Eve no Jikan

Written by Little_Wolf-18 on September 16, 2013 at 9:26 AM

I can’t help but love this series.

On the surface, “Eve no Jikan”, or “Time of Eve”, is a series playing on the popular trope “soul in the shell” – 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, “Eve no Jikan” definitely counts among my favourites.

Long review’s 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. “Eve no Jikan” tries a different perspective, however, and does that well.

“Eve no Jikan” 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, it’s about the relationships between humans and robots; the differences, possible similarities, what makes humans human and androids, well, androids. It’s 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 it’s the way it’s 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. There’s both psychological and philosophical aspects woven in, and where it’s 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 aren’t 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 everyone’s likable for once, not to mention believable, and rather easy to relate to considering that we’re 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 acting’s without faults.

The animation’s 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. “Eve no Jikan” knows when to hit the strings and when to keep silent, and it definitely helps the atmosphere.

“Eve no Jikan” is thought-provoking, and can get quite sad at times. So if you don’t like serious topics, or thinking about what you’ve just watched, avoid. If you like psychological or philosophical themes, however, and don’t mind if shows are almost free of comedic moments, I’d state “Eve no Jikan” 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, I’m not exaggerating calling “Eve no Jikan” one of the most intriguing, well-written series I’ve watched. It’s 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 isn’t.

My only real complaint would be that “Eve no Jikan” is short. It’s only six episodes long, something around 1.5-2 hours all in all, and while it’s as complete as can be for that, I definitely would have loved to see more of the setting. I do guess that’s just my bias again, though. :)

Highly recommended for those who like a slightly more serious sci-fi story, one that’s not man vs mecha, or just something to think about. Personally, I’m not much into mecha, but “Eve no Jikan” defies the trope, and I love it for that.

Cheers!~