Now and Then, Here And There - review

[Dark Lilly]

Now and Then, Here And There. Alternate reality transportation, protecting someone important, unjustified war, child soldiers, and a much sought-after magical girl – nothing new right? Wrong. H&T, H&T takes these clichés and infuses them with 9 parts darkness and one part hope.

The viewer is presented with one graphic example after another of what happens when violence is used as a means to an end. War’s insanity, and the fragility of the things that give life meaning are clearly depicted as is the idea of what it might feel like to have to choose between the two.

H&T, H&T is a deeply character and story driven where every single character here has a purpose and represents a different way of thinking. Not one of them leaves with his or her innocence intact; it is ripped from them as they experience the truly horrible things that humanity does to each other. There is love hate, fear, anger, compassion, torture, rape (not shown but the implication is obvious), unwanted pregnancy, mass annihilation, hand-to-hand combat, cold-hearted murder and more.
And when you think things couldn’t get any worst, it does in an unexpected but realistic way. There are no happy endings but you do end up believing that one person can make a difference.

The surprisingly simplistic character designs put me off at first, but it didn’t take long go get past it because the characters were so distinctive and expressive. The looks, and body language of each clearly portray a unique individual and never once did I confuse one character with another (as I did in CLAMP’s X.) Facial expressions were amazing, from a heart felt smile to the sheer horror or utter terror. High-action and combat was fluid and complete

On my scale of one to ten this one is a classic 10 .

10 = The visuals are true works of art and the story and characters spark the imagination between episodes and make you miss them when the show is over. A classic to be watched again and again. A series I will buy.

[crystal.tears]

I just finished up this series. It was so moving--so wonderful. This anime was the closest to ever having made me cry. A series I will love forever.