Only Yesterday · reception & legacy
1991 · Isao Takahata
How Only Yesterday has been received, argued over, and remembered.
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.