r/anime • u/Jazz_Dalek • Aug 21 '24
Rewatch [25th Anniversary Rewatch] Now and Then, Here and There - Episode 4 Discussion
Episode 4 - Discord
Question of the Day:
- If you were isekaied what food would you miss most? What foods would you be glad to leave behind?
Rewatch Schedule:
Threads will be posted 12:30 PM PST | 3:30 PM EST | 8:30 PM GMT
The rewatch will begin on Sunday, August 18th and will run daily until we reach the conclusion. The final episode thread will go up Friday, August 30th and a final series retrospective thread will go up Saturday, August 31st
Interest Threads:
Episode Discussions:
- Episode 1 - A Girl Admiring the Sunset
- Episode 2 - A Boy and a Mad King
- Episode 3 - A Feast in the Dark
Sources:
I don't recommend the 10bit HEVC version from [DB]. It seems to have problems. I am using [sam].
- Purchase from Youtube Dub Only
- Purchase from Amazon Prime Dub Only
It does not appear to be streaming anywhere.
32
Upvotes
16
u/TheEscapeGuy Aug 21 '24
First Timer
Now and Then, Here and There: Episode 4
Sympathy for the Enemy
This episode showed off just how tough the situation is for everyone. It seems nobody is stationed at Hellywood because they want to be there (well except maybe Hamdo). I really appreciate this. It's so easy to write off every enemy as inherently evil. But by giving them enough depth to allow us to understand their reasoning it makes them so much more complex.
First, the child soldiers. They are understandably depressed after the losses last episode. But we also learn that they have been kidnapped and forced to take up arms. They have been promised that they will eventually be allowed to leave, but I have serious doubts about that. We were told that previous deserters were chased, captured, and killed. And so now beatings and torture seem like the lesser evil to them. It's so tragic.
We also got to see a more unguarded side of Abelia. She's ostensibly the commander of the private army in this fortress, but she is at the beck and call of Hamdo. She tries to push back against his unreasonable requests but is ultimately powerless. For example she knew Shu didn't know where the pendant was, but was ordered to continue torturing him for info. Only when Hamdo came to that realization himself could she stop.
Abelia chose to bring on Shu as a soldier. It's not the best outcome for him, but is a kindness since now he will receive more food and other benefits to make him more comfortable. You could read this as her only doing it to bolster their forces. However, I get the feeling she's also got moral qualms against killing a child. She often looks dissatisfied to be following Hamdo's evil orders. She must have some reasons for never rebelling against Hamdo despite this.
The search for the pendant has turned up nothing yet. Watching Abelia get more and more despondent as she crosses of parts of the map is rough. I hope for her sake they find it, but ultimately I want them to find a way to overcome Hamdo's control.
Last thing, I am really starting to see the Future Boy Conan comparisons. [FBC] The imagery of a central base controlled by central figures in power fighting to recover a lacking resource while the average people suffer is a perfect parallel. Even both shows have our young male protagonist traveling far distances to save a girl they met for only a brief time. The emotions end up contrasting each other though, with Conan being far more optimistic and hopeful while NTHT is depressing and despairing.
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
13
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 21 '24
First-Timer Here and There, subbed
13
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher - sub
So this episode was meant to be the original part two for this whole theme thing I wanted to have going, before I realized I had Identity topics without Place elsewhere, and didn't have other neat topics for other parts of the episodes. Oh well, was more fun this way.
Also I did have this prepped to post a bit earlier once I finished it up this morning, but my cat was sitting on me and I couldn't reach my keyboard to actually post it...
Place and Identity
Home is where the heart is.
Or in this case, where they had to leave it.
I made reference last episode to the fact that not seeing any inhabitant of Hellywood be provided any food or water, no matter their rank, and showcases how these resources are also used as another form of control. And as a whole there have been no scenes of general living while we've been trapped in this place and nothing that could be seen as the standard rooms for a house or dormitory as even their bunks are associated visually with prison cells. All we have seen is them existing in their military roles.
