Now And Then, Here And There

Have you ever come across an anime that made you stare at your nearest wall, just spacing out? Now and Then, Here and There is the kind of anime that will make you reflect and use your brain while the sad music of the anime is playing in the background. It’s the kind of anime that’ll make you think that you have aged. A lot of people will judge this anime by its title or cover.

However, you should never judge an anime like that because what lies inside often blows our minds. Today, we’ll be reviewing the anime Now and Then, Here and There. The title is pretty long, but that’s how most anime titles look so; without further ado, let’s get right into our in-depth review of Now and Then, Here and There!

Now And Then, Here And There | Pinnedupink.com

Shuuzou Matsutani lives a pretty everyday life where his social life is good. He has a crush and is passionate about Kendo, a modern Japanese Martial Arts using bamboo swords and armor. Shuuzou aspires to become a great martial artist. However, his dreams are shattered when he loses to his opponent in a Kendo match. Utterly dejected, Shuuzou spends some time alone, and that’s when he meets a strange blue-haired girl named Lala-Ru. She’s also wearing a weird pendant. Shuuzou attempts to befriend her, but she responds coldly.

Suddenly, a woman appears with two machines and attempts to capture Lala-Ru. Shuuzou tries to save her from her pursuers but gets transported to a world that looks like a desert. Shuuzou gets beaten by a bunch of people but does not give up on saving Lala-Ru. He finds out that Lala-Ru can manipulate water and the pendant she’s wearing is the source of her power.

Lala-Ru’s pendant soon disappears, and everyone thinks that Shuuzou is the suspect. Now, Shuuzou must survive in this strange new world while protecting Lala-Ru and himself from the deadly challenges awaiting him.

Now and Then, Here and There is undoubtedly one of the best-written anime of all time, and its adaptation also does justice to the written content. It features the true tragedy of the Shakspearean proportion, making this anime more exciting and compelling.

This anime will make you feel like it’s more suitable for younger viewers. However, the next moment, it’ll look more like a fantasy anime for adults. That’s because we’re dealing with a lot of misery, violence, r*pe, and other dark themes. It will even get visually graphic at times. It doesn’t look like it will from the cover, right?

Despite being a dystopian fantasy, we are shown the true horrors of humanity and how humans work. It conveys so much in a few episodes, and that’s what we love about it. The theme of war is pretty evident, and it might not suit some people’s tastes. It’s depressing, dark, yet beautifully made. It tells you the terrors of war as well as gives you hope and belief. The story of Now and Then, Here and There truly is a masterpiece.

Other than the plot and the story, the characters are the best thing about this anime series. All of the characters are very well-written, and even the minor characters serve some roles rather than being there for the sake of being there.

The characters personify a few things. For example, in Shuuzou’s case, he embodies hope and belief. He is the slight hope that is present there in the dark dystopian world. His thoughts and ideas are often rejected because they are seen as ignorant and naive. Despite everything, he does not give up on his resolve and stays firm. He can be obnoxious at times, but he has every right to do so because he is aware of what nobody is noticing. He’s undoubtedly one of the best driving forces in the series Now and Then, Here and There.

Lala-Ru’s character is pretty strong as she holds the answer to the problems being faced by her strange world. Lala-Ru personifies power. Though she doesn’t get a lot of screen time, the time she gets is always meaningful. She lights up the dark tone of the series, and we absolutely love her.

Another great character is Sara, who is fully developed by the end of the series, and the development happened in only 13 episodes! She initially doesn’t get Shuuzou’s resolve, but slowly she tries to understand him. She’s entirely a different person by the end of the series.

Overall, the characters are very well-written and well-executed. We could not ask for more exciting and meaningful characters, and that’s what we love about this series.

The animation of this series will seem outdated to you guys because, of course, it features 1990’s style animation. The art is not that bad but not that good either. It’s the only weaker aspect of the series. The only thing that makes up for the average art is its cinematography, and we’re impressed with it!

This series again serves us with some grand opening and ending soundtracks as well as the background music. The ending soundtrack is specifically commendable because it’s very soothing and makes you relax and cheer up a bit after watching so much violence. The background music is very suitable for the events, and we have literally no complaints about the music of this anime series.

Now and Then, Here and There is undoubtedly a true masterpiece from the late 90s. We would totally recommend you to watch this anime because it’s just excellent! It tells us the horrors of war and corrupted humanity and gives us some hope to balance everything out.