Time of Eve (イヴの時間) is a six-episode ONA anime series created by Yasuhiro Yoshiura. Produced by Studio Rikka and DIRECTIONS, Inc., the series streamed on Yahoo! Japan from August 1, 2008 to September 18, 2009, with simulcasts by Crunchyroll. A theatrical version of Time of Eve premiered in Japan on March 6, 2010.

Plot

In the not-too-distant future, androids have come into common usage. Rikuo Sakisaka, who has taken robots for granted for his entire life, one day discovers that Sammy, his home android, has been acting independently and coming and going on her own. He finds a strange phrase recorded in her activity log, "Are you enjoying the Time of Eve?". He, along with his friend Masakazu Masaki, trace Sammy's movements and finds an unusual cafe, "The Time of Eve". Nagi, the barista, informs them that the cafe's main rule is to not discriminate between humans and androids. Within the cafe, androids do not display their status rings, and, when patrons depart, the door is automatically locked for two minutes to prevent someone from following them to discover their true nature. The first few episodes involve conversations between Rikuo (usually accompanied by Masaki) and the cafe regulars: the bubbly Akiko, child Chie and her elderly guardian, the lovers Koji and Rina, and others. These conversations make frequent allusion to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, often highlighting surprising interpretations of those laws, some of which form apparent loopholes. The overarching plot involves the beginnings of independence displayed by the androids, what they do with that independence within the bounds of the three laws, and what motivates them. Secondary plots involve the individual stories of each android the protagonists encounter in the cafe, and how they come to discover which patrons are androids and which are not.

Characters

Main characters

Time of Eve regulars

Other characters

Character backstory

Media

Anime

The anime, produced by Directions, Inc. and animated by Studio Rikka, is directed and composed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, produced by Tom Nagae, music by Tohru Okada, and characters by Ryusuke Chayama. The first episode streamed on Yahoo! Japan on August 1, 2008 and ended on September 18, 2009, airing six episodes. Crunchyroll simulcasted the series shortly after the Yahoo! Japan premiere, both with English and French subtitles. DVDs of the episodes were released between January 1, 2009 and October 28, 2009, and was later released on Blu-ray on December 20, 2010. The ending theme in episode 6 is "Time of Tenderness" (やさしい時間の中で), performed by Rie Tanaka, the voice actress for Sammy. The song was later released in August 2009 as a single CD. Episodes 1–6 with English subtitles were released on Blu-ray Discs from January 1, 2011. On August 3, 2024, AnimEigo announced that they have both licensed the ONA and movie and will release both versions on Blu-ray and VOD on December 10, 2024.

Theatrical film

A theatrical version, called Time of Eve: The Movie (イヴの時間 劇場版), premiered on March 6, 2010 at Ikebukuro Theater in Tokyo and Umeda Theater in Osaka. The theatrical release version features a new theme song called "I have a dream", composed by Yuki Kajiura and performed by the pop-group Kalafina. Special-edition DVDs were distributed with pre-sold tickets in December 2009. A DVD/BD of the movie was released in Japan on July 28, 2010. A Kickstarter fundraiser was launched on May 23, 2013 for an international Blu-ray release of the film, with a goal of $18,000. The goal was easily achieved in less than 24 hours. A stretch goal was later announced, with a goal of $50,000. This goal was also achieved after only 60 hours. The final amount raised was over $215,000, over 1000% of the original $18,000 target.

Other media

A manga adaptation of Time of Eve illustrated by Yuuki Ohta began serialization in Square Enix's manga magazine Young Gangan in its February 2010 Issue and finished in its March 2012 Issue. The manga has also been compiled into three volumes. A light novel adaptation called Time of Eve: Another Act, written by Kei Mizuichi and illustrated by character designer Ryusuke Chayama, was published on March 18, 2010 by Shogakukan under its Gagagabunko imprint. An official fanbook was released in Japan in February 2010 by Kotobukiya. Shaddy Co. Ltd. is releasing an original EVLEND coffee blend based on the blend used in series. Asmik Ace Entertainment has published an iPhone application on January 10, 2012 called Time of Eve act0X with a story feature, coffee timer, and alarm.

Awards and festival screenings