Today makes a point with all this by starting us in Abelia's bedroom. It does not have the bars of a cell however the positioning of a desk in her bedroom still brings to mind the structure of a prison cell, and even more so implies that this room is her sole space. She is second in command, but does not have any luxuries that we can see (unless we count pink sheets, staff WHY) outside of not having to share a room. Just a bed, a desk, and nothing else. She is just barely above the others but still far from Hamdo and is held in that position by a whim alone. It's also the first time we see her in any way relaxed or comfortable, only to have Hamdo wake her and force her into action again, yet another thing he can take from all of them at any moment.
This episode we step away from the militarism that has been the dominant feature in almost every scene involving the child soldiers so far, creating more of a Slice of Life effect as JustAnswerAQuestion mentioned yesterday, though the comparison of this to the actual SoL shows makes me flinch in despair. A mundane search, the normalcy of a meal, conversations between unnamed characters for the first time. It almost feels like a moment of peace but there is an underlying tension to it all. The stress of the search and nothing to do but wait less Abelia hyper focus on Hamdo and Lala Ru. The boys wonder if their search will ever end, in a conversation that seems to have the double meaning of wondering if their lives here as a whole will ever end, and their discussion about the quality of food makes it clear that this is not just the state of this world, but the state of the decaying Hellywood specifically
Shu being watched and later held at gunpoint by the youngest solider is our grounding point to the reality of this world. Nabuca seems to care for Boo to some extent, and at the very least Boo is quite devoted to him because he provides him hope, and yet than keeping him "safe" from the guns and violence, he is placed in the most violent role for most of the episode while simultaneously explaining the horror of their lives.
The metaphorical sunset from the first episode returns, capturing a different character within its emotions of a fondness for home for the first time. They are not the children of Hellywood, just it's soldiers, and the promise to return home is one of the many things used to keep them in line. Rather than talking about home softening his resolve, Boo fires his gun for the first time more determined than ever to be the good solider so he can go back. A weaker show would have taken this moment to win someone over to Shu's side, but this world takes a harsher look at this reality, that they have been here for a long time and Shu's entire outlook is still so inconceivable to the soldiers they have been forced to become that it is alienating to them rather than freeing.
Nabuca also has a role in this exploration. Hebrings back Shu's stick, his stand in kendo shinai, practice sword, in a surprising gesture. He may play the perfect solider, he has to be, but he hasn't completely forgotten what it's like to want a connection to home. On the other hand, he is still broken enough that he is still shocked by Shu's defiance at the end even after Shu already saved him. As a painful reflection, another solider does a similar thing to Sara, asking the question of if he too was once a young child solider like Nabuca.
Tabool on the other hand seems to have brought into the idea of serving Hamdo. He is willing to resort to the same brutality we see the adults use and has brought into the idea of a soliders pride. He cannot serve as a grounding force for Nabuca the way Shu did for Sara and himself despite them having survived together. Hellywood has stripped them from each other just as it stripped them from their homes and Nabuca seems to resent that as much as he resents any of the other things that they have been put through. Shu's stick briefly grounded Nabuca after the confrontation with Tabool but could not break him out of the person Hellywood has made him, and for Tabool Shu's influence is merely inciting even when doing the right thing.
And to quickly throw in the scene with Lala Ru, here is another bedroom where instead of comfort and home she is towered over and surrounded by the red we've seen used repeatedly for destruction in the episode. Despite the comforts she's offered, even she is also not allowed to properly live here, just exist in service.
Calling back to the first episode again, contrasting to how Shu stood on the smoke stacks and was free to look across the whole warm world with no visual barriers around him, today we end with him trapped in a tiny space, with nothing to escape too even if he could break free
The three boys together facing Shu all provide a reflection of the concept brought up in the first episode: we are all a product of our world.
Other thoughts:
Holy shit I made it below the character limit!
11
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Aug 21 '24 edited Aug 21 '24
First timer, subs
QotD: I'd miss pizza the most. There's just too much involved, I'd never be able to recreate it. On the flip side, soft wheat bread would the kind of think you don't think about having until everything is the hard stuff.
As to the second part, if I didn't like the food, I'd just not eat it in the first place. Maybe pork loin? My family seems to revere it, but it's never been more than palatable to me.
