Now and Then, Here and There / Ima, Sokoni Iru Boku
Genres: adventure, drama, science fiction Themes: Another world, military, post-apocalyptic, war Objectionable content: Significant Plot Summary: Shu is a typical Japanese boy, but has an unbeatable, optimistic and determined attitude. However, when he sees a mysterious girl with strange eyes named Lala-Ru up on a smokestack, he is soon pulled into a strange desert world. Shu soon discovers the true terrors of war, which includes genocide, brutal torture, hunger, thirst, and child exploitation. Now Shu is trying to save Lala-Ru, as well as his hard earned, and often reluctant, new friends from the insane dictator, Hamdo. Whether Shu can possibly accomplish saving those he cares about while still holding up to his values remains to be seen. Number of episodes: 13 Vintage: 1999-10-14 to 2000-01-20
I am so thankful to Central Park Media for all the hard work they put into this title. They relized how good of a show it was, and so they gave the dubbing studio extra time to dub it. The studio alowed their actors to watch the show completely once or twice before even starting on it. The extra effert put into the dub is easily seen, as this is a top of the line dub. If anyone thinks New York isn’t as good as LA Texas they only need to see this dub. They also gave it a ton of great extras.
As for the show its self, I heard it mentioned over the years, but I never saw it in stores, so I never got it. I really didn’t look for it either, and I knew almost nothing about it. When I heard it was going to play on the Sci-Fi Channel along with Gurren Lagann I knew that meant it was time to watch it. Within 4 episodes I fell in love with it. It’s an amazing show! I bought it on Amazon (it was a used copy). I am so grateful to CPM, Manga Ent and the Sci-Fi channel, because if it wasn’t for all of them I would never have seen it. It’s become my 2nd favorite show of all time, it’s that good. Anyone who hasn’t seen it needs to buy this right now!
That being said, my DVD boxset is rather old, and the DVD’s were a little beat up. It’s great that ADV saved this title, because now I can buy it brand new. Can’t wait to get this, again. I told my one onlien friend who wanted to buy this, and she’s ganna get it too. She didn’t want to buy a used copy for so much online, and now she can get this new and enjoy it too. I hope they include the extras, because they are really good, and everyone should give them a look as well.
Thank you ADV! Too bad they couldn’t have just done distrobution for CPM for this title (and others), to keep them in buisness :(. It’s a shame it had to come to this, to see their titles again. At this point though, I’m just glad we are seeing more of their great shows. I’m a little more hopeful for the future.
Why would they throw out all of CPM’s amazing extras? If ADV can get the rights to those, then I’m sure they will include them. At least I hope so.
As for the critics, they must have been on drugs, this is an A+ title, 10/10, a true masterpiece. I agree with you there Rebecca 1/2. It should have got a stronger rating. There’s very few titles this good, and even thought it got great reviews, they could have been better IMO. Meta Anime review ranks this (according to the reviews it got from all professional review sites) a 84/100, and not too high up on the list. Some how Trigun, Marmalade Boy, Spirited Away, beat it by a long shot (they get better reviews overall) :S . /roll eyes. This is much better then any of those, hell all of them put together in my eyes.
Yes, there are parts of this series that would make me think it should be a 16-up; rape, suicide, murder granted you can see just as much in one episode of your nightly newscast, but they don’t generally get as personal with it.
This was okay for me, not great. There were aspects of it that I didn’t like. The whole extremely depressing…aura?..it gives off is a turn off for me. And it never truly grabbed my attention like Code Geass or Death Note or even Get Backers did. I was never on the edge of my seat, excited for the next episode. Also, Shu really annoyed me. bringing a stick to a knife fight? Ugh.
^That’s just the kind of person he is. I have a lot of respect for people like him. He’s such a good person, in a world of filth, he really is a cool dude. I never tend to like the optimistics in anime, but I really feel for Shu. He’s the type of person I give full support to. This series grabs you and never lets you go. This is good story telling. Get Backers and Geass is nice, but they are merely popcorn entertainment. This is some serious stuff, on a different level in my book. It’s up there with “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and “Kino’s Journey”, better then both too IMO. They are masterpieces in ever since of the word. The cliffhanger endings of this show really kept me dying for more of it, so… And I’d call it the most emotionally involving anime (or anything) I ever watched. This is more then just an anime series, this is something that becomes a part of you.
As this one review from InterGalactic Medicine Show , " Every time that I watch it, I am left with the feeling that I have been touched by an artistic vision that is beyond my comprehension, and yet I feel honored to have been allowed to share in it, through the magic of my DVD player. Good art like this is damned hard to find." That’s exactly I would explain this show.
