now and then

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		Now and Then, Here and There (NTHT) starts out like a Boy's Own Adventure. Shu, a simple, enthusiastic Japanese schoolboy, is walking home from kendo practice when he sees a figure sitting on top of a gigantic smokestack in an abandoned industrial park. Climbing up, he finds a silent blue-haired girl sitting, watching the sunset. She greets his rambling attempts at conversation with a blank stare, eventually pointing to the setting sun. While Shu contemplates his curious acquaintance, all hell breaks loose when a force of strange mechas suddenly appears, intent on grabbing the mysterious girl. Without a thought Shu swings into action, beating off the piloted machines in a wild melee. Suddenly, they are all transported into another world, a world as cruel and horrific as any in anime. The world of Now and Then, Here and There is set amidst a dying, slowly expanding sun, burning the earth and all on it. In a world where water is more valuable than human life, King Hamdo rules from Heliwood, a gargantuan metallic fortress. He pillages the few remaining villages, enslaving the survivors as workers and soldiers. Convinced that the mysterious blue-haired girl can bring water back to the land, he has sent his chief lieutenant Abelia in pursuit of her. Abelia returns with the girl, but so does Shu. The series is a scathing indictment not just of war, but of the totalitarian fever that gripped Japan before W.W.II. Hamdo's kingdom reflects the militarism and brutality of 1930's Japan. Through Shu's eyes we see a world turned upside down, where kindness is mocked as weakness, and cruelty forms a key foundation of the social order. The parallels with historical Japan are explicit: loudspeakers enthusiastically blare forth the virtue of individuals serving as stepping stones for Hamdo's glory. Captured girls are forced into state prostitution as comfort women. The bungling high command condemns hundreds of loyal soldiers to pointless death on the battlefield. Even the leggings of the soldiers resemble the Japanese infantry uniform of the 1930's. But NTHT transcends being a mere antiwar track by showing the cost to the people involved. Violence is a staple of much Japanese (as well as American) entertainment. But most movie, TV, and anime violence has a sweep, excitement, and even nobility that serves the purposes of drama and action, if not reality. The violence of Now and Then is all too real, not because it is graphic and explicit (though sometimes it is), but because of who it happens to, and what effect it has on them. Perhaps the most painfull moment of the series is the callous, almost perfunctory rape of a bewildered girl. She is no faceless victim, but a character the audience knows and cares for. The actual act is never shown, but the scene leading up to it engenders a sense of dread and genuine horror. What we do see is her growing realization of her fate. What we hear, the screams and sounds, is devastating. NTHT presents a nightmare world of casual brutality, inverted morality, and squalid, petty evil. It can be very difficult to watch. Reading books about Communism and Nazism, one sometimes wonders just how it all could happen, how ordinary people could go along with such meaningless cruelty. By and large, the denizens of Heliwood make do; they accommodate themselves in one way or another to an impossible situation. The series offers no simple villains to root against. From the loyal, competent Abelia to the child soldiers who fight with the hope of finally returning home, those who commit evil acts are not reducible to easy stereotypes. Even King Hamdo is a complex figure: irrational, cowardly, sadistic, but ultimately pathetic in his paranoid megalomania. Despite the inhumanity of this tortured world, the creator's vision is always humane and sympathetic. Now and Then, Here and There is unsparing, riveting, and not easily forgotten. Highly recommended.
		Studio: Central Park Media Format: DVD Episodes in series: 13 Series Completed: Yes Number of DVDs: 4	Audio Tracks: English, Japanese Subtitles: English Genre: Science Fiction Ages: 16+ Cautions: Violence, sexual situations Reviewer: George Core Collection: High School, Adult, Science Fiction