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eve no jikan

Eve no Jikan

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Alternate Titles: Time of Eve

Original Japanese Release Date: July 31st, 2008

Episode Length/Run-time: 6 Episodes (15 minutes each)

Summary:

Sometime in the future technology has advanced to the point that androids have become a part of everyday life.  Looking nearly identical to humans they are only distinguishable due to the halo like symbol that hovers above their heads.  Maybe the robots are a little too much like humans as many of them are finding their way to an underground coffee house known as “Eve” because in this coffee house androids and humans are to be treated equally, a treatment they don’t normally receive elsewhere.

Review:

This is a great show that brings up some interesting philosophical points that are granted a bit overused.  Perhaps nothing in anime is as overdone as androids wanting to have human emotions or wanting to be human.  That is pretty much the backdrop for this 6 episode ONA.

One day Rikuo discovers that his family’s android has been acting weird and has been going off and doing things on her own. He follows her to a cafe called “Eve”.  Which is an illegal underground organization that is based on the principals of fair treatment for androids and humans.  For you see, while all androids normally must wear/display a halo type image above their head (see image above), this images disappear while in the cafe.

This is the most interesting thing about the show and while the show is great in its presentation, both in plotline, and visuals, it never really moves past this to delve further in the philosophical aspects that the show brings up.  When Rikuo first gets to the cafe its interesting watching him try to figure out which patrons of the cafe are human or not.  The interactions he has with the people in the cafe really serves as the backbone for the series as each episode is based around one single character from the cafe and Rikuo’s interaction with them.

Because the unique setting, the show shows you a bit of the mind of Rikuo as he grapples with his beliefs about Androids.  The world seems to be made up of people who are either against androids or believe in androids rights and as a person originally in that prior grouping, Rikuo finds himself questioning these beliefs as he interacts with the cafe patrons one by one despite not knowing exactly “what” they are.

This is a short show that is one of the better anime of the last few years.  I’d highly recommend giving it a try.  It only takes 90 minutes to watch the entire thing and at the end, you likely won’t be disappointed.

[starrater]

eyes of mars

EYES of Mars

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Alternate Titles: MOTHER 最後の少女イヴ (Mother: Saigo no Shoujo Eve), E.Y.E.S. of Mars

Original Japanese Release Date: 1993

Episode Length/Run-time: 80 minutes

Summary:

A dying humanity lives on Mars whose only hope lies in the hands of the psychic students of the E.Y.E.S. academy.  Their school exists beneath the chaos of the dieing cities above in a virtual Eden.  However, with the memories of their pasts gone they will have to solve their own mysteries and the past to save their future.

Review:

The anime sets up a fantastic atmosphere which remains interesting all the way through.  In doing so it ties itself into our modern world in a way that is relate-able and interesting.

[starrater]

escaflowne

Escaflowne

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Alternate Titles: The Vision of Escaflowne, Escaflowne of the Heavens, 天空のエスカフローネ

Original Japanese Release Date: 1996

Episode Length/Run-time: 26

Summary:

Hitomi is your normal high school student, decent grades, sports-interested, crushes on high school heart throbs, and an innocent fascination with the occult divination (tarot cards and pendulums).  One night she is transported from earth to the world of Gaea where she meets Van Fanel, the prince of the city of Fanela.  He is currently working on uniting the cities of Gaea against the forces of the malicious Zaibach empire.  As Gaea slips further into chaos as Zaibach launches their attacks Van takes up the strange and powerful mecha-like Escaflowne and Hitomi must realize her own powers and inner strength to save this new world.

Review:

Where to start with an anime such as Escaflowne?

Despite being over a decade old Escaflowne rivals even new anime with it’s appearance and animation (and it was done before mostly everything could be done in computers kids).  With the average episode production budget being an astounding ¥30,000,000, PER EPISODE!  This creates a rich atmosphere with interesting designs and still crisp looking animation.

The music is fantastic, comparatively to any other anime this soundtrack would be high ranking against even the work of Joe Hisaishi with Studio Ghibli.  Yoko Kanno, who is known among the A.A.A. for producing fantastic work lended the score.  But even for her this is a step above the rest.  Full orchestral pieces produce timeless music which evoke strong emotions from powerful racing pieces to soft vocals.

The best thing about this anime, and part of what makes it so rare and special, is that it’s a 26 episode series with literally NO FILLER.  Every episode is beautifully paced and designed to progress the story and the characters in an effortless way.  The con could be argued that as a result it does take some time to set up the world, I found myself only mildly interested for the first six or so episodes as they were presenting the characters and establishing the culture.  But after I gained a full appreciation for what was going on I was swooned by the characters and touched by the story.

And, you want to talk about an anime that has everything, this is it.  Larger than life mech battles, mysticism, romance, some small cliches like catgirls for the fans, sword fights, family feuds, coming of age, old-school fantasy mixed with a slight sci-fy element, there’s little that people won’t like.  The best is that it’s all done well and despite there being so much nothing feels awkard, out of place, or conflicts.

This is an anime for just about everyone and anyone.  It starts with a bang, takes its time without being slow, and makes good on all it’s promises.  This is a good example of what every anime should aim to be and is a well-known classic.

[starrater]

ergo proxy

Ergo Proxy

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Alternate Titles: None

Original Japanese Release Date: 2006

Episode Length/Run-time: 23

Summary:

The world has been ravaged by years of war and the environment has long since been reduced to little more than desert and mud.  In this post-apocalyptic world an Eden rises from the despair in the form of a city-state known as Romdo.  However to remain here all personal sovereignty and feelings must be sacrificed to the will of the whole and specifically the government.  Re-l Mayer (Pronounced ReAl) is the daughter of one of these politicians and part of the Citizen Information Bureau.  As mysterious murders break out she is sent to investigate with her autorev (android servants to the humans) partner Iggy.  Re-l discovers a mysterious affliction in the autorevs known as cognito which is prompting them to gain free-will.  Adding to the mystery and confusion a strange creature attacks her, known as a Proxy, which is neither human nor android.

Review:

If the summary didn’t give it away this anime is jam-packed with mysteries, symbolism, half-truths, and misleading information.  The problem is it ends up trying to do too much at once.  As the viewer you need a road map, a translation guide, and a manual to follow this series.  You’ll find yourself being confused if something is representative of another thing, purely symbolic, or literal.  As a result you end up getting confused about key progression.  There were a few points where I re-watched the dialogue about four times to get a vague idea of what they were talking about.  Some episodes give way too much information all at once, and other episodes seem to be borderline filler.

The psychological aspects aside the world is very nice.  Sometimes the animation does seem a little too dark (literally).  But, it adds to the overall gritty feeling of the world and the dark despair.

Overall it’s something which you have to be in the mood for to really sit down and watch.  And, even then, you may not get anything.  That being said, I don’t think you should have to have a PHD to understand an anime.  And even if it is that sophisticated they should offer better explanations for the intellectual and non-intellectual viewer.

[starrater]