Introduction
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]
Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
RebelPanda
*This review contains spoilers in a marked section*
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…
Read at the sourceBigBoiOnDuty
"My sorrows are overwhelming, but my virtue is left to me."
Before starting "Now and Then, Here and There" I was sure that I've seen everything that isekai genre has to offer. However to my suprise it turned out that there are still anime that I was wrong and that fantasy anime that explore themes such as war, trauma, torture, exploitation and totalitarianism in a ways that neither fall into the exploitation of cheap shock value category nor are they pretentious and too in-your-face exist. "Now and Then, Here and There" is a mature anime that tackles it's themes with respect and understanding, despite being only 13 episodes long it tells a full story of characters fighting with despair in the most trying times.
Story
This story begins like most isekais do, at first you may even think th…
Read at the sourceue6o7
Akitarou Daichi: a man who has spent his entire directing career working primarily on shoujo manga adaptations, comedy anime, and countless other long running gag series. Many could be familiar with his work on the Kodomo no Omocha anime where his influence was hard to miss, as the comedy had been ramped up to absurd levels when compared to the source material. You see, comedy was kind of his thing. So, what in the hell compelled him to create such a grimdark reimagining of a Miyazaki work? That has got to be one of anime's greatest mysteries.
Now and Then, Here and There is arguably one of the most cruel and unforgiving series ever animated—though, not one without hope—and yet it comes off the back of Jubei-Chan: Lovely Gantai no Himitsu, Daichi's lighthearted slapstick comedy from earl…
Read at the sourceRqt
Very rarely does something come along with such detail, such characterization, such perfection that it is able to ascend being just something on a screen, canvas or a musical chart, truly reaching the pinnacle of what we call art. To be able to convey so much in so few episodes, Now and Then, Here and There is one of them. With this in mind, like any art, its not going to be appreciated by everyone. This is a dark, depressing series that masterfully - almost to a horrifying point - is able to illustrate the true terrors and setting of war. Understandably so, it is going to fall short for some viewers, yet only because of how well it truly executes itself as a war plagued dystopian fantasy. As such, I consider this to be the most emotionally impactful anime series I have ever watched.
Fro…
Read at the sourceFlawfinder
Well, I couldn’t put this off forever. Whilst I’ve made it perfectly clear in the past that I think all non-Ghibli war anime, war movies, and war fiction in general can suck someone else’s critically acclaimed dick far away from me, I’m also aware that there are times when you have to step out of your comfort zone and review something that you only like because “based Shaft”, whatever the fuck that means. So let’s take a look at that late 90s tear-jerking piece of anti-war propaganda that everyone considers to be a classic but I consider to be exploitative rubbish.
Admittedly, it’s kind of awkward trying to criticize Now and Then, Here and There properly because most of the negative qualities you can associate with the show are what most people actually like about it. Most specifically, t…
Read at the sourcePoeticJustice
Anime is a medium, like video games and comic books, that has struggled to attain the label of "art." But what is art? Is it mere scribblings on a piece of paper? Is it the words in a book? Or is it much more? Can art make you question your perceptions of the world around you? Can it evoke strong feelings of sadness and joy? If that is what art is, then Now and Then, Here and There is the epitome of art. It is heartbreaking, and cruel but it never ceases to be starkly realistic in its depiction of war. It is a true classic, and I do not use the word classic lightly.
Story (9/10)- Now and Then, intentionally starts off like any other anime, stubborn, yet optimistic young boy meets mysterious girl who ominously stares off into the sunset being being sent toward another world. In most anime,…
Read at the source1231415333
Now and Then, Here and There is said to be a masterpiece, but is it? I was curious to find out without prejudice. I watched the entire series quickly thinking I would love it and its characters. The first episode made this series look cool, but then it went from bad to worse. Heck, its title is unmemorable with no other associations.
Story:
The main character is pretty much a pinball protagonist. He starts the plot by talking to a blue-eyed, blue-haired plot-device girl (a complete stranger), and failing to rescue her when she is assaulted by mechanical snakes, which take both of them to a wretched hive. The MC is beaten, forced to join the bad guy's army, and bounced around like a pinball.
The "story" is very slow-paced, and isn't phenomenal at all. You won't be looking forward to what…
Read at the sourcemahoganycow
If you hadn't heard anything about this series beforehand, watching it would be a hell of a shock. The cover image depicts only a determined looking young boy with a stick standing protectively in front of a fragile looking young woman, and the first episode of the show gives no indication of the radical tone shift and hellishly bleak atmosphere that sets in during episode two. I weep for anyone who, lacking the forethought or desire to read a brief synopsis, thought this was going to be a "for kids" show, only to find out that it is an all-out assault on the state of the world, and on human nature.
Allow me to start by echoing a sentiment that others have stated in their reviews: This is not the kind of show that you watch for old-fashioned entertainment. Watching this is like watching t…
Read at the sourcemilkman57
“Because ten billion years’ time is so fragile, so ephemeral…it arouses such a bittersweet, almost heartbreaking fondness.”
“Wow,” I thought as I saw these words in the opening, “what sort of deep, philosophical questions is this show going to tackle?”
I was shocked to learn that the list included children being forced to fight, rape, kidnapping, starvation, and an insane dictator who wanted nothing more than war. After reading a few reviews, I was optimistic that I was really going to enjoy the show, especially since it covered such dark themes. Being “dark” isn’t always the easiest thing to pull off, and this show may be a poster child of that very problem.
