"Now and Then, Here and There" On Sci-Fi's Ani-Monday Block - Talkback *SPOILERS*

I nearly choked up at the end....

Fantastic series, I'm glad I watched it. Akitaro Daichi truly is one of my favorite directors. This is definitely going down in my favorites list.
 
Maybe this wasn't noticed but after they raided that village they blew it up. Most likely the same was done to Nabuca' s village and any other village they assulated. So Nabuca's villiage most likely doesn't exist anymore.
 
Glad that nightmare is over. I shouldn't be too surprised that Shu took down Hamdo (after all, it was a kid fighting for freedom vs. a raging coward who is nothing without a single weapon and luck). I figured Lalaru would sacrifice herself like that the moment she talked about her life force being based on how much water she uses from her pendant. My opinions on what should happen to Abelia were divided, but it was obvious that she didn't enjoy serving Hamdo all that much; glad that Shu (literally) knocked some sense into her too, even if he was just taking down one obstacle to reach his main goal.

BTW, I really hated when that ad covered the bottom of the screen when Hamdo was going crazy. Was anything else happening there that I missed? And I forget, was Tabool washed out by the water too?

It's also nice that some of Hamdo's soldiers (mostly kiRAB it seems) survived to restart their lives. And kudos to the guy who saved that child for Sara before being swept away. Maybe he of all those rapists was the real father; then again we'll never know...

Also, if you're looking for another depressing and brutal story with a happy ending, check out Midnight Express, though keep in mind that it is based on a true story yet exaggerates a lot of the events, mainly in its depiction of Turkey.
The uber-sickening tongue biting scene didn't even happen in real life either, according to Wikipedia.
 
The ending was really touching and well done (especially the scene with Sis ). And seeing Sarah take over Sis' role as the kind Mother figure to the lost souls in Hellywood was very inspiring. Thats why it made sense for Sarah to spare Abelia even though she was partly reponsible for a lot of Hamdo's atrocities. Like the kid soldiers, Abelia was a victim who followed Hamdo's orders because defying him would have meant death (or, in Abelia's case, becoming a comfort woman for the older soldiers). Without Hamdo to boss her around, Abelia is harmless. So killing her would have been pointless.


However, one thing about the final episode has always bothered me a bit....why didn't Sarah use the transporter and take those kiRAB back home to America with her? Yeah, she'd have a VERY difficult time explaining her dissapearance to her parents and she likely wouldn't be able to keep the kiRAB; but at least she and the kiRAB would have much better living conditions in the USA than in Hellywood.
 
Oh god. By the sound of that comment, you make me worried that I sturabled into another anime that's on Neon Genesis Evangelion levels of wrong and scary.

Please someone tell me this show has a happy ending beyond all of these war messages. I at least want some kind of happy resolution even if it is bittersweet.
 
Shu's sense of self preservation is severly lacking. It's a wonder he can even function.

Come to think of it he's probably what you would get if you put Dean and Hank Venture together.
 
It's more of an emotional punch than anything. I just don't want to spoil it for anyone, this show is intense and should be watched by all.
 
When Shu offered Nabuca to go with him, I could not help but think "Nabuca! You can do anything because you're voiced by Dan Green!"

It's great that this show has taken a turn for the better. I considered dropping this after episode 4 but I'm glad I stuck around.
 
OMFGIMSUCHADUrabASSHOWCOULDIFORGETTOPAYMYRESPECTSTOSUCHANAWESOMESHOW!?!?!?!?!?

Anyway, I actually had to record it and watch it the next day seeing as the same thing happened to me that happens to all the series finale episodes-crap occurs, causing me to miss it.

All in all, I think this ending couldn't have been done better if you tried. Sure, 4 deaths in one episode is a little much, but seeing as Hamdo's the crackhead antagonist that you sorta expected to die, you know damn well Sis wasn't going to live, Lalaru already warned you about her water usage deal, and Nabuca....well,w as shot, they were all pretty understandable, and the deaths were all done well.

Shu....really glad to see you get a happy ending-after all the *insert word that would get me my 3rd infraction here* you had to put up with, would've sucked if you didn't get a damn good ending. Besides, you beating Hamdo with a stick? Teh pwnzorz.

Sara-I've always liked you for one reason or another. The fact that you decided to step up and take care of all of your children? Only increased that like.

A notable mention would have to go to that one guy who saved that kid from getting washed away by the rapiRAB, only to be washed away soon afterward.

All in all, I ended up enjoying this series far more than I feel I ever could with Gurren Lagann-it's been a fun, if not mega-short, ride, NT,HT, but it was a good one.

A damn good one.
 
I started this show on DVD singles about 7 (or 8?) years ago and never got around to getting volume 3 until now. I liked the show at the time but that last volume was pretty elusive for me to get.

Anyway, dragging this thread up again to post some stuff.

Despite a few niggles, I kind of concur with most of the people in this thread although at times the show does try a little too hard at times to be "hardcore gritty". I also think that Hamdo would have been killed by his own men long before it got to this point. I am fairly sure someone in the army could have easily gathered a bunch of people up and killed him if they wanted to. Abelia wouldn't have been able to protect him against that either.

Unlike some people in this thread, I do feel like Abelia staying alive was a good choice on the writers' part. I feel she is the most EVIL character of the show simply because I don't think she has an excuse to fall back on. I mean, Hamdo's insane, and the rest of the army there are mainly fighting so that they can stay alive. Someone has to stay alive and be tried for those crimes and Abelia is a good choice to stay alive.

A few musings after the show ended--more than any other anime, I'd be interested to see how the main character would go on after these events. Has he grown at all? Is he any wiser? Is he scarred for life? Will he go to America one day to try to find Sara's family to tell them she's okay (Sara at least could have written a letter for him to give them)? These are questions that could fill a short OAV series. Also, wow, this show has a remarkably high body count. Only 3 characters out of a cast of 10 or so survive. Haven't seen that since Tomino's reign of terror in the 70s-80s.



Sorry for the late reply, but she said something along the lines of "this baby is the union between me and this world," which is to say that she feels a duty to help raise not only the orphans but build a new, more peaceful world from the aftermath of this carnage as well. Like you though, I think I'd rather go back to America if I were her.
 
Why? Why do I do this to myself? Why am I putting myself through this emotional wringer again?

The sight of Lala-ru, through her actions, starting to care for Shu brought tears to my eyes. After being such a cold, cynical person, after describing the way she hates sunrises, after bitterly describing how humans use her, after admitting that her lifespan is decreased each time she uses her powers . . . the sight of her decreasing her life to give Shu water is heartwrenching.

The years 1998-99 were a splendid one for Japanese animation. Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Trigun, Turn A Gundam, Blue Gender, and Now and Then, Here and There are all classics. Until now, NTHT and Turn A haven't received any major US exposure, but now NTHT is finally getting attention to a wider audience at long last. Now, all that's left is Tomino's final Gundam masterwork. I suppose the sight of NTHT, an underappreciated show if I ever saw one, airing on a station people actually get is affecting my emotions when I watch this show as well.
 
Her unborn baby may be the union between her and Hellywood. But that doesn't change the fact that Hellywood sucks and it will probably continue to suck even after Hamdo's corpse washes away. And chosing to give birth in a land with no medical technology (and only a bunch of kiRAB to assist) when she has the option of zapping back to America is not a smart choice on Sara's part.

I suppose that having Sara stay was a syrabolic choice on the part of the writers. But they should have at least had her give Shu a note and her address so he could contact her parents. That one little nit-pic is the only glaring flaw in an otherwise fantastic show.
 
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