Movie · 1991 · Animation, Drama, Romance · 1h 59m · PG · Japanese
Curator score: 8.1/10 (175.4K ratings)
I'm going on a trip with Me.
Overview
In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 3.92/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Isao Takahata
Production
Studio Ghibli, Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network Corporation, Hakuhodo
A beautifully observed, quietly moving coming-of-age reflection for adults, blending present-day self-inquiry with childhood memory in a way that feels intimate rather than sentimental. Its patient pacing and everyday detail may not suit viewers wanting plot-heavy drama, but for anyone drawn to memory, identity, and emotional realism, it’s exceptional.
Best for
fans of contemplative animation
viewers interested in memory and self-discovery
adults revisiting childhood through a more honest lens
those who like gentle, character-driven dramas
Studio Ghibli fans seeking a more grounded film
Skip if
you want fast pacing or big narrative twists
you prefer fantasy-heavy animation
you dislike reflective, episodic storytelling
you need a strongly romantic or action-driven plot
Overview
Only Yesterday is one of the most delicate films ever made about the distance between who we were and who we became. Its present-tense story is simple, almost unassuming, but the film keeps opening into memory with such precision that ordinary childhood moments start to feel emotionally enormous. The result is less a nostalgia piece than a study of how memory edits us, protects us, and sometimes traps us.
Worth noting
What makes it so affecting is the honesty of its details. The film understands embarrassment, family pressure, first crushes, and the strange persistence of small childhood hurts. It never treats adulthood as a clean arrival point; instead, it suggests that growing up means learning how to live with the unevenness of your own past.
Bottom line
The animation is warm, naturalistic, and quietly luminous, with rural landscapes that feel restorative without becoming idealized. It’s a film that rewards patience and reflection, and by the end it lands with unusual emotional force.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (5★) · 4197 likes
my god this is flooring. its framing device should be so stilted--here's a movie consisting of random flashbacks to a woman's life at age 10! but it feels so seamless and true to life. who among us doesn't randomly fixate on the small injustices done to us as children, or, more importantly, our own awkward mistakes and their imagined reverberations?
eating the pineapple! the conversation about cloudy days! and then THAT ENDING. I feel very lucky to have seen this!!!
Karsten (4.5★) · 2561 likes
one of the rare ghibli movies where grandmas are being assholes
Sean Gilman (5★) · 2412 likes
Disney won't release this in the US because it acknowledges the existence of menstruation.
But Pom Poko, with its plot centered around the magical powers of giant testicles, gets a fancy DVD release with a BluRay apparently on the horizon.
David Sims (5★) · 1754 likes
rainy day, cloudy day, sunny day
James (Schaffrillas) (4.5★) · 1692 likes
I've only seen two of his movies so far and I'm already prepared to declare Isao Takahata one of the greatest writer/directors in animation history
2013 · Animation, Drama, Fantasy · 2h 17m · PG · Curator 9.4/10 (338.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Max
Another Takahata film that pairs exquisite animation with a deeply human meditation on time, identity, and the cost of living within social expectations.