Sightlines · reception
How Only Yesterday was received
1991 · Isao Takahata · Only Yesterday on Sightlines
The arc
Japan's highest-grossing domestic film of 1991, it then went practically unseen in the US for 25 years — Disney sat on it during the Ghibli deal era — until GKIDS finally released it in 2016 to a full-scale rediscovery as one of the studio's quiet masterpieces.
What’s debated
It's a perennial exhibit in the 'Takahata was the equal (or better) of Miyazaki' debate, and fans still argue over whether the ending — playing out over the credits — is the studio's most earned tearjerker or a step too sentimental.
Its footprint
It's the go-to citation for 'anime can be quiet, grown-up realism' — a Ghibli film with no magic at all — and the oft-repeated story that its frank schoolgirl menstruation talk helped keep Disney from ever releasing it has become part of its legend.
Where it stands
A canon-climbing deep cut: the 'best Ghibli film you haven't seen' pick that Letterboxd Takahata devotees press on people to prove the studio's range beyond Miyazaki.
Did you know? When it finally hit US theaters in 2016 — a quarter century after its Japanese release — the English dub cast Daisy Ridley, fresh off The Force Awakens, as adult Taeko opposite Dev Patel.