History YMMV / NowAndThenHereAndThere

* NightmareFuel - What would you expect from an anime ''inspired by the Rwandan genocide''? Who needs anything supernatural when you have [[spoiler:ChildSoldiers, torture, widespread thirst, child rape camps...]]
** JesuOtaku says you may need a bath after hearing Hamdo's English voice. He unnervingly emphasizes the "child" in PsychopathicManchild.
** Episode 6. The scenes of the soldiers kidnapping children of a village, rendered in black-and-white stills, with the sound of stomping boots drawing closer.

* FridgeHorror - The director specifically says he was inspired to write this anime by the Rwandan genocide and by extension, Africa and the ThirdWorld's particularly brutal dictators and civil wars. Of course, in real life, there weren't just the infamous [[UsefulNotes/IdiAmin Idi Amin]] or [[UsefulNotes/ThePhilippines Ferdinand Marcos]] making hell for their people; there were plenty other brutal strongmen who didn't stand out quite as much in Western media. In other words, especially considering the environmental hardships Earth is facing in NTHT, Hamdo probably isn't the only brutal, power-hungry strongman out there.

* FridgeHorror - The director specifically says he was inspired to write this anime by Rwandan genocide and by extension, Africa and the ThirdWorld's particularly brutal dictators and civil wars. Of course, in real life, there weren't just the infamous IdiAmin and [[UsefulNotes/DemocraticRepublicOfTheCongo Mobutu Sese Seko]] in Africa or [[UsefulNotes/Nicaragua Antonio Somoza]] and [[UsefulNotes/Argentina Augusto Pinochet]] in Latin America making hell for their people; there were plenty other brutal strongmen who didn't stand out quite as much in Western media. In other words, especially considering the environmental hardships Earth is facing in NTHT, Hamdo probably isn't the only brutal, power-hungry strongman out there.

* FridgeHorror - The director specifically says he was inspired to write this anime by Rwandan genocide and by extension, Africa and the ThirdWorld's particularly brutal dictators and civil wars. Of course, in real life, there weren't just the infamous IdiAmin and [[UsefulNotes/DemocraticRepublicOfTheCongo Mobutu Sese Seko]] in Africa or [[UsefulNotes/Nicaragua Antonio Somoza]] and [[UsefulNotes/Argentina Augusto Pinochet]] in Latin America making hell for their people; there were plenty other brutal strongmen who didn't stand out quite as much in Western media. In other words, especially considering the environmental hardships Earth is facing in NTHT, Hamdo probably isn't the only brutal, insane strongman out there.

* FridgeHorror - The director specifically says he was inspired to write this anime by Rwandan genocide and by extension, Africa and the ThirdWorld's particularly brutal dictators and civil wars. Of course, in real life, there weren't just the infamous IdiAmin and [[UsefulNotes/DemocracticRepublicOfTheCongo Mobutu Sese Seko]] in Africa or [[UsefulNotes/Nicaragua Antonio Somoza]] and [[UsefulNotes/Argentina Augusto Pinochet]] in Latin America making hell for their people; there were plenty other brutal strongmen who didn't stand out quite as much in Western media. In other words, especially considering the environmental hardships Earth is facing in NTHT, Hamdo probably isn't the only brutal, insane strongman out there.

* {{Wangst}}: Sara.

* Wangst: Sara.

* MoralEventHorizon: Kind Hamdo has a few, before the series started, he had abducted numerous children, put them into combat [[spoiler: and destroyed their villages so they can't go home.]] Other examples could be Ordering Shu tortured.

* NightmareFuel - What would you expect from an anime ''inspired by the Rwandan genocide''?

* CompleteMonster - After seeing King Hamdo, you will never look at crazy villains the same way again.
** How much of a monster? Early on in the series we hear him ''kill a cat with his bare hands''.

* TheWoobie: Pretty much all of the main cast have their moments of this with the exception of King Hamdo, but Sara especially stands out in this category.

* JerkassFacade - Tabool. Many write him off as a plain old {{Jerkass}}, yet he spends an awful lot of time trying to pal around with the same people he antagonizes. Closer inspection during and after Zari Bars' first attack also reveals scenes where he is both terrified and depressed by the battle, which does not seem to fit the heartless/militaristic attitude he otherwise displays.
* LarynxDissonance: In the English dub, none of the child characters (except Boo) sound like children. This removes at least 50% of the story's impact. Shu suffers from this in the French dub as well.
** How much this impacts the story, if at all, is a matter of opinion. Arguably it's more important that the actors can actually ''act'', which isn't an issue in the dub, at least for the main characters. Using actual children for a show like this would be problematic, and having actresses play all the boys could run the risk of taking viewers out of the story just as much as having men play them.
** Japanese voice acting has a tendency to give child (or child''ish'') characters voices that are much too high-pitched for their stated age. Akemi Okamura is a fine actress, to be sure, but her vocal range is certainly ''not'' that of a real teenage boy. NTHT is far from the only anime to have this issue.

** MoralEventHorizon: Kind Hamdo has a few, before the series started, he had abducted numerous children, put them into combat [[spoiler: and destroyed their villages so they can't go home.]] Other examples could be Ordering Shu tortured.

** But then again, Tabool ''does'' [[spoiler:shoot Nabuca and kill him]] without showing any remorse. Crossing the MoralEventHorizon, anyone?

** The director specifically states it's a commentary about East African child armies, so probably the SPLA and LRA. (What happens to Sara is a particularly strong parallel with the LRA's treatment of girls as non-combatant sex slaves.)

* EnsembleDarkhorse - Fans actually complain that the story follows Shu instead of Nabuca

** But then again, Tabool ''does'' [[spoiler:shoot Nabuca and kills him]] without showing any remorse. Crossing the MoralEventHorizon, anyone?

* TheWoobie: Pretty much all of the main cast have their moments of this with the exception of King Hamdo, but Sara especially stands out in this category.

* TastesLikeDirt - Good ''god''.