Time of Eve

In a near-future Japan where androids are common in everyday life, relying on them is accepted—but treating them as equals is not. People who seem overly attached to their household robots are mocked as “dori-kei,” and a lingering suspicion persists that machines might one day turn on their human owners.

High schooler Rikuo Sakisaka grows uneasy when his home android, Sammy, begins leaving the house without being told. Digging through her activity logs, he finds a puzzling entry: “Are you enjoying the time of EVE?” With his friend Masakazu Masaki, Rikuo follows the trail to a café called Time of Eve, a place with a strict rule against discrimination—and a clientele where humans and androids mingle so seamlessly that telling them apart is nearly impossible.

As Rikuo searches for the reason behind Sammy’s secret visits, he encounters patrons each carrying their own quiet struggles, from the bright Akiko to an android on the verge of malfunction. The time spent inside the café gradually challenges his assumptions about what separates a person from a tool—and whether the fear surrounding androids is truly justified.