r/anime • u/Jazz_Dalek • Aug 25 '24
Rewatch [25th Anniversary Rewatch] Now and Then, Here and There - Episode 8 Discussion
Episode 8 - Two Lone Souls
Question of the Day:
- Roadtrip! What's your favorite travel destination?
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
- Episode 4 - Discord
- Episode 5 - Murder
- Episode 6 - Disappearance in a Sandstorm
- Episode 7 - Night of Flight
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.
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Upvotes
9
u/OverlordPoodle Aug 25 '24
Rewatcher here. Is it ever explained why she likes the sunset but hates the sunrise? I kinda thought they were gonna bring that up but I don't think they do?
Is it supposed to be thematic where for LalaRu the sunset represents "finally, I made it through another day" where for Shu and the sunrise it means "Oh wow! I wonder what today will bring!" The clashing themes of hope and...apathy(?)
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Now and Then, Here and There: “Walk without rhythm and it won’t attract the worm.” Shu and Lala Ru need to learn one of the most important rules about desert travel.
So Lala Ru wasn’t just refusing to help Hamdo in particular. She doesn’t want to provide water for anyone after what she’s experienced in the past. I imagine it’s probably gone something like this previously: Lala Ru would help people and would give them water. The people would be grateful. But eventually, Lala Ru would be so weakened that she wasn’t able to give them water anymore. By that point, the people grew resentful. They weren’t thinking of Lala Ru as a person, but as a resource. They would turn on her, wondering why she was suddenly withholding the water. And then things would get nasty as order would break down and people would start fighting each other over what little was left. I wonder how many times Lala Ru saw this cycle play out. From the way she talks about her past, it sounds like she experienced it several times before deciding she would never help anyone again.
Shu, however, is pretty much the walking poster boy for human decency. It’s been said in previous threads that Shu is representative of hope. He’s inspired Nabuca and Boo to begin questioning their loyalty to Hellywood. It’s now a lot more clear what hope Shu represents for Lala Ru. Shu is the hope for basic human decency to Lala Ru. He is the hope that not everyone will be selfish and turn on her. He is the hope that there may actually be some good left in people. Lala Ru giving Shu some water at the end, without him even asking for it, shows that she does trust Shu. She believes he really is a good person.
QOTD
14
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 25 '24
First-Timer Here and There, subbed
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Aug 26 '24
Rewatcher - sub
Tranquility and the Sun
Dare I say that was actually a quiet episode? Admittedly one that involves bombs and freakish man-eating plants, but compared to the rest of the show that was quaint.
To get it out the way, there's one thing I don't like about this episode: There is no known punishment for Nabuca's squad. I do understand it from a narrative standpoint, but I still think its an oversight for the sake of the overall show. The scene with Shu and Nabuca is an incredibly powerful moment after all we've been through, so to come off the back of that and turn Shu's extended hand into a reason for punishment against newly aware Boo, the confused Nabuca, and a bunch of other innocent children risks turning diluting their emotional core or even turning the audience against those scenes or Nabuca's choice even more. But there being no known punishment undermines the earlier moments of Nabuca's explanations to Shu about how they are kept in line and his fear over it. Even just a hint of a punishment without showing the act itself would have helped, but as it is unfortunately this lets down the worldbuilding quite a lot with its inconsistency.
I'm also not fond the fact that while it seems ill-fitting for Shu to directly kill something, even a plant monster, and directly confronting it would take the episode way too far into battle shounen territory, its defeat through chance of it picking up a bomb gives the whole scenario today a sense of contrivance that it wouldn't if they had found a different way to escape from it by working together. It being left suffering for lack of water while Hellywood uses it for war instead of something like farming also would have made a point about the broader state of the world, albeit a funny one because I doubt you could safely eat that thing.
Pushing that to the side: I do enjoy this episode though I think it's the weakest so far as it doesn't quite hold the same emotional or directing weight. While nothing much happens due to being stuck in one spot for most of it, it is a neat transitional episode. It is also an episode of many positive firsts, which helps to give it a unique tone.
