Now and Then, Here and There - Episode 13

[Searyx]

Final episode. I'll let it speak for itself.

Right Click Here and select "Save Target As..." to download Now And Then, Here And There - Episode 13.divx

To play the video, you will need the Divx 5.05 Video Codec. To install the codec, Click Here, download, and run the patch.

I'm going to leave this up for a week, and then I'll be rehosting episodes by the day.

Episodes 1, 2, & 3 on May 22nd
Episodes 4, 5, & 6 on May 23rd
Episodes 7, 8, & 9 on May 24th
Episodes 10, 11, 12 on May 25th
Episode 13 on May 26th

(P.S. Millie? I expect a movie review by you after this!)

[Sabinfi]

Boo to that ending. Boo I say.

*Spoiler Below*

















The entire series was sad and depressing, and now everyone is all happy, totally seeming to forget that everyone JUST got done dying. All the kids are happy and cheerful, but their mother just bit the dust. And Lala Ru? She died so that the ship could land in water? No, not quite. So that the entire dessert could now be a huge ocean. Why? WHY!?

I would call the series absolutely fantastic, but the ending mediocre. Ending seemed kind of rushed as well, and more than a little predictable.

Also, Searyx, if you have the time/willing to put forth the effort, I'd love to see another mini-series of this calibur (if any exist.) Also, a hearty thank you for putting these episodes up, I really enjoyed them.

[Searyx]

Hmm... I just might do that.

How about LAIN?

By the way, I found the ending to be extremely sad, because *SPOILERS!*














































































After going through all that, he has to go BACK. Back to his normal life, with this secret he can never tell without people thinking he's crazy. Can never go back to visit Sara or the kids or any of the people he met. And Lala Ru is gone. I found it to be a very sad ending.

Watch it again, Sabinfi.

[Dokomo]

Spoiler

















If you accept the fact that this takes place billions of years in the future, first GO Humanity! We didn't kill ourselves off. Now for the main point. Eventually the sun is going to blossom into a big fireball and bake the planet just like in the series. But first humans would die from being steamed as the oceans evaporated. My theory is that Lala Lu is the extradimensional storage space for most of the Earth's water. She keeps it locked up so it doesn't kill us all through changes in the atmosphere. This was hinted at when they were traveling to Zalibals and she talks about why she won't give people all the water they want. Anyways, at least one little lake shouldn't hurt the ecosystem too much.

[Sabinfi]

*Same Spoiler as Searyx's...don't look!*





































Yeah, I thought about that during the credits. He'll get home and everything will be ok...for a little while. The next time he sees a little girl walking down the street, he'll be absolutely torn up inside and break down thinking of how Soon died right in front of him. Next time he holds his stick he'll think of Nacuba handing him his other one. Then promply dying in his arms. The rage, the grief, all his emotions will be amplified by the fact that these were not "tangible" events in anyone else's eyes. Sure, he knew that they happened but it will seem so surreal with him surrounded by his old life, with nobody to know about what he went through.

You know, now that I think about it, the ending really wasn't that bad at all. Lala Ru finally found people who truly cared about her, and she was willing to die to make sure they never had to suffer in desert conditions again. She was content when she did, she didn't regret her decision.

And the little kids were happy because they needed to be happy, the needed to feel the joy of being surrounded by water, the thrill of it. Sure, they'll grieve a ton later, but in that moment, they were alive, and everthing was going to be ok.

That series kicked ass! I thought it was AWESOME how the character screen during every episode had happy music and had all the characters smiling, but then when the episode started it was depressing, with rape, enslavement and death. I'm definatley going to watch the entire thing again soon, and convince my brother to do the same.

I'm a little hesitant about being excited about another series though, as I've had bad experiences with Anime in general.

My Anime experiences:

Akira- The first anime I ever saw, on my best friend's reccomendation. Apparently, this is supposed to be one of the best animes of all time, but I thought it sucked. Badly. Not because the outdated artwork, but because it was weird and confusing, and HAD NO REAL POINT. Because my friend begged, I watched it 3 times in an attempt to understand that movie, and though I understand what was going on, I'm sure there's some deeper meaning to it that I just didn't get. Ugh.

Ninja Scroll (Unaffectionitely nicknamed "Blood Explosion"- Was in my cousin-in-law's Pulp Fiction box, but once it started (and we couldn't find Pulp Fiction), we decided to just watch it. I've also heard good things about this movie from some of my anime-loving friends, but I really have to laugh at it. It's just so pointless, and with the classic "naked cartoon women for no reason" scenes. It is pretty funny how the badguys will get slashed, then a second or two later you will see the "blood explosion" come blowing of them though. As a movie though, I really didn't enjoy it at all.

