Bruce Von Stiers

Quite a while back I got a chance to look at a few episodes from an interesting anime show called Now and Then, Here and There. The video I watched was called Discord and Doom, which contained the first episodes in a nice little sci-fi / fantasy epic. U.S. Manga, the company responsible for bringing it to the U.S., has released a special collector’s edition of the entire Now and Then, Here and There saga. This collection has three DVD’s with the all the episodes plus an additional disc with some extras.

I will borrow a little bit of my original review to tell you about the first disc and then move on to the other episodes.

Shu is a boy who likes his martial arts. He is involved in a demonstration that goes awry. He tries to impress a girl and instead messes up. He goes hiding to sulk and ends up meeting a strange girl at the top of a factory smokestack. This begins an adventure that will take Shu to an alternate universe.

The girl that Shu see on the smokestack gets kidnapped and he follows them into some kind of warp. After getting through the warp, Shu ends getting captured by soldiers in this alternate universe. He is taken before King Hando, a corrupt and crazy ruler of this world. The king wants a pendant that the girl, Lala-Ru, supposedly handed off to him. Shu doesn’t have it and is beaten.

Then Shu meets Sara, a girl who was taken from Earth because someone mistook her for Lala-Ru. The king’s assisting Abelia was in charge of the capture, and threw Sara in the dungeon upon realizing she was the wrong girl. We get to find out a little bit about this strange land that Shu has went to that goes by the name of Helliwood.

We also find that the king has molded a group of soldiers out of young boys. Shu is given an opportunity to basically join the troop or die. He is not liked and gets beaten up by other members of this Corp. And on the last episode on the disc, a couple of strangers to the kingdom try to assassinate King Hando.

The disc has extras like an art gallery full of images from the show and a cast and production listing.

The second volume in the set is called Flight and Fall. On this disc we find Sara fleeing into the desert to escape the slavery and cruelty that she has endured.

Sara has been taken by a soldier to his quarters with the intention of getting her pregnant. She has a chance to escape and goes out into the desert outside of Helliwood. Then we get to see Shu and his new friend Nabuca go out on a raid of a village. This is a nice but declining village to the troops of King Hando try to take over.

In some scenes that could have been taken from the history books about the Nazis, the women and children are herded into vehicles to be transported back to Helliwood. Shu can’t handle this and tries to help some of the kids escape. He gets shot in the leg for his efforts and put under house arrest. When they get back he is put in confinement.

Later on we get to see some more of a potential romance unveil between Shu and Lala-Ru. And there are some rather interesting scenes in the command center of Helliwood.

The extras on this disc are like those on the first. You can view scripts from the show, and art gallery of images and a cast and production list.

The third disc is called Conflict and Chaos. The episodes on this disc wrap up the storyline. We get to see Sara once again and find out what’s she’s been doing. And there is a final conflict that is well done.

Sara has been hanging out with the Zari Bars and they are trying to stay one step ahead of Helliwood. Shu and Lala-Ru end up being in the same village as Sara. This sets up some wild scenes between the two girls as Sara blames Lala-Ru for everything that has happened to her.

Then there is a spy from Helliwood in the disguise of a deserter. After planting false information and gathering up his own, the spy reports back to Hando and his horde. Then the invasion process begins anew.

The episodes in this volume are extremely violent. There isn’t too much gore, but plenty of blood is spilled.

There are some plot elements that don’t totally get wrapped up. We don’t get to find out how this world got so messed up to begin with. And the relationship between Hando and his second in command, Abelia, isn’t explored too deeply.

The final disc in the collection is the Bonus Disc. On this disc you will find a Behind The Scenes featurette. There is also the Japanese opening for the show. And we get to see a couple of trailers for the series.
It also has some of the storyboards, character sketches and other items that the previous discs had.

This series was directed by Akitaroh Daichi, the force behind Jubei-chan the Ninja Girl. It was produced by Hiro Inove. The film was recorded at Abaco Recording Studio. The English Language version was produced by Stephanie Shalofsky and directed by Anthony Salerno

The English Language version has the voices of Ed Paul as Shu, Lisa Ortiz as Lala-Ru, Dana Halstead as Abelia and Dan Green as Nabura. There is also Jack Taylor as King Hando and Kay Rogers as Sara.

This collection has a rating of ages 16 and Up. Parents might want to heed this age warning as the implied rape scenes and violence isn’t really suitable for younger viewers.

Repeating what I said at the end of my first review of Now and Then, Here and There, the storyline is pretty solid. Shu is a boy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up being right ins the middle of a conflict on an unknown world. This is a world where children are turned in to killing machines and the king is a certified lunatic.

Now and Then, Here and There: DVD Collection should be available at video retailers.

For other information about this title, visit the web site of U.S. Manga’s parent company Central Park Media. Their site can be found at www.centralparkmedia.com. You also might want to check out www.animeone.com.