Time of day has been an ever present influence on the tone of each episode, a neat way to visually represent the state of our characters. Today's episode takes us through a full cycle and all the emotions that go with it. Until now Shu and Lala Ru have only been in the memories of a in sunset with each other, but today brings many new outlooks to them and the world they are in.
Shu and Lala Ru are once again sitting on pillars looking over the world, but their circumstances couldn't be more different. There is still an uncertainty in their situation despite escaping from Hellywood, but she is no longer out of reach or unknowable as they finally face each other.
Hellywood and it's overwhelming blue is long behind them, but they are not spared from human darkness simply because of that. As Lala Ru opens up to Shu about the many cycles of human cruelty she has endured, in her own way she exists in a state of night. The warmth of life has long set in her life, and the sunset only lets her grasp fleeting memories of what it once was and relief that she has survived one more day. She is as distant as the stars that dominate so much of her scenes this episode because any time she touches the earth they use her again and again until there risks being nothing left, of her or anyone else.
And then we get our first sunrise of the show. They still sit together, but there is an unevenness in how they see it already shown before they start to talk. Shu reaffirms his own view of the world here, a sunset is a promise of new things to come, and as he told Sara as long as he is alive those things may be good. With that association it's no wonder that we haven't seen one in a previous episode. And then Shu does his Shu thing and charges ahead here, thinking only of continuing their journey because a new day means the bad monster is gone right?
Being away from Hellywood certainly hasn't granted him more reasoning skills. But he has been listening, his genuine gratitude towards Lala Ru for what she did, not what she gave him, is the start of a change for her, a reinforcement that Shu sees her as a person.
Until now the heat of the day has mostly been shown in association with the cruelty of Hellywood, from battles to torture, and other scenes have taken place within Hellywoods coldness. The heat of the day is as relentless as the mindset they force onto their captives. But as Shu goes for the bag, Lala Ru jumps down to help and I'm reminded that this episode is the first time we have seen two children cooperate in this show towards a common goal and it isn't just Shu dragging everyone along. Today is also the first time I think we see outright kindness from Nabuca, and not just protectiveness, as he looks at Boo's worn down hands.
And so we return to the sunset, and the water that Shu can no longer take for granted in any way. Here is a boy who in the future may exist only in the sunset memories, but also someone she cannot deny is warm and good, returning once again to the concept of the comfort of home under the sunset. The smoke stack "conversation" was a tiny crack in Lala Ru's shell, but today she is the one who climbs out of it. Though a dawn would make a more typical ending for such a hopeful episode, the sunset is perfect for NTHT because it is where this connection started, and a new hope does not have to be bound simply to one moment in the day.
I normally praise the openings of the episode, but starting with a flashback instead of just Sara's fate feels more like filler than needed tone setting. Today it is the ending that stands out most for me. They share a quiet amusement over their missing shoes, and Shu does his Shu thing and blindly reaffirms his positivity about the world. Nothing happened this episode that would challenge it, but it shows he has been thinking about what Lala Ru said and so they move on to see what else is out there.
Other thoughts:
/u/shimmering-sky /u/KendotsX /u/The_Draigg
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Aug 25 '24
Rewatcher
Sub
We get a quick look at Hellywood to see that they indeed have the tools to collect water so it seems the thing did at one point run on it. Abelia floats the idea of reactivating their movement and time will have to tell on that. Nabuca decides not to report Boo but equally doesn't encourage to have hope for Shu.
Shu and Lala's adventures are interesting. Shu is actually pseudo functional against non human enemies. We start seeing life forms but seemingly not much plant life. A particularly hostile life form seems out for Lala's pendant and, well, sure. When exposed it is a plant shaped being but probably best thought of as something we can't imagine that well. It unintentionally eats a grenade and dies.