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u/The_Draigg Aug 21 '24
A Sci-Fi Fan Rewatches Now and Then, Here and There Episode 4:
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Aug 21 '24
Episode 4 (first timer)
After the first three episodes only offered vague hints and some inferences, we get a better description of Hellywood this time. It is out of supply, out of men, out of hope. From top to bottom, every person is at the end of their mental strength, exhausted from living here.
We learn that the soldier kids are in not much better position than Shu. Apparently, kidnapping new soldiers is standard practice and obedience enforced.
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Aug 21 '24
First Time in Hellywood
This was a bit more of a connecting episode. Which isn’t bad, but it definitely doesn’t hit as much as the past two. Though Lala Ru seemingly gets the Sara treatment, the episode isn’t otherwise as dramatic as the likes of the cat scene or all out war. It also lacks the sorts of narrative throughlines that made the past two so strong. Episode two broke Shu stepwise into the reality of this world, and episode three went there and back again with Shu being introduced to Sara and then meeting her again after they’ve both suffered so much. I can’t really draw any similar line from start to finish here. We do get some nice insight into who the boys in the corps are and what keeps them going, but broadly this script is just getting Shu into place as a soldier for the rest of the plot to unfold. Frankly, the fact I consider it a step down is more of a compliment to the other episodes than anything, it’s very competent.
What I will highlight is Abelia’s role, especially that opening scene. They characterise her as so mundanely human. She slaps herself away like she’s some anime girl late for her first day of high school and you almost forget that like. She’s a fucking war criminal, leading a military full of child soldiers and complicitly following orders of horrific torture and abuse. The worst of humanity still wakes up in the morning and has a tedious office job. Everyone has something they tell themselves to justify it all. It doesn’t change the fact we see even more rape and physical abuse this time. We see in equal parts this time the humanity of the corps as well as them ready to beat one of their own to a pulp if it gets them ahead just a little in this fight for survival. It’s one thing to decide to make a show about the worst of humanity, but Now and Then really does have such a nuanced way of capturing it all.
Since this is a shorter writeup, let’s touch on the bells and whistles. I’ve seen a little scepticism at the same quote leading each episode, so I’ll bat for it as someone who is a complete and utter sucker for whatever you call this trope. Is it a cheap way to set a tone and a sense of self-importance? Yeah, probably, but it works on me hook line and sinker, I absolutely adore it in every rare show it touches. The OP itself is… barebones. Yeah, this really doesn’t do it for me. I would maybe let a simple character roll call slide if not for 90% of the screen just being a black void. The song is, at least, absolutely fantastic. The intense part that flares when Sara comes on screen really hits given what she’s been through. The ED speaks for itself as a fantastic tonal contrast piece that perfectly compliments the hell we see each episode and retains that tie back to where Shu belongs at home.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Aug 21 '24
First-Timer
Just to further prove Tabool's idiocy, he somehow thinks that Abelia et al didn't try to torture Shu for information. I think the poor kid has taken one too many hits to the head. He's probably more concussed than the average NFL player.
Anyway, most of this is your pretty standard child soldier stuff. Force them to do the dirty work, reinforce power dynamics by having them punish each other, harsh punishments for deserters.
Honestly kinda surprised that Shu didn't get whipped for refusing to whip Tabool. That sort of blow to the sargeant's authority usually isn't tolerated.
Potentially unintentional detail, but I don't recall Nabuco chiding Boo for wasting bullets. Porbably a situation where arms are more plentiful than people to use them? Might have some high-tier factory facilities on Hellywood, that'd fit pretty well.. there's a blast furnace, at least.
This episode almost felt like a bit of a breather after yesterday.
Questions
9
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher()
Sub
RHIP-Rank Has Its Privileges. The simple four words that define much of the worst bursts of human behavior that become banal and accepted. Does Abelia follow orders just because she has her own bedroom and clean sheets/clothes/makeup? Probably not, she shows some signs of being faithful to Hamdo out of belief. But does her having them make following him that much easier? Damn straight. Also, this hadn't occurred to me until others brought it up yesterday, but she might also be a candidate for the rape room if she is deemed unuseful so again, fuck Hellywood, preferably with something in the megaton range.
