On this Anime Discussion, I’ll be covering Now and Then, Here and There (Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku), an anime that shows a land ravaged by war.

The Anime Discussion series is centered on animes that leads to discussions and has thought provoking content, aimed mainly for adults.
Both to serve as recommendation, and to show animes are not “for kids only”.

At first, Now and Then, Here and There looks like a comedy anime… but that feeling will stay behind on the first episode alone.

The original title could be literaly translated to “The me who is there now”, and makes reference to an alternate reality the main character, Shu, is transported while trying to defend a misterious girl he tries to protect.
This alternate reality is a world completely devastated by war, led by a fanatic madman that is in command of a huge war machine.

I shouldn’t be saying this because it kinda spoils the shock, but when I first watched it I didn’t know much about the story.
It’s only by the second episode or so, that you realize how serious the anime is. It’s not really a content for kids, because it deals with serious issues like war, the cost of war, children exploitation, human suffering and at some point you even have very sensitive content like rape (in a non explicit way, and inside the war theme) and some other very harsh content.

And because of all that, it’s an anime that I consider essencial for everyone to watch.
It has some harsh content, and it’s not the type of anime that you will feel nice after watching… but makes you grow up and presents a rare point of view most animes, series and movies are willing to show.

I watched it a long time ago, but I still remember some scenes that got me by surprize, like the first encounter of Shu and Hamdo (the crazy megalomaniac general), and the cat scene. Hamdo is still considered by some the worst villain in anime history…

But enough of me talking about it, do take a peek of the anime:

Episode 1, part 1 (nevermind the video title, it’s wrong):

Episode 1, part 2:

Episode 1, part 3:

Hopefully those won’t get pulled off… but if they do, I hope you can get it somehow.
It’s an older title, not very easy to find. But definitely worth it!