Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku (Now and Then, Here and There)

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Alternative Titles

English: Now and Then, Here and There

Synonyms: Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku

Japanese: 今、そこにいる僕

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 13

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 14, 1999 to Jan 20, 2000

Premiered: Fall 1999

Broadcast: Thursdays at 19:00 (JST)

Producers: Victor Entertainment, Pioneer LDC, Rakuonsha

Licensors: ADV Films, Central Park Media

Studios: AIC

Source: Original

Genres: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Military, Sci-Fi

Duration: 25 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 7.65¹ (scored by 34,319 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1163²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1363

Members: 113,542

Favorites: 1,009

7.65

Ranked #1163Popularity #1363Members 113,542

Fall 1999TVAIC

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Episodes: /13

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Synopsis

Shuuzou ''Shuu'' Matsutani lives his ordinary life in peace. He has friends, a crush, and a passion for kendo. Dejected after losing to his kendo rival, Shuu climbs a smokestack to watch the sunset where he finds Lala-Ru, a quiet, blue-haired girl wearing a strange pendant. Shuu attempts to befriend her, despite her uninterested, bland responses.

However, his hopes are crushed when a woman, accompanied by two serpentine machines, appear out of thin air with one goal in mind: capture Lala-Ru. Shuu, bull-headed as he is, tries to save his new friend from her kidnappers and is transported to a desert world, unlike anything he has ever seen before. Yet, despite the circumstances, Shuu only thinks of saving Lala-Ru, until he is thoroughly beaten up by some soldiers. As he soon finds out, Lala-Ru can manipulate water and her pendant is the source from which she is able to bring forth the liquid, a scarce commodity in his new environment. But now, the pendant is lost, and Shuu is the prime suspect.

Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku is the haunting story of a dystopian world, and of Shuu, who has to endure torture, hunger, and the horrors of war in order to save the lonely girl he found sitting atop a smokestack.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Kazam

Supporting

Matsuyama, Takashi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Daichi, Akitarou

Director, Script, Storyboard, Original Creator

Tanaka, Kazuya

Sound Director

Ootsuka, Masahiko

Episode Director

Hiramatsu, Tadashi

Episode Director, Storyboard

Edit

Opening Theme

"Ima, Soko Ni Iru Boku (Now and Then, Here and There; 今、そこにいる僕)" by Toshio Masuda (増田俊郎)

Edit

Ending Theme

"Komoriuta... (Lullaby...; 子守歌…)" by Reiko Yasuhara

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Reviews

Feb 3, 2009

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

zenoslime (All reviews)

349 people found this review helpful

Now and Then, Here and There is a real wall-gazer. The kind of show that you pause to reflect upon, and then find yourself gazing deeply into the nearest wall. Spacing out, utterly deflated, with that melancholy soundtrack echoing through the halls of your mind—like an empty ballroom, with only you left sitting at the bar. The dance is over, but the mood lingers, and there's not much you can do but sit and sigh... and realize you're a little bit older.

The hero of this story, Shu, is actually not so much a hero as he is just another victim of an ugly world gone wrong, and one who himself is nearly broken a number of times. What makes him stand out is his stubborn refusal to succumb to the hopelessness and terror of it all, even while everyone around him has been beaten down to the point where they commit terrible acts out of overwhelming fear and a desire to survive—in some cases a distant yet precious hope that if they can make it through, they'll one day be set free from this hell that holds them captive.

The setting is an alternate world that Shu finds himself pulled into, a bleak dystopian wasteland of endless, bone-dry desert; the atmosphere is stifling and oppressive, a nihilistic Future Boy Conan where skies are not blue, but blood-red, and there isn't a drop of water to be found. Enter Lala-Ru, a girl who, like Lana of the aforementioned classic, holds a power that can save the world from its ruin—a power that has fallen into the wrong hands. This is very much like a story Hayao Miyazaki might come up with were he feeling suicidally depressed. Lala-Ru, unlike Lana, would sooner let the squabbling humans wither up and die than exert herself to aid them.

It's easy to understand how Shu must feel, having stumbled into this world gone mad, but while I become more and more depressed and anxious as characters descend further and further into misery and anguish with each episode, Shu never loses his resolve. Even after being beaten and starved and nearly killed a number of times, he retains his determination to protect those in need of help, and to try to reassure them that as grim as things seem, everything will be okay.

