Akitaro Daichi has said he was inspired to write this after hearing about the Rwandan genocide. I think that's something people probably should know before going into this show, and definitely afterward.
I say this because some reviewers have asked of this show "why did (Daichi) make this? What was the point?" One need only look at the ethnic bloodshed there and the use of rape slaves there and elsewhere (as with the more recent villain Joseph Kony) to bring this anime to a shockingly close parallel to our own world. While Hamdo may seem somewhat cartoonish and silly compared with subtler anime villains such as Gendo and Kyubey, consider that for the biopic about the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, "The Last King of Scotland", they actually had to leave some real-life elements out, for fear of making the movie look unrealistic. In other words, this is essentially an allegory for some very ugly events which unfortunately received minimal coverage in most Western press.
That's not to say NTHT is perfect. Shu would've seemed somewhat more believable had he had some moments of self-doubt and depression, which would've made a spring back into his normal idealistic self all the more rewarding. And I can also understand why detractors might say this anime was trying too hard to be sad (deus angst machine, as they say on TV Tropes), although I myself still would like to point out that this was supposed to depict people at the breaking point of sanity and ultimate despair.
And yet, I have to admire a guy like Shu going through this hell and still coming out with a sense that there still is some good left in the world, even if a white Idi Amin with a Moe Howard haircut is in charge of things (and possibly others like him). And Sara...whether or not you think she was written solely to be a victim, as some do, you may find yourself relating to her and all her horrific travails by the end, whether or not you think her treatment in the end was appropriate (for, ahem, political reasons, I'm not entirely decided on that. Maybe that sort of reaction was intentional).
I will admit that, with Hamdo's over-the-top villainy, I was a wee bit disappointed in what I saw in this show versus what I'd read about in previews; but it still comes off as a powerful and yes, overall restrained and sensitive work about bad things happening to good people.
I would definitely recommend this to any of Madoka Magica's many fans, as both shows not only depicted people stretched to the limit of sanity and despair, but, yes, the notion that there are still SOME good people out there...and also the notion to spare a thought toward people in the real-life places that inspired NTHT.
