E.Y.E.S. of Mars
Entry updated 26 October 2026. Tagged: Film.
Japanese animated film (1993; original title Mother: Saigo no Shōjo Eve; vt Mother). Toei Animation. Directed by Iku Suzuki. Written by Ikuko Senaga and Shigekazu Takagi. Voice cast includes Takkō Ishimori, Tsutomu Kashiwakura, Kotono Mitsuishi, Rika Nakano, Shinya Ōtaki and Hiromi Tsuru. 70 minutes. Colour.
Guided by a map, the boy Dew (Kashiwakura) goes deep into the bowels of the City, and after escaping police pursuit (they call him a "rebel"), finds a door opening into a forested landscape (see Pastoral). Nearby, at the E.Y.E.S. training centre (the acronym seems never to be explained), student Eve (Mitsuishi) has a recurring dream of her world destroyed (see Disaster). Later, the centre's staff discuss her: Eve's DNA clearly shows "great potential mind power" (see Psi Powers) as yet unmanifested; Ms Theodore (Nakano) suggests this is because, as with the other girls, her memory has been removed (see Amnesia; Memory Edit). The students are being trained to be at one with nature, enabling them to perceive its "life force power". Eve shows a marked improvement in her abilities after Sarah (Tsuru), an older girl, takes her under her wing, saying she has had a similar dream.
Dew reaches the school and sneaks into Eve's bedroom to persuade her to come away with him, back to the city where her parents will be: scared, Eve says she will meet him later, but goes for help to Sarah, who uses her powers to threaten him. Meanwhile, his words have triggered Eve's abilities and she has a vision of the city and her parents, who briefly become aware of her gaze. We learn that the city is on Mars and its air, water and food supplies are almost depleted. The students at E.Y.E.S. are humanity's last hope.
Hoping to see her parents, Eve leaves with Dew and climbs a vast wall – he explains how the forest is located beneath the city (see Underground) – and despite an attempt by Sarah to stop them they enter and Eve sees the Polluted cityscape. It was built 25,000 years ago by their ancestors, one of whom, "The Messenger", sleeps: the rebels need someone with sufficient mind power to wake him and hear his message, that someone being Eve. Reaching the rebel settlement Eve is delighted to find her parents, who though not rebels they have ended up here whilst seeking her after the vision. Sure enough she wakes the Messenger (Ōtaki) and – not having a physical presence – he possesses her and explains their forgotten history, which is heard by all the population. They originated on the fifth planet, Atlas, but 150,000 years ago Technology led to the extinction of all but human life. People lost their connection to nature and thus their mental powers, true culture and art, becoming dependent on technology. With Atlas polluted it was decided to migrate to Mars; since there was enough room for everyone, Wars followed, with Atlas destroyed (presumably creating the Asteroid belt) and the explosion shifting Mars's orbit, making it inhospitable by the time the migrants arrived (see Colonization of Other Worlds). Moving to Earth was considered, but in the end it was decided to stay and build the idyllic, domed and forested city which they named Atlantis ... but the population increased (see Overpopulation), pollution grew, the quality of life plummeted and the forest dwindled until only that around E.Y.E.S. remained. Eve wonders if they should go to Earth, but The Messenger points out they will only repeat their errors "unless mankind changes": they must be less dependent on technology and nurture the environment (see Ecology). He then leaves her. Most people including the city's mayor are swayed, and she meets with the rebels who argue that by saving resources they could survive another thirty years, enough time to get back to nature. The mayor agrees and closes the main drain on the city's resources: the secret construction of a space ark that could, if the situation becomes too dire, travel to Earth – though its lift-off would destroy the city.
However, the city's security chief DeCardin (Ishimori) believes the Messenger was a psychic trick by the E.Y.E.S. group to gain power, and plans to use the ark to transport some of the population to Earth. When his niece Sarah – who has been spying on E.Y.E.S. for him – protests, she is assured "there's no such thing as spirit and mind power. There's only science to understand", pointing out her powers come from a Drug she is given (by implication, all the students receive it). The ship lifts off, but soon crashes back onto the city; presumably it was unfinished. Eve's earlier Precognition of her world's destruction – that is, the city and forest – comes true. Her parents, who seem to have found space suits and left the city, watch what seems to be the death of humanity, but then hear their daughter's voice: she is a "pure spirit" now, as are many others, living on without their physical bodies: with the Messenger, these spirits can now migrate to Earth – and Eve promises that, this time, they will take care of their new home. We next see cavemen (see Origin of Man) on Earth as a voice-over reports "30,000 years ago there was a jump in the Evolution of Man and Cro-Magnon man ruled the Earth for the first time using Intelligence." Shortly after, the civilization of Atlantis arose.
As evident from the above, E.Y.E.S. of Mars has a message conveyed without much subtlety and often with Clichés: though at one point it is said people should not become over-reliant on technology, usually the attitude is one of hostility towards science, while nature is painted in a benevolent light with no suggestion of tooth and claw. The fairly short run time for its busy plot leaves little room for characterization; those not simply one-note, such as Sarah, end up seeming erratic. More positively, this Anime's animation is reasonably good. [SP]
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