It's tough to believe him, in the face of so much kidnapping, murder, and rape, all at the behest of Lord Hamdo, the completely insane fruitcake dictator of Hellywood and desperate captor of Lala-Ru. Other characters will accuse Shu of lying, and you'll wonder if there really is any escape from the utterly dismal state of this nightmarish world. But you'll also find that there are fragments of hope, and in some sense one may ultimately find illumination in all this darkness and despair.

Now and Then, Here and There has a look and feel that suggests it was a project made on a tight budget, yet with a lot of feeling behind it—especially evident in the wistful ending theme. You won't find yourself impressed with flashy modern animation, but the overall production is sufficient to convey the bleak atmosphere effectively.

The makers of this anime clearly wanted to say something, and they've gone about doing so in the most dire, soul-draining way they could muster. It's up to you if you can weather the journey, but I guarantee you'll come out on the other end a bit wiser for it.

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Aug 12, 2010

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 6

kekekeKaj (All reviews)

256 people found this review helpful

"Now and Then, Here and There" seems to be a big hit with the more critical sections of the crowd. Scouring around the web, it's hard to come across reviews of it that are not overwhelmingly positive. But despite all these glowing reviews, I honestly didn't find the show to be that great, and since there's an abundance of opinions stating why it's good already, here's my take on why I don't think it's all that.

I don't really like the "Lord of the Ring" books all that much. One of the main reasons for this is that there are points in the books when it felt like it's trying to be a fairy tale adventure for kids (the Tom Bombadil part especially), and then the next moment, it gets all serious again, trying to be an adult's fantasy novel. As a result I was confused over what frame of mind I should be reading it in.

Unfortunately, "Now and Then, Here and There" suffers from the same problem. My initial impression was that it's meant to be an anime aimed for younger viewers, due to the simplistic character design style which gave it an almost Studio Ghibli kind of look. In episode 2 or 3 the anime starts showing its true colours, portraying the kind of disturbing violence and cruelty that makes it obvious that it isn't meant for kids. And yet, and yet... the kid's style animation is still there, glaring out at me from my screen, sending contradicting signals into my brain and confusing the hell out of me. The early sudden change of settings in the opening episode definitely didn't help me get to grips with this anime either.

"Now and Then, Here and There" seems to be made with a specific purpose in mind, with a specific set of morals they wanted to tell through the anime, and it does succeed at times through some really hard hitting moments that may have caused many other viewers to forget its flaws. However, I found myself unable to look past its flaws and enjoy the show - its attempt to get its message across is just too amateurish because its story and characters often don't hold water.

The primary example here is King Hamdo. No doubt other viewers have already pointed out that history has shown how such an insane dictator can exist, and most likely pointed to dictators such as Hitler as evidence. But, in reality, there are always complications that give rise to such situations whilst in contrast, "Now and Then, Here and There" gives you a retarded version that just shouts at you: "the leader is mad... just like it can be in real life!!" You can only get away with this kind of simplification of "Mad King ruler" if you're spoonfeeding a fairy tale to children, for whom the content of this anime obviously isn't suitable for. I haven't studied other dictators in history lessons, but I can tell you a thing or two about Hitler that I learnt back in school all those many years ago (bear in mind that even this is a watered down version for kids, and the reality would have been even more complicated). Yes, Hitler may have been crazy, but there was far more to him than that. He had amazing leadership ability, and was one of the finest orators of the 20th century. He wove a magic spell over the German population, raising morale, restoring German pride and giving them new hope when the nation was suffering in the wake of an economic collapse in combination to the backlash of losing World War I. And what's more, he delivered. Germany was on its knees when he came to power, and not only did he led them to recovery, he led them back up pecking order into a position to challenge the most powerful nations in the world at the time. Although in retrospect, it seems unthinkable someone like him could have got hold of power, when you take a closer look at the details, it does make you see how it could have happened.

Now lets take a look at King Hamdo. He's obviously mad. Um... that's it. Oh yea and he's incompetent and is totally devoid of charisma. Wait! Why is he in power again?? Sure his fortress made his army practically invincible, but that isn't exactly because of his competency. A muppet could sit there and produce much the same result, so what's stopping people from overthrowing him? It seems infeasible that he could stay in power like that, especially considering that, from the way his subjects seem to feel about him, it doesn't appear to be the kind of monarchy where people see the King as some kind god's chosen - it feels closer to a dictatorship that's evolved from a military organisation. How can someone as useless and mad as King Hamdo keep his grip on his position in this kind of environment when he can't even keep his hold on his own sanity (or even give the impression that he is anything other than mad)?

