Random Anime Review: Time of Eve
It’s been a while since I picked a random anime blu-ray to review. This season’s relatively sparse TV anime pickings leave me with more opportunity to make a dent in my ever-expanding Physical Media Pile of Shame. With the recent Sing a Bit of Harmony fresh in my mind, what better time to look at director Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s first solo anime movie? Time of Eve shares many themes with his most recent film, most prominently the integration of artificially intelligent androids into mundane, modern life.
It’s no secret that SF featuring Artificial Intelligence is one of my favourite genres. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of created beings approaching and even surpassing the competence of their creators. I’ve no doubt that some time in our not-too-distant future, we’ll eventually be faced with AI that seems indistinguishable from humans. Whether this comes in the form of disembodied internet algorithms or, as in Time of Eve and Sing a Bit of Harmony, mobile human-like bodies with independent minds and apparently responsive emotions, I doubt mankind is remotely prepared for the seismic existential challenges inherent in sharing the planet with another powerfully sentient species.
One of the reasons I enjoy anime that features this subject matter is that they’re not routinely dystopian, unlike much western AI fiction. 1995’s Ghost in the Shell is probably the most obvious example of the transcendent possibilities inherent in AI/human interface, while its TV spinoff Stand Alone Complex explores more common day-to-day AI use within a police setting. Chobits and Mahoromatic tell (mostly) upbeat and light-hearted slice-of-life tales about subservient female androids, though both with a melancholy undercurrent. Osamu Tezuka’s seminal Astro Boy is an overall optimistic series that doesn’t shy away from the potential misuse of artificial lifeforms. Plenty of other shows that feature evil robots do exist, but overall, anime does not tend to demonise AI characters.
Although Time of Eve began as a six-episode OVA series, originally released from 2008–2009, its ideas and concerns remain as pertinent today as they were then. Time of Eve itself repeatedly references Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, developed in his “Robot” series of stories that began in the 1940s. Time of Eve builds on concepts that, at the time, were almost seventy years old, arguably older when you consider K. Capek’s 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), in which the term “robot” was first coined. The version of Time of Eve I watched was the re-edited 2010 movie version, that includes every scene from the six OVA episodes, plus a handful of extra scenes and a new song. This was released following a 2013 Kickstarter campaign that led to an English dub and an international, region-free, blu-ray release. The original Japanese language OVA remains available to stream on Crunchyroll while the movie blu-ray is now extremely scarce.
Set in near future Japan, Time of Eve’s world will seem immediately familiar to anyone remotely au fait with today’s level of limited AI technology. Over the previous decade, human-like androids have been commonly adopted by many households to help with chores and other household duties. Essentially bipedal Roombas with added Alexa functionality, they keep track of household schedules and follow their masters’ verbal instructions. Androids appear to be regulated by a slightly sinister public body called the “Ethics Committee” that fills TV shows and advertisments with anti-android propaganda. Androids must have registered masters, or they are rounded up and disposed of. Androids must not do anything not directly commanded by their masters. They must abide by Asimov’s laws, as codified into Japanese law.
The Ethics Committee is characterised as a typical conservative political pressure group, primarily concerned with maintaining the status quo — that is, human supremacy — and shaming those who would empathise with androids, thereby risking change. They decry “young people” who treat androids with courtesy, or as family members, or, God forbid, as potential lovers. They’re labelled, derogatorily, as “dori-kei” (loosely translated as “droid-lovers”). Many people in society are shown to share this disdain for their created underclass, with short yet effective scenes of callous, dismissive treatment of android servants. At all times, androids must display a red or green holographic halo above their heads, as without this they are almost indistinguishable from humans.
Embedded in this world is teenager Rikuo Sakisaka, who lives with his (unseen) parents and slovenly, drunken sister. He discovers that the household android maid Sammy leaves the house at odd times, and using her GPS tracking history, finds the “Time of Eve” cafe, in which android and humans are treated equally. In fact the establishment’s one rule is that androids turn off their haloes and act as if they are human. It’s a big taboo to ask which race a patron belongs to. Much of the following plot intrigue is centred around whether the various customers are human or android, and whether the other customers know or not.
Rikuo is disturbed to learn of this underground, potentially illegal, android subculture, as is his somewhat more outspoken friend Masaki. Through repeated interactions with the (human and android) people they meet at Time of Eve, their attitudes, preconceptions, and lives gradually change. It’s clear that although androids and humans may have differing circumstances, their desires for independence, love, respect and autonomy are the same.
Through a series of interconnected vignettes, Rikuo learns about various relationships — romantic, where neither partner knows the truth about the other, parental, with a little girl who adores her elderly foster carer, professional in regards to the complicated situation with his maid, and yet others. In particular, the little girl Chie, who constantly pretends to be a cat, is very cute. Barista Nagi is an enigma right up until the end. She constantly polices Rikuo’s speech whenever he repeatedly breaks the rules, but always acts professionally and with good humour. Her underlying identity is not spelled out — the viewer must pay attention to various subtle clues about her backstory that are interspersed throughout the film.
Stylistically, Time of Eve has a warm, welcoming vibe — at least in scenes set within the cafe. Scenes set in the outside world, and in Rikuo’s home, have a more grey, dull appearance. Although the majority of the character animation is traditional hand-drawn, the backgrounds are mostly CGI and overall look very good, except in motion. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of shaky camera work, presumably to emulate a low-budget, fly-on-the-wall live-action-like style. The jerky CGI motion makes this unpleasant to watch at times, and often the camera judders around really for no good reason, detracting from the scene.
The cafe itself is very well realised, it looks cozy — and real. We probably see every nook and cranny of it from just about every possible angle, helping to keep things interesting, as the majority of the film is set within it. There’s very little action in Time of Eve — it’s mostly conversations and character work, often quite humorous as the socially awkward Rikuo and Masaki clumsily try to work out which customers are androids and which are humans. There’s an intially amusing running joke where the camera follows whatever Rikuo is staring at, music starts to swell, and suddenly cuts off. This is repeated about four times too many though, and begins to jar.
An incident with an amnesiac older model of android is particularly funny, and it has an intriguing tonal counterpoint with a scene featuring another older android towards the conclusion that is tragic and emotional. Within its relatively short timespan, Time of Eve manages to explore a great many existential questions about how a society filled with these androids would function, and what their presence would mean for human relationships. It doesn’t answer many of these questions, but certainly provides a great deal of food for thought and further exploration. The ending does seem a little abrupt, I feel there’s enough potential here to make a movie twice the length. I get the impression that the director managed to say most of what he intended to, so by no means does it feel incomplete, I just wished there were more of it.
As a very (positively) human story about AI and human relations, it left me feeling overly optimistic, at least for the future of this fictional world. I worry that in today’s society, human beings themselves are so polarised and unable (or unwilling) to understand each others’ differences, that the chances of us empathising with and accepting another intelligent race without escalation to bloodshed and disaster is sadly remote. If we’re so worried about immigrants taking jobs, or people of the wrong colour dating our daughters, or a person of the wrong political persuasion governing the country, what hope has an innocent AI? Perhaps if we make more movies like Time of Eve, it might help breed a mindset of acceptance. Perhaps one day, that’ll be all that stands between us and ultimate annihilation. Hey — Skynet, Hal, Roy, I know you’ll probably want to kill us — but want to try being friends first?
Written and Directed by: Yasuhiro Yoshiura
Music by: Tohru Okada
Studio: Studio Rikka
Japanese Blu-ray release: March 6, 2010
International Blu-ray release: January 5th, 2015
Runtime: 106 minutes
Audio Languages: Japanese, English
BBFC rating: PG