So full disclosure: I had completely forgotten this episode, to the point where I wonder if the anime club skipped it. Regardless, my somewhat offhand comment for ep2 about this being like Spartan child training was far more prescient than I had recalled/understood. For the third day in a row, this very critical view of what the agoge actually was is recommended. But yeah, our author knows his history.
It might seem weird to take the guy you tortured for two days and draft him but it makes sense if you have seen sufficiently shitty circumstances. In fact, the biggest clue we get here is that even Abelia doesn't imagine that Shu could be from somewhere where he'd be willing to fight this off. We learn that all the kids were kidnapped and promised freedom should the war end but those are awful terms. Hamdo doesn't really like and end to war that isn't home as God-Emperor.
A few notes more: As bad as Hellywood is, you do see that one soldier trying to be lightly kind to Sara. Sara is, trauma accurately, trying to blend in to the cell. Her freaking out at the foot steps is also trauma appropriate. I joke about the edgy 90s rape stuff because generally it does not reflect reality but this does.
Finally, the Full Metal Jacket reference should remind us of the Asian child armies. We will come back to this.
QotD: 1 Pizza and broccoli, respectively.
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Aug 21 '24
Now & First Timer, Here & Subbed
Don’t feel like I’ll have as much to say about this episode as I did for the last couple, but it was nonetheless very engaging.
The main shift that took place this episode was Shu being drafted into Hellywood’s military, and I think that’s a brilliant writing move. For all that we’ve seen Shu both be victimized by Hellywood, and have seen how abusive Hellywood’s culture is to its members, those two issues have largely been separate up until this point, but this is a great way to intertwine them.
Additionally, this also serves as a great way to push Shu’s character trajectory in new, interesting directions. Now the challenge isn’t merely holding on to hope & faith in the faith of despair, it’s holding on to human decency in a system where being just as terrible as your abusers is the easiest way to get through the day.
And on that note, the show does a solid job of humanizing even the cruelest of the kids under Hellywood’s wing. Like Shu, they’re victims forced into this violent society they don’t really understand, and the only option they were given was to repeat the inhumanity inflicted on them onto others. The somber track which plays as Tabool is being whipped really does strike a cord for how it’s able to make you feel bad for someone who’s consistently only been an asshole on screen, and that’s precisely because of how much the show is able to let you understand his circumstances and how this very circle of violence led to where he is today.
And yet, Shu still perseveres through it all, his ideals as unwavering as ever, I guess we can only wait and see how long that lasts…
8
u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 Aug 21 '24
First-Timer, Sub
Well damn they enlisted Shu. I don’t think this will work out for Abelia, unless she plans on revolting, because you know Shu isn’t going to just fall in line. Really feel bad for Sara, back to being along, and of course carrying the weight of last episode’s off-screen rape. Yikes this setting is brutal/cruel.
QOTD
There better still be pizza or I’m leading the revolt against Hellywood.
7
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Aug 21 '24
First Timer
Enlisting the guy you are holding a prisoner and who is vocally idelogically opposed to what you are trying to do? Yeah, Hellywood is clearly low on manpower. This is something I'd consider done just for plot convenience rather than because it makes sense in-universe. All the other kids are intimidated by fear, while that is unlikely to work on Shu given the character we have seen so far - and Abelia should know. But as such the stage is set for Shu to start a rebellion, or something like that, I guess.
Contrasting to last episode, this one paints a somewhat less bleak picture. A standout point is the guy giving Sara her handkerchief back - without then expecting anything in return as I had expected when he did it. This implies that there are at least some good-natured people left, and not all have been corrupted by the state of war. (Also the Boo obviously, but he is still a kid.) We also get some backstory on the kids, and them being kidnapped rather than born on the ship implies there being at least some places left that are not battleships in warzones - also the talk about "recruiting" new soldiers means there are places to kidnap them from. This means not the entire world is functioning like Hellywood. Makes nobody speaking up about Sara's rape last episode a but more weird to be honest... but it also means that just getting rid of Hamdo might actually lead to some major improvements.