Then we have Hamdo's second in command Abelia, who isn't really a bad person at all. I can't understand why she hasn't taken power over from Hamdo, especially in this military environment that requires discipline and cool headed decision making. As King Hamdo is clearly in no condition to rule, you'd think someone like Abelia would just confine him somewhere, take care of him, and stop him from hurting everyone including himself. But instead she chooses to just stand around taking abuse and having her conscience knocked about on a daily basis. But of course, if she takes a course of action that actually made sense, then there would be no half-built platform for the anime to launch its intended messages from etc -_- I waited and waited to see why Abelia was so obedient to Hamdo, but still couldn't find the answer by the end, and can only conclude that it hasn't been thought through properly.

Instead of showing some of the realistic dilemmas of war like, say, "Gundam Seed", "Now and Then, Here and There" opts to go for the simplified, one sided "fighting is bad, full stop" version, and ends up tripping over it's own messages. By painting in such a saintly light one of the characters Sis who, without providing an alternative solution, is against any sort of action against Hamdo, and also painting all those who wants to take action against Hamdo as being hot headed youths, the anime is clearly endorsing her pacifist view. But at the same time, it unwittingly showed the fact that doing nothing is probably is why things have become so bad in the first place. Hamdo's own sustained grip on power is due to the unwillingness of his subordinates to overthrow him. How many lives are lost because of this kind passiveness? I'm not annoyed about which particular side of the argument that "Now and Then, Here and There" has chosen, but I'm annoyed that it has chosen to present it in such a black and white, overly simplified manner, and I'm also annoyed that it doesn't make a particularly good argument for its case - it's a bit someone like preaching against violence of any kind, including fighting back, while a crazy guy is running around unrestrained in the background mowing people down with a chainsaw.

Unlike "Lord of the Rings", the fantasy world in "Now and Then, Here and There" is severely lacking in details. We are thrown straight into this chaotic world, and at no point in the anime do we get to hear an explanation for how it got into this mess. I want to know how it happened, and I want to know about all the strange technology this world possesses. Why are they so desperately short of water when they have all this technology to go to other worlds? Can't they just appear near a massive lake in one of these other worlds and collect water?! You can argue that this isn't the point of the anime, but because of the omission of such information, it's not really easy to get a good grasp of the situation or to sympathise with the unwillingness of the characters to do the right thing. For example, if more background information is provided, then I *may* be able to understand why King Hamdo holds so much power over his subjects, for example. Throughout the series, I couldn't help but constantly questioning many aspects of "Now and Then, Here and There", and when this happen it's almost impossible to really enjoy the show.

"Now and Then, Here and There" is by no means a bad anime, though. At the end of the day, King Hamdo doesn't get that much screen time - he's just someone who annoyed me immensely with his mere existence. The main character also quite annoying with his incredulously happy-go-lucky attitude - is he from some alien race that are incapable of feeling pessimistic or something? But those aside, there are some fairly interesting characters that I would have liked to have seen more of, but their potential are not fully explored for the most part. Some of the emotions generated by the series feel very real and touching (something that's well reflected in the slow, contemplative ending theme), and the portrayal of issues such as rape is very gritty - much more convincing than some shallow attempts made by other shows such as "Elfen Lied". But at the end of the day, its childishly simplistic view of dark, complex issues just doesn't work. It's a bit like reading a twisted version of a fairy tale like Snow White where an extra bit of storyline got inserted, in which she gets raped by one of the seven dwarves or something, and has to deal with the mental trauma that results from it - it's just feels all wrong and out of place! I guess you could say that "Now and then, here and there" does kind of live up to its title though - it doesn't seem to quite know what it's doing, so ends up being a bit here and a bit there, and ultimately neither completely here nor there. I was really expecting something so critically acclaimed to be better constructed!

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Feb 16, 2009

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Prede (All reviews)

202 people found this review helpful

Now and Then, Here and There is the most emotional engaging anime series I was ever lucky enough to watch. With it's amazing directing (Akitaro Daichi famous for directing Fruits Basket and Kodacha), and incredible writing (Hideyuki Kurata, famouse for writing Excel Saga, Bamboo Blade, and both the ROD OVA and TV series) this is a series that deserves a place in any anime fan's top ten spot. Don't let it's happy-go-lucky first episode or it's director or writer trick you into thinking this is a comedy or easy-going slice of life show. This is a dark, disturbing, and violent sci-fi/drama. It can become read more

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Apr 27, 2021

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 3

RebelPanda (All reviews)

56 people found this review helpful

I finally watched the cult classic "Now and Then, Here and There" the anti-war series released two decades ago. Over the years, it has been labeled a masterpiece and one of the best Isekai anime ever. I had to see it for myself, but all I can say is… Seriously?

