Time of Eve
Time of Eve is a six episode ONA (Original Net Animation) directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura and is produced by Studio Rikka and Directions Inc. It tells the story of a time where androids are beginning to be widely adopted as servants. The population is split between those who see androids as simple servile machines (the majority) and those who treat androids as if they were human.
If you are interested, Time of Eve (Eve no Jikan in Japanese) can be viewed on CR for free. You’ll have to sit through some ads, but that is a small price to pay.
Eve no Jikan impresses me on multiple levels. First, I am impressed that EnJ was streamed online for free, and that each episode can be downloaded (DRM and ad-free) for as little as two dollars. That’s an interesting business model, and I hope to see more of that in the future.
Artistically, it is also rather impressive. The animation quality is good, and some big name voice actors/actresses were hired to bring the characters to life. Included in the cast are Jun Fukuyama (Rikuo, also Lelouch from Code Geass), Rie Tanaka (Sammy, also Yumi from Azumanga), and Tomokazu Sugita (Setoro, also Kyon from Haruhi).
The plot reminded me a lot of iRobot, if just for the frequent mentioning of the “Three Laws of Robotics”. While avoiding spoilers, I’ll also say that the plot doesn’t take make and unconventional twists and turns, but still manages to be engaging.
A feature length movie version of EnJ is supposed to come out in Japan in the spring. Hopefully CR will stream it. Since all six episodes of EnJ are 15 minutes each, making the series into a movie actually makes some sense. I believe the movie’s story will be the same, although new animations will be added in.
