Underrated Anime Movies 2/?
2/?: Only Yesterday
(this review is SPOILER FREE!!!)
Only Yesterday is a Studio Ghibli movie directed by Isao Takahata, the director of Grave of the Fireflies and Princess Kaguya. Many people are familiar with Studio Ghibli movies such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and My Neighbor Totoro, but haven’t seen or even heard of Only Yesterday. I am here to change that!
This movie is a slice of life about an adult woman (Taeko) reminiscing about her childhood in flashbacks while she takes a summer job at a safflower farm to take a break from hectic city life.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for “city person moves to a farm to get a new perspective” stories. I know those narratives tend to over romanticize farm life, but this film actually touches upon that romanticization which is refreshing.
One thing that I really loved about this film is that it’s the first anime I’ve seen that mentions periods/menstruation. I can’t speak for other AFAB people but in my experience, periods were kind of a taboo subject until high school, when most people had already gotten their period and were more mature. This movie explores that specific set of time when you know what menstruation is but haven’t started it yet.
This movie is not at all sad, it’s just extremely wistful and nostalgic. I was able to relate to almost every single situation that Taeko reflects on; in fact I sobbed at so many instances because I was thinking about the comparisons to my own childhood (even though I am a bit younger than adult Taeko is).
Surprisingly, This movie did well at the box office, and maybe it’s well known and liked in Japan but I haven’t heard a word about it from western anime fans.
One thing I’m not a super big fan of is the art style; it’s that typical old-style Ghibli that most people are familiar with, but it’s kind of hard to describe what specifically feels weird to me, besides the fact that the aesthetics are so late 80s/early 90s that it hurts.
Anyway, please consider checking out Only Yesterday! It’s a really beautiful simple film full of nostalgia. Thanks for reading!
-threecheersforinking