Now and Then, Here and There

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Television series
Original title 今 、 そ こ に い る 僕
Ima, Soko ni iru Boku
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
year 1999
length 25 minutes
Episodes 13
genre drama
production Kazuaki Morijiri , Shochi Kumabe
music Taku Iwasaki
First broadcast October 14, 1999 - January 20, 2000 on WOWOW
synchronization

Now and Then, Here and There ( Japanese 今 、 そ こ に い る 僕 , Ima, Soko ni iru Boku , dt. "I who am there now") is a 13-part anime series produced by Pioneer LDC and AIC from 1999. This is the fictional story about the boy Shû and the girl Lala Ru.

action

The boy Shû ( シ ュ ウ , Shū , actually: Shūzō Matsutani ( 松 谷 修造 )) is about to go home from a kendō fight when he discovers the shy girl Lala Ru ( ラ ラ ・ ル ゥ , Rara Rū ) on a chimney. The curious Shû immediately goes to her, but a short time later time stands still and Lala Ru is attacked by mechanical battle snakes under the command of Abelia ( ア ベ リ ア , Aberia ), who seem to have appeared out of nowhere and the children into another Kidnap the world.

You land in Hellywood, a fortress in a desert world with a sun covering half the horizon - it is implied that this is the earth in a distant future - ruled by the mad dictator Hamdo ( ハ ム ド , Hamudo ). He is looking for the ancient Lala Ru, who is the personification of water, and who can create it with her followers, thereby making her weaker and weaker. Hamdo, in turn, needs this water to power his flying fortress.

Shû tries to escape with Lala Ru, but she is caught, but gives Shû her follower first. Shortly thereafter, he is also captured, losing the trailer. He ends up in a cell where he meets Sala ( サ ラ ・ リ ン グ ワ ル ト , Sara Ringuwaruto ). This was also kidnapped from Shû's world because she was mistaken for Lala Ru. Shû is then tortured again and again so that he can tell Hamdo where the trailer is, although he does not know this himself, while Sala is regularly raped by various soldiers.

After Shû is believed that he does not know where the trailer is, he is integrated into Hamdo's children's army. He is placed under the command of Nabuca (ナ ブ カ, Nabuka ), whose group also includes the little Boo (ブ ゥ, Bū ) and the ambitious Tabool (タ ブ ー ル, Tabūru ). One night two partisans sneak into Hellywood with the aim of murdering Hamdo. However, the attack fails and one of the partisans is caught on the run and shot by Nabuca. When Sala is supposed to be raped again, she manages to kill the soldier and flees into the desert. Shû meanwhile has to take part in an expedition in which, on the one hand, men and boys are forcibly recruited for the army from the surrounding villages, and on the other, women and girls are abducted to Hamdos fortress to produce offspring for the army. Although the prisoners were promised that they could return to their villages after the end of the war, the village was burned down after the rearguard soldiers withdrew.

Shû, who wanted to free some prisoners, is thrown into a cell for execution, where he finds the follower and is freed by Boo. He gives the trailer to Lala Ru, who uses it to flood the fortress, and they both flee into the desert. After some time they reach the rebel city-state of Zari Barth, where they are taken in by Sis ( シ ス , Shisu ), but withhold Lala Ru's true identity. Sis also looks after other children, including the girl Soon, who is waiting for her father to return. Shû realizes that the partisan who was shot by Nabuca was her father and avoids Soon because he can't bear to tell her the truth. They also meet Sala, who immediately attacks Lala Ru because she blames her for everything that happened to her. A spy Hamdo also finds Zari Barth, whereupon Hamdo sets his fortress in motion with the water from Lala Rus' flooding. When Sala learns that she is pregnant, she wants to drown herself, but Shû convinces her to go on living. When the townspeople learn Lala Ru's name, they want to take her prisoner as leverage against Hamdo under the leadership of Elama (エ ラ ン バ, Eranba ), a radical who wants to actively fight Hamdo. Sis lets Lala Ru hide and is seriously injured and captured in the argument with Elama.

Hamdo's soldiers attack Zari Barth and cause a bloodbath among the residents. Shû runs to Si's house to bring the children to safety, but is caught by Boo and Nabuca, who threatens to shoot them all. Soon, who overheard the conversation and thus finds out that Nabuca is her father's murderer, shoots Nabuca. Boo throws himself between the two and is fatally hit, Nabuca then shoots Soon. In the meantime, Elama meets with Lala Ru Abelia to negotiate with her. Abelia sees no reason for this and kills Elama. Since Lala Ru is now under Hamdo's control, she gives the order to stop the fighting. Shû, Sala and remaining survivors of the village are brought on board the Hellywood. Sis, who is dying, asks Sala not to cast off the unborn child.

On board the Hellywood, Tabool tells Nabuca that their home village has been destroyed and they will never be able to go back there. Nabuca is seriously injured by Tabool, but survives and drags himself to Shû's cell before collapsing and dying. Shû succeeds in breaking out of prison and goes in search of Lala Ru. He runs into Tabool and fights with him before breaking through a pane of glass and meeting Hamdo, Abelia and Lala Ru. Lala Ru releases the full strength of her follower, whereupon the world is flooded and oceans are formed again. It fades and then dies. Sala decides to stay here while Shû is sent back to his world.

Production and publication

The anime was produced in 1999 by Pioneer LDC (now: Geneon), AIC and Studio APPP under the direction of Akitaro Daichi . He also developed the idea for the series. The character design was created by Atsushi Ohizumi and Rie Nishino; the artistic director was Masanobu Nomura.

The series aired October 14, 1999 through January 20, 2000 in Japan by WOWOW . An English version was broadcast in Asia and North America, and Déclic Images published a French version. Anime-Virtual published the episodes on three DVDs in German from 2003 to 2004.

synchronization

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū )
Lala Ru Kaori Nazuka
Shu Akemi Okamura
Hamdo Kōji Ishii
Abelia Reiko Yasuhara
Boo Hiroko Konishi
Nabuca Yuka Imai
Taboo Akio Suyama
Sala Azusa Nakao
Sis Rika Matsumoto

music

Taku Iwasaki composed the background music for the series. The opening credits are the instrumental piece Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku ( 今 、 そ こ に い る 僕 ) by Toshio Masuda , in the credits Komoriuta… ( 子 守 歌 ... ) sung by Reiko Yasuhara was used.

Web links