Throughout 13 tedious episodes, I found a beautifully produced but ultimately poorly written anime. Although I liked the sound and art direction, I couldn't get invested in the plot or care about any of the characters. Despite the story's attempts at social commentary, it has a surprisingly 1-dimensional view of war. It presents war and violence with the subtlety of a wrecking ball that often feels more like shallow exploitation meant to disturb you.

The story is centered around a classical shounen hero: A boy named Shu. He's a free-spirited kid with a loud voice but a heart of gold. After losing a kendo tournament, Shu climbs on top of a smokestack to watch the sunset, pictured in the anime's poster. After nearly falling to his death, he spots a quiet blue-haired girl on a smokestack parallel to his. Suddenly both of them are surrounded by soldiers piloting flying bizarre snake mechas, ordered by a bitter woman attempting to kidnap the girl. Shu selflessly tries to save the girl while being shot at; his blind desire to help those in need gets him into much worse danger. In a burst of white light, the girl is summoned to another world by the soldiers. Shu is accidentally whisked along with them to a dystopian barren wasteland—this world is bathed in sunlight, sand, and rusted metal architecture similar to Mad Max's setting. This alternate reality is controlled by a brutal military composed of young men—which is often said to be inspired by child slave soldiers in the Congo wars (occurring simultaneously as the anime's production).

On Shu's first night in the foreign world, he is tortured by the comically over-the-top antagonist, King Hamdo—a sadistic villain who chokes cats and beats innocent people when he's upset. The King is an unpredictable antagonist because he's insane; there's no depth to his crazed persona. His goal is to find an ample water supply because the scorching hot sun has gravitated dangerously close to Earth. He needs water both for his soldiers and for "fuel" ala Mad Max. Please don't ask me how water is used as fuel, and the show certainly didn't give me an answer. A dead cat blocks half the frame throughout the torture scene to remind us how Evil this man is. It frequently dabbles in this variety of misery porn to disturb the audience, which the show succeeds at in the same way Cannibal Holocaust repulses ordinary viewers. I cannot comprehend how anyone could possibly take this character seriously. The series often juxtaposes over-the-top situations with bleak and depressing story beats. Violent abuse in the same episode as Shu exhibiting laughably non-existent survival instincts, the comic relief he almost falls to his death, and his sudden burst of super-strength (even after suffering a beating). His character is more akin to Naruto than a normal human being in a life-or-death situation.

Shu's primary motivation is to rescue the quiet blue-haired girl named Lala-ru. The pain he endures to save Lala-ru is unbelievable; he constantly risks his life to save someone he does not know. When he's asked why he keeps chasing after her, he is speechless; his reasoning is that they're friends, except they're not. They briefly met, and he knew nothing about her, but she asked him for help. He has a good heart, even sparing the life of his first enemy who tried to kill him. Though his intentions are always pure, his perusal of Lala-ru is obsessive and borderline unhinged.

By the end of the first episode, Shu is defeated, lying on a metal floor, covered in bruises; beside him is the deuteragonist, a girl crying in pain. He attempts to jump on her, assuming he was Lala-ru due to their similar faces—immediately asking the question, why would he jump a girl he barely knew anyways? The crying girl is also from Earth, an American, but she speaks Japanese for reasons. Her name is Sarah Ringwald; She is both the most relatable but worst-written character in the show. At least Sarah is the only one to call out Shu for his overly idealistic personality, but that is one brief occasion that doesn't change his character in the slightest. She is sexually abused by soldiers off-screen, and Shu's response is to "Just forget about it." What's the metanarrative point? Nihilism? We already know the dystopian setting is cruel to outsiders, so why? If it was meant to characterize Sarah, then why were we alienated from her thoughts? If we can hear the thoughts of supporting characters, like Hondo's minion Ebillia, why can't we hear Sarah's? Sarah is irrelevant—forgotten by the story and Shu in favor of his irrational fixation with Lala-ru. Sarah wasn't the focus of her own abuse, and that's damning for a story attempting to make us empathize with a victim. All we see is her screaming and crying, and that's all.

