Yes it's true that "Ima, soko ni iru boku" ("Now and Then, Here and There") has a lot of allegorical content. A Japanese or American audience can easily watch the show and come away with themes about the dangers of imperialism and war. But there are subtler undertones as well. Like many Japanese filmmakers, Akitarô Daichi and Hideyuki Kurata seem intimately concerned with environmental issuesa problem that America would do well to acknowledge. Notice how Lala-Ru hates her station in life because people aren't fighting over land or oil, but over water, one of life's most essential elements.
Short of Miyazaki's work, Kurata's Shu is perhaps one of anime's most intricate characters. It would be easy to dismiss Shu as a typical animated cutout, but the character is in fact multi-layered and dynamic; he changes and evolves from the very first episode. Shu's capacity for reason and untarnished optimism make him one of the most interesting characters to emerge from anime in recent memory.
"Now and Then, Here and There" is an important piece of media with an important message. On our current path, humanity is doomed to disaster. Only by looking at the world through Shu's eyes can we avert the physical, emotional and moral desert that awaits us in the future.
Short of Miyazaki's work, Kurata's Shu is perhaps one of anime's most intricate characters. It would be easy to dismiss Shu as a typical animated cutout, but the character is in fact multi-layered and dynamic; he changes and evolves from the very first episode. Shu's capacity for reason and untarnished optimism make him one of the most interesting characters to emerge from anime in recent memory.
"Now and Then, Here and There" is an important piece of media with an important message. On our current path, humanity is doomed to disaster. Only by looking at the world through Shu's eyes can we avert the physical, emotional and moral desert that awaits us in the future.