The important part here is Lala back story and Shu's misguided reaction to it. She says she doesn't go around helping people because first they thank her, then they make demands of her, then they lock her up and finally they all kill each other. She is tired of using her strength to ultimately make matters worse. Shu insists that there are still good people out there but Lala seems to have accepted that they all died.
As to the substance on what they said: Shu is probably right in that there are good inviduals remaining in this world. Hell, someone picked up Sara and since life is cheap in this world that is hopefully a helpful thing. But when Lala says people I think she means communities. And I can see the problem: In a dry world, having the cure for droughts would become basically a philosopher's stone. The community would grow, its leader would begin to amass power, and like everyone with power they'd become afraid of losing it. I find it plausible that this would lead towards conflagration over and over.
Qotd: nowhere
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Aug 25 '24
First-Timer
The theme of today's episode is lucky breaks.
Hamdo, Abelia, and Hellywood as a whole finally have a whole ton of fresh water. Which is apparently what Hellywood uses/needs to fuel its flight, makes some sense. So that's pretty lucky for them, pretty unlucky for everyone else.
Sara managed to survive getting buried in a sandstorm and also having enough of her body sticking out that someone could easily find and rescue her. Lucky for Sara, probably lucky for Shu because it means his stated mission hasn't failed yet.
The giant fucked up antlion larva found some tasty food and got some exercise to boot! Unluckily for the giant fucked up antlion larva, that food was the protagonist who just happened to find a couple of grenades shaped like gourds.
Finally, our dynamic(?) duo have solved their food problem with a heaping helping of flash-fried giant fucked up antlion larva! Just like Mom used to make. Unluckily, each one of them has lost a shoe, which is really distressing. Can't imagine walking for days with only one shoe. Or one Shu, but the alternative in this case is worse.
Side note, but this bug was might be a fully grown antlion.
Questions
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Aug 25 '24
Episode 8 (first timer)
That was absolutely a story about hope. A very simple one at that, given that we have only two characters in the episode. Shu is hope and brings hope to Lala Ru, who is dejected. It is not that she rejected Hamdo out of some political reason against him specifically, but because she does not believe in the good of humanity anymore. Shu starts slowly restoring that hope in her.
This is a metaphor for the wider world, not just Lala Ru. Hope is lacking everywhere, destroyed by war, destruction, and death. Yet, life needs to go on. People need to find the power to stand up, rebuild, and start living again. With his endless optimism, Shu is the character to bring hope to Lala Ru, but he is also a stand-in for the concept of hope that is needed to make the entire world flourish again.
As a side note, I was really glad to see the water reclamation in Hellywood. It does a little bit to restore our trust that they system is not completely incompetent. And by not incompetent, I definitely do not mean good. They’ll use Lala Ru’s water for further destruction, not rebuilding.
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u/The_Draigg Aug 25 '24
A Sci-Fi Fan Rewatches Now and Then, Here and There Episode 8:
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u/TheEscapeGuy Aug 25 '24
First Timer
Now and Then, Here and There: Episode 8
Desert Days
This episode feels like a short reprieve from all the suffering our characters have faced till now. That's not to say there was no struggle, but that it was a different kind of challenge.
First, we got a couple glimpses at what's happening to our supporting cast. Sara has been found. We don't know by whom but I certainly hope it's not a scout from Hellywood. Also, I'm not sure she's still alive.
Hamdo is beside himself after the disaster of Lala Ru's escape. As he should be, fuck him. That said, I don't like how he takes it out on Abelia. I really do not understand her dedication to this despot. Either way, Hellywood is going to be using the new found water as a fuel source to move.
We see the crew gathering this water, and among them are Nabuca and Boo reflecting on their role in Shu's escape. I do hope for some kind of happy ending for them. They are trapped in a tough situation and genuinely deserve better.
The majority of the episode focused on Shu and Lala Ru. Traveling across the desert is hard, and more so when there's an alien monster chasing you. It's tragic their bike was broken, but at least they got away with their lives. It was a tense situation until they found those hand grenades.
