Only Yesterday

The original Japanese version is in iTunes Extra as always.

A quiet, meditative masterpiece that brings melancholy feelings amidst joyful serene animation. Definetley a beautiful companion piece to “Whisper of the Heart” which I watched paired with this back to back. A soul cleanser. Ghibli is magic.

This is a very clam movie that made me laugh thinking about my life at that point. It’s more like a from up on poppy hill and less like spirited away. So if you like the more realistic you should like this. Studio Ghibli movies are the best.

Nooooooooooooooo I would rate this negative if I could!!!! -500,500,500 I wouldn’t recommend this movie to my worst enemy!!

How very lame of Studio Ghibli to not include the original audio track.

I’ll start by saying that while some children may enjoy what’s going on in this movie, this is quiet movie with a more subtle, nuanced plot than they may be used to. As at 27 year old (albeit male), the best and, likely, most effective way to describe this movie is to describe the way it made me feel. It felt like watching a book that you had read back in grade school and maybe half remember come beautifully to life. Not any book in particular, that more just represents the feeling I got from this. Maybe someone will relate to it after in the same way, maybe not. At its core, it tells the story of a young woman at two different times of her life. In both, she is on the threshold of crossing over into a new phase of life; a young girl beginning to enter adolescence and a young woman uncertain of her path in life and struggling the existential idea of entering adulthood. Other than that the art is incredibly beautiful and that plot is full of so many unexpectedly beautiful moments that I caught myself getting emotional at unexpected times (don’t get me started on the end...happy/bittersweet tears). Some of the themes are definitely reflective of the times and culture. While this movie tells a uniquely female story, there are universal themes that everyone can relate to. Like how those seemingly random moments that seem to be etched in our memories in permanent marker may carry more significance than you originally thought. This movie was an absolute joy to watch. Just don’t turn it off right when the credits start...

I can’t believe how much money I just spent buying almost every Studio Ghibli movie now available on iTunes despite owning them on disc. 🤦🏻‍♂️I love these movies so I definitely am happy to finally have them where I can watch them easily while traveling. I noticed a few rare complaints in the reviews of some of the Ghibli movies stating they they lacked Japanese audio but I assure you that the HD versions do have the option to switch to Japanese subtitles under the iTunes extras which is great for those who love both subbed & dubbed considering some popular anime movies are sold separately in each language. 😔 I picked this up at a department store a few years back on a whim primarily because of it being a Studio Ghibli movie as well as just because of my love for anime. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did upon reading the description as to put it simply I’m a guy so a story about a woman’s journey to adulthood seemed like a subject I couldn’t exactly relate to. After watching it I became shocked at how many people I began to see reviewing it as boring & uninteresting. Admittedly it’s no action movie but I found myself enjoying it immensely. Yes, it’s not an action packed story nor contains the drama of some other Studio Ghibli titles yet it is a moving story and it’s a great movie to unwind to. It’s the movie equivalent to a warm bowl of soup or cup of hot cocoa on a cold day as it’s a very comforting, relaxing movie. It’s weird to say yet even if the writing was bad, which it isn’t, I’d suggest people watch it simply because of how beautiful the animation is.

After many years of adoring Taeko’s story, She finally arrived on iTunes. Thank you, GKIDS (& Universal Pictures!) :D