Now and Then, Here and There - S01

Shuuzou "Shuu" Matsutani leads an ordinary life with friends, a crush, and a love for kendo. After losing a match to his rival, he climbs a smokestack to watch the sunset and meets Lala-Ru, a quiet girl with blue hair and a strange pendant. Though she responds with disinterest, Shuu tries to befriend her anyway. His efforts are interrupted when a woman appears with two serpentine machines, intent on capturing Lala-Ru. Shuu stubbornly tries to protect her, only to be dragged into a strange desert world. Even as he faces beatings from soldiers, his only thought is saving Lala-Ru. He soon learns she can control water through her pendant-a rare and precious ability in this barren land. But now the pendant is missing, and Shuu is blamed. "Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku" follows Shuu's struggle through torture, starvation, and war in a dystopian world, all to save the girl he found alone on that smokestack.