(“Cowboy Bebop” and “Now and Then Here and There” spoilers)
I remember reading somewhere that the scene where Lala-Ru disappears in the last episode should be as remembered in anime as the scene where Spike dies in the last episode of Bebop. I have to agree with that. Lala-Ru disappearing into the sunset was the saddest scene I’ve ever seen. It’s very heartbreaking. It stays with you for a long time.
Talking about this show, Dragoon do you think we will ever be able to see a “read only” version of the old forums? I’d like to see what we said while watching this originally on Sci-Fi channel a few months ago. That was a great conversation.
Hey there’s nothing wrong with popcorn. Personally I enjoy watching Get Backers more, but Now and Then Here and There is certainly an excellent and deep series by any technical standard… and deserves to be watched or bought. They are apples and oranges though, and I do love both my apples and oranges. I’m grateful that ADV is bringing back to the market after years being gone. I’m certainly going to be buying it this year!
As far as the forum archives, I’ll ask about it tomorrow, but I believe the archives available that either weren’t lost or corrupted might be too old. When they last tried to restore it before the second time someone hacked in, the last data available was like from last year. I was never told what happened after that.
At one point I could have bought this for $19.99. I did not buy because I though it was defective or sub. Once it was on the Scifi channel, it was $39.99 and then sold out.
I am planning on buying this Anime.
For the critics, They may have thought this was a kids story but really
They are trying to show the people are all insane, but it does not make sense until later in the anime.
Yeah of course there’s nothing wrong with popcorn entertainment. I love a lot of stuff that could be considered that, but “NTHT” is on a different level completely. Besides what was it that you said on the old “Le Chevalier Deon” topic again? “High School comedies, giant robot shows, and ninja shows are a dime a dozen but this is something special” (or something like that). That’s how I would explain this one. It’s such a good, high quality show. In terms of it’s writing and directing it’s amazing, and the music stays with you long after your done watching it. The animation is simple, but effective, and the backgrounds are beautiful! It’s up there with the masterpieces in my eyes, some top level stuff here. It’s much better then popcorn entertainment, although it’s not fair to compare them at all. Plus this is very depressing, and hard to re-watch. Something like “Get Backers” is just a cool show, that I am enjoying, and would be easier to re-watch, and enjoy for it being a fun show. “NTHT” is not a fun watch, although I would never want to give up the experience of watching this for the first time.
And thanks for looking into that for me Dragoon . Don’t bother them too much, but it would be nice to be able to read what we wrote about this series when it aired.
Well considering we are watching Monster, an anime that many consider “The Best Anime Ever Made” on the sci-fi channel, I feel the need to bump this topic, because Now and Then, Here and There is a show many consider to be “The Best Anime Ever Made” (myself included), and it also aired on the Sci-Fi channel. So what’s my point? Monster is not on DVD yet, and it’s 74 episodes long. This is on DVD, you can buy it NOW, and it’s only 13 episodes long. That means you should buy this DVD now! Sentai’s release is great, although I wish they kept the CPM extra about the Dub (and I am grateful to have both the CPM dvd’s and the newer release by Sentai). If there was ever something that was perfect this would be it. Please give it a watch, hell buy it. I really think this is a show every anime fan should see at least once.
Also felt like bumping this to hear what others have to say about this amazing show. Thoughts? Opinions? Favorite character? Favorite sub plot? Like the art style (I sure do!)? This is an incredbly well written and directed show. It’s also very deep, very emotional, and very good. Although it’s very depressing, dark and hard to watch, it’s truly an experience to finish this show. I cannot say enough good things about it. This has my favorite ending to any anime, hell to anything at all. And it’s a great anti-war series. I consider it my 2nd favorite anime, with FLCL ahead of this, but I don’t think I can compare these series, as they are vastly different. So it’s like I have two favorites :P, this and FLCL!
Ah…yeah it’s too dark and depressing for some I’m sure. Then again you don’t like anything good Zaku so this is not surprising (kidding).
But really this show has no humor, it’s very brutal, and at times disturbing. But somehow it’s all worth it in the end. So I understand some people not liking it. But you should give it another chance . It’s quite a serious show.
NTHT is a great series, with a lot of powerful content and a very meaningful core in the message it tries to convey. I’m not as in-love with it as a lot of critics are, but it’s certainly a special and unique show.
Personally I enjoy watching Get Backers more, but Now and Then Here and There is certainly an excellent and deep series by any technical standard… and deserves to be watched or bought. They are apples and oranges though, and I do love both my apples and oranges. 
I’m grateful that ADV is bringing back to the market after years being gone. I’m certainly going to be buying it this year!
. Don’t bother them too much, but it would be nice to be able to read what we wrote about this series when it aired.
. You all make me sad…
it does seem like a lot of shows you love I strongly dislike :S