Eve no Jikan First Impressions: Is There A Place Where The Seperation Between Artificial And Organic Becomes Irrelevant?

This show is fantastic. There aren’t many other ways to say it. There is only one problem I have with this show and that is the occasional jerky camera shot, as I don’t feel that it has much of an impact on the scenes where it’s used and it seems more gimmicky than I would like. But now that that’s out of the way, I can praise it as much as possible 🙂

Rather than my usual post of summarize – thoughts (that I only really use for Natsume and Ryoko, which also happen to be a couple of the least watched shows this season) I’m just going to go along with the show and look at everything I see; it’s only fifteen minutes, which makes this easier, and there was so much that affected me when I watched it that I feel I can pick it apart piece by piece.

The movement of the camera from the close-up of Rikou’s and the android’s face makes the actual discovery that the woman is an android come as more of a shock; straight away the viewer is shown the similarity (at least in apppearance) between androids and humans. After Rikou’s done recording the data from his android, he notices an uncommon inconsistency in her data and prepares to ask a question but doesn’t. After all, to him, an android wouldn’t have the capability of doing something without orders. But this serves to create a niggling suspicion in the back of his mind.

The news announcement informs the viewer of the nature of the futuristic world they’re seeing. There are, of course, those who are against the such an extensive use of robots in society as there’s always a line to be drawn just for some it is closer than others; for example, straight after an announcement that robots have been a great advantage to the agricultural economy (which may have led to a high increase in unemployment), an advertisement condemning them comes up, saying “In such an age, treasure warmth”, attempting to emphasise the cold, lifeless nature of robots. This is shown by the Ethics Commitee, which I’m sure will come to be a greater part of the story.

Then the article concerning dori-kei, young people obsessed with androids, suggested something to me: what would actually classify someone as a dori-kei? Would simply empathising with androids do so? There’s a difference between being sympathetic towards something (someone?) and being completely obsessed with it. But the nature of grey zones, which even Rikuo and Masaki know about so I’d assume it’s more widely known, completely changes this; if people knew that androids could think for themselves in such a manner, why would they, and people who associate with them beyond the “social norm”, be classified as being dangerous or having some sort of psychological problem? It’s obviously something Rikuo doesn’t want to be known as or be a part of, but I think it may be because he knows he’s closer to that state than other people, especially due to the way he reacted to his sister’s teasing. The fact his android is coming home at odd hours is the small nudge that gets him thinking more deeply about the nature of androids; we even see in school he starts looking more closely at the way they act.

When the two arrive outside the location of Eve no Jikan, there’s that small incident with the android outside. It simply barges past them to get inside, much in contrast with the android seen in the school, which moved aside to allow humans to pass it, and the boys are noticeably surprised by this sudden act of inconsideration.

Eve no Jikan’s rule:

In this shop, there is no discrimination betwen humans and robots.

And so they continue on to a place where the boundaries between the two beings do not exist. The reactions of the two their situation highlight how differently the androids are perceived through their eyes to what they really are; the mere fact that they no longer have rings causes Rikuo and Masaki to think that this place is very dangerous, and they end up suspiciuos and even slightly panicked. Meanwhile, the people within the cafe just drink tea (though now I look more closely, the android is just turning the cup in his hand over and over again…), read a newspaper, or talk with their lover. There’s clearly nothing to be worried about, so why are the two so agitated? Then again, all the human beings have to rely on to seperate themselves from robots are the regulations they themselves have imposed and the rings on their head; take away those things, and you start to go deeper into the “Uncanny Valley”. Rikuo mentions that Masaki should talk about this to his father, and though we don’t know about Masaki’s father yet, I think it’s safe to assume that he may have some level of power politically (perhaps part of the Ethics Commitee?)

And then we have the apperance of Akikowholikestotalkreallyfast. Leaving aside the humour of the situation, what she says presents another, less hostile view of androids; she wishes to know what the other’s feelings are and understand people/androids more. Though these thoughts of being a bit more accepting of the idea that androids aren’t just souless machines seems to bounce off of Masaki, she does get through to Rikuo and her words stay with him until the next day of school….

Where we get to see that not only do some kids treat their androids like crap (why should they think of them as anything but machines to be used in the way they see fit?) but that Masaki believes that this is the better way to treat them. Keep a distance, don’t get too close, maintain that line that seperates them from us. But just as he tells Rikuo this, Rikuo spies Akiko in the hallway, and discovers…

…she’s one too. Imagine having all your preconceptions about the nature of things that surround you everyday, which is cemented in your mind due to what you’ve seen and heard everywhere, turned on their head, and you can reason why he has such a horrified and confused look on his face. Not only that, but he sees Akiko, who was so bright, energetic, cheerful and curious, become sterile and cold, as well as being treated in such a manner by her owner. This leads him to feel threatened by the fact that his own android did something without a direct order, and his gears of his mind begin to churn away, thinking about how his own android may feel.

This epsiode has so many different implications as to how the story will go, and there’s also a couple things which aren’t fully explained (which is just as well, as they lend the show a small level of mystique). you have the power of the gray zones, both legal and illegal, blurring the line between humans and androids, and the holographic ring, which seems to be a requirement of androids to distinguish themselves from humans; that very fact in itself highlights ethical questions, but there’s also the question of what the rings are exactly. Are they just representations to show that something is an android, or are they constraints that are placed on the androids? To what extent have they free will, are they simply acting the way they do externally when around their masters, such as in the case of the drastic personality change of Akiko?

Funny thing I noticed is that I think of Akiko as a “her”. All the other androids have remained nameless and distant, even Rikou’s own, and the short time I’ve seen Akiko, she’s already defined herslef as a personalised entity, and I can’t change my view of her at this point, even if she is an android. Also, the moment where we see Akiko as an android was so well handled. Before he can even finish calling her name, there’s an instant zoom out as the scene is revealed and the sound of the rain suddenly somes into the foreground. Amazing moment…

Well, pushing that wealth of questions aside, I’ll talk about the stellar technical aspects of the show. Voice cast is great and the dialogue flowed really well between characters (especially motormouth Akiko). The animation can be immediately compared to Makoto Shinkai, but I don’t have much interest in that, except the fact that both him and Yasuhiro Yoshiura are known for fantastic and unique animation, and the same can be said here (I especially liked the lighting). I also LOVE THE MUSIC WITH A PASSION. It seems to be a minimalistic style, which has different instruments playing a simplified section of music but progressively layering so as to meld together and become one melody (thanks, C grade in Music GCSE). Everytime a scene plays, the music that accompanies it perfectly suits it, especially during the time when they discover the cafe (where it swells to to epic proportions; funny how something so small as walking into a room can feel so breathtaking), and when they were acting paranoid in the cafe, as well as when Akiko arrived. Speaking of which, light-hearted comedy seems like it’s also going to be a part of the show (Akiko was just so funny, especially when she tapped the table and they’re just like “Who the heck is this?”; I rewatched that over and over again *tap* *tap* ).

Well, after all that, all that’s left to say is that EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH THIS SHOW. It’s fantastic in all ways, and I am anxiously awaiting the next installment.

So well done…

You can actually see the fascination in his eyes.