# Anyone else seen the anime: "Only Yesterday"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seen-the-anime-only-yesterday/123983 "2002-08-15T06:15:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seen-the-anime-only-yesterday/123983/1 "2002-08-15T06:15:50Z")
I just finished it and it’s terrific. It is by Studio Ghibli (the same studio where Miyazaki works). It is about a 27 year old woman Taeko who is visiting a farm during the summer and it also narrates in flash-back various incidents when she was in fifth grade. The latter in particular are some of the most beautiful and charming childhood sequences I have ever seen in any film: Taeko eating a pineapple for the first time, learning how to divide fractions, embellishing her bit part in a school play; you’ll know what I mean if you have seen the film. The adult parts are a bit less interesting but still provide an interesting glimpse of rural life in Japan. This is one of the less well-known Studio Ghibli films but I can’t recommend it enough. It definitely shows how anime can be used to tackle realistic themes just as well as the best conventional films. _SPOILER_ I would have preferred ,though, if the ending had been bitter-sweet and open-ended instead of the traditional happy ending but it’s a small issue. _SPOILER_ ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-seen-the-anime-only-yesterday/123983/2 "2002-08-15T22:40:51Z")
_BUMP_ Incidentally here is the IMDB entry: [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0102587](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0102587) Only Yesterday is directed by Isao Takahata who also directed Grave of the Fireflies, generally considered one of the great anime films.