For all future Dori-kei
typed for your pleasure on 13 November 2008, at 2.07 pmSdtrk: ‘Sir Keith at Lambeth’ by Mount Vernon Arts lab
As I’ve been consistently viewing enough anime titles and features since 1986 to choke a horse, I’ve seen a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff. Fellow iDollator PBShelley (he of Alastor’s Reflection) tipped me off to a fab site that suits my anal-retentive cataloguing tendencies nicely: MyAnimeList.net. You create an account, list the features you’ve seen, the ones you want to see, the ones you’ve dropped, rate them, discuss them, compare your lists to other users, etc, and it includes manga as well. Shame that it overlooks tokusatsu, but I suppose you can’t have everything. Overall, it’s a good place to take a couple of steps back and say ‘I have seen… so much crap’.
But this post isn’t about that! A fellow named gff left a comment on my profile there, tipping me off to a new anime series called ‘Eve no Jikan’, which translates to ‘Time of Eve‘. It’s an Original Net Animation, which means it wasn’t shown on television, nor did it get a home video release, like an OVA (Original Video Animation); instead, the episodes are available for viewing directly on das InfoBahn. In fact, you can see them on a site called Crunchyroll, a name which sounds simultaneously disgusting and delicious.
‘Eve no Jikan’ tells a story about Japan in the near-future, where Androids and Gynoids are found in most households, being nearly as commonplace as appliances. In fact, that’s pretty much how a lot of their owners treat them — those that relate to Androids (the show unfortunately uses that as a blanket term for humanoid robots of both sexes, but I suppose you can’t have everything) as anything but things are labelled ‘dori-kei’, so-called social deviants that invest too much emotion toward things that supposedly don’t deserve it. Heh, sound familiar? In order to tell them apart from flesh-and-blood humans, they are required to have a digital halo above their heads at all times.
‘Huh, when I plug my phone into you, I get two bars more than usual’
Our protagonist, Rikuo, starts the story checking the movement logs of his family’s Android, Sammy, and discovers that she’s often been stopping round to a place she wasn’t ordered to go. With the help of his classmate, Masaki, they track down the location, and find it to be a clandestine cafe, where the only hard and fast rule is that humans and robots are to be treated equally. Any Androids there deactivate their halos and behave as humans, which is in direct violation of societal laws. But what’s stopping Rikuo from reporting it? Could it be that he’s actually a dori-kei himself, with burgeoning feelings for Sammy? Dun dun DUNNN!
Not that there’s anything wrong with that
Studio Rikka, which is headed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, another one of those Japanese blokes that’s put ninety per cent of his projects together at home on his computer (see also ROMANoV HiGA or Makoto Shinkai), has been releasing a new 15-minute episode every two months since August 2008, and the wait is killin’ me. ‘Eve no jikan’ has an engaging story with charming characters, and an interesting storyline and concept. My hope, of course, is that the series gets picked up for domestic distribution sometime soon. Honestly, it’s getting harder to find anime that isn’t being picked up for domestic distribution these days, but you’d be surprised what slips through the cracks.
So until ‘Act03: KOJI & RINA’ comes out in December, go catch yourselves up!
Wow, was that just an anime review there? I think it was
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
Don't go teasin' on December 18th, 2006
Your One-stop Gynoid Shrine on October 31st, 2005
November 13th, 2008 at 2.36 pm
That does sound like an anime review. So basicaly the halos designate the synthetiks that are not just used in a utilitarian manner?
November 14th, 2008 at 1.58 pm
Although not as serious a peruser of the ani-arts as yourself (but, I suspect, not many are) I find the most imaginative film creations are Japanese. Thank you for this review/link.
Could you share a brief list of top-fav full films that one could, maybe, Netflixisize? With comments like …If you liked ‘Steamboy’ or …similar to ‘Metropolis’?
