Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli IX

Good Morning Everyone!

For The Lin Family.

Coming to you live from the other site and I want to apologize for not maintaining a steady stream of Studio Ghibli. So without further ado let me show you how to work.

I’ve had my eyes on you ever since you walked in the room
C’mon & take my hand, don’t try to understand
Oh baby nothing can stop us now,
I’m gonna show you how
Show you how to work
C’mon let’s have some fun, we’ll work till morning comes
Lemme see ya work

I’d love to turn you on, I’d work you all night long
If I could get you in the raw, I’d make you climb the walls
Oh yeah nothing can stop us now,
I’m gonna show you how
Show you how to work

Just because I have not been sleeping does not mean that I have been watching. But it is good to have a break, be it small or long. (In this case, size really does matter.) I do find it particularly interesting how I am taking a break from one of my recreations. Oh, life works in beautiful ways. It’s so beautiful that tonight we continue our journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 9: Only Yesterday, Omohide Poro Poro, おもひでぽろぽろ
Director and Writer: Isao Takahata
Producer: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date: July 20, 1991 (JPN) (that means I can only watch this movie in Dutch or Japanese…lovely.)

Only Yesterday is an animated movie that attempts to break away from what is deemed as “anime.” There are no magical powers, to evil-doers, no extravagant force that either consumes or is consumed. Only Yesterday presents an animated version of “real (adult) life.”

It seems like only yesterday U said U loved me
U said I was your universe with only God above me
How could U say all those things and lead me on this way?
2 think that I could give U up 4 what some people say
Hold me and we can make it through the rain
Hold me and we can weather any pain
If U and I are lost because of what some people say
Then there’s no justice in this world 2day

As children, we were told to dream. Not only dream, but aspire to become something. Then we progress through the ages of innocence and experience, and some of us realize that what we once dreamt and aspired have not come to fruition, leaving us lost and unsure of what will come next. Here we have Taeko, a twenty-plus, single, office clerk who