Review of Time of Eve

What does it mean to be human? Where is the line between orchestrated, programmed action and sentience? It's ground that has been covered time and time again in media from triple A action movies to obscure dollar store sci-fi novels, to anime beloved by this community such as Ghost In The Shell. Shows basing themselves around this theme run the risk of simply being redundant. In comes Time Of Eve to offer a fresh take on a premise long run with. From its very first moments Time Of Eve comes out of the gate intent on drenching you in atmosphere. Washed out colors, strong lighting,and vibrant whites give off a dreamy feel, which is furthered by the deliberate, albeit sometimes overly choppy animation. The camera pans around scenes in a way that resembles film almost more than it does much of anime, and the framing of a lot of the shots is truly impressive. It isn't always perfectly executed, but the aesthetic fits the show very well. Bonus points go to the backgrounds which are spectacular. Rich and detailed, but always retaining the mood that the color palette and lighting create.

To fill this world oozing with style you have some very strong characters that don't really act within an overarching narrative, but simply ARE the narrative. To be clear, Time Of Eve isn't sci-fi in the traditional sense. It doesn't exist to create a layered narrative about science, or technology, but to tell a story about people. How they are different, and yet very much the same. How they desire to love and be loved, to understand and be understood. Every character the show fleshes out over its(sadly only six) episodes is vibrant, nuanced, and likeable, but the handling of the main character Rikou, specifically, is masterful. There is growth there that it takes a lot of skill to showcase over a run time of less than two hours.

Time of Eve isn't a hard show to understand. It isn't a long show to watch. It doesn't require additional reading, delving into its source material, or rewatching segments to understand. It's simple, beautiful, and above all else very human.