History Anime / OnlyYesterday

* AntiquatedLinguistics: A variant. The Japanese title uses an antiquated spelling of "Omoide" (おもひで rather than おもいで) to reflect that it takes place partly in TheSixties.

** In one scene, Taeko watches and sings the theme song from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMApzGKRPB8 Floating Gourd Island]]'', an actual Japanese children's puppet show from TheSixties. There are clips from the series featured in the film as well, though with a noticeable filter over them.

* StandardFiftiesFather: Though Taeko's memories as a ten-year-old take place in 1965, her father hits quite a few points for this trope. He's stern and [[TheStoic stoic]] but can be loving towards Taeko in his own way, wears glasses, frequently smokes cigarettes, and wears a suit when going out (though he wears a kimono at home).

* ProductionForeshadowing: In one scene, Toshio tells Taeko how the local raccoons come out at night. Isao Takahata's next film was Anime/PomPoko, which center on the mythical Tanuki.

** Taeko's dad slaps Taeko because she accidentally ran outside with only her socks on (which, in '60s Japan, was the equivalent of being in your undergarments). Taeko's wails as he watches, his stoic face falling slightly. Taeko questions why it was the first and only time it happened.

* BriefAccentImitation: Taeko affects the TohokuRegionalAccent while she's discussing her vacation to Yamagata over the phone.

** This also hits Toshio to an extent, who’s voiced by British actor [[Creator/DevPatel Dev Patel]]. It can be mistaken for AccentAdaptation at first, but for the most part the TohokuRegionalAccent is rendered as more of a rural American accent.

* TohokuRegionalAccent: Most of the present day scenes take place in Tohoku's Yamagata prefecture, so it is to be expected. The old ladies have particularly strong ones.

[[TwentyMinutesIntoThePast It's 1982]] and [[OldMaid 27-year-old unmarried]] Taeko Okajima works as an {{office lady}} in UsefulNotes/{{Tokyo}. She decides to spend her summer holiday at her brother-in-law's farm in the countryside to help out with the safflower harvest, since she liked going there the year before. She sees it as a great way to get a break from the city life for a while.

[[TwentyMinutesIntoThePast It's 1982]] and [[OldMaid 27-year-old unmarried]] Taeko Okajima works as an {{office lady}} in Tokyo. She decides to spend her summer holiday at her brother-in-law's farm in the countryside to help out with the safflower harvest, since she liked going there the year before. She sees it as a great way to get a break from the city life for a while.

[[TwentyMinutesIntoThePast It's 1982]] and [[ChristmasCake 27-year-old unmarried]] Taeko Okajima works as an {{office lady}} in Tokyo. She decides to spend her summer holiday at her brother-in-law's farm in the countryside to help out with the safflower harvest, since she liked going there the year before. She sees it as a great way to get a break from the city life for a while.

* BriefAccentImitation: Yaeko affects the TohokuRegionalAccent while she's discussing her vacation to Yamagata over the phone.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: All of the people in the public baths are nude, but no detail is drawn. Although depicted as non-sexually as possible, it's likely this scene (and Ghibli's "no cuts" policy) contributed to Disney refusing to distribute the film.

* FamilyThemeNaming: Taeko and her older sister, Yaeko.

** This also hits Toshio to an extent, who’s voiced by British actor [[Creator/DevPatel Dev Patel]]. It can be mistaken for AccentAdaptation at first, but for the most part the TohokuRegionalAccent is rendered as more of a dated American accent instead.

** There's a subtle one between scenes that take place in the present and flashbacks to Taeko's childhood; in Taeko's memories, the characters are drawn closer to Studio Ghibli's typical style and the colors are more faded, while in the present day the characters are drawn more realistically and the colors are more vivid.

* CanNotSpitItOut: Both Taeko and Hirota have problems expressing themselves verbally when meeting in the street.

* CityMouse: Taeko, obviously.

* DaddysGirl: Strangely, although the insufferable part of his strictness stands out to viewers, there are small hints that Taeko is this to him. For example, Taeko places her onions on her father's dish with no fear of scolding (her mother does that scolding) and she even pleads for something she wants while thumping his shoulders to massage them. He refuses her, but even his reprimand is gently stern and rather reasonable, and his older daughters complain he spoils Taeko rotten. The dubbing makes it clearer that despite all his stoicism, his interaction with Taeko gives him an affectionate edge, with him calling her "little bear".

