Anime Review #4: Eve no Jikan

Warning: You are about to read a review of an unconventional anime.

Eve no Jikan is unique in many ways. For one, it’s “first season” only has six episodes. Second, the characters are drawn traditionally, in 2D, while the background is in 3D. More importantly, unlike regular anime which are shown on Japanese TV before being released to the rest of the world, Eve no Jikan was released worldwide via Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese, of course).

Image courtesy of anidb.net

What is this about? Who are the seiyuus in this show? Is this Anime worth watching?

More details, minimal (but maybe not zero) spoilers, after the break.

Premise

Eve no Jikan takes place in a future world, “probably” in Japan, where the use of Androids as house servants have become common. If you’ve watched the movie “I, Robot” starring Will Smith (yes, a Hollywood movie, not an anime, dumbdumb), then the premise should be very familiar.

In the Eve no Jikan universe, the familiar Three Laws of Robotics also apply. To those who don’t know these, here they are, courtesy of Wikipedia.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Newer robots, which completely look like human beings, can be distinguished by what looks like a halo above their head. These are called “dori-kei”, or for simplicity, “rings”, and in the anime’s setting, it is illegal for a robot to disable or to hide its ring.

Older robots look like, well, robots.

Plot

The story revolves around a young teen named Rikou who has grown used to having robots as a maid. One day, Rikou notices something odd in their house robot, Sammy’s, log – the phrase “Are you enjoying the Time of Eve?”. Together with his bestfriend Masaki, he follows the robot’s GPS coordinate logs and stumbles upon a café called Eve no Jikan, or “Time of Eve”. While staring at the front door, they saw a robot enter, so they followed.

Upon entering, they immediately notice a big board that warns them about discriminating between humans and robots. They sit down and order, but they immediately notice the robot they saw earlier, this time without its ring.

They wonder (loudly) why the robot was visiting a café on its own, before they were reminded by the café attendant about the café rules.

In the café, robots and humans are indistinguishable, and should be treated the same way.

As the information piles up, Rikou is forced to process everything fast. Why did Sammy, his estranged robot, visit that café?

Are robots really capable of thinking and deciding on their own?

Should they be respected? Feared?

Loved?

Style

The Anime makes clever use of twists and half-truths to keep the viewer glued. Some episodes are only about 15 minutes long, so it is very easy to watch all six episodes in one sitting. What’s certain is that each viewer will be kept guessing, until the final episode when most (yes, not all) issues are resolved.

Each episode tackles the story, struggles, and conflicts surrounding one character (or one pair), café regulars. In fact, the episodes are entitled in such a way as it gives an idea of what the episode is about (and more, of course).

Needless to say, Rikou, the main character, starts out as someone who treats robots as mere appliances, but eventually learn that they, too, can be respected.

Antagonist?

In the information provided so far, it seems that the universe around Eve no Jikan is oh-so-peaceful. Continue reading.

People who love robots, or who develop friendly or romantic relationships with robots, are called android-holics. These group of people are discriminated and looked down upon in the society, so keeping a professional relationship with one’s robot is a must, lest he/she be called an android-holic. This, in part, helps discourage Rikou from getting to know Sammy on a more personal level.

Also, an organization, previously a radical faction, called Robot Ethical Committee is hell-bent on preventing the advancement and use of robots.

Again, needless to say, they become the antagonist of this anime. Will they be able to discover and ultimately abolish our beloved café?

Will Rikou’s relationship with Sammy improve?

Will Masaki, an obvious robot-hater, eventually learn to accept them as part of his life? Also, why does he hate robots in the first place?

All these questions (and even more questions) will be answered throughout the first season. And of course, more questions will be introduced, making the viewer crave for a second season.

Movie

A theatrical release, Eve no Jikan Gekijouban, premiered in Japan last March. Rumors have it that this movie is just a summary of the six episodes, so one can either watch this one or the original six eps. I would prefer watching both, though.

Cast

Despite being a short series, the voice-cast of Eve no Jikan includes some big names.

Tomokazu Sugita, who voiced very popular characters in Renkotsu (Inu Yasha), Hideki (Chobits), Yuuichi (Kanon), Kyon (Haruhi), and Leon (Macross F), among others, plays the part of Setoro, a café regular.

Rie Tanaka, the voice behind Sammy, plays another extremely popular robot in another very well-known Anime – Chii of Chobits.

Ratings:

• Graphics: 4/5 (Should be 3/5, but plus one for being unique)
• Story: 5/5
• Voice:5/5 (A powerful performance from a power cast)
• Music: 2/5 (the show has only one song, the theme song, but it was good enough for a +2 here)
• Entertainment value: 5/5 (interesting storyline with nice twists)
• OVERALL RATING: 4/5

Another Otaku.ph Certified Must-Watch! (will place the logo here soon, gomen)