As I said I would do, my reviews are going to be as spoiler-free as possible! So yay! If you haven't watched this anime yet, I recommend you check it out, or at least add it to your watchlist. Still a little doubtful? Read my review and see if you will change your mind!
Now and Then, Here and There or more conveniently known as NATHAT, is underrated. It's not as underrated, as in Mujin Wakusei Survive (which is another fantastic anime, so check it out), but I definitely do think that 1) more people should talk about it and 2) more people should watch it. Although NATHAT contains mature themes and will absolutely shatter your heart to tiny, little pieces, it carries an important message and will have a long lasting impact on you even after you finish watching it.
The basic premise of this story is about a boy named Shuu, and he's loud, not afraid to express his opinions, all about "what's right", etc. He practices kendo but really sucks at it, as he attacks with no strategy and yells like a barbarian everytime he tries to strike someone.
One evening, he meets a peculiar girl named Lala-Ru, however, something strange happens. People in weird mechanisms appear out of nowhere and try to snatch Lala-Ru away. Shuu, being the "hero" and "righteous" example that he is, tries to save her but inevitably gets sucked into their world. There, he lands in the midst of a terrible war in which his morals and values are challenged. Shuu strives to maintain positivity and to search for a way home.
There are several serious themes in this anime, with the main being the effects of war so I'll try to include all of the ones I can think of off the top of my head, in case anyone will get triggered by it.
Implied rape, animal abuse, war, violence, death...
A lot of things are implied, so it's not really graphic.
I think those are the main ones that I can recall. If I've forgotten any, please let me know and I'll add them!
NATHAT, honestly is pretty mediocre (or more harshly, terrible) in terms of animation. It almost reminds me of Kemono no Souja Erin (yet another underrated anime; I am on a roll today!), except with the flashbacks replaced with extremely long pauses. Granted, this anime was made in 2000. But don't make that the deciding factor in whether you want to watch it or not! NATHAT is so much more than its appearance.
Which, speaking of its appearance, NATHAT first appears as your typical light-hearted shounen anime but it turns dark pretty soon. I wouldn't say this is a children's anime, as this seems too depressing for what I watched as a kid (e.g. Tokyo Mew Mew) but if you want to show it to someone under 7 years old...go ahead. I would judge you, but hey, I ain't their momma.
Changing gears to a positive aspect of this anime was the music. In fact, I thought the music was phenomenal. The soundtrack played a huge part in invoking my strong emotions when I watched this anime. The music was so on point and worked to create the atmosphere of the scenes. It was very poignant.
Here's a link to a Youtube playlist of the OST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE9AFD359C9BB5986
Now onto the characters of this anime. I'm gonna say that there are certain characters which I would have liked to have seen more developed. But as for the main character, Shuu, I'm not so sure if there was any development in him at all, honestly. That kind of disappointed me but then I realized why his character was made that way and why he strictly stood by his principles throughout the whole anime (which I will talk about later).
The storyline was very intense, real, invigorating, and tragic. The plot really drew me in, kept me hooked, and sent me through this rollacoaster ride of feels. It's not a feels train, it's a freaking oscillating ride at the speed of light (since it is only 13 episodes). There is not really a plot twist, but as the anime approaches the climax (and you'll known when it is), everything gets closer and closer to bursting at the seams. Figuratively. That's how intense it was.
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Warning: Sorry, I type too much. So if you don't want to read the bulk of it, at least read these two paragraphs below on symbolism in NATHAT. The rest is pretty much my thoughts/speculation on war, society, values, etc.
Something that you have to realize about this anime was its symbolism and the message it was trying to get across. Yes, certain themes and symbols are subjective, so it's really up to anyone's interpretation of what it means, but this is my personal take on it.
You have to look at Shuu not as a character, but as a representation of society's morals and values. Social conventions; what's right and what's wrong. What's humane, and what's inhumane. This is why he doesn't show much change throughout the anime, because he's literally representing our modern-day society's beliefs. We don't like to see murder, the majority of us disagree with abortions (which I personally disagree with; it's not murder if you decide to have an abortion), we like to see peace, etc. Right? Except, it's wrong. Several people are raised with morals and values to do good in the world, yet we, humans are the sole cause of destruction, to both each other, and to nature. This is where Lala-Ru comes into play. She is not just a character. She too, like Shuu, represents something. She is a symbol for nature, as in the anime she is constantly pursued and sought after for her power, much like how humans chase after natural resources. They use them for their own purposes and will eventually deplete them.
NATHAT demonstrates the effects of war on our society; war brings out the worst in people. Soldiers become close-minded and detached to killing more people, raping, and capturing innocent civilians. Under a dictatorship, this becomes worse. And sometimes, people are just freaking blind. In NATHAT's case, I'm pretty sure everyone knew that the psycho dictator was a PSYCHO and completely awful so why didn't they rebel against him? I believe it's a similar case of Hitler and Nazi Germany. He was the one who stepped up to power, and with his propaganda and convincing speeches, he swayed Germany to his side.
I believe that humans aren't really this way, and that the situation has forced them to change, to adapt, and that is how some of them handled it. By doing horrid things. It definitely does not excuse them from doing these things but I think it's important to have a wake-call from time-to-time to acknowledge, this is our society right now, this is the world molded by humans, and is it okay to stay this way? The obvious answer is no, but people are lazy and don't do much to invoke change, sadly.
War probably won't go away in the next couple of centuries or so, but I hope that someday, we can lessen these horrible armed conflicts. I'd like to think that the world is becoming more civilized, at least compared to ancient history where war was a regular occurrence, and violence was welcomed.
Another concept I'd like to mention is William Yeats' concept of time, which I won't delve too much into because this post is already so freaking long. But if you want to know more, here's a link to an analysis of his poem, "The Second Coming": http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/yeats/section5.rhtml (Also, an interesting page on time philosophy) If you don't know William Butler Yeats, he was an Irish poet that wrote about his philosophies. Now, I know what you're thinking. What does this poet and time philosophy have to do with anything? Well, it does, and let me explain. Basically, he developed this concept of time in the shape of a gyre and these gyres have a span of 2000 years, and whatever was at the center of it, the society would get farther and farther away from the principles and morals that the center represented. For example, from 0-2000, baby Jesus would be in the center of this gyre because it marks his birth. Since it's a gyre, and it spirals outward, society from his birth would get farther and farther from the values he represented, which are love, tolerance, patience, etc.
And after those 2000 years, the gyre would collapse and then a new gyre would form, with a new figure in the center of it. William Yeats speculates that this new gyre will have some sort of an antichrist or worse in the middle, and our society will slowly spiral out until 2000 years later when this gyre collapses, to end in the "apocalypse".
Similarly, I think this is the signal that NATHAT is sending out. It's warning humans that if we continue to selfishly pursue resources, and fight meaningless wars that the worst is bound to happen. In contrast, though, NATHAT ends more positively than the end of Yeats' poem did. It's not really a happy positive, but at least they're living.
That's another theme in this anime. Treasure your life, kids. "You're going through shit? Hey, at least you're alive. Could be worse."
In all seriousness. I highly recommend this anime to anyone. Really.
Rating: 3.75/5- I had some qualms about it, but it's overall great!