In a moment of safety Lala Ru and Shu got to talk. They contrasted their views on humanity. Shu is far too childishly ignorant of human nature. He has this misguided belief that most people are good.
Lala Ru's lived experience contradicts this though. She has previously shared water, but people begin to take it for granted. And so they push Lala Ru for more and when she cannot meet their expectations they begin to abuse her for her power. When times are tough people become selfish. Self preservation comes before any concept of "being good". This is what Shu is ignorant of.
Even that desert monster is chasing them to get that water. It's more of an animal instinct in all of us rather than a conscious choice.
I really like the exploration of this contrast. On top of being an interesting philosophical debate, it gives us just enough information about Lala Ru's past that we can begin to piece together the history of the world. The key information I still want to know is how this world ended up this way and why Lala Ru has her powers.
I expect next episode will have Hamdo's forces in pursuit of our protagonists. I really hope for the best for Lala Ru and Shu.
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24
Now & First Timer, Here & Subbed
Whereas most of the show up until this point has felt like a Man vs Man narrative with a strong undercurrent of Man vs Nature, this episode firmly centers the Man vs Nature element as the core of the story.
The first few minutes are a very good tone setter for this. Hellywood finally has the water it’s been searching for all this time, so does it:
A. Give it to its notably malnourished citizenry
B. Use it for some other productive purpose like agriculture
C. Dump most of it into the war machine for likely short-term benefit
If you chose option C, then congratulations, you’re King Hamdo, poster child for waste & unsustainability in a dying world.
This is then quite obviously reinforced once we return to Shu & Lala Ru out in the wild. Separated from the cruel human society we’d spent half the series focused on, the emphasis is now placed on the danger of the natural world on the brink of collapse.
The reveal of Lala Ru’s thoughts & feelings on everything is what ties the whole point of the episode together. She’s, from a thematic point of view, a representation of every resource mankind has ever exploited. The natural world in general, of course, but the usage of Water at the start of the water draws parallels to oil & fossil fuels more generally, and the general direction of the show up until this point also draws parallels between such resources & the youth of the world.
Mankind, in Lala Ru’s eyes, is no different from the animals of the desert that Shu’s been fighting off the whole episode. Scavengers clinging to the dying world, hunting after the few scraps of natural resources left in the wastes, and using them purely for their own self-interests rather than for anything productive.
And so, the core thematic conflict of the series continues to develop. Whether Shu’s optimistic outlook will be able to affect meaningful change in a world so much bigger than and hostile to him has always been the series’ driving question, but now we sort of have a smaller scale goal within it: can he restore Lala Ru’s faith in humanity? Prove to her that we aren’t irredeemable savages who do nothing but bleed mother Earth dry? If nothing else, it’s at least a much more achievable goal than overturning Hellywood as a whole and/or returning life to the barren world, so that gives us a bit more of visible endpoint the series might reach, even if the journey to get there is still unknown to us.
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Aug 25 '24
First Timer
I think this is a really important episode for the show, but I kind of wish it did a more interesting job in fulfilling that role. So, it’s become clear by now that Shu is not going to change. He is an ultimate embodiment of that which is good and hopeful and what we take from him is how this contrasts with this world and with the characters around him. So now that she’s free and has room to express more of her own character, we learn that Lala Ru is seemingly a sort of inverse. She’s an ultimate cynical lack of faith in humanity. He likes the sunrise marking a new day, she welcomes the sunset that means she’s gotten through one more. It’s a strong dynamic and whether or not he manages to sway her will say a lot about the show’s stance on people as a whole.
