Rozen Maiden is a show that used to be pretty popular on image boards and similar communities during the mid 2000s -- it's where the (ancient) desu meme came from, because one of the characters ends every sentence with that word. When I think "pre-2010 4chan," I immediately think of this show. While lots of people seem to be nostalgically fixated on 2000s-era anime these days, I find that this anime hardly ever comes up in such discussions, despite how popular it used to be during that time period, which makes me sad because I'm quite fond of it and it has a lot of unique qualities that stick out in my mind for "such a normal anime." It has a low-fantasy plot surrounding this group of dolls who wind up in this shut-in teenage boy's house, and they're competing in a game called the Alice Game, where the winner would become Alice, and be deemed worthy of meeting her creator. But what I cared about far more than any of that was just how heartfelt and sweet this little show was. I'm not typically a slice-of-life kinda guy, but these particular characters, their world, and their interactions really endeared me. Its overall message reminds me a lot of an anime like
Welcome to the NHK, albeit more lighthearted and uplifting. It doesn't have the most mind-blowing story, the most profound insight, or the most stellar animation, but it's all got an undeniable heart, and if you were to go into it with an open mind, I think it might make you cry, laugh and smile.
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Pleasantly surprised that this show was brought up here. By no means do I think it's perfect -- its thematic potency and intrigue stumble in the latter half -- but it excels in atmosphere and immersion. In the first half, I thought the villain could've doubled as an abusive parent, and the protagonist's entire metaphorical world -- his innocence -- was turned upside down by this frenzied, vindictive monster, who was waging war against innocence itself. The direction is nothing short of incredible -- I don't think I have ever been so thoroughly pulled into an anime's world like that before. I thought it made fantastic use of its budget. Its ambience and shot composition are unmatched.
Something pretty funny about
Now and Then, Here and There is that it's a complete and utter anomaly in Akitarou Daichi's career as a director. Barring that one show, his body of work mostly amounts to standard, lighthearted comedies. There's a pretty interesting theory that the anime was meant to serve as a deconstruction of Hayao Miyazaki's work, that it was framed around this question of how a protagonist with all the hallmarks of a Miyazaki protagonist would react to being placed into a terrifying hell, and whether or not he'd maintain his chipper resolve. Would recommend it to anyone who can stomach a gruesome anime of that caliber.