For years, the film was hard to find, and although it debuted in Japan in 1991, it didn't get a U.S. release until 2016 (presumably because its intimate look at female life and frank talk about menstruation didn't exactly mesh with your standard American kids' movies).
There are no flying pigs or playful forest sprites in Only Yesterday, but Isao Takahata's understated drama has a magic all the same. Its simple plot seems more akin to a Sundance coming-of-age indie than an animated tale, following a 27-year-old city dweller as she journeys to the countryside by train and reflects on her childhood. For years, the film was hard to find, and although it debuted in Japan in 1991, it didn't get a U.S. release until 2016 (presumably because its intimate look at female life and frank talk about menstruation didn't exactly mesh with your standard American kids' movies). But although Only Yesterday may not be one of Ghibli's marquee titles, it has a quiet, contemplative brilliance, mixing memory and reality to craft a poignant story of what it means to grow up. — Devan Coggan