Now and Then, Here and There

Now and Then, Here and There is a thirteen episode long anime series that was written by Hideyuki Kurata and directed by Akitaro Daichi. It premiered in Japan on October 14th, 1999, airing on the WOWOW television station. The series ran until January 20th, 2000. The show follows a young boy named Shuzo 'shu' Matsutani who is full of optimism and an unbeatable, determined attitude. One day he sees a mysterious, unknown girl (named Lala-Ru) trapped up on a smokestack. He tries to save her, but ends up getting transported into a strange desert world. This other world might be Earth in the future and there Shu is faced with a desolate and militarized land where water has become a scarce commodity. He also sees torture, hunger, thirst, child exploitation and genocide. In this harsh world Shu must love, survive and save Lala-Ru, along with help from his reluctant new friend Hamdo an insane dictator. The show was originally licensed to American DVDs by Central Park Media under their US Manga Corps banner. However they went bankrupt in 2009 so the series was then picked up by ADV Films. MORE