Review #64: 'Only Yesterday' (1991)

A significant stepping stone in the progression of anime (or even in animation as a whole), Only Yesterday is the fifth film produced by Studio Ghibli. In a genre that usually consisted of either very adult themed comic book adaptations or hyper-kinetic action cartoons for children, Only Yesterday's gentle tone and mature themes struck well with audiences back in 1991, and the film proved a surprise box-office success.

Jumping back and forth in time, the film tells the story of Taeko, who in the modern-day, is a daydreaming office worker who travels back to her home town and falls in love with the peaceful agricultural trade ran by her cousin, and in the past, was a slightly spoilt, selfish child. Taeko looks back on her time at school, starting to have an interest in boys, her relationship with her family, and, in the most surprisingly comic scenes, starting puberty. Whilst farming in Yagamata, and falling in love with the landscape, she wrestles with her childhood self, and begins to wonder if she has lived up to what the child in her expected.

Directed by Isao Takahata, the second most prolific of the Ghibli directors (behind Hayao Miyazaki), the film has a beautifully nostalgic and melancholy tone. Similar to his earlier masterpiece (and in my opinion, the great of the Ghibli films) Grave Of The Fireflies (1988), the film manages to tenderly tug at the heartstrings, without coming across as sentimental or cloying. There are themes that other animation studios would not dare to go near. When Taeko and the other girls at school find out about periods for the first time, one of the girls tells the boys, and chaos soon follows. It becomes a craze for the boys to look up girls' skirts and shout 'she's got her period!'. It's a scene that if mishandled may have come across as strange and inappropriate, but it is extremely funny, and perfectly captures the innocent immaturity and curiosity of the age.

When Taeko first comes across the boy who likes her, she stands there frozen while he thinks of something to say. He asks her an almost inappropriately random question, which she ponders and then answers. The boy runs away skipping and singing, happy he's had the nerve take the step and talk to Taeko. It's a beautifully handled scene, and brims with the kind of emotions and tension that is attempted but ultimately mishandled by many a romantic-comedy. (That observation was made by my girlfriend Stacy, I have to add!)

When in the modern-day, admittedly the film does sometimes grind to a halt. While scenes of Taeko farming and admiring the scenery and general peacefulness of her new existence is beautifully drawn, and often profoundly moving, it does not make for exciting viewing. The scenes in her childhood have a gentle playfulness and sense of humour which brought me back to my childhood, where I was joyfully ignorant of the pressures of life, and frequently curious about those ever-increasing hormones. A rather wonderful film with Ghibli's usual beautiful animation and moving execution of its themes.


Directed by: Isao Takahata
Voices: Miki Imai, Toshirô Yanagiba, Youko Honna
Country: Japan

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie