Welcome everyone, to what is inevitably going to be a late post about Now and Then, Here and There! How do I know it will be late? Because I’m off traveling for work all day Thursday and I haven’t started writing this until Wednesday. So if I somehow manage to get it up on time make sure to tell me I did a good job. No please, Pavlov really works. Enough with the intro though, lets dive into the episode!
This week is a strong one. To lay it out in plain terms, this week was all about children and whether or not it is just to bring them in to a dying world. Now and Then poses this question to us through two different sets of characters: Lala and Sis, as well as Sara and Shu. With the answer to both of those being an unequivocal “yes”. On the surface, I think this is a pretty interesting question for the series. Especially when you look at how Now and Then has treated children, the future, prior to this in the show. As you dig deeper into it and look at the situations surrounding how Now and Then answers this question… It’s starts to get a little bit concerning. Even, dare I say it, a tad political. That’s right everyone, strap in, it’s time to talk abortion politics in anime.
This is gonna suck.
Let’s start with the easier of the two, Sis and Lala Ru. This one is a pretty straight forward message of not giving up on hope. That there is no reason to die out, or to give in and assume the world can’t get better, and that thus you should stop having kids. It’s not the most nuanced exploration of the subject but it’s not an offensive one either. I think this is a very clear, very hopeful approach to Armageddon and one that I ultimately agree with. I think that to give in would be to accept that the world cannot change, that there is no future. And that’s just a long road towards suicide and a philosophy of pessimism, something I very much disagree with. So in this regard, I don’t mind Now and Then’s approach that much. It’s perfectly serviceable. It’s Sara where things get… icky,
At its core, the question surrounding Sara and Shu is one of rape, abortion and a woman’s right to choose. This is, to put it lightly, a very touchy subject so I understand if anyone doesn’t want to talk about it or wants to skip this post. Maybe you don’t want politics in your anime! The fact of the matter though is that these politics are baked into Now and Then and there is no way around it. I also understand if you think I’m blowing this out of proportion, or seeing politics where it’s not. But to you I can only say… Look beyond the surface level of the show? Regardless, it’s time to talk politics. So you’re going to have to suffer through that a bit.
In this segment Now and Then presents the idea that life is sacred. That, despite the world being in ruins, Sara being raped and the child being the product of rape, the morally just thing to do is to let it be born. We see this primarily through Shu and the shows treatment of him, of his ideals. Up until now he’s been treated as rather… well, naïve. He’s constantly been forced to see the world around him as grey rather than black and white. And yet in this instance, more than any other, Now and Then seems to be walking that back. Rather than give him any complexity or pushing back against him, it instead portrays him as the just one. Constatly repeating “It’ll be ok” over and over without any actual reasoning or argument behind it. It’s a very emotional, very Pro-Life, argument that kind of ignores Sara.
What do I mean by ignoring Sara? Simply that, while Now and Then recognizes Sara’s feelings and situation exist, it doesn’t seem to consider them valid or give them the same weight as they do say… the Zari Bars citizens regarding killing Hamdo. Now and Then largely brushes over her feelings with the words “It’ll be ok”. Even going so far as to have Shu wrestle her down and stop her from making her own decision, from taking control of her life. On one hand I get it. Shu is one of the sole optimistic forces in the show, and I don’t mind Now and Then wanting to get its own Pro-Life philosophy out there. But on the other hand the way its depicted here comes dangerously close to… preaching, really. Of shoving one view down your throat without explaining why or exploring the other options. That works fine for crap like Fascism. Not so much women’s rights.
Taking a step back from abortion specifically, I think what my issue comes down to is this: I’m getting tired of Shu’s naïve world view. We have 2 episodes left. Yet despite constantly being challenged on his views, either from seeing reality or by the circumstances of the Zari Bars citizens, despite all the barriers thrown in front of him, Shu refuses to change. In fact, Shu is starting to be positioned as correct. Now and Then is starting to reinforce his view, presenting his actions as Just. He’s the protagonist, so that’s not terribly unexpected. I wouldn’t even mind that much under different circumstances. But the Pro-Life stuff is… well its concerning. It’s controlling. I suppose what I’m trying to say here is that despite presenting Shu as “The good guy”, Now and Then is giving him politics and positions I view as unethical. And that makes accepting him as the good guy more difficult than when his position was simply “Murder is bad”.
So yeah all in all I think this was a very contentious episode of Now and Then. One that left me more concerned for the ending than I was before. Between Shu and Sara, as well as Sara’s meeting with the Hellywood soldier, I’m afraid of what kind of message Now and Then is going to try and push in its finale. Will this be some kind of “Let the rapist be the father” kind of thing? Will it denounce them as terrible people? Or maybe Shu will be proven right and just, the Jesus of this world. I really don’t know! And I’m both excited, yet scared, to find out. I want Now and Then to end on a high note. Aside from this rape/pregnancy thing, I think it’s been a very good show. I just hope it doesn’t fall apart at the end.