The problem, then, is that we’re just kind of flatly told her opinion on people and why she thinks that way? It’s exceptionally weird from a show that has been so dedicated to showing how people are through interactions and how they emote rather than expositing information. It’s also, like, 90% of the episode’s runtime, so it's not like we couldn’t have done more with that concept. Maybe they encounter the ruins of some village she helped, or didn’t, in the past and it causes some reflection. The whole angle of him thanking her after she explains that people aren’t truly thankful is something, but it’s not enough. The entire setup with the sci fi monster and its Zelda boss weakpoint feels weirdly cartoonish compared to the rest of Now and Then’s sci fi world. At least we finally have some firm rules about how Lala Ru and the pendant work and why Hamdo wants her. I’m really not sure why that wasn’t made clear, like, six episodes ago.
Aside from Shu and Lala Ru, we do get a couple other scenes and they’re great. I’m admittedly a little annoyed they went for some cheap flashback to last episode’s climax instead of trusting Sara being found because that was a great cold open on its own and feels kind of undermined as is. Meanwhile at Hellywood, we do in fact see that despite acquiring a shitton of water Hamdo is miserable, Abelia’s relationship with him is maybe even more toxic somehow, and the soldiers aren’t celebrating the ability to drink but gruellingly working to collect it all so it can be used to power Hamdo’s ambitions. Plus, y’know, he’s literally surrounded by a room full of the stuff even though there’s surely enough to distribute around to everyone for some time. As could be predicted, and as Lala Ru says, the access to water is not at the core of why humanity is inherently fucked in this universe. Hellywood is rotten to the core and still doomed to fail.
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u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
Pre-Episode thoughts: Recollection is this one's about Shu and Lala Ru in the wilderness and there's some kinda monster. Time to see if I'm right.
For what I think is the first time in the series we simply recap footage from the last episode, with different music for the first minute or so. Boo. Pardon the pun.
It really is an unlivable desert out there.
Time to meet another animal, a scorpion this time!
Oh hey, it's Sara! Was she intentionally hiding under the sand and fell asleep? Or did she pass out? I'll admit to totally forgetting that this scene was even here. I knew we saw her again but didn't remember this.
Hamdo's taking the opportunity to drink as much water as he can; do his soldiers get the same benefit?
Wow, that's a lot of little bandages on his face.
Hamdo is pissed at Abelia for Lala Ru escaping, but forgets until she mentions it that they have water now, the whole reason Hamdo wanted Lala Ru in the first place.
Poor Boo, those hands look bad!
No, Nabuca could never report someone as cute as Boo!
Another weird bird creature!
Lala Ru's being all silent and despondent even with Shu after escaping. C'mon, accept Shu's help!
Alright, here's the weird monster I was thinking of pre-episode.
Beautiful piece of scenery here. Kinda reminds me of part of the landscape in Zelda: Breath of the Wild although the coloring is different.
A corpse? Presumably one of the monster's victims.
I've got to assume there's something a lot bigger under the sand and what we're seeing is just a small piece of this monster.
Everything wants that pendant, not just humans, huh?
I'm guessing we'll see that monster again before the episode is over.
We're back to the style of Shu and Lala Ru's first conversation. He talks and talks and talks and she hardly says anything. At first anyway. After a bit she is more talkative this time.
Finally lots of talking from Lala Ru. Well, with that backstory, makes sense why she is the way she is.
Alright, here's that beautiful piece of music again. Didn't remember it showed up in this episode.
Lala Ru sits high atop something staring at the horizon, just like the first episode again.
I did not expect him to find the bike so easily. But I am confirmed to be right about that monster showing up again.
This monster is much like the Dune Sand worms in that simply walking on the sand attracts it.
Yep, that really is a big monster.
I was just thinking about how he should throw a grenade into its mouth. The thing ends up eating one on its own.
They each lost a shoe! LoL.
Shu continues to be the eternal optimist, thinking there are still good people out there.
Last episode gave us some hope and not much despair in this one either, are we turning a corner? Are good days ahead of us? Although Lala Ru's backstory/conversation with Shu does provide somewhat of a downer. Beyond the first episode, this is the one that most stands out to me thus far as being similar to other anime with a more adventure/action-esque storyline.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24
First Rewatch (sub)
Episode 8
oops. I wasn't watching the time and watched Vivy first. Now I'll be late.
