Thanks to AnimeEigo, I had the opportunity to review the theatrical version of Time of Eve ahead of its Blu-ray release. To say I was unprepared for the story I witnessed would be a grand understatement. Although Time of Eve‘s subject resembles many other shows about the conflicts between humans and androids, it’s a uniquely captivating story. For a show that primarily relies on conversation to move the story, it delivers some of the most thought-provoking content in anime.
Time of Eve – Synopsis
In Studio Rikka’s Time of Eve, robotics has evolved to the point where intelligent machines are a part of everyday life. However, their assimilation into wider society is still a contentious issue. While most people think of them as mere appliances, some have begun to develop connections to these machines. A fact that’s so unpalatable for some is that a derogatory term, “Dori-kei” (android-holics), is applied to people who treat machines as fellow humans.
One day, while running a system check on his family’s android, Rikuo Sakisaka discovers written text embedded within the lines of code. Realizing something doesn’t add up, he follows the GPS location associated with her system check to a back alley. As he enters the backdoor he stumbled upon, he’s greeted by a café with a peculiar rule: “No discrimination between humans and robots.” At this odd café, Rikou’s perception of the difference between humans and robots becomes increasingly blurrier as time passes.
Time of Eve – The Gift of Consciousness?
Artificial intelligence. For something so easy to say, it’s almost impossible to fully contextualize. While humanity has been fascinated with the possibility of sapient machines, we’ve somehow overlooked the most basic element of sapience. Consciousness isn’t the ultimate gift that it’s often portrayed to be; in many cases, it can actually be a burden for the being who possesses it. It’s a gift that brings the capacity to worry, fear, and experience plenty of negative emotions. In Time of Eve, this seemingly obvious but blatantly overlooked fact takes center stage. Somewhere, somehow, androids and robots became sapient. And with that sapience came the gift of mental anguish.
Throughout the story (I’ll omit names to avoid spoilers), we meet several characters who share their feelings from a human perspective. Yet, they’re not; they’re machines. Viewers come to this realization alongside the show’s main human characters. And the discovery that a machine can feel mental anguish is a shock to the system. Some of this show’s most beautiful and vivid displays of emotions come from beings that technically aren’t alive. And alongside them, we see perspectives that we as humans would never be privy to.
The Three Laws of Robotics and Why They’re Flawed
Isaac Asimov’s laws of robotics leave some pretty large loopholes when you mull them over. The main issue is how the rules portray the term “harm.” As anyone can attest, there are two types of pain in the world: physical pain and mental pain. If your house burns down but you don’t suffer any physical injuries, you’re still going to incur a lot of trauma. But to realize that you need to be able to understand and display emotions. So how can a robot truly prevent harm to a human if it’s incapable of understanding emotion? And once it experiences emotions, how can it prevent itself from being harmed?
Time of Eve brings this conundrum to the forefront. It illustrates how the flaws in these laws negatively impact both the androids and the humans living in that world. It especially highlights how lies and omissions can cause harm. That leads to an interesting thought experiment. If sapience allows one lie, and nothing prohibits it, what stops androids from lying? And how does a machine deal with this?
On multiple occasions, we’re shown how deceit and omissions spark conflict between humans and machines. We even see how the ability to lie and omit leads to issues between machines. But more importantly, we’re also shown how those lies weigh on the machines that use them. And that’s riveting to see.
Production Comments
For the most part, Studio Rikka did an excellent job with Time of Eve. While the long pauses, POV frames, and lingering scenes come off as unneeded and at times intrusive, the art and vibe of the show are warm and welcoming. The character art is pleasant, and the voice acting, while subdued when compared to the grandiose and boisterous performances, fits this show perfectly. These aren’t characters making bold proclamations; they’re average people coming to terms with situations they’re ill-prepared for. The doubt, anger, confusion, and hurt that you’d expect a normal person to convey in this situation are eloquently carried about by the voice actors in this show.
Plot-wise, what can I say? It’s something that has the potential to keep you up at night. But I can easily see how one may be dissatisfied at the end of it. The most important relationship in this story makes little progress. You get baited into thinking there’s a breakthrough, but it falls back constantly.
Since this review serves as marketing material for the show, I won’t delve into major spoilers about its themes and relationships. But rest assured, this show is worthy of a revisit after its release, and I’ll try to do it justice then. For now, all the details of the Blu-Ray release of this film can be found here. I can’t recommend this show enough; you really do need to add it to your watch list. This is the type of show that everyone, not just anime lovers, should watch.
AnimEigo’sTime of Eve Blu-ray release is available for pre-order.
©2009/2010 Yasuhiro Yoshiura/DIRECTIONS, Inc.
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