and leaving their daughter to an orphaned life.]]
48* HumansAreSpecial: Ibara is a firm believer in this, which is why she is so dedicating to helping Tokyo survivors. However, some of her fellow Coppelion believe HumansAreBastards and not worth saving.
49* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Many antagonists are armed with fully automatic weapons, and they often fire at short range. Whether who they aim for is moving or not doesn't really matter, as they still miss all the time.
50* InsistentTerminology: Colonel Onihei Mishima prefers to be addressed as 'vice-principal', even by people who don't attend his school. He sees himself as a teacher, not a commander, of the girls.
51* InstantSedation: Ibara administers one to a wolf that attacks her and Aoi.
52* JustPlaneWrong: [[spoiler:B2 Bombers]] don't work that way! To begin with, they need a runway that is at least 2 km long!
53** Not to mention that they cost approximately one BILLION dollars apiece, and every unit is owned by the American military. There's no way Yellow Cake is making a profit with this deal.
54%%* LargeHam: Aoi, bar none.
55* MamaBear and PapaWolf: The survivors in episode 2.
56* MagicAntidote: Aether is made of Coppelion cells. It doesn't give people the same Nuclear NoSell as the Coppelion, but it staves off the effect of radiation for a while.
57* MagicBrakes: In chapter 20 of the Manga after Ibara accidentally busts a tire on the jeep the girls were in.
58* MagicSkirt: Considering some of the action-y things Ibara does (jump off a few-metre-high bridge, do a diveroll while shooting some people), it's surprising she doesn't seem to wear ModestyShorts.
59** In full effect during [[spoiler:her fights with Shion.]]
60* MeaningfulName: Coppelion was named after the ballet ''Coppélia''. {{Lampshaded}} by Aoi, who said just like Coppélia, a beautiful life size doll created by Dr. Coppelius, Coppelions were living dolls created by genetic engineering.
61* NoSell: The Coppelion are completely unaffected by anything radioactive. Other people have to wear protective gear that will eventually fail, but they walk into ground zero ''in school uniform''.
62* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Prime Minister is an absolute JerkAss who refuses to spare even ''one'' helicopter to extract Tokyo survivors due to an upcoming national conference where he wants to gather all of the JSDF forces at his disposal to show off Japan's military might.
63* PostApocalypticGasmask: Everyone wears them (except the protagonists) when going into the Tokyo because of the nuclear meltdown.
64* RadiationImmuneMutants: The eponymous Coppelions are genetically engineered to be immune to radiation, allowing them to enter post-nuclear-meltdown Tokyo without a HazmatSuit or [[PostApocalypticGasmask gasmask]].
65* RagnarokProofing: Averted, plant life and wildlife flourish around Tokyo and are slowly decaying the once-populated Tokyo 20 years after people are forced to abandoned the city.[[note]]Yes, for the record, wildlife does flourish and manages to adapt in nuclear wastelands. Just look at Chernobyl[[/note]].
66** Played straight when the girls find an intact and perfectly working anti-aircraft missile launcher in an abandoned JSDF base.
67* RealIsBrown: The anime has this distinctive palette of faded-out photo from the era of analog cameras.
68* SavageWolves: The stray dogs of Tokyo have (somehow) reverted back into wolves. They are a danger. [[TooDumbToLive The girls take a while to pick up on this.]] [[spoiler: Inverted. It turns out the ominous trail of blood was left by a wolf that got injured [[NobleWolf trying to protect Taeko]].]]
69* SceneryPorn
70* SendInTheSearchTeam: The mission of the Coppelion is simple: DistressCall are detected from radioactive Tokyo, they must go in and search for survivors. Things get complicated...
71* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:Episode 2. The Coppelion are unable to save the (ex-)convicts' family, except for their daughter. Poor little girl is now alone again, having lost her mom, her dad, and her other mom.]]
72* SpiderTank: [[spoiler: Shows up at the end of Episode 10. Taken down by the middle of Episode 11 though. Semi-resurrected by Shion by the end of Episode 12, but taken down again, this time for good by the middle of Episode 13.]]
73* SuperhumanTransfusion: The injected medicine Aether is derived from the [[RadiationImmuneMutants Coppelions]]' blood that [[FantasticRadiationShielding grants temporary radiation immunity]] and enhanced healing. Direct transfusions may not have the same effect, since the Medical Team called a helicopter carrying more Aether instead of attempting a transfusion when short on time.
74* SuperSenses: In addition to animal affinity, Taeko also has super sight.
75** Kanon can [[spoiler:sense the minute electrical output of biological processes, similar to sharks and eels.]]
76* SuperSoldier: Not quite, but Ibara's physical abilities are several times that of normal humans. [[spoiler:She can easily dispatch heavily-armed soldiers, with only a pistol.]]
77** Ibara doesn't seem to think of herself as a soldier, but she's strong enough to pick up a telephone pole and use it like a club, and is able to completely recover from [[spoiler: being shot by a freaking tank]] in less than a day. The Cleanup Crew are completely straight examples though; Shion is even stronger than Ibara, and Kanon [[spoiler: can dodge bullets and can control electricity]]. Haruto's still the only one of the group who actually acts like a real soldier though.
78* ThirteenEpisodeAnime
79* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The Coppelion are different from humans. They know it, and they each have a different approach in dealing with this issue. Aoi does her best to live like a human, while Ibara doesn't even bother eating, preferring to simply inject nutrients into herself. Kanon Ozu outright asks who the JSDF thinks she is,[[spoiler: adding electric eel DNA to her genome.]] Nosense the robot[[spoiler: Has his head punched in by Shion, and one of his arms busted by the same.]]

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