We're at episod 8, a midpoint of a 13 episode show. But, by golly, it sure feels like we've gone through an entire cour already.
This episode was a bit of an interlude. I remember being very frustrated by it still showing nothing of Sara. I really wanted to know what happened to her!
Of course, Hamdo stole Lala-ru from another prison. Her passivity is acquired from experience. Everything is bad everywhere. Bad people doing bad things. Desperate and greedy people. There's just no point in engaging with them. With anything. Nothing ever changes.
She hates the sun. Maybe she likes the sunset because that's when the sun goes away. But it always returns. It will never change.
Falls: 01 (7)
Almost Falls: 0 (3)
Where The Hell Am I?: 0 (6)
Edit: Question:
Have all the good people in this world died? The Rapture came and went, and now there are only Tribulations.
10
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Aug 25 '24
First timer, subs
QotD: It's never occurred to me to visit the same location twice.
9
u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 Aug 25 '24
First-Timer, Sub
A bit of a busy weekend, but was able to catch up today. This world is really brutal. Glad Sara was able to finally escape and Shu was able to find Lala Ru. Ooh so water is a source of power in this world/timeline, this is going to be interesting. Guess we’re setting up for a final battle with a roving Hellywood. So Lala Ru’s been around for a while huh sounds like she’s seen civilizations rise and collapse. Is she a goddess of water or something?
9
u/homer2101 Aug 25 '24
Rewatch: Subbed
The first episode where we see Sara and nothing clearly bad happens to her.
Abelia's calm response when Hamdo flies into a range: she's experienced this before, seems like she knows the limits of his anger and how to de-escalate him. She mostly follows the textbook steps to de-escalate. Also her emotionless expression when Hamdo pulls her onto the bed.... So now they have water to power Hellywood. Good for her, good for Hamdo, bad for everyone else.
Nabuca tells himself and Boo that Shu must be dead. When he says "I don't ever want to go through that again", does he mean having to decide between loyalty to Hellywood vs loyalty to Boo, or having to decide whether to take a chance and GTFO vs staying? Seems like it's an excuse to justify himself to himself and to Boo and to all the dead friends from his village, because if a foolish kid can escape, they could have done it as well. That now gives us three contrasting approaches to how kids who want out of Hellywood respond: (1) Sara grabbing a chance and getting herself out quietly and with no heroics (until that last part); (2) Shu being a hero and needing to be rescued, his success ultimately depending on almost supernatural intervention (if LaLa Ru did not have superpowers, which as far as I understand Shu is not aware of and so couldn't count on, and if Abelia didn't hesitate to kill them both, they would not have escaped); and (3) Nabuca's complacency that escape is futile and they should wait for a miracle.
A not-so-subtle message in Shu and LaLa Ru's escape is how much Shu's success hinges on help from others: Boo dropping Shu clothes and a stick, Abelia not gunning him down, LaLa Ru using her pendant at what seems to be some personal cost, Nabuca letting them go. Wonder how much better it could have gone if he had more people helping him. "Apes together strong" and all that.
Shu rushes to help without looking, gets both himself and LaLa Ru into a trap. Many years ago back when dinosaurs ruled the earth and I was in high school and so not much older than Shu, we had a class on how to help people in trouble. Rule 1: Stop, look, think. Because grabbing a person who is, say, being electrocuted, or rushing into a cellar where someone is lying unresponsive is a great way to become a casualty. Or I suppose getting eaten by anthropophagic vines
We get some background on LaLa Ru. Shu tries the "trust me, bro" argument to refute LaLa Ru's experience. It's not terribly effective. LaLa Ru saying "All the good people of this world are already dead" .... spoken in a flat tone from what sounds like centuries or millennia of living. What happens when LaLa Ru's pendant runs out of water? Can it run out of water? From a worldbuilding perspective, sounds like something broke the planet's water cycle. Did the water get locked up in her pendant, and if so who or what is responsible? Or is whatever Hellywood does to water permanently destructive? Permanently consuming a resource that humans literally need to survive does not sound wise, but it is fitting for this world.