November 14th, 2008 at 8.59 pm
For some reason I feel this urge to go dig up some Asimov…
November 15th, 2008 at 2.36 am
[…] Davecat has news of The Time of Eve, a straight-to-net anime series. It… “…tells a story about Japan in the near-future, where androids and gynoids are found in most households, being nearly as commonplace as appliances. In fact, that’s pretty much how a lot of their owners treat them — those that relate to Androids as anything but things are labelled ‘dori-kei’ — so-called social deviants that invest too much emotion toward things that supposedly don’t deserve it.” […]
November 15th, 2008 at 1.55 pm
Kat –
Yeah; the halos differentiate any Synthetik that looks so much like an Organik where it’d be hard to tell on first glance if they were silicone or meat. The Androids tend to behave like more-passive versions of Mr Universe’s bride from ‘Serenity’ — blank expressions, no independent behaviour, etc. Unless, of course, they’re fortunate enough to know about a certain hidden cafe…
I wonder how word gets round to the Android community about that place, now that I think about it? They don’t advertise, the door locks for a couple of minutes everytime someone leaves for security reasons… perhaps they’ll address that in an upcoming episode. There’s only four left! NOT ENOUGH EPISODES *slams fist on table*
Veach –
O, I’m a rank amateur compared to some people, as far as hours logged in watching anime. I just traffic mostly in the older / shorter / more obscure stuff, cos I’m peculiar like that, plus there’s only so many hours in the day.
A short list of faves? Hrrm… I’ll have to do that. I was going to do it here, but I tend to ramble. 🙂 Look for it ‘soon’!
SafeT –
O, they quote the Three Laws all the time in ‘Time of Eve’. Asimov certainly set a standard…
Wait — you meant dig up some of his books, right? VIOLATING GRAVESITES IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE
November 15th, 2008 at 6.52 pm
I just started a 10 hour shift at the radio station, I’ll have to check out ‘Eve no Jikan’.
Now what to do with the other 9 hours…..
November 17th, 2008 at 2.06 am
‘allo D.C. and the ever-lovely Sidore-chan!
Thanks for the informative tip o’ the ole anime hat; this one completely bypassed my radar! Only one person I know has caught the two episodes thus far and he wants more already LOL
I will attempt to look it up, or better yet, “aquire”. Somehow. Arigatou!
Veach, I agree that the most imaginative animation works are of Japanese-make. Upon my discovery of anime last year the diversity, beauty, and emotional depth has completely and delightedly blown my mind. IT’S NOT ALL POKEMON AND NARUTO, RITE???
But I suspect that you know this.
As for recommendations, it really depends upon your tastes in genres. Info for the masses: Most series run 12-24 25-minute episodes so would equal about 6-12 hours per, which might be more time than you’re willing or able to invest. I’d recommend carefully selecting titles which might interest you rather than picking them willy-nilly (whatever that is).
Head over to Anime News Network for starters and investigate their Encyclopedia for rankings and ratings; their Top Ten page is here: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/ratings-anime.php
Be aware that many if not most titles may not interest you, and there’s a lot of “average” material to wade through. So make good use of ANN 😉
Since you (Veach) want full-length films though… I can recommend a couple (at least):
Le Portrait de Petite Cossette (sick French is sic), about a girl who seems to live in a Venetian glass and an artist who becomes obsessed and draws from this inspiration, quite literally… very bloody, but the presentation is truly eye-popping; it runs about 111 minutes.
Since I don’t want to monopolize D.C.’s Blogspace with massed verbiage, just check these other highly-rated films out on ANN: Paprika (thriller), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (adventure/drama/romance), and
Spirited Away (fantasy). There are many, many more…
You (and mainly others) may not be prepared for what awaits you… and surprises are a good thing!
Happy viewing,
PBS, Lily, Eden, and Pennie
November 24th, 2008 at 2.39 pm
Oh, of course I meant books. Silly. Why would I ever need to dig up Isaac Asimov’s body again?
November 25th, 2008 at 7.29 pm
+1 for “Le Portrait de Petite Cossette”. I saw this one, it was rather intense. Excellent material, to be sure.
April 26th, 2012 at 10.38 pm
[…] I found out about the series from this website: http://www.kuroneko-chan.com/echoes/?p=643 […]