The show gives a small look into the life of Shu, the protagonist, from the very beginning, demonstrating what an optimistic, na…
Read at the sourcekekekeKaj
"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…
Read at the sourcethresholden
Simplistic Silly War Melodrama
Following rave reviews from plenty of sources I came onto Now and Then, Here and There with guarded optimism. I was promised a brutal and uncompromising look on the atrocities of war that would bring real emotion from characters. The only thing phonier than that statement is how absurdly fake the main character Shu is.
Coming back from a devastating loss in Kendo, Shu notices a mysterious girl on top of a precarious smokestack. Deciding to investigate, he climbs onto another smokestack and engages with a short one-sided conversation with the blue girl named Lala-ru when suddenly a giant rift in time-space brings villains who have come to retrieve her. Lala-ru is able to call forth water from her pendant which is needed by King Hamdo, an evil dictator, to f…
Read at the sourcePrede
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 very diffucult to watch, but I will bet you if you can find the power to watch it all, you will thank me. This is truly one of the best anime series ever created. Why it's not ranked higher o…
Read at the sourcezenoslime
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 w…
Read at the sourceVoDKa
"Because ten billion years of time is so fragile, so ephemeral..it arouses such a bittersweet, almost heartbreaking fondness".
Let me preface this review by saying that very rarely have I met paths with an animation that potently sheds light on the very tragic state of our world by charmingly forcing it's viewers to remind themselves that they are a part of that reality. "Now and Then, Here and There" is one of such, and it truly is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Perhaps one of the most praise worthy attribute of this animation is the fact that it draws it's viewers into it's own world and it is only after you watch the final episode when you realize how remarkably powerful of an experience it has been. I am quite mesmerized to be honest because I am convinced that this is more than a anima…
Read at the sourceSheepdude
Want to watch a happy, feel-good story? This isn't it. Want to watch children getting murdered, kidnapped, and raped? No, you don't, but Now and Then is going to shove that harsh reality down your throat.
This show is immensely flow-inducing. Every episode, I arrived at the ED before I knew it. That's how immersed I became in the NTHT world.
This isn't a pretty world. The moral is anti-military, but the story is military horror. I almost threw up watching some of the scenes. NTHT invokes sympathy like no other show I've ever seen.
Now and Then is utterly and completely an anti-miliary tragedy. You will be shocked to see people spared their lives after someone intervenes. Moreover, you will immersed into the story because, unlike other boy-meets-mysterious-girl animes, the situation is e…
Read at the sourcestu-do
Modern anime seems to have taken a favor to 'eye candy'. 'Eye candy' is profitable after all. Huge budgets, gratuitous fanservice, and bright colors have surely made many rich men in Japan; else the industry wouldn't be drowning in such scum. Refreshingly, "Now and Then, Here and There" could be called the 'anti-eye candy'.
As such, NTHT is decidedly understated in its visual aspects. There are no panty shots here, nor are there glorious, shiny, ten minute battle sequences. NTHT achieves something much more elusive: powerful, compelling storytelling.
Foremost, this is a story about war. And there is nothing romanticized about war to be found here. Themes such as rape and despotism permeate the story. Balancing this are brief, poignant moments of hope and innocence. The players in this dram…
Read at the sourcesantetjan
Seldom have I found it so difficult to grade a series with a simple 'good'. Not because I found it difficult to provide a rating itself, but because I feel this series could have been so much more.
The basic storyline should be clear from the synopsis and the other reviews: boy from Earth travels to war-torn world lacking abundant natural resources, becomes embroiled within a war, of which some of the horrors are shown in some detail, and struggles to explain his own moral code to a society that has a tendency to name it baseless idealism unfit for the grim reality. All the while, a few side stories show a bit more about that grim reality, leading to some scenes that indeed make the viewer feel a bit uncomfortable, all being connected to the main story by the atrocities stemming from the…
Read at the sourceBluesnow
This is one of those anime you really can't judge from the cover!!!
Its animation and music weren't spectacular, and its starts off like many other steryotipical "out of this world" Shounen development stories; but it is infact much more than that.
The basic plot of the story is; A young boy named Shu meets a mysterious young girl named Lala Ru, and is sucked into a mysterious choatic world that is engulfed in an Apocolyptic war. In this world, even small children are kidnapped from their villages and forced to fight in the armies. The mysterious girl seems to have a mysterious power the enemy is after; if she is captured any hope for the future will be gone.
The basic plot summary seems standard right?
You could just watch Inuyasha if you wanted to jump to different times and worlds.…
Read at the sourceHuntsman
You're thinking not another end of the world anime...wrong. Now and Then, Here and There is probably the best end of the world anime I've seen. Even better than other great end of the world anime i.e. RahXephon, and Saikano. Heck it's one of the best anime I've seen.
Before I go on let me say this, this anime in my opinion isn't for anyone under 16 years old. There is a great deal of violence, rape, torture, and language. If you are older than 16 than this anime is a must.
The story is like nothing you've seen and will keep you engrossed all the way through. The story follows Shuzo Matsutani who on the way home from Kendo practice sees a girl on top of a factory smokestack. He tries to talk to her, then time stops everywhere and giant robots appear to capture the girl Lala Ru. They have…
Read at the sourceamaity
Tired of mentally unstable and whiny mecha protagonists? Or the ubiquitous bitchy damsel in distress? Well fret no more, "Now and Then, Here and There" has neither.
This is an anime that blew me away the first time I watched it. A deceptively gory and disturbing piece with perhaps the most proactive and "ballsy" hero of all time. The story is nothing spectacular, quite cliche really, with subtle political undertones, the animation is mediocre, the sound is satisfactory but the character design is absolutely brilliant. From the insanely narcissistic and delusional dictator to his most basic minions, every character in this anime has a personality.
The theme, of course, is the power of one, but this protagonist is no superpower, he's just a regular adolescent forced to fight for his righ…
Read at the source