About Now and Then, Here and There (Anime)

[icemasteryeti]

So I heard about this anime a while ago and finally decided to check it out. I was told that it had a great story and interesting characters but was very dark and depressing.

I just finished the 5th episode and I'm definitely not feeling that it lives up to that description. The story for what it is right now is very basic, the characters are almost entirely one-dimensional and I simply can't get past how colossally moronic most of them seem to be.

Also while I'll admit it is quite dark that doesn't immediately make it interesting. I don't care about what dark things happen to any of the characters when they have had no development and have no relation to any of the other characters.

Is there a point where this is supposed to all click and make me cry or am I just not getting it?

 

[NightmareWarden]

I actually just finished watching it yesterday and I think it was a pretty good anime. Some, but not all, of the characters' beliefs are further explained. I guess when it comes down to it, most of the characters are just stubborn as mules. My opinion on Lala Ru did not change much so if you already dislike her, that probably will not change. This is the story of a child soldier so it will be dark and depressing, however I liked that the hero seemed to be a generic anime protagonist, yet we see the effects of that kind of mindset in a "realistic" world.

 

[ItouKaiji]

I find the reputation of this anime overblown, it's decent but not mind blowing. However, I think it helps if you look at it more like a really dark fairytale rather a more conventional story. The character's motivations will be further explained, but they aren't really going gain much in the way of extra dimensions. Just like in fairytales the characters are basic, easy to identify archetypes that are driven along by the story, rather than driving the story themselves. Rather than trying to identify too deeply with any of the characters, I think it might be more worth you time to look into the story's themes of conservation and excess. I mean hell...replace water with oil and you might start to see what I mean as it works more as a parable than anything.

If you want something dark with well developed characters you might want to try Bokurano instead.

 

[Casual Shinji]

This anime exists solely to inflict blunt trauma.

The only interesting aspect of it is that it takes the "spirited away" concept to an extremely dark place. But apart from that there really isn't anything to it except super-tragedy.

Not that it isn't highly effective in what it does, but it's as shallow as they come.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

That was my conclusion after episode one. And I have much worse anime I could be watching, so I quit.

Did I say worse? I meant better. Yes, better.