So a while back, I wrote up a small post about one Studio Rikka and their history. One of the shows that I covered was Eve no Jikan which was an ONA about robots doing robotty things. Episode 2 finally dropped a while back, and here we are. The episode is pretty solid and really the only complaint about the whole thing I have is the fact that the release schedule for the show couldn’t be worse. With the releases being fifteen minutes long a pop, waiting a couple of months between releases is really painful. But, that having been said, Rikka knows how to make use of the time and accomplish quite a bit every episode.

Heyyy, guys. Whats up? 

Anyway, in case you have forgotten (because I know I had going into this episode) I figured I’d throw in a quick character/episode re-cap here. Rikuo is your average every day high school student. One day he dumped the movement records from his family’s android, Sammy, because he thinks it might be doing things no one has told it to do. Taking along his friend Masaki, Rikuo retraces the android’s steps and discovers the quaint little cafe Eve no Jikan.

Beware the wrath of the small woman, for sure is surely a robot.

While hanging out at Eve, Rikuo and Masaki meet Nagi, the sassy barista manning Eve’s counter. As they sit drinking their “evlends” the pair almost give themselves heart attacks over-dramatizing the fact that androids cannot display the halo of light that distinguishes them from humans while the cafe. Just before Rikuo causes himself to stroke out, he is accosted by Akiko. She chats with Masaki and him for a while and seems to make a pretty good impression on Rikuo. Finally at the very end up the episode, he notices her at school. With a halo of light over her head. Shock! She is an android!

I am gasping! This is what surprise looks like!

Episode two picks up an indeterminate amount of time after the first episode with Rikuo debating about going back to Eve. His android is still acting funny and as Misaki so handily points out,

No law against Matrix sequels either. This is a major flaw.

there isn’t a law against lying. So they decide that it is time for another excursion. Rikuo seems a bit obsessed with finding out if Sammy is visiting the place and I guess Misaki just doesn’t have anything better to do.

There is what relief looks like. Obviously Studio Rikka are masters of portraying emotion. 

After being in the cafe for approximately three seconds without spotting Sammy, Rikuo decides that she isn’t there and has never even been to the place. And before you even have a chance to process how stupid that is, Masaki comments that it is probably too early for him to be as relieved as he is.
Then the two are accosted by the best thing in this episode:

I’m really hoping that Chie gets a spin-off show. Or some sort of prize for being the best child in an anime. 

Normally child characters like this bug the crap out of me, but Chie (apparently that is her name) is kept from being too annoying by her grandfather/guardian/keeper.

This is the Colonel’s cat impression. Watching the entire episode is completely justified by this five seconds.

Yeah. Chie is watched over by the anime equivalent of the KFC Colonel. Well that and the wacky faces. Those help a bunch too. Anyway, while the Colonel’s back is turned Chie runs off with Rikuo’s glasses.

As you can see, there is nothing up my sleeve… 

The only real reason I mention this is because, not because it gets used to set up a “hilarious” situation later on, but rather because what else Studio Rikka uses it for.

Rikuo’s vision is so bad that he’d be better off blind. 

Maybe I just don’t watch enough anime where people where glasses, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone show how disorienting being without glasses can be. This is obviously exaggerated, but really isn’t that far off from the truth.

To be honest stuff like that is really the reason I’m watching this show. Studio Rikka always seems to be pushing the barrier visually. Not with how things look, although they are quite good at blending traditional drawing and 3d, but with how things are presented. More than any other studio, Rikka seems to rebel against how scenes would be commonly presented.

Take for example, the opening scene of the first episode:
Yeop, Firefox still hates embedded videos

It is not immediately obvious, I didn’t actually catch it ‘till I watched it a second time, but this is a GPS record of where Sammy has been. Because she is sitting right next to Rikuo, the last point on the GPS record is obviously the house. Using this as a segue into the next scene is great. For other examples, see the television sequence in either episode. It is cool stuff.