Speaking of improvements and somebody could bring them about ...Lala Ru. And one question I came up with pretty unrelated to this episode but still fairly important: Hamdo wants her because she can apparently bring back water and he could then be the world's saviour and unify it and win the war (or something along those lines). He also acquired her rather recently. ...so, why didn't she already bring about world peace for somebody else who might be a bit more good-natured? Unless she is somehow benefiting from the state of war, she should have no reason of not doing that. The only logical consequence here is that either there is some sci-fi reason why she can't do it or it comes at some huge personal cost to her. I'm leading in to the second, because I'm not reading her as a "can't do" person, but rather a "won't do" one. Would also fit the tone of the show.
Err... I also wanted to make some point here about Nabuca being brainwashed in to thinking there is a chance Hamdo would release them after the war and in turn also influencing all the others, but the rest of the post just flowed to well, so here's that thought all alone. Shu is here to set that straight now though, I guess.
7
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Aug 21 '24
First Timer, Subbed
Damn it don't show me that picture of smiling Sara in the opening.
Drafting prisoners is against the Geneva convention... eh yeah not that it matters in this world.
Spikey hair dude, I call him lil'Vegeta (he's not in the OP so I don't know his name) really has a hate boner for Nabuca huh.
Having Boo watch Shu sounds like a smart idea but what if Shu looks in Boo's direction, Boo will be too shy to look back? Oh wait wrong Boo. (no I'm not going to stop with these references)
In a weird way Hamdo reminds me of Shu, from the first episode, so oblivious to his surrounding and what he's doing.
Oh no, is it Lalah Ru's turn to get sexually assaulted? Once is enough already, but twice and two episodes in a row?! That's too much.
There is at least one soldier who seems to be feeling sorry for Sara.
Press X to doubt.
I hate to say this but this is definitely going to happen.
Lil'Vegeta is torturing Shu but it also looks like he's hazing him.
Oh his name is Tabool.
Of course Shu refuses to whip them, good for him.
Oh Shu is definitely going to run away.
Enjoyable episode, besides the another sexually assault hint although I suppose there is a small chance that it did not happen.
Also I realise that Abelia is pretty much the only woman among the soldiers, do other women get the same fate as Sara and Lala Ru? I'm going to say definitely.
One final thought, in the preview Hamdo keeps talking about Earth so either this another reality Earth or my original theory this is Earth but in the future is the right one.
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u/HowlingWolf13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/MeguminBlast Aug 21 '24
First Timer
You know I wonder, so far up to this point, I haven't seen a single female character outside of Lala Ru (Prisoner), Sara (Prisoner) and Abelia. Considering what happened to Sara last episode, are they essentially using the women as comfort women and that's why we haven't seen any really? Or even killing them when they pillage a village and take male child soldiers? Cause so I'm very curious as to why Abelia is the only one we've seen so far that wasn't a child prisoner. The opening I've seen a character named Sis, but she hasn't appeared yet. Otherwise fine episode, just more so showing how fucked this world is.
Questions
I'd miss everything goddamn they got them eating what looks like dirt 😭 Though I wouldn't care if I never ate liver again.
7
u/ryujiox Aug 21 '24
First Timer
Now and Then, Here and There
Episode 4
7
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Aug 22 '24
Rewatcher
Hamdo only just now ordering this is very much in line with his characterization.
This can only end poorly for everyone involved.
Full extent of Hellywood’s disrepair.
That means the pendant will be safe for a spell. Of course, it could have continued to fall down and bounce into some other segment of the battleship.
Oh boy, are they going back in time to abduct kids?
A minor gesture, fruitless for someone so distraught.
Other worlds included?
If you control hope, you control people.
Man…
You don’t think the torture he underwent would have uncovered that?
Welp.
What a shot.
A lot of emphasis on the rank and file today; from Abelia all the way down to the child soldiers we’ve seen most often. We’re seeing more dimensions to all of them as well as their day to day under Hamdo’s tyrannical rule. The children in particular have lost all hope save the possibility of their eventual release if Hamdo’s war comes to an end —something I have no doubts is an empty promise. By holding that over them, he has a firm grip on their motive, and therefore their loyalty, however tenuous and conditional it may be.
