Anime distributor AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD announce the upcoming home media Blu-ray release of Time of Eve on December 10 (SRP $24.99). This auteur project from writer-director Yasuhiro Yoshiura (Patema Inverted, Sing a Bit of Harmony) arrives in high def, presented in both the English-language version (dub by NYAV Post) and original Japanese, accompanied by the web series that spawned the speculative sci-fi feature and bonus material.
Time of Eve is set during a time when humanoid robots are everywhere, and every home has one as a servant. Some people treat them with contempt, while others become obsessed. One day, two high school boys stumble across a mysterious café that offers a third option: talk to them, free of prejudice, or even full knowledge of who’s a robot and who’s human. Shocked and rattled by the experience, the boys find themselves learning more about the world and themselves than they ever could have imagined.
Originally released in 2010, the film explores timely themes of prejudice, political extremism and the rise of artificial intelligence. Time of Eve won the Tokyo Anime Award for Original Video Animation in its year of release.
The Blu-ray set additionally includes a new interview with Yoshiura as well as two of his anime short films — Pale Cocoon and Aquatic Language — as well as insightful interviews with voice actors Jun Fukuyama, Kenji Nojima, Rie Tanaka and Rina Sato, behind-the-scenes featurettes, official trailers and footage from the film’s opening day.
Time of Eve initially debuted as a six-episode web series in 2008 and was later recut and expanded into the feature film; the original web series is also included in the new AnimEigo home media release. In addition to directing, Yoshiura wrote the story and script and storyboarded the anime. He was also the sound director and oversaw the production of the anime’s CG segments.
Pre-orders are now open through mediaocd.com/time-of-eve.