But Horah for!:

Princess Mononoke (sp?): Great movie. It looked fantastic, actually had a plot going for it, and did I mention it looked fantastic? It also had something the other 2 didn't, which is A CONSTANT FLOW OF ANIMATION. GRRR, I can't stand when nothing moves but the character's mouth, simply because it's too much effort to draw more than 1 thing per frame. (Limited budgets hinder that too, I suppose.)

Spirited Away: YES! More of a children's movie imo, but I must say I enjoyed it. This is what a children's movie SHOULD be, full of imagionation, wonderful visuals, and a wonderful story.

Now and Then, Here and There: Kickass.

To sum all this up, i'm 3 for 5 so far on the whole anime deal, so if you decide to pick another anime dealio to host, please pick something that would appeal to most everyone (in which case Now and Then, Here and There was PERFECT).

Again, nice job Searyx.

[Searyx]

LAIN is a thoroughly surreal series, with many different ways to interpret what occurs. The pace is seemingly very slow, until you think back and realize how much just happened. As a whole, this movie affected more than most, and made me think and discuss it longer than any film I've ever seen.

Also has the best opening music I have ever heard. Oh yeah. Definitely gonna host that series next.

[Lhon]

Now and Then, Here and Now, excellent series.

Sabinfi, I agree, anime fans do their genre a disservice by recommending crap like Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion to non-fans. I would recommend Berserk. It has a medieval/fantasy setting, so it should appeal to EQ fans. Excellent story line, with battles where tactics are well portrayed, royal court intrigue, individual heroics, supernatural elements. It does have some blood explosions though . The hero is not a good guy like Shu, he is a warrior who slays his foes with little to no remorse.

[Zanoan]

Over all I found the series to be fine. They weren't great, but not bad. A bit over average. I'll put it this way as I've said before, it's definitely not a bad thing spending 25 minutes to watch when you feel like it.


And yes, Now and Then, Here and There are some pretty bad series. Taking into consideration, Shu does go through a lot of shit as the kid he is. How he now lives after that experience, is hard to tell, but it won't be easy for a person that young. He's been through war, killings, losses of friends, etc. Many emotions.

But yah, it was a pretty depressing story now that I look back. But that doesn't necessarily make it a bad series. Parallel to this, I am a guy who doesn't expect the good to always prevail.

[Schar]

SPOILERS





















I thought that was a great final episode. Hamdo's death scene was especially well done. The only problem i had with that ending was, how the hell did the water just magically kill all the bad guys and spare all the good guys and innocents? The main characters at least. Well except that one guy that rescued the little kid for Sara. I guess Lala Ru just had that much control over it, but i found it hard to believe for some reason. Great series though, the ending was both happy and sad on so many different levels. Once again thanks for hosting it for us.

[Szlia]

Crap like Akira?

Most amazing "Mind over Body" movie along some of Cronenberg's finest. Not to mention the absolute technical mastery.

[Sabinfi]

I'd find the Grave of the Fireflies thread and bump it, but I'm not feeling up to it.

Well, now I'm 4 for 6! Just got done watching Grave of the Fireflies and it was fantastic. Absolutely amazing. I watched the subtitled version, and was VERY impressed with the voice of Setsuko (the little girl.) It was so...child-like, every time she spoke her voice was so full of innocence , and every time she laughed it just sounded so realistic. I cried like a woman though....damn Seita and his foolish pride!

[Ubiqu]

Lain is a terrific series. Thought it can take a few watchings to understand it all. It plays off as a very slow series, but is definitly worth watching if you do not need action for a good anime.

[Searyx]

I cried like a woman though....damn Seita and his foolish pride!

Don't think you're the only one who cried like a woman! First time I saw it, I just happened to be at my parents house. I was trying SO HARD not to cry. You know the time? When if you try to say ANYTHING, you're just gonna start bawling? My mother walks in the room and asks if I'm alright. I try to answer her, and HOLY NIAGRA FALLS!

[Sabinfi]

*Spoilers about Now And Then, Here and There: Episode 12 included*



































I had my 14 year old sister watch the entire series when I was at work, though she stopped at the end of episode 10 to take a break. When I got home, me and her watched the remaining 3 episodes together, and she started sobbing as soon Boo got shot, and then when Nabuca shoots Soon, she absolutely breaks down. Had to hit pause and go get kleenex and everything.

We then immediately started watching Grave of the Fireflies, and since she was already in a weepy mood, when the movie ended she literally cried for 15 minutes straight, I've never seen anyone cry for that long. Even knowing what was going to happen, I couldn't stop myself either.

Moral of the story: These may be a bit too much for youngsters.

[Searyx]

Moral of the story: These may be a bit too much for youngsters.

YOU ARE AN EVIL PERSON! Showing someone Now and Then, Here and There & Grave of the Fireflies IN THE SAME NIGHT!?

I think youngsters can handle it. She may have cried during, but how is she doing now? Is she mad at you for showing them to her, or grateful?