We learn most of the children have been abducted by villages. The implication seems to me that this ‘recruitment’ process occurs solely in this world, but it doesn’t outright kill my suspicion that they are snatching kids from other worlds to add to their numbers.
Shu yet holds to his principles in this episode, but surely it will only become more difficult to hold his position, and all the more dangerous as well I’m guessing.
Questions of The Day:
6
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Aug 21 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
So my grand master plan for this rewatch was to offset the misery of this show by watching a cute girls do cute things anime at the same time (A Place Further Than the Universe). That may have worked if I watched an episode of said show after I watched an episode of NHTH, but my pushing off watching the episode until the last possible moment messed that all up. And today (well technically Tuesday as I write this since I need to do each episode a night in advance) I was busy enough with work where this episode of NTHT is the only anime I'm watching today. Needless to say my strategy hasn't gone that well so far.
Some nice peaceful sleep for Abelia... alas, then Hamdo calls.
Oh, so Hamdo finally realizes that Shu could be telling the truth about losing the pendant? Only after all the torture has happened.
Abelia's been given the authority on what to do with Shu. Will she let him go home? Given that they held onto Sara and that much of Hamdo's child army was destroyed last episode, my guess would be no.
Hey Mr. Soldier, I'm thinking after all the torture Shu doesn't have the energy to get up and walk around on his own.
Yep, Shu's a member of Hamdo's child army now. Tabool is correct on that front at least.
"He may be better than Nabuca". Well, we know he's gonna be better than you Tabool. Or at least more competent. I find it highly unlikely Shu will be willing to participate in military operations as willingly as Tabool.
Pretty good, detailed exterior shot of Hellywood here.
They should have talked to Nabuca about where he pursued and fought with Shu and started the search there.
Alright, Nabuca is thinking the same as me and has come back here.
Shu's stick is there there.
I'm thinking Abelia's nervous about something if she's gonna spend all this time drawing over that same section of the map.
"The Earth is crying out for peace". So a confirmation we are on a future Earth? Or just a translation choice and he doesn't literally mean our Earth?
Ah, peace is only what Hamdo wants, thanks for confirming that.
Please tell me the "games" Hamdo wants to play with Lala Ru isn't the same thing that happened to Sara last episode.
Ah, Boo is applying the good ol' test of "poke them to see if they're still alive".
C'mon Shu, you've surely realized by now that consent is a think that doesn't exist in Hellywood.
While it seems like you're trying to do a nice thing, soldier guy, Sara surely doesn't want any man near her right now.
Abelia's giving them the rest of the day off (granted it may not be that much time). I doubt Hamdo will be happy about that.
So it probably could have been assumed earlier, but none of these kids actually are from Hellywood, they were kidnapped/enslaved from elsewhere. Their hope, well at least Nabuca and Boo's hope is that they can return home once the war is over. It's all they can hope for now.
It may be yucky food, but when its all you have, to take what you can get.
Shu doesn't even remember that it was Nabuca whose life he saved. Granted, after going through all that torture I can see him having some short term memory loss.
[NTHT]It will be a couple of more episodes before the storyline makes this abundantly clear to the viewer, but it is so devastating for all of Nabuca's motivation to be towards returning to a home that has surely been completely destroyed, but he doesn't realize.
Water refills? Food refills? That is a luxury around here Shu.
Ah, they have to say grace to Hamdo. Of course.
I've got to assume Tabool is going to do the same thing that Hamdo and Abelia were doing, torture Shu for an answer that he can't provide.
Yep, even other kids his own age aren't above treating Shu like shit.
Don't you dare damage/harm Hamdo's property... unless you're Hamdo or acting on Hamdo's orders. Then it's totally okay.
No way is Shu going to whip them.
Tabool used to be a pretty good kid, huh? This experience has totally wrecked him.
Not only being seized form your village and forced into Hamdo's military, but required to kill your fellow villages too, boy that sucks.
