The Time of Eve is a café hidden well beneath the towering skyscrapers of Japan in the near future. As the customer opens the door to the café, a bell rings signaling their arrival. The atmosphere is quiet and cozy save for a little girl running around and calling herself a cat. A couple cuddles with each other and whispers sweet nothings into each other's ears. A man is sitting on a couch reading a book. With a bright smile, a woman greets the customer and welcomes the customer into their second home. With an order, the customer asks for a coffee to be brought at their table. It is warm, fragrant, and sweet. Before the café owner leaves, she asks that the customer treats every as equal. Of course, the customer would be happy to oblige...but for some, this is easier said than done, especially when that customer lives in a world where he or she is taught that humans will always be superior to robots.
This is Time of Eve: The Movie, a film that rightfully deserves more recognition as one of the more superior anime films based on pre-existing TV anime and/or OVAs. The way the café is portrayed in the film could be an appropriate metaphor for the film as a whole. It's a quiet movie that slid under the radar of most anime fans, but through the help of some outside sources, my interest in the movie was piqued. Keep in mind that I did not watch the Time of Eve OVAs prior to watching this film, so whatever knowledge I have of the series is solely based on the film.
One of the greatest achievements of the movie's story is that it makes the viewer grow along with the protagonists. I noticed myself warming up to the androids as much as the main characters did and felt a brief, small sense of betrayal when I found out which characters were androids. I think that that is part of a test that the movie is trying to bring upon the viewers as well as the two main characters, Rikuo and Masaki: try to get to know a person not by what they are, but who they are. The fact that this mirrors the way judgement is clouded in the real world by racism, homophobia, and other forms of prejudice is almost chilling. The robots even have rings over their heads so humans can identify them as such. If those rings were to be eliminated, no one could tell one from the other. The movie takes most, if not all of its time to make the main duo divert from the public norm and start embracing these robots as their companions rather than furniture.
Another thing about the movie that caught my eye is that there are prevalent occurrences of television advertisements in the movie as distributed by the "Ethics Committee" that keeps a strict watch on all robot activity. The Committee airs these advertisements in an attempt to drill into people's heads that robots are machines and nothing more. This sort of "Big Brother" influence that the Committee has in the movie gives the world it takes place in an almost dystopian feel, making the secluded café a more precious setting than one should expect.
As for the main characters themselves, Rikuo's development into his final opinion on the robots is more or less straight-forward, making him a sort of bland character, but Masaki proves to be the one to have more difficulty handling the situation, making him the more complex character between the two. The different levels of development eventually balance the two out, giving them enough chemistry to add dramatic flair to some of the film's more heart-wrenching scenes. The moral conflicts between the two, in addition to the other characters' moral support, make for a story that's just as touching as it is introspective.
For an anime film that was released only a year ago, the animation isn't astoundingly beautiful, but there are some parts of the film that are nice to look at, like some of the computers when put into use and the inside of some of the buildings in the city. Some pieces of the café are rendered in CGI, which doesn't look bad when placed next to the 2D characters and makes for some interesting camera angles, but it's pretty obvious that those pieces are done in CG. The fact that the film is colored in an almost monochromatic tone makes for some slightly uninteresting animation. The animation isn't bad; it's just a little bland. This is a movie that you should try to watch for the story more than the art.
I was pleasantly surprised by the voice acting in this movie. Half the cast doesn't sound all that anime-esque, which made the performances all the more believable. The right voices were chosen for each of the androids in the movie, down to some of the older models that were featured. It made the older robots sound human, but detached enough to make them sound like they don't know how to carry on a conversation with another being. There's more of a layer of realism in that than the newer, more human-looking androids. Some of the more comedic scenes have some of the most rapid-fire conversation I've ever heard in an anime. It was almost like the characters were having a tennis match with their words. Speaking of which, the scene where Akiko is introduced is something that must be seen to be believed. While the voice acting is good, the soundtrack is distractingly unbalanced. Some of it is good, but the synth in it is so blatant that it tries to make some of the most touching moments seem melodramatic. Fortunately, the ending theme is performed by Kalafina, who are also known for performing the theme songs to the Kara no Kyoukai films and both seasons of Kuroshitsuji. The song is rather pleasant and the lyrics tie in to the main theme of the film well. If it weren't for the soundtrack, the audio would have been ranked a point higher.
I really want to give this film a 9, but i can't seem to find it in my heart to do so. Looking back at this film, I know I'm going to remember it, but not well enough to make me say, "Wow, was that a great film,". Even though this is cliché, to answer the film's eponymous question, "Are you enjoying the Time of Eve?"...
Yes, yes I did, but it don't think I'll be coming back for a while. Maybe I'll like it more when I do decide to visit it again. Only time will tell.
