StoryAnime with inspirational humanitarian messages are exceedingly hard to come by. Most attempts get bogged down in contrivances, never moving beyond manipulative, hackneyed tragedies to stir viewers into some kind of reaction. This is why, when a show like Now and Then, Here and There comes along, I can't help but pinch myself. Although NTHT's mild sci-fi universe removes it from any direct association with historical wars, its powerful themes of child soldiers, rape, and state terrorism should be familiar to anyone who switches on the news once in a while. Moreover, regardless of life experience or education, nobody will struggle to 'get it' - NTHT hammers home the message with such brutal simplicity that it's accessible even to a child.
The show is in part about a mad ruler, Hamdo, and the way his madness comes rolling down the proverbial hill to swamp the nation in senseless war. While imperialism is a universal tragedy, and one that's plagued humanity since the birth of nations, NTHT's twist is to put a brave face on this old and common theme. That face happens to be the adolescent protagonist Shu, who pulls the plug on Hamdo's bloodbath by influencing everyone with his relentless sense of justice. Much friction in the plot centres on him trying to cope with people's defeatist perspectives on war and changing them. If Takahata's seminal Grave of the Fireflies is a non-judgemental look at the loss of innocence, NTHT actively invites its audience to take a stance on the rights and wrongs of that loss.
Shu's brand of pacifism won't convince everyone, of course, but the show would hardly be masterful if it promised bland, easy-to-swallow solutions. More importantly, while the series takes a pacifist stance on the question of violence, it still leaves enough room for others to form their own conclusions.AnimationDon't judge an anime by its screenshots. I say this because I'm sure some can't help raising an eyebrow at the lacklustre character designs and generic backgrounds. Indeed, while a flashier concept design wouldn't have hurt, neither does NTHT need it.
Shuzo Matsutani, the plucky protagonist, is the theory put into practice. After suffering a comical defeat at kendo training, his opponent says to him that he can't win just by charging in blindly. ' Indeed, he's a witless champ but a fully determined one. By no means does his staunch goodness make him passive or uninteresting - in fact, his behaviour raises controversial questions all of its own. For example, is a shout of 'daijoubu' the right response to every complex tragedy?
Shu believes it is; the audience can make up its own mind. He's not the only character to stir viewers into emotional and intellectual conflict. Lady Abelia, while a brave, capable second-in-command to Hamdo, also gives orders for torture, rape and kidnapping of children. Nabuca, a conscientious leader in Hamdo's army is also a willing tool of oppression for his own selfish ends. Instead, try this straight-talking anime with an invigorating perspective on the horrors of war. Carving a bold pacifist path through the jungle of moral what-ifs, NTHT is a tale of human endurance the likes of which hasn't graced our world since Grave of the Fireflies.
However, it is important to know that NTHT's plot develops slowly at first. So if you don't like lots of dialogue and want more action, this anime probably would not be a good watch. NTHT's strength lies in its ability to stir emotions through great plot and character development. The beginning episodes focus on laying out the story, characters, and setting. In the middle of the plot, expect a bit of dialogue because it is slowly building up momentum to the series great climax. The ending has its own twists and turns, and it will keep you on the edge of your chair until the very end.
AnimationThe animation of Now and Then, Here and There is a bit plain. There aren't any special CGI effects or anything remotely spectacular. However, it has nice crisp, clear flowing animation that is pleasing to the eyes. Characters do not have big glassy eyes, but rather normal circular ones with a little depth. Though work was put into creating distinctive animated characters, it was just enough to make them appealing.
The opening sequence is quite plain and serves more of an opening credits introducing the characters. The ending sequence is beautiful, soft-hearted and shows nice background scenes.SoundIn my opinion, this is the one area that NTHT was most deficient. The only memorable songs were the opening and closing theme "Komoriuta". Although the opening theme was filled with warmth, it didn't quite fit the overall feeling of NTHT. However, the closing theme perfectly fits the dramatic, melancholy tone of the series.
Background music was good enough to express the current situation, but it didn't quite invoke major mood changes or memorability. Moreover, voice acting for all the characters was well done. It is clear that the seiyuu tried their best to express as much emotion as possible into every character.CharactersThe characters in NTHT are quite memorable. The creator carefully devised good distinctive characters with different personalities that allow you to easily associate with them. Shu is a typical Japanese boy that is forced to face the hardships of a new desert world. He always looks forward to the future and tries not comfort others the best he can in their times of need.
