Only Yesterday (1991 film)

Only Yesterday
Japanese おもひでぽろぽろ
Hepburn Omoide Poro Poro
Directed by Isao Takahata
Produced by Toshio Suzuki
Written by Isao Takahata
Based on Omoide Poro Poro
by Hotaru Okamoto
Yuko Tone
Starring
Music by Katz Hoshi
Cinematography Hisao Shiraishi
Edited by Takeshi Seyama
Production
company
Distributed by Toho
Release dates
  • July 20, 1991 (1991-07-20)
Running time
 118 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Only Yesterday (Japanese: おもひでぽろぽろ Hepburn: Omoide Poro Poro, "Memories Come Tumbling Down"[1]) is a 1991 Japanese animated drama film written and directed by Isao Takahata, based on the manga of the same title by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Tone.[2] Toshio Suzuki produced the film and Studio Ghibli provided the animation. It was released on July 20, 1991. The ending theme song "Ai wa Hana, Kimi wa sono Tane" (愛は花、君はその種子, "Love is a flower, you are its seed") is a Japanese translation of Amanda McBroom's composition "The Rose".

Only Yesterday explores a genre traditionally thought to be outside the realm of animated subjects: a realistic drama written for adults, particularly women. The film was a surprise box office success, attracting a large adult audience of all genders and becoming the highest-grossing Japanese film of the year in the country. It was also well received by critics, with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Plot

In 1982, Taeko is 27 years old, unmarried, has lived her whole life in Tokyo and now works at a company there. She decides to take another trip to visit the family of the elder brother of her brother-in-law in the rural countryside to help with the safflower harvest and get away from city life. While traveling at night on a sleeper train to Yamagata, she begins to recall memories of herself as a schoolgirl in 1966, and her intense desire to go on holiday like her classmates, all of whom have family outside of the big city.

At the arrival train station, she is surprised to find out that her brother in law's second cousin, Toshio, whom she barely knows is the one who came to pick her up. During her stay in Yamagata, she finds herself increasingly nostalgic and wistful for her childhood self, while simultaneously wrestling with adult issues of career and love. The trip dredges up forgotten memories (not all of them good ones) — the first stirrings of childish romance, puberty and growing up, the frustrations of math and boys. In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self. In doing so, she begins to realize that Toshio has helped her along the way. Finally, Taeko faces her own true self, how she views the world and the people around her. Taeko chooses to stay in the countryside instead of returning to Tokyo. It is implied that she and Toshio began a relationship at the end of the movie.

Cast and characters

Character Japanese English
Taeko Okajima Miki Imai Daisy Ridley
Toshio Toshirō Yanagiba Dev Patel
Taeko (as 5th grade student) Yōko Honna Alison Fernandez
Character Japanese English
Tsuneko Tani Mayumi Iizuka Hope Levy
Aiko Mei Oshitani Stephanie Sheh
Toko Megumi Komine Ava Acres
Rie Yukiyo Takizawa Madeleine Rose Yen
Suzuki ("Soo") Masashi Ishikawa Jaden Betts
Shuji Hirota Yūki Masuda Gianella Thielmann
Character Japanese English
Taeko's Mother Michie Terada Grey DeLisle (as Grey Griffin)
Taeko's Father Masahiro Itō Matt Yang King
Nanako Okajima Yorie Yamashita Laura Bailey
Yaeko Okajima Yuki Minowa Ashley Eckstein
Taeko's Grandmother Chie Kitagawa Mona Marshall
Character Japanese English
Kazuo Kōji Gotō Matt Yang King
Kiyoko Sachiko Ishikawa Sumalee Montano
Naoko Masako Watanabe Tara Strong
Granny N/A Nika Futterman

Film notes

The story takes place within the Takase district of Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture.[3] The Takase Station (and also Yamadera Station) of the JNR (currently JR East) Senzan Line is featured prominently; Though it has since been rebuilt, the scenery remains mostly unchanged. During the course of the film, characters visit prominent locales, including the resort destination of Mount Zaō.

