Only Yesterday

Taeko, in her twenties, is taking a break from office work in the countryside. The journey and the subsequent encounters start to bring back memories of her childhood in the city. Everyday trivia, such as the first time she tasted pineapple, but also the frustrations of studying mathematics, childhood romances and the wrongs of adolescence emerge from her memory. As the narrative skips lyrically from the present to the past, Taeko revisits her life situation, but also views moments that were crucial to her growing up in a different light. Only Yesterday perfectly captured the mood of the times, not just the heroine's age generation, and became the most successful title of the year. The film brilliantly evokes both the 80s and 60s, which it handles with different animation styles, and its narrative delicately shifts from melancholy to insight and reflection.