Although Lala-Ru plays an important role in the story, she serves more as a passive character. She doesn't speak much, but she is more important than she appears. In contrast, Sara's character is quite memorable and maybe the character with the most character development. Like Shu, she was forcibly taken into the desert world.
Of all the characters in the series, I believe that she is the most memorable. Her personality throughout the duration of the series changes significantly. As mentioned before, this anime is a drama, so expect more dialogue than explosive action scenes. The distinctiveness of each character is what makes NTHT unique and special.
OverallIf you love to have your emotions stirred up, NTHT is a must see. The ending is not a let down, and it actually comes full circle. However, if you like action/fighting/mecha anime, you would probably become bored with the dialogue and the lack of fighting and action scenes. When you first watch the anime, you probably will be thinking, "Well this isn't really exciting." But this anime definitely has a natural charm, always leaving you with the feeling to see the next episode. And before you know it, you become sucked into the characters and plot, and you'll just want to see it to the end. NTHT is a definite must see for drama anime watchers.
Shu is a typical Japanese boy, but has an unbeatable, optimistic and determined attitude. However, when he sees a mysterious girl with strange eyes named Lala-ru up on a smokestack, he is Soon pulled into a strange desert world. Shu Soon discovers the true terrors of war, which includes genocide, brutal torture, hunger, thirst, and child exploitation. Now Shu is trying to save Lala-ru, as well as his hard earned, and often relunctant, new friends from the insane dictator, Hamdo.
Whether Shu can possibly accomplish saving those he cares about while still holding up to his values remains to be seen. However, when he sees a mysterious girl with strange eyes named Lala-Ru up on a smokestack, he is soon pulled into a strange desert world. Shu soon discovers the true terrors of war, which includes genocide, brutal torture, hunger, thirst, and child exploitation. Now Shu is trying to save Lala-Ru, as well as his hard earned, and often reluctant, new friends from the insane dictator, Hamdo. Shu soon discovers the true terrors of war, which includes genocide, brutal torture, hunger, thirst, and child explotation.
Now Shu is trying to save Lala-Ru, as well as his hard earned, and often relunctant, new friends from the insane dictator, Hamdo. Now Shu is trying to save Lala-Ru, as well as his new friends. A typicial shounen-anime like boy lead nicknamed Shu, who is living is daily life normally in Japan circa 1999, who's a little slow but good hearted finds a mysterious girl on top of some smoke stacks at the edge of town. He tries to talk to her, and ask her how she got to the top of the other smoke stack, when all of a sudden these futuristic machines get teleported there, and the people controling them want to capture this girl (named Lala-Ru). Bust just like in any typicial shounen-anime our hero tries to save her, a bit a little stupidely, but he tries.
He ends up being teleported to the strange world along with these strange military people, and Lala-Ru. The place he gets transported to is called "Hellywood" , and he gets separated from Lala-Ru, and accidentally get's her pendant. But this is were the similarities with all other anime series pretty much stops. After this point this anime evolves into something much, much more.
It's a dark seinen series, about how war effects people, and can destory the lives of everyone. It's also grounded in reality, even though most of the events take place in this "distant world", it's very realistic and feels as though most of this could happen right now . This anime is brutally honest, it doesn't sugar coat anything, nor does it glorify war or violence.
It's a slap to the face to the DBZ's and Naruto's as well as many American war movies and novels of our current era. The story is emotional, engaging, and one of the best overall stories I've ever seen. The only "problem" I can find with the story is it isn't very "deep", it's a pretty straightforward, simple story, not very layered, but it wasn't going for deep in that sense anyway. It does have a message, and a point to it all, and it's a very good story.
I can't mark it down for that small problem so 10/10. All of the characters are well written and fully developed into the story. Even relatively small characters like the diminutive conscript, Boo, have essential roles in the tale and are interesting and fun to watch.
My personal favorite though, is the mad dictator, King Hamado. From his voice acting, to the way he moves, to his interactions with his underlings and the main characters; you don't just see how depraved and sick he is, you feel it. Not many animated characters can claim such a screen presence.
