Only Yesterday (1991 film)

Only Yesterday
Directed by	Isao Takahata
Produced by	Hayao Miyazaki Yasuyoshi Tokuma (executive producer) Yoshio Sasaki (executive producer) Ritsuo Isobe (executive producer)
Screenplay by	Isao Takahata
Based on	Only Yesterday by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Tone
Starring	Miki Imai Toshiro Yanagiba Yoko Honna
Music by	Katz Hoshi
Studio	Studio Ghibli
Distributed by	Tokuma Shoten Toho (theatrical in Japan) Buena Vista Home Entertainment (VHS/DVD)
Release date(s)	Japan July 20, 1991 Australia October 11, 2006 United Kingdom September 4, 2006
Running time	118 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Only Yesterday (おもひでぽろぽろ, Omohide Poro Poro^?, lit. "memories come tumbling down"^[1]) is the sixth film by director Isao Takahata and produced by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the manga of the same title by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Tone.^[2] It was released on July 20, 1991. The ending theme song (愛は花、君はその種子 'Ai wa Hana, Kimi wa sono Tane', lit. "Love is a flower, you are its seed") is a Japanese translation of Amanda McBroom's composition "The Rose."

Only Yesterday is significant among progressive anime films in that it explores a genre traditionally thought to be outside the realm of animated subjects. In this case a realistic drama written for adult, particularly female, audiences. In spite of its subject matter, the film was a surprise box office success, attracting a large adult audience of both sexes.

Plot

In 1982, Taeko is 27, unmarried, has lived her whole life in Tokyo and now works at a company there. She decides to take another trip to visit her elder sister's in-laws 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 fifth-grade schoolgirl in 1966, and her intense desire to go on holiday like her classmates, all of whom have family outside of the big city.

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. Finally, Taeko faces her own true self, how she views the world and the people around her, and has to decide what kind of person to become.

Voice cast

• Taeko Okajima (岡島 タエ子, Okajima Taeko^?) - Miki Imai
• Toshio (トシオ^?) - Toshirō Yanagiba
• Taeko (as 5th grade student) - Yōko Honna
• Mother of Taeko - Michie Terada
• Father of Taeko - Masahiro Itō
• Grandmother of Taeko - Chie Kitagawa
• Yaeko (ヤエ子^?) - Yuki Minowa
• Nanako (ナナ子^?) - Yorie Yamashita

Film notes

The story takes place within the Takase district of Yamagata, Yamagata.^[3] The Takase Station of the JNR 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 Zao.

Unlike the typical anime style, the characters have more realistic facial muscles and expressions. Because of this, dialogue was recorded first (the tradition in Japan is to record it after the animation is completed) and the animators fit the dialogue to the characters, resulting in more believable and realistic lipsync and facial expressions. 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 Hungarian theme 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. The music of Márta Sebestyén with Muzsikás is used in several scenes as well.^[4] However, Bulgarian Folklore music is also used in the soundtrack. When Taeoko is on the field, we 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 favorite puppet show Hyokkori Hyotan Jima (ひょっこりひょうたん島, "Floating Gourd Island"^?) as a child. He is a character appeared in the show.

Dates of release

• Germany - Released on June 6, 2006, under title of Tränen der Erinnerung (Tears of Memory) - Only Yesterday (Universum Film GmbH).^[5]
• Australia - Released on October 11, 2006 (Madman Entertainment).^[6]
• United Kingdom - Released on September 4, 2006 (Optimum Releasing).^[7]
• United States - The film remains the only theatrical Studio Ghibli feature not yet released on home video in the United States or Canada, although it was aired on Turner Classic Movies in January of 2006, as part of the channel's month-long salute to Miyazaki and Ghibli. The film's home video release and distribution rights in North America belong to Disney.^[8] As of September 2011, it was not scheduled for release to the North American home video market.^[9]

Reception

Only Yesterday was the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1991, earning ¥1.87 billion in distribution income.^[10]

References

1. ^ Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Q: What does "Omohide Poroporo" mean?". Nausicaa.net. http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/opp/faq.html#title. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Q: Is it based on a manga or a book?". Nausicaa.net. http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/opp/faq.html#manga. Retrieved 2007-01-09. 
3. ^ Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Q: Where did it take place?". Nausicaa.net. http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/opp/faq.html#where. Retrieved 2007-01-09. 
4. ^ Team Ghiblink. "Only Yesterday: CD Guide". Nausicaa.net. http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/soundtracks/opp/. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
5. ^ "Tränen der Erinnerung - Only Yesterday" (in German). http://www.universumfilm.de/video/sales/movie.html?ID=fe02a377-6b70-4619-a887-3c59d1f0f324. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
6. ^ "Release Information: Only Yesterday". http://www.madman.com.au/actions/catalogue.do?releaseId=3372&method=view. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
7. ^ "Optimum Releasing: Only Yesterday". http://www.optimumreleasing.com/dvd.php?id=234. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
8. ^ "Online Ghibli". http://www.onlineghibli.com/spe/disney-tokuma.php. Retrieved 2010-02-08. 
9. ^ "Cindy and Don Hewitt Interview 2". http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/hewitt_interview2.html#other. Retrieved 2010-02-08. 
10. ^ "Kako haikyū shūnyū jōi sakuhin 1991-nen" (in Japanese). Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. http://www.eiren.org/toukei/1991.html. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 

External links

• Only Yesterday - TCM Overview and release request.
• Only Yesterday at the Internet Movie Database
• Only Yesterday at AllRovi
• Only Yesterday// Nausicaa.net - a richly detailed fan site with reviews, commentary, and links to scripts and song lyrics