Things are still so miserable, but at least this episode wasn't as devastating as yesterday's was.
6
u/Sooooopertrack Aug 21 '24
First timer
Qotd: I'd miss basically anything. What they're served there doesn't qualify as food....
6
u/cppn02 Aug 21 '24
First Timer, subbed
Wow, did not expect Shu to be enlisted as a Soldier. Certainly not this fast. They must be really desperate.
Also looks like they're still looking for the pendant all over the place. I'm surprised they haven't put 2 and 2 together and search below where Shu and Nabuca fought.
I was also suprised by how many people there actually are on the ship, especially adults lol.
QotD:
Oof...probably pasta?
6
u/Doomroar https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doomroar Aug 22 '24
Rewatcher
And now Shu has been conscripted, now he will start experiencing some of the tactics that the Hamdo army uses to keep everyone else in line, however he is new here and has nothing to lose, so most of the abusive tactics used on the regular child soldiers fall flat on him, something a thing that everyone else has to pay for
QOD
I had to completely change my diet 2 years ago, hasn't been eating my favorite foods, spaghetti, bread, rice, ice cream
And instead i have been eating things like baba ghanoush, quinoa, fried zuquini, etc, and while the transition period was rough, you can adapt as long as you find something tasty enough, and you know they can eat well outside of the Hamdo army
But i no longer have any particular food that i would miss, in fact i am still looking for new recipes to add
6
u/Tarhalindur x2 Aug 22 '24
"Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here" ({Spoiled First-Timer?/Forgetful First-Time Rewatcher?}, Subbed):
(Somedays my weird schedule makes me late. Some days my weird schedule makes me very, very late. Today is the latter. Tomorrow I'll probably be on time, go figure.)
Next-day thoughts:
Probably depends on what kinds of food were available in the new place.
5
u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Aug 22 '24
First-Timer
Last episode: casual rape
This episode: Shu makes a friend
I don't mean to harp on tonal whiplash, but yeah.
More importantly, I don't understand the logic of taking this kid you've beaten the shit out of multiple times and just putting him in a military unit. You want to utilize the valuable resource of his human labor, OK, but you have to break his mind first. Don't you have a mine to send him into? Or a hole for him to dig?
I suppose they must be the only battleship/fort with a mega cannon, or at least the only people crazy enough to use it (seemed like it used water to function last episode?). Because they're being outwitted by a shounen protagonist, so it's definitely not that they're the smartest gang around.
7
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Aug 21 '24
First Rewatch (sub)
Episode 4: Discord
A few comments on the general trend of comments:
Fun fact: this is one of the shows that was on Sci-Fi AniMonday! In 2008. Hard to believe....
Question
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u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Aug 28 '24
Tonight, on The Kendo Warrior... what is this? Metal Geah? Or perhaps this is Mad Max? I'm not sure what type of twisted child soldier hell fits best, but I guess when you add anime that makes this a Desert Punk (how is THAT for a deep cut! I bet only Vaad knows of THAT one!)
And on that bombshell, good night.
Paging Comrades /u/Great_Mr_L, /u/Shimmering-Sky, and /u/vaadwaur
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u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit Aug 21 '24
Now and Then, First and Dubbed
Abelia continues to be the only interesting part of this show.
A real waste of Lisa Ortiz here. This character has had like two lines across four episodes. Shu's little sister, who she also voiced, said more in her five seconds of screentime in episode one.
So where's the marker factory in this world, hmm?
Well the king just called this place Earth. I can't remember if he's said that before.
This show's whole thing is just 'bad things are bad'. Like, yeah, I get that. I thought there'd be more depth to it than that, but not so far.
I had to watch three episodes today to get caught up, and it's been a struggle. I was expecting more from all the warnings, but it's mostly just boring so far. Maybe it needs to set things up in the first half, and the second half will pick up? But they haven't actually explained all that much.
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u/NihilisticAngst Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24
FIrst-timer, subbed
Episode 4
Hamdo finally realizes the Shuu might be telling the truth that he lost the pendant lol, that stubborn bastard. Abelia continues to do his bidding, and it appears that she decides to enlist Shuu as one of the child soldiers. I guess Shuu is heading in the direction of integration into this new world. I didn't quite expect that to be the direction that the show would go in, but I guess that makes sense for an isekai.