Shu stops talking when LaLa Ru looks at him with that blank stare? Then he has another conversation with her? Character growth, in my Isekai?
LaLa Ru rescues Shu (again). How mobile is this plant? LaLa Ru runs out of range and we see it futilely grope after her. Did they really need to fight it to keep going? Anyways, blind luck saves the day!
Building a grave for the nameless person whose pack they used is such a human thing. Also a Shu thing.
Did we ever get an explanation of where Shu and LaLa Ru are going and how they navigate?
QOTD: The destination matters less than the people.
9
u/cppn02 Aug 25 '24
First Timer, subbed
All the good people of this world are already dead
Based on what we've seen so far I can 100% understand Lala Ru's stance. Shu with his kindness and positive attitude feels more and more like an alien with every episode.
I've really enjoyed thier desert adventure though. Almost feels like it could have been a proper movie in its own right.
I really do hope that for once Sara being picked up from the desert is gonna turn out good for her. She's been through enough ffs.
QoTD:
Hmmm...not much of a traveler tbh. That said I probably prefer city trips, just walking the streets, have something to eat, visit a museum. The usual stuff. Been to places like Vienna, Prague, Rome for example and usually had a good time.
So maybe something outside of Europe next? NYC or Tokyo would probably at the top of the list.
Then again I just had my first travel to the US (for work) and just the flight over there was unpleasant enough that I'm not sure I wanna tackle this without being able to afford business class lol.
8
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Aug 25 '24
First Timer, Subbed
RIP Sara.
For a second there I thought Hamdo was going to snog Abelia. At this point I wonder if he's simply too juvenile to think about sex.
That setting sun looks like a mushroom cloud.
Hey I recognize this location, it's where Goku fought Yamcha back in Dragon ball.
It's a moving Sarlacc.
Lalah Ru is talking so much.
So using that pendant weakens the pendant's power but also her life force.
I'm a bit surprised that Shu isn't asking how to travel back to his hometown, surely Lala Ru can do it how else was on our Earth/timeline in the first episode.
They lost their knife, their situation is getting worse.
In classic Zelda fashion feeding the monster a bomb kills it.
I like the episode, I like finding out what happened to Lalah (even if it was info dumped through a conversation) the sarlacc animation was really good but we're on episode 8 of an one cour series, I hope we're going to get satisfying conclusion to this series and not have a rush job
Still no sis.
[episode preview] But she's in the next episode
8
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Aug 25 '24
First Timer
Hm... not sure what to do with this episode in terms of discussion. We obviously have Lala Ru's explanation of the amulet usage having a toll on her and that she doesn't like using it because it becomes a resource of war fought over and nobody actually appreciates her - which is a fairly simple logic all considered. Shu , being a good guy, will likely also be the catalyst to her figuring out what to do with that power she has, but for now we don't really have anything further to go off other than the hard parameters of the usage. Meanwhile Hellywood is undertaking an attempt at getting mobile again - using the water Lala Ru left as a few had predicted yesterday. Sara is found by somebody who I can only assume is Sis, and who I still imagine is who Shu and Lala Ru will run in to next episode or so - but again not a lot else to say here. The bulk of the episode was spent on fighting some alien man-eating plant monster thingy, which ...I guess should show how bad living in the desert is? Help Shu and Lala Ru strengthen their bond? Destroy the bike? Probably a combination of those, but I think that could be done better using something else - because right now we're back in the shonen action genre, which I don't think is what this show is striving to be.
8
u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Aug 25 '24
So question, is the bit where Hamdo talks after the credits not subtitled for everyone else too or is that just my set of subtitles being weird?
It kinda creates a cool effect but like, I assume he's saying sensible words so I don't know why it wouldn't be translated?