Of course, since he's the bad-guy, many people I have talked to who have also seen this show, despise him, but the level to which they dislike this character only serves to prove my point. Outside of the mad king, the acting for Nabuca, Shuzo's conscript commander, is also exceptional. He's a little boy saddled with a man's responsibilities and choices and is believable despite the unbelievable setting. Matsutani Shuzo is your typical, hyperactive Japanese schoolboy. He's hopelessly cheerful, plays kendo, and has a crush on the captain's sister. Nothing really bothers him; everyday is just the next play in a larger game.
Then on his way home from school one afternoon, he spots a girl watching the sunset from the top of some factory smokestacks near his home; smokestacks he is famous in the neighborhood for climbing when none of the other children were able. This strange girl with liquid blue eyes tells him her name is Lalaru, but says little else as she watches the setting sun. Then out of nowhere, several large machines, piloted by strangers in military uniforms, appear around the stacks and attack Lalaru. Shu attempts to save her and in the process is sucked back into the future with the soldiers to a bleak, sand blasted wasteland ruled by the remnants of a long dead war machine.
Now as a prisoner and conscript of the battleship "Hellywood", Shu must face hard realities as he struggles with his new situation and tries to find a way for he and his fellow prisoners to escape the mad rule of King Hamado. Shu is an average boy living an average life until one day a giant machine drags him through a time warp into a desert world torn by war. Unlike typical children's adventures, the bad guys are humans and not generic monsters. And there is a huge amount of suffering, torture, death, even rape, elements that create a very dark and depressing setting that depicts some of the worst aspects of war. The basic theme is how children are forced to fight the wars of the grown ups and how they are brainwashed with deception to become inhuman killing machines, expendable units in the portfolio of megalomaniacs. The emotional impact this has on the viewer is tremendous.
Although none of the characters are special in any way when it comes to personalities, the cruel nature of the show is making you sympathize with them. Thus the typical shonen hero, the silent damsel in distress, the insane general, all of them are caricatures but highly easy to feel something about them because of the high shock effect of the tragedy. For whatever reason the powers that be decided to give this anime a more "simple" look to it. When compared to other anime from around or before it's time it's not as detailed. Still it's not the best animation and art ever, even given it's time. Cowboy Bebop truly shows what could be done with technology of the time, and a extremely large budget.
This anime has no use of CGI or other computer techniques that newer anime series use. It's not as flashy as Cowboy Bebop , and no where near as nice looking as say Black Lagoon , a newer anime for example. The character designs are simple but effective, and the background art is very beautiful. The sunset in episode one is something to really enjoy, feel free to pause and just look at how nice it is.
It's clear this anime was not made with a very large budget, but it still is very nice looking at times, esecially backgrounds. Don't let the dated animation turn you off this show, because it is an amazing series. This anime proves you don't need flashy animation, and gimmicks to make a great anime, all that's needed is a good story, and some talented people involved. Our story starts in Japan with ordinary boy Shu going through an ordinary day, until he sees a blue-haired girl by the name of Lala-Ru.
While defending her from attack, he is transported to another world, where water is most precious and drives war. That girl he was with, she can unleash water from her pendant and control it, making her priceless, especially to the mad king Hamdo. She is Sara, who also teleported from Earth and is trapped in this desolate world.
It's not long before Shu's captors conscript him into a child soldier army, whose primary job is pillaging villages for women to force into breeding more soldiers for Hamdo's army. Daichi pulls no punches in the thirteen episodes of this TV series and gives us no let-up. In this world, children are the targets of atrocities committed by other children. Neighboring villages are raided for vital supplies and young boys to be conscripted into the insane king Hamdo's army.
Women and young girls are captured to be passed around to and raped by Hellywood soldiers as a reward for good performance in the hope that they will become pregnant and provide future soldiers and breeders. This latter fate befalls a young American girl named Sara, who is mistakenly grabbed because of her resemblance to Lala Ru. Indeed, a couple episodes in the middle of the series focus entirely on her story, not Shu's. Main plot revolves around Shu's task to save Lala Ru from the evil dictator, called king Hamdo, who wants to use her powers in order to conquer the world. You could say that to some degree this story follows 12 steps described by J. Presenting all of those perspectives let's us how different people can be influenced by this sort of totalitarianism and that system like that can make a person commit the worst crimes without feeling any remorse.
It's a really well written story that takes into consideration many possible outcomes and potential behaviours of characters that are in a situation like this one, and doesn't avoid any hard topics. It may not always be the most one but the core aspects of this plot don't play around with tropes. The animation may be a little dated and simple but it's still very nice and it works, and the music is stunning.
