Now and Then, Here and There: Boxed Set (1999)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Akitaroh Daichi
Character Design by Atsushi Ohizumi
Translation by Katsuho Shimoharu

Features:

• Art Gallery
  
• Character Sketches
  
• Background Sketches
  
• Mechanical Sketches
  
• Textless Opening
  
• Japanese Opening
  
• Storyboards
  
• Cast and Production Credits
  
• Behind-the-Scenes featurette
  
• Trailers and previews
  
• English and Japanese audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Animal Abuse
• Child Abuse
• Rape
• Extreme Violence
• Insanity and Psychological Dysfunctions Galore

Rating: 16+

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Check it out, but be careful.

Viewer’s advisory: This series contains many images of child abuse (physical, sexual, and mental) and animal abuse. Be warned that it is very rough watching in places.

The show opens with Shu, our modern-day hero, in his kendo class, revealing his “can-do” attitude, but also his normalcy, as he loses a fight. One of his favorite places to relax and think seems to be atop the giant smokestacks. Today, however, Shu isn’t alone up there. A mysterious girl with mystical eyes is up there, but Shu cannot get her to speak; he has to guess her name, Lala-Ru. Just as she finally seems ready to speak, some kind of wormhole opens up and a giant mecha attacks, grabbing Lala-Ru. In attempting to rescue her, Shu is drawn into another world with a giant sun and more problems than you can shake a stick at.

The plot of this series is convoluted, but managed beautifully. Be prepared, however, for unremitting misery. This show is a very finely done combination of desert freedom fighters, a mad king, and ordinary children thrust into the role of hero.

The characterization is quite good here. Anyone interested in the process by which an ordinary child can become a hero and essentially save a planet and a culture will appreciate the way in which Shu, Sara, and Lala-Ru are developed. The mad king Hamdo’s assistant, Abelia, is wonderfully played as inexplicably loyal, codependent, and cracked--the perfect depiction of a battered wife, actually.

The features are wonderful. We have a whole host of goodies, but as always, the best additions are the peeks behind the scenes, such as the featurette and the repeat of episode 13, which allows you to see this episode from an alternate angle showing the corresponding storyboards. The character and mecha sketches are also nice to have; it’s wonderful to get to see the before and after versions of an artist’s vision. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about how anime is put together and formed from concept to final package, then look no further than this box set.

Anyone who enjoyed the shock and subsequent catharsis of Shakespeare’s King Lear or anime like Grave of the Fireflies will appreciate the deep drama of this series. Anyone with more tender sensibilities, however, might be better advised to steer clear of this one. There is an argument that there should be a limit to how much brutality and pain one should be forced to endure in one’s entertainment...and there’s a case for that. If you watch anime to escape the horror of the real world, then this series is not for you. On the other hand, the fact that these children are made of sterner stuff than we might assume and that they (some of them) come out alive and relatively well is a testament to the human spirit. We can bear much more than we think we can, and to keep another person safe is the best reason of all to try. Hope might be spare in the world of this series, but luckily, it doesn’t seem to take much for people to survive.