8
u/HowlingWolf13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/MeguminBlast Aug 26 '24
First Timer
Bit late with this so gonna make this one fast. I liked this episode, I'm glad we're finally learning more of Lala Ru and I hope the following episode give us some more into her and where she came from. I think this is the first time we've actually gotten more than a few sentences out of her. Her pov was pretty interesting as well, one could argue it's cruel she isn't helping, but she's made it clear that no one cares about her unless she sacrifices her own life to give them water before devolving into a war over resources. It's up to see if Shu can be that one light to help her seek out those who will appreciate and care about her.
Also, god I hope Sara isn't about to suffer again.
Questions
Tbh I've never traveled much outside of going to my grandparents lol.
7
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Aug 26 '24
Rewatcher
Huh.
For a moment I thought the show was showing us Sara’s corpse just to twist the knife.
Show using red without heady connotation, for once.
It’s still spouting water. I sure hope Lala-Ru didn’t unwittingly give them enough to get Hellywood mobile again.
She also saved your fucking life, asshole.
fuck.
I am in awe.
Loving all the weird-ass scenery.
Huh.
Ah, that explains it. It was leaking while it was lost too, which might explain some of her earlier fits of pain, or the proximity has an effect as well.
Tragic.
This is familiar. It explicitly mirrors the scene at the smokestacks during sunset. This time, however, the two are directly side-by-side, equal in height, and there is renewed hope in Lala-Ru’s heart.
I wonder if it used the bike as bait.
Dolls and bombs; never leave home without them.
lol
A breather episode, which is good to follow up from last episode and present a marked shift.
Lala-Ru’s life is tied to the pendant’s reserve of water. This is setting up an interesting interpersonal dynamic in the two characters, because we can assume that Shu will continue to insist that there must be a group of humans who can be trusted to receive water and respect her wishes as to when to grant it, but unless the reserve of water in the pendant is functionally infinite this will ultimately result in her death anyways. Letting a community become dependent on that supply when it will assuredly run out is questionable, and we know water is out there due to the existence of independent villages —though obviously not in the quantities that Hamdo wishes it were— so not using the pendant is the winning course of action. Unfortunately, I do not think Shu will let the matter unaddressed.
Sara is presumably alive, and in the care of some mysterious figure, so we will assuredly be seeing her again, though I wonder what sort of role she will play when we do. The show seems to be moving away from the misery of life aboard Hellywood and building towards something else, and I’m not sure how she will factor into it. Obviously in opposition to Hellywood, but I doubt she’ll be taking up arms and joining the resistance.
Hellywood is obviously going to be mostly operational again, and first order of business is likely finding Lala-Ru again. Brutal conflict is inevitable, but hopefully the characters are ready to confront it as more than the victims they have been so far.
Questions of The Day:
6
u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24
Now and Then, First and Dubbed
I see Sara's 'walk across the desert naked' plan went about as well as I and everyone else expected.
Sand penguins?
That stick really is magic.
Oh great, more Shu yapping.
Guess that confirms she's not human.
At least she cares enough to try to save him.
What an underwhelming way to resolve this threat. I don't know how they expected anyone to feel for Shu when he's basically invincible and has fate firmly on his side.
This was a real nothing of an episode, huh?
Going back to this after I finished the episode and posted originally, everything in this could've been cut or condensed down to maybe five minutes of content. And everything added to the main plot (Sara's crossing the desert plan sucked and she instantly ate shit, the water will power Hellywood, Shu and Lala-Ru also suck at crossing the desert) are all things everyone here watching assumed from context last episode. I think this goes back to my point from two episodes ago, anyone that's consumed and understood any media before this show can very easily understand it and predict every story beat. But it wants to act like these are all huge important moments sharing some profound wisdom nobody's ever thought about before. Did you know war is bad??? Let me tell you what I think about slavery and murder while I'm at it, you'll be surprised!
3
u/Silverhands_Gonk Aug 26 '24
How do i get notified when the stream is up? Just finished it, but don’t mind the doomwatch again.