The story revolves around a young boy named Shuu, who's whisked away to an adventure in the war-torn post-apocalyptic future of Earth. Shuu must attempt to save a mysterious girl called Lala-Ru from the hands of a mad tyrant, and return home.
Despite what the pleasantly innocent art style and childlike characters may leed you to believe, Now and Then, Here and There is one of the most brutal anime I've ever seen. It easily belongs with the likes of Elfen Lied and Berserk, more so than the works of Miyazaki. It isn't quite as bloody as those shows, but the implications for the characters and presentation makes all the violence feel incredibly disturbing. In fact, that might be an apt descriptor for this show. It's disturbing. Like watching toddlers being gunned down and mutilated. The characters in this show go through hell and back without ever achieving much. All the worst aspects of humanity are put on full display, and this all happens to children!
This my just seem like torture porn, a show that's miserable just for the sake of it. And that conclusion wouldn't be incorrect. But it's not the full picture. The brutality of this show serves another purpose, to accurately portray war. That's the theme of this series. War.
I won't talk much about the story in order to avoid spoilers. I generally enjoyed the story, but it did have some issues. The show mainly takes place in two locations (besides one episode which is just an homage to the film Tremors). The two locations perfectly contrast each other. The dark and dreary fortress of Hellywood, ruled by a mad king. And the peaceful town of Zari Bars, a refuge for freedom in a brutal world. The locations are really good and well developed, although they do get somewhat dull after a while. The Tremors episode is probably the most visually appealing in my opinion.
The biggest problem with the story is that it's terribly rushed. You won't really notice it at first, but by the time you get to the final three episodes it becomes pretty apparent. I can almost visualize the chaos that must've surely been going on in the writing room. I mean, what happened? How could you botch the ending? It's like the thirteen episode limit was imposed a good way through production. So they had to end up cramming a ton of stuff in towards the end. This series could've seriously benefited from a few more episodes. The final three episodes are ridiculously bloated.
But that aside, most of the plot threads do get resolved by the end. Besides two that I really wanted to know about. One, what is Lala-Ru and what's the story behind how the world got the way it is? And two, why the hell is Abelia (the lead general) still following the king? You can guess what the answers are (and I have my own theories), but that's it. Some of the plot threads are painful rushed and end up being unexplained as a result. You can guess what the writers intended to do, but we'll never know for sure. I'll let you decide if they were tied up well or not. I personally have mixed feelings. But overall, I enjoyed the story.
Now, before I complain about the characters, let's go over some more superfluous elements of Now and Then, Here and There.
The art is very good. It's somewhat dated by the standards of today, but I think it still holds up fine. The characters have a very simple design, which looks a little strange. However, they're still able to properly emote, so I got over it fairly quickly. Besides, you shouldn't ever watch something just because it "looks good". That being said, the backgrounds in this show look really good! They do a great job at portraying that grimy lived-in look, and the post-apocalyptic setting is perfectly conveyed. In fact, the environment appears almost alien. Like something out of the Fallout universe or Morrowind. And as I stated before, the Tremors episode is the most visually appealing. It does a great job at portraying the environment, and really getting the viewer immersed in the world. The show is fairly low on action most of the time, mainly melee combat and shooting. But when things really heat up the animators clearly put a lot of effort in. Some of the battle scenes (especially in the final episode) look stunning.
The voice acting is also really good. I only watched the Japanese version, so I can't comment on the English dub, but I'm sure it's fine. I think the award for best voice actor should definitely go to Koji Ishii who voiced the mad king, Hamdo. He did a fantastic job with his performance. And he really made Hamdo seem like the childish, psychotic, creepy asshole he is. Everyone else also gave convincing performances for their characters, but nobody quite stood out like Hamdo.
Now, let's discuss the weakest aspect of Now and Then, Here and There... the characters. Normally I'd do individual dissections of every character, but this review has gone on for long enough so I'll try to keep it brief.
The protagonist of Now and Then, Here and There is Shuu. He's naive and always optimistic even at his lowest. He's probably my favorite character, though he's far from perfect. He never really changes or goes through any arc. By then end of the series he's exactly the same (though perhaps a little wiser). He has ridiculously thick plot armor, and he's definitely a Gary Stu. From what I've seen, Shuu seems to be a deeply hated character by viewers. Seemingly just because he's a hopeful character, which I guess they think is a bad thing? Instead, several "deeper" characters seem to have caught on. News flash, they aren't remotely deep. Unless your definition of "deep" is "shallow as a puddle".
These characters are Nabuca, a child soldier. And Sara, a girl abducted by the bad guys. Neither of these characters are remotely likeable, or all that interesting. Nabuca spends the entire series with his head in the sand, completely ignorant of reality. He's only guided by a vague "hope". He's probably the most "morally grey" character in the show. Although I personally found him to be an annoying little bitch. A description which also applies to Sara. She's the character archetype in media that nothing good ever happens too. She's only ever on the receiving end of problems, and she contributes almost nothing to the other characters. She just complains at nauseam.
Now, these characters aren't all bad. Likeability isn't a necessary trait in storytelling, believability is. A man as ignorant a Nabuca, and a woman as whiney as Sara, are certainly believable. I disliked Nabuca throughout the whole show, but I did end up feeling sorry for him by the end. His own flaws are what ultimately determines his fate. And that's pretty clever writing in my opinion. Sara does end up going through a story arc, but it feels hamfisted into the cluttered final episodes. The writers forgot about her for much of the show, so she ended up disappearing for several episodes at a time. And recived little development until the end. But despite that, I do think both characters had satisfying endings.
There're several other characters in the show. Like Lala-Ru (who's barely even a character for the first half of the show), Sis (who might be one of the best female characters I've ever seen in media), Hamdo (who's one of the creepiest villains I've ever seen), alongside plenty more!
I feel those characters get the praise and criticism they deserve. I choose to talk about Shuu, a character who's over-criticised. And Nabuca and Sara, two characters that are under-criticised. The characters in Now and Then, Here and There are certainly interesting. They have diverse backgrounds, diverse designs, and diverse success rates. Some were really good, and some really needed more time in the writing oven.
To conclude, because this review is probably the longest I've ever written (and hopefully the longest I'll ever write)! I really enjoyed Now and Then, Here and There. It was a show with a great message about war, beautiful art, and steller voice acting. It has a decent story, and somewhat less decent characters. It's a flawed, yet incredible show. And it's a damn shame it's not more popular! 8.5/10
Would I reccomend Now and Then, Here and There? Well, unless you're really sensitive and exclusively like happy anime, then hell yes! This is a powerful show that's criminally under-rated. Not only should you watch it, you should reccomend it to everyone you know. Only you can make sure more people see this show. Trust me, it's worth it!
