Now and Then, Here and There

Now and Then, Here and There
Promotional image for Now and Then, Here and There depicting Shu and Lala-Ru
今、そこに いる僕 (Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku)
Genre	Drama, Military, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Anime television series
Directed by	Akitaro Daichi
Written by	Hideyuki Kurata
Music by	Taku Iwasaki
Studio	AIC
Licensed by	AUS Siren Visual NA ADV Films (expired), US Manga Corps (former)
Original network	WOWOW
English network	CA Super Channel NA Anime Network SEA AXN US Anime Selects, AZN Television, Syfy
Original run	October 14, 1999 – January 20, 2000
Episodes	13

Now and Then, Here and There (今、そこにいる僕, Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku^?) is a thirteen episode anime series directed by Akitaro Daichi and written by Hideyuki Kurata. The story was originally conceived by director Daichi. It premiered in Japan on the WOWOW television station on October 14, 1999 and ran until January 20, 2000. It was licensed for Region 1 DVD English language release by Central Park Media under their US Manga Corps label. Following the 2009 bankruptcy and liquidation of Central Park Media, ADV Films rescued the series for a boxset re-release on July 7, 2009. However, the ADV re-release is now out-of-print.

Now and Then, Here and There follows a young boy named Shuzo "Shu" Matsutani who, in an attempt to save an unknown girl, is transported to another world which is possibly the Earth in the far future. The world is desolate and militarized, and water is a scarce commodity.

While walking home from school, "Shu", the main protagonist, a boy who loves Kendo, intercedes to protect a girl, (Lala-Ru), who is attacked by abductors in a mechanized dragon and is accidentally transported to the attackers' world as a result — a wasteland devoid of water and dominated by a red giant star. Lala-Ru possesses a pendant containing a vast reservoir of water, and has the ability to control that water.

Shu is trapped in this new, harsh reality, and he is beaten and interrogated repeatedly inside the warship commanded by the ruthless, manic dictator, Hamdo. While locked in a cell he meets an abducted girl who introduces herself as Sara Ringwalt of America. Sara's reason for her capture was being mistaken for Lala-Ru by Hamdo's minions. Sara goes through extremely horrific experiences and eventually becomes emotionally scarred. After an assault by an unknown enemy landship, Shu is forced to join an army of child soldiers; children trained for the looting of villages, in which they kidnap female villagers for breeding, and conscript orphaned male children into the ever dwindling ranks of Hamdo's army.