Finally the two month wait is over! I’ve been greatly looking forward to act 03 which dealt with human-robot love by focusing on Koji and Rina, a couple who are regulars at the café. I knew I could count on director/writer Yasuhiro Yoshiura to approach the issue differently than your typical magical robot girlfriend story and he did not disappoint.
Oh and before I say anything else I want to point out that along with streaming the episode, Crunchyroll (not my favorite site, but I guess I’m going to have to get used to it) has facilitated this interview with Yoshiura. They’re also giving us the opportunity to ask questions in a follow up interview that’s going up on December 12. I believe that they’re only giving us until the 5th to post a question on their forum so if you want to be involved do that ASAP.
Things got off to a pretty light-hearted start what with Rikuo unconsciously ogling the well-endowed Rina. I’ve got to admit that as cliché as anime breast jokes are this was actually pretty funny. The comedic timing was spot on and the way the camera zoomed in and out or cut away for a reaction shot is really what made it work. In fact I find myself liking the camerawork more and more.
The true nature of the café remains somewhat of a mystery but Nagi’s conversation with the man in the black suit seemed like a pretty big clue. Asking if she should really be meddling with the customers certainly made it seem like this is a social experiment that they’re both in on.
The biggest strength of this episode, no of Time of Eve itself, is that it really plays with the viewer’s expectations. Trying to guess which character is human and which is not becomes a sort of game… a game which is nigh impossible to win unless you have some kind of amazing power to predict plot twists. Since most of us don’t, we’re in the dark just as much as the characters who visit the café. Which sets us up perfectly for this episode’s punch line, and boy did I love this, that even Koji and Rina don’t realize that they’re both androids.
The human-android-android love triangle is a brilliant reversal of roles. Koji is not a human man cheating on his human girlfriend to be with an android, he’s an android cheating on his human master to be with another android (although he doesn’t actually know that Rina is a robot yet). The only forbidden love that’s going on here is between Koji and his master.
What’s more, Koji is with Rina because her personality resembles his master’s and by getting to know Rina he believes he can better understand his master. However this creates a sticky situation. What if, as the episode seems to suggest, Koji truly falls for Rina? He cannot break up with his clingy master due to the First Law of Robotics: “a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” He is free to break Rina’s heart – er, motherboard – but this hardly seems fair, does it.
Perhaps the only way out of the situation would be if Koji truly believed that breaking up with his master was for her own good. If he did, then the First Law would be overridden by the Second Law: “a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.” However he would still be inflicting pain on his master by leaving her. Can a robot inflict short term pain for the greater good of a human?
Truth be told, I’m overthinking things because I find these moral dilemmas and practical problems fascinating but none of these issues are ever raised in the show itself. What I love about Time of Eve is that it really is just a fun, relaxing watch. It doesn’t even feel like it’s trying to make the viewer think and yet somehow once the episode is over I find myself with plenty to ponder. I think it’s a case of “less is more” in that not trying to cram a viewpoint down my throat actually makes me want to think for myself and come to a conclusion of my own. Come to think of it, that sounds like exactly the kind of thing the café itself is trying to do.
Except of course that Nagi is giving Rikuo and Masaki a bit of a push from behind, something which she appears to greatly enjoy and I greatly enjoy watching. Dm00 suggests that she needs an episode of her own and I’m in full agreement. Hell, I’d watch an entire series with her as the main character.
Unfortunately it looks like the next episode is not coming out until April. I hate to wait but I know it just means the staff (which consists of a very small team) is doing their very best to produce the vision they want. I wonder if they might release an OST in the meantime, I really like the background music.
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To make you sure you have it right, it was dm00 who suggested it, not me. But I wholeheartedly agree with him. :3
Ah you’re right, sorry. I missed the little “by dm” but it’s fixed now. Thanks!
I loved the plot twist at the end of this – despite the ‘androids with human emotions’ idea is a common one, the way that EnJ plays around with the formula and gets you really *thinking* still makes it special.
Four months is a long time but good things come to those who wait and all that. ^_^