When Shu suffers abuse, we at least hear his thoughts and understand how he feels, even though the portrayal of his trauma is shallow and the aftermath is short-lived. He quickly returns to being complacent and forgetting about trying to escape and rescue Lala-ru—instead, he continues to live as a prisoner until the plot demands he continues his journey. Only through lucky coincidences is he set on the correct path. Sarah was kidnapped because the soldiers thought she was the Lala-ru. Shu earnestly promises to escape with her, but unfortunately, this is ignored until the end.

Shu is the hero of the story because he helps those in need, refuses to kill helpless criminals, and maintains his morals even when facing assassins. There's a dichotomy between him and Nabuka, the soldier he saved in the beginning. Shu refuses to follow orders, but Nabuka follows the rules no matter what. Through their contrasting choices, the story informs us of the mind prison caused by authoritarianism. Shu's unshakable morals show how expressing free will is the antithesis of authoritarianism. Nabuka believes the solution to war is genocide, making him as brain poisoned as the rest of the soldiers. The military has conditioned him. While Nabuka doesn't really grow as a person until the final act, Shu imparts heroic wisdom. There's an odd dichotomy in that Nabuka is inferior to Shu, who is seemingly perfect in the eyes of the narrative. Therefore he never grows. Every time Shu abides by his morals or breaks the rules, he or others get harmed—yet it is never treated like his fault because he has good intentions. Seeing him constantly get away with being foolish infuriates me. He kept making the same mistakes until the end. However, it's easy for me to root for a hero who protects those in need and has good intentions. Shu is just an idiot. If he has a choice between shooting someone and letting an orphanage get shot up, he will throw his gun on the ground and cry because the decision is too hard for his tiny brain to comprehend.

For a series entirely about war and its horrific impacts, it has a black and white idea of war. You're either good or evil. In this fictional world, victims of war, trauma, and abuse will suddenly monologue all of the horrible things that happened to them because of war. They lash out in anger, beating innocent people and making irrational choices to exact revenge. The way it views mental illness is detached from reality at best and offensive at worst. Nearly every character suffers from a mental disorder, so it is impossible to ignore: For one, villains brutally beat innocent people for no other reason than to relieve anger. Occasionally people will spout the origin of their trauma like they're at group therapy, one says side character say, "Soldiers kidnaped my sister. They left her in the desert. She died of dehydration. Eaten by animals." Then he proceeds to kick the shit out of a person who's trying to protect him. This kind of nihilistic portrayal of violence is juvenile, unrealistic, and a sign of terrible writing.

The main point is "War is bad." No matter how often the anime plays its one sad song, the theme does not become more complex. When praising this series, people often cite the mature subject matter and the beautiful production design—but neither of these aspects makes a story great. Art, animation, storyboards, music, and editing, enhance the narrative. In a series as slow-paced and artfully framed as this one, it leaves plenty of room for the viewer to make their interpretation, like Evangelion, Ergo Proxy, and Haibane Renmei. It has plenty of still close-ups, silent longshots, and characters staring solemnly at the sky. Remember the iconic elevator scene from Evangelion? Take that and do it every other episode, except with none of the emotional weight. One great appeal of Now and Then is its ambiguity—But I need to get invested in the characters and plot before analyzing the symbolism. While others may love it, to me, it was mind-numbingly dull and pretentious.

There is symbolism in this series, such as the water and flowers. Water symbolizes life, and flowers symbolize love. The themes boil down to "War is bad." Over and over. Sacrifice yourself for the war. If you like the story and characters, you can appreciate analyzing the symbolic framing and thoughtful storyboards. But without a good story or characters, there's no point in symbolism. The issue for me was, I despised every character. Shu was an idiot and made illogical choices. His infatuation with Lala-ru creeped me out. Lala-ru could sacrifice her life to save others but chooses not to because charity does not suit her if she will eventually get exploited. In Sarah's brief scenes, she cries and/or screams; she is forgotten by everyone (including the writers) until she returns to be used as an obstacle for Shu to overcome. Consequently, the writers used her as a mouthpiece to spurt pro-life ideology.

Now and Then, Here and There left me empty, frustrated, and utterly disappointed. There's no reward for suffering through this exercise in nihilism. As someone who has seen most modern isekai anime, I can say this one does not belong in any 'best of all time' conversations. It is a relic of a bygone era of anime that’s best left in the niche corners of the community.

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