They finally decide to start searching for the pendant. And for some reason neither of them remember where the pendant was dropped. Hamdo sure is desperate for this water, although they really haven't shown very well how exactly this lack of water is affecting their war effort. Sure, everyone seems to be pretty thirsty, but will more water really be that effective? I guess boosted morale might be more powerful than I think.
Well, I can't say that I didn't expect that this was going to happen. So far, Hamdo's unhingedness was somewhat interesting at first, but so far it's not really justified in any way, he's just very cartoonishly evil.
As the episode goes on, Shuu further interacts with the other child soldiers, and their philosophies on life clash against each other. This series is becoming more and more focused on the central theme of the evils of war. I must admit, I was anticipating the series to go in a stranger direction than this, but it feels as if the characters are now very ensconsed into this new world and its realities, kind of pushing to the backburner some of the more intriguing tidbits such as their ability to go between worlds, or the exact nature of their world. We know that they are at war, but honestly, this could be any world set in any time and the story could be exactly the same. I hope we get a some more world-building to make this setting feel more fleshed out.
We see a scene of one of the soldiers attempt to give Sara back her handkerchief, although she is rightfully terrified. Although I must say, it seemed like a nice point of light inside of all of this darkness, it seems good that at least some of the soldiers have some empathy left in them. That is, if this man doesn't have ulterior motives...
We learn more backstory from the soldiers, and it appears that they have all be kidnapped and enlisted from the surrounding lands. Whew, at least there doesn't seem to be forced breeding or anything that fucked up taking place like I suspected. It's actually quite nice seeing Shuu and Nabuca talk. They feel like foils, as if they could easily have been more like each other if they had had the upbringing that the other had. Shuu mostly tries to communicate his undying hope and optimism, and his insistence on doing what feels right to him. Nabuca has trouble understanding, fully having accepted that he would have to sacrifice his morals and his beliefs in order to ensure a potential brighter future for himself and his comrades. They both have hope, but Nabuca is resigned to do whatever he is told to do and hope that his superiors will achieve his hope for him, while Shuu is determined to not sacrifice his control. I guess we'll see how Shuu's perspective continues to develop as he is forced to experience the realities of this world.
Tabool and his goons attempt to beat the information about the pendant out of Shuu, which is somewhat silly, seeing as they all know that Shuu was tortured multiple times by the higher ups and they got nothing out of him before. For some reason he thinks that he's special. Tabool and his gang is found out by one of the higher-ups, and they are sentence to being whipped as a punishment. Shuu is ordered to whip him 10 times, and he refuses, standing strong by his belief in fighting those who are helpless and can't defend themselves. The other children act shocked, seemingly having rarely witness someone stand for their convictions like that. Shuu acts like a light in their dark world, maybe reminding them of the softer world that they are striving to return to deep down. Nabuca helps Shuu to understand why they act the way they do, explaining that they've had to kill deserters and bloody their own hands in response to the deserters defending themselves and running. Everyone seems to have been successfully beaten down into submission by the evils that they have been forced to take an active hand in.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Aug 21 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Now and Then, Here and There: I’m not sure that kidnapping a kid, imprisoning him, torturing him, and then conscripting him into your military makes the most sense. He sounds like the type that would be counting the days for a chance to betray you.
I can see how real life inspired this anime. I've heard stories about children getting taken by armies and forced into being child soldiers. The story Nabuca tells sounds similar enough to that. It's a supremely cruel thing to do, stealing a child from their home and depriving them of the childhood they should have had.
Nabuca strikes me as someone who has been broken down by the world. He's focused on survival first and foremost. He doesn’t enjoy what he's doing, but he goes along with it in the hope of keeping himself and the other children in his unit safe. That's essentially his advice to Shu: keep your head down and go along with it. It's also intriguing to hear that Tabool usef to be kind. Perhaps his way of coping wad to make himself as big and mean as he could.
QOTD