Onto this next Ghibli movie which is about a 27-year-old unmarried office worker living in Tokyo, as she takes a ten-day holiday to visit relatives and help with the safflower harvest in the rural countryside. This one was good an unlike other ones because it cuts between Taeko’s childhood memories and what she’s currently doing in the present. Surprisingly it didn’t feel that jarring and made it pretty unique as you can see how what she went through back the shapes who she is today as she reflects upon the times.

It was good. My thoughts might be a bit jumbled because of the film’s structure and some portions of the film I have more to say on than others. Like the school time portions are fine. I do relate to the part where she was sick and attended school but had to sit out from P.E. These parts were a nice depiction of adolescence along with other moments like her struggling with math which I also relate with. I didn’t like how cruel her family was during this because it was kind of unnecessary to be so insult her intelligence. I know it can be frustrating to help a kid in a subject, especially since you believe the teacher taught them how to do this or it’s not that hard, but some children need more help and patience than others and it’s not fair to say they are dumb and rub it in their face. They already feel bad you’ll only make it worse. Speaking of the part where the father slapped her because she ran out the door without shoes on was also unnecessary. All you have to do is yell to go put some on. Granted she does acknowledge he never hits her again.

Taeko is not completely innocent though. She can be a very fussy and stubborn kid like with the complaining of the purse she wants and what not. I think her behavior is not helped by how her family will talk behind her back or how she picked up some of her habits from the rude tough boy who digs in his nose. I wouldn’t say her family is completely abusive but it’s complicated, I sure they probably care but they don’t always handle things the best either. That’s probably why it was so important for her to go to the country side, away from the city and negativity/busyness, and be with nature. That along with her growing bond with Toshio, who provides a different perspective to some of her wondering questions and memories that eat away at her all this time. It helps her see that some things aren’t always what you think they are and people react differently and you won’t know why until much later when you take a step back. By the end, she reconciles with her child self and plans to move forward in her life. Maybe she’ll think about marriage and other things she wants to do in the future. 

Overall a pretty good movie portraying the pains of childhood and adulthood and how to reconcile and try to be better than who we were yesterday. What did you guys think of Only yesterday?

8.5/10

Journey with Ghibli: Only Yesterday