%%* {{Iyashikei}}
* LeftHanging: A lot of storylines in Young Taeko's life just end, without much of a resolution. Justified as they are slices of her life from when she was ten-years old, and in real life such things rarely if ever have a specific beginning, middle and end. Also, the memories are from 17 years ago, of course she would only remember parts that stuck out the most.

** Briefly in the English dub, as young Taeko counts out the sections of the apple she’s drawn, her voice actress Alison Fernandez, who is of Mexican descent, can be heard rolling the “r” when she counts to three.

* {{Arcadia}}: A major theme running through the movie is the characters' love for the countryside.

%%* CallToAgriculture

* ChristmasCake: Taeko's mother is annoyed that she turned down a marriage proposal, saying "at 27, that's the best she's going to get".

* MaybeEverAfter: Taeko and Toshio.

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The film released in 1991 and is set in 1982.

After 25 years, an English dub of the film was finally released in 2016 by GKIDS, featuring the voices of Creator/DaisyRidley, Dev Patel and Creator/AshleyEckstein.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: From ''Omoide Poroporo'' ("Trickling-Rain Memories", describing the way Taeko's memories trickle back to her) to ''Only Yesterday'', as in "it seems like only yesterday".

** Taeko's dad slaps Taeko because she accidentally ran outside with only her socks on [[ValuesDissonance (which was the equivalent of being in your undergarments)]]. Taeko's wails as he watches, his stoic face falling slightly. Taeko questions why it was the first and only time it happened.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Briefly in the English dub, as young Taeko counts out the sections of the apple she’s drawn, her voice actress Alison Fernandez, who is of Mexican descent, can be heard rolling the “r” when she counts to three.

''Only Yesterday'', Japanese title ''Omoide Poro Poro'', was released in 1991 and not only is it the first Ghibli film to be released after the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, but is also an atypical Creator/StudioGhibli product in that it lacks the fantastic plot devices that permeate most of the studio's work. It was directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata and produced by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki. The result features [[SceneryPorn lots of lovely scenery]], intriguing, believable characters and wonderful, fluid animation.

** When Taeko imagines herself on all the magazine covers, she's drawn with more pronounced eyes.

* WrittenSoundEffect: The Japanese title, roughly ''Trickling-Rain Memories''. Taeko's memories of her childhood come trickling back to her in this fashion.

* NiceHat: Toshio sports a particularly nice baseball cap.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/onlyyesterday.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Present & Past Taeko]]

* MyNewGiftIsLame: Played with. Taeko really wants a specific bag that her sister Yaeko doesn't use anymore, but Yaeko doesn't want to give it away. She finally gives in and gives Taeko the bag...but Taeko has lost interest, since Nanako told Yaeko she shouldn't keep holding onto the bag since it's "for babies".

During her trip she gets overcome with memories of when she was 10 years old and in fifth grade. In a series of flashbacks, imaginatively interwoven with her current life, a picture forms of her youth, filled with math problems, friends, boys and the typical throes of a girl growing up. It results in her wondering whether she is being true to her own nature in life, since she wanted to be in the country as a little girl already.

* MaybeEverAfter: Between Taeko and Toshio at the end.

* AuthorTract: The movie is filled with monologues about the importance of Japanese farm life.

* CallToAgriculture

* {{Iyashikei}}

* GhibliHills: But of course! Tashio actually [[DiscussedTrope discusses this trope]] at length. When Taeko admires the "natural" landscape, Tashio points out that everything she sees, from farmland to woodland, has been managed by humans over the generations. He then moves on to discussing the importance of treating the land with respect.

* GhibliHills: You have to ask?

* MyNewGiftIsLame: Played with. Taeko really wants a specific bag that her sister Yaeko doesn't use anymore, but Yaeko doesn't want to give it away. She finally gives in and gives Taeko the bag...but Taeko has lost interest.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Briefly in the English dub, as young Taeko counts out the sections of the apple she's drawn, her voice actress Alison Fernandez, who is of Mexican decent, can be heard rolling the "r" when she counts to "three".
** This also hits Toshio to an extent, who's voiced by British [[Creator/DevPatel Dev Patel.]] It can be mistaken as AccentAdaptation at first, but for the most part the TohokuRegionalAccent is rendered as more of a dated American accent instead.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Implied. Taeko's dad slaps Taeko because she accidentally ran outside with only her socks on [[ValuesDissonance (which was the equivalent of being in your undergarments)]]. Taeko's wails as he watches, his stoic face falling slightly. Taeko questions why it was the first and only time it happened.