Overall Rating
Excellent
Story: 5
Dialogue: 5
Animation: 5
Entertainment: 5
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I canāt help but love this series.
On the surface, āEve no Jikanā, or āTime of Eveā, is a series playing on the popular trope āsoul in the shellā ā i.e. robot/android/AI (Artificial Intelligence) with a soul, own thought processes, emotions, all that stuff. And though I personally am not particularly fond of androids, āEve no Jikanā definitely counts among my favourites.
Long reviewās long, as might have been obvious.
I mentioned the concept; and it is not utterly new. The robot/human distinction has been played upon quite a bit in anime, usually resulting in a man-vs-machine kind of setup. āEve no Jikanā tries a different perspective, however, and does that well.
āEve no Jikanā tells a story about humans and androids; not a love story like Chobits, but certainly one that defies the man vs. machine trope. To be exact, itās about the relationships between humans and robots; the differences, possible similarities, what makes humans human and androids, well, androids. Itās quite a new perspective; one that brings both a psychological and a philosophic aspect to the entire sci-fi setting--something rare in itself.
The story per se is somewhat simple, but itās the way itās done that is awesome. Comparably fresh; very well-written, hooking and with a couple interesting turns and revelations throughout; and definitely deep enough to evoke thoughts. Thereās both psychological and philosophical aspects woven in, and where itās completely serious in these matters, it can also get quite touching throughout. Somewhat sad at times, too, but I actually tend to like the serious stuff.
The characters are very well-done and only complement the storyline. They certainly arenāt short on personality; and everyone plays a role in the general story and for the development of the main characters. It only helps for that that everyoneās likable for once, not to mention believable, and rather easy to relate to considering that weāre far from living with androids ;). Character development is outstanding for a short series, and certainly makes for another good hook of attention.
It only helps that the emotion gets across very well as well. The dialogue is excellent; the script flows well, gets the characters across very well, and the voice actingās without faults.
The animationās outstanding; clear, vivid, and especially good with anything digital, be it androids themselves or anything onscreen. The art is pretty realistic, and the music is quite good. āEve no Jikanā knows when to hit the strings and when to keep silent, and it definitely helps the atmosphere.
āEve no Jikanā is thought-provoking, and can get quite sad at times. So if you donāt like serious topics, or thinking about what youāve just watched, avoid. If you like psychological or philosophical themes, however, and donāt mind if shows are almost free of comedic moments, Iād state āEve no Jikanā as one of the definite must-watches.
I like sci-fi as much as the next watcher, exclude giant AIs; but be it among sci-fi anime or anime in general, Iām not exaggerating calling āEve no Jikanā one of the most intriguing, well-written series Iāve watched. Itās interesting, unpredictable, touching, and the development of both story and characters is simply outstanding. It also plays on life, on humans and robots and their relationships, on mistakes and decisions and how everything affects someone else. The concept and storyline in itself may be slightly simple; the result certainly isnāt.
My only real complaint would be that āEve no Jikanā is short. Itās only six episodes long, something around 1.5-2 hours all in all, and while itās as complete as can be for that, I definitely would have loved to see more of the setting. I do guess thatās just my bias again, though. :)
Highly recommended for those who like a slightly more serious sci-fi story, one thatās not man vs mecha, or just something to think about. Personally, Iām not much into mecha, but āEve no Jikanā defies the trope, and I love it for that.
Cheers!~
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