Anime [Review][Spoiler] Now and Then, Here and There

!! WARNING !!
The following review may contain spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

C-info
Title: Now and Then, Here and There / Ima, Soku ni Iru Boku
Length: 13 episodes
Genre: Angst / Fantasy-Adventure
Creator: Akitaroh Daichi
Production Studio: AIC, Pioneer
Rated: PG-16

C-synopsis
Shu is a young, headstrong kendo student who often thinks before he acts. But he possesses a strong sense of decency and a tremendous amount of courage, and when a mysterious girl named Lalaru is suddenly attacked by strange mecha out of nowhere, Shu leaps immediately to the rescue, and is taken with her to another world caught in the grip of war.

Trapped in the fortress-ship Heliwood ruled by the mad King Hamdo, Shu is tortured and imprisoned before being forced to join Hamdo's army of child-soldiers. Despite numerous hardships, Shu manages to escape the fortress with the mysterious Lalaru, who seems to possess a power that the insane Hamdo covets. Swearing to protect Lalaru, Shu must dodge Hamdo's soldiers — and find a way to end the war that's tearing the world apart.

In a world where hope is a forgotten word, and where children lose their innocence in the hands of a madman, can one boy bring back all that was lost?

C-comments
Now and Then, Here and There (or Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku in Japanese) is an anime that's definitely not for the faint-hearted. It contains considerable violence, minor profanity, and even implied rape. That said, this is a very good series, one that raises anime to an art form.

The thing people first notice about NTHT is the setting: it looks like something out of an RPG. The character designs and animation are simplistic, but consistent throughout the series. It works very well with the overall theme of the show. The almost-childish designs lure you in, making you think that you're in for a fun romp, but then reality hits you like a ton of bricks.

Now and Then, Here and There is depressing. Very depressing.

In fact, I usually had to wait a week before I felt ready to tackle the next episode. Nothing is exaggerated or over-the-top; everything about the show immerses you in the incalculable horrors of war, where children fight each other to the death, and where innocence is lost before it even had a chance to begin. The whole series is filled with intense emotion, leading you on an emotional rollercoaster ride as you follow the adventures of Shu and a band of ill-fated children.

The characters themselves are so well developed that at times they feel so real that you get surprised when the show's over and you realize that it was only make-believe. From the optimistic Shu to the mysterious Lalaru, from the evil Hamdo to the tragic Sara, every character is capable of arousing the strongest emotions from the depths of your soul, whether compassion or hate, or anything in between. They are not characters one can feel indifferent about.

Fight scenes in the series are realistic. Shu is not one of those invincible warrior-types so common in most anime, and it shows. Most of his fights involve him catching someone by surprise and then beating a hasty retreat. What strikes me the most is that unlike most anime, when the characters in NTHT are hurt, they are hurt. They don't immediately get over an injury — getting hit by a bullet obviously hurts a bit, and a knife stab is invariably fatal. This realism is what sets NTHT apart from most anime.

Now and Then, Here and There is a show about emotion — and most of it is the heavy type. This is not to say that it doesn't have it's happy moments, they're there, but they are few and far between. It is a show that makes you think — and more importantly, feel. It the midst of all that violence is a message that we all, perhaps, should hear. Now and Then, Here and There is a stunning display in the art of story-telling, and one of the strongest anti-war allegories anywhere. It's a series that will stay in my heart forever.

C-rating

— C-chan