Unlike the typical Japanese character animation style, the characters have more realistic facial muscles and expressions due to dialogue being recorded first (the tradition in Japan is to record it after the animation is completed) and the animators fit the animation to the spoken dialogue. Only Taeko's childhood past (which has a more typical anime style) was animated before the voices were recorded.

Those scenes set in 1966 with the 10-year-old Taeko are taken from the source material. Takahata had difficulty adapting the episodic manga into a feature film, and he therefore invented the framing narrative wherein the adult Taeko journeys to the countryside and falls in love with Toshio.[2]

There is a repetitive Eastern European theme in the film, particularly in the soundtrack reflecting the peasant lifestyle still present in the area and the parallels this draws with Japanese rural life. Folk songs from the area repeatedly occur in the film. For example, "Frunzuliță Lemn Adus Cântec De Nuntă" (Fluttering Green Leaves Wedding Song) is a Romanian folk song written by Gheorghe Zamfir and occurs in the film repeatedly during the landscape shots, for example arriving at the farm. Instruments used include the prominent nai played by Zamfir himself, cimbalom and violins. There is also Hungarian music in the film, using pieces of music such as Brahms "Hungarian Dance No. 5" in a scene where Taeko is eating lunch, and making references to Hungarian musicians when she is in the car with Toshio ("Teremtés" performed by Sebestyén Márta & Muzsikás. Adaptation from a Hungarian traditional folk song). The music of Márta Sebestyén with Muzsikás is used in several scenes as well.[4] Bulgarian folklore music is also used in the soundtrack. When Taeko is on the field, one can first hear Dilmano, Dilbero, followed by Malka Moma Dvori Mete. These are typical Bulgarian folklore songs and the lyrics of both are connected to topics mentioned in the film – the life of farmers and marriage.

The TV character Machine Gun Dandy looks like Daisuke Jigen of Lupin III fame. The character is seen when Taeko recalls her childhood favorite puppet show Hyokkori Hyotan Jima (ひょっこりひょうたん島 "Floating Gourd Island") that aired every weekday on NHK from 1964 to 1969.

Release

Reception

Only Yesterday was the highest grossing Japanese film on the domestic market in 1991, earning ¥1.87 billion in distribution income.[10] The film received critical acclaim among critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 100%, based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The critical consensus states "Only Yesterday's long-delayed U.S. debut fills a frustrating gap for American Ghibli fans while offering further proof of the studio's incredibly consistent commitment to quality."[11] It has a score 90 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 19 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[12] Nicolas Rapold, of The New York Times, gave the film a positive review, saying, "Mr. Takahata's psychologically acute film, which was based on a manga, seems to grow in impact, too, as the adult Taeko comes to a richer understanding of what she wants and how she wants to live."[13] Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com awarded it a similarly positive review, saying "Like Kaguya, it functions as a highly sensitive and empathetic consideration of the situation of women in Japanese society—but it's also a breathtaking work of art on its own."[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Q: What does "Omohide Poroporo" mean?". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  2. 1 2 Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Q: Is it based on a manga or a book?". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  3. ↑ Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Q: Where did it take place?". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  4. ↑ Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: CD Guide". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  5. ↑ "Tränen der Erinnerung – Only Yesterday" (in German). Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  6. ↑ "Release Information: Only Yesterday". Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  7. ↑ "Optimum Releasing: Only Yesterday". Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  8. ↑ "Unreleased Studio Ghibli feature finally receives English dub, dated for January". Polygon. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  9. ↑ "GKids to Release Ghibli's Only Yesterday in Theaters in N. America". Anime News Network. August 24, 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  10. ↑ "Kako haikyū shūnyū jōi sakuhin 1991-nen" (in Japanese). Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
  11. ↑ "Omohide poro poro (Only Yesterday) (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  12. ↑ "Only Yesterday (1991)". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  13. ↑ Repold, Nicolas (December 31, 2015). "Review: Only Yesterday, Isao Takahata's Time-Jumping Anime". New York Times. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  14. ↑ Kenny, Glenn (December 31, 2015). "Only Yesterday (2016)". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
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