Now and Then, Here and There
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| Now and Then, Here and There | |
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| 今、そこにいる僕 (Ima, Sokoni Iru Boku) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Military, Science Fiction, Shounen |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Akitaro Daichi |
| Studio | AIC, Geneon Entertainment |
| Network |  WOWOW Anime Selects AXN-Asia |
| Original run | October 14, 1999 – January 20, 2000 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
Now and Then, Here and There (今、そこにいる僕 Ima, Sokoni Iru Boku?) is a Japanese 13-episode fictional anime series that was broadcast on Japanese TV from October 1999 to January 2000.
The plot centers around a young boy named Shuzo "Shu" Matsutani who meets a girl named Lala Ru. Though it starts off relatively lighthearted and carefree, it quickly becomes rather deep, giving insight into how war affects different people.
Even though the main characters are mostly all children, there is a fair amount of violence in this anime. This is not due to any overly explicit scenes, but rather to the fact that most acts of violence are committed amongst children, although some of the more disturbing scenes of violence and abuse toward the children are indeed committed by the adults. It is mostly non-comical; each episode has a very dark ambience, and the whole series portrays various acts of torture, brutal beatings, child rape, and murder. It is directed by Akitaro Daichi, who took a serious break from his otherwise happy shows.
Now and Then, Here and There has been released in the United States by U.S. Manga Corps as three region 1 DVD, containing all the episodes with Japanese and English audio tracks, subtitles and extras such as storyboard clips. The box set contains an additional fourth DVD with a mini-documentary on the dubbing process. The DVD is suggested for years 16 and up.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The story begins with Shuzo "Shu" Matsutani coming home from kendo practice, whereupon he sees a girl sitting atop of some unused factory smokestacks. He climbs up another smokestack close by, to try to talk to her - she is watching the sun set. Time seems to stop everywhere outside of the immediate area around the smokestacks, and giants snake robots appear to try to capture this girl, Lala Ru. They have come from 10 billion years from the future and Shu manages to get taken back with them to their time.
In this world, it seems that they have been fighting so long that the army Shu lands in the midst of has begun conscripting children into their armies, so they may indoctrinate them from a young age. The children are taken from their villages, and it has been said they can return once all the enemies have been defeated, after which they won't need to fight any more. They try to conscript Shu as well, but they underestimate his resolve - he wants to do what he believes is right, and not to be bowed into actions he thinks immoral. Also, in the future the Sun has grown into a red giant, so big that its close proximity to Earth has caused most of the water to have evaporated. It is now mostly a desert planet, and water is a rare commodity and highly sought after.
[edit] Main characters
- Shuzo 'Shu' Matsutani (松谷修造 Matsutani Shūzō; シュウ Shū): He is the protagonist of the series; accidentally teleported into the future from his 'home', Tokyo, he ends up having to fight in Hamdo's army, where many soldiers are mere children that have been captured from villages the army conquered. He's a kendo fighter and his primary weapon for most of the series is a wooden stick that he uses in various ways. He's strong-willed, almost pathologically optimistic and refuses to compromise his principles under ANY circumstances. (Japanese Seiyū: Akemi Okamura, English VA: Ed Paul)
- Lala-Ru (ララ・ルゥ Rara Rū): A mysterious blue-haired girl whose chance encounter with Shu is the starting point for the whole series. She has the power to manipulate water and has a compressed reservoir stored in her pendant, making her highly sought-after in the desert world that Earth has become. So much turmoil has surrounded her over the centuries that she's become emotionless and pessimistic. Her dim view of the world starts expanding in her interactions with Shu and the discovery that there are good people in the world. She rarely speaks.
(Japanese Seiyu: Kaori Nazuka, English VA: Lisa Ortiz)
- Hamdo（ハムド Hamudo）: The mad king of Hellywood. He is obsessed with ruling the world sense he thinks he can use LaLa Ru's powers to do it, she becomes the focus of his desturbing attentions. He's wasteful, abusive, suffers from a mighty god complex and paranoid outbursts.
- Abelia（アベリア Aberia）: She's the commanding officer of Hamdo's army, and the only person admitted close to the emperor. She knows of his madness, but continues to give him her unwavering devotion. She's a strong and efficient military officer.
- Nabuca（ナブカ Nabuka）: An efficiant, couragous boy soldier who leads the unit that Shu is eventually assigned to. He resents Shu for saving him during thier first fight. He has devoted himself entirely to the military, hoping to earn a trip home with loyal service, like the king promised him and the other kidnapped children. (Japanese Seiyū: Yuka Imai, English VA: Dan Green)
- Boo (ブゥ Bū): The youngest soldier in Nabuca's unit, and the one with the most principles still intact. Like Nabuca, he works to end the war and earn his freedom, but he actively detests what he's doing and eventually helps Shu escape.
- Sara Ringwalt（サラ・リングワルト Sara Ringuwaruto）:A american girl who was kidnapped and taken to Hellywood because she was mistaken for Lala Ru. She quickly befriends Shu and latches on to his message of hope. However, she is later abused and violated by one of the adult soldiers, whom she murders in self-defence and then escapes. (English VA: Kayzie Rogers
- Tabool（タブール Tabūru）: Boy soldier in Nabuca's unit who came from the same village as Nabuca. He is always trying to show up his commander, is uninterested in returning home, and is attracted to the strength of the military. He bullies and harrasses the other kids in the unit and is one of the few blatant antagonists in the series. In english he's voiced by Crispin Freeman.
- Sis（シス Shisu）: A respected member of the city-state Zari-Bars. She takes care of all of the orphans as though they were her own, and advocates living a peaceful life. She often clashes with more military-minded villagers.
[edit] List of episodes
- A Girl Admiring the Sunset
- A Boy and a Mad King
- A Feast in the Dark
- Discord
- Murder
- Disappearance in a Sandstorm
- Night of Flight
- Two Lone Souls
- In the Chasm
- Prelude to Chaos
- Eve of Destruction
- This Bloody Earth
- Now and Then, Here and There
[edit] Trivia
Shu also appears in the anime version of Legendz. Legendz is an entirely different series that is marketed towards young children. In addition, in Legendz Shu is from New York and his name is ordered in the Western order (given name, family name: "Shuzo Matsutani") in the Japanese version of the series (in the Japanese version of Now and Then, Here and There, his name follows the traditional Japanese order (family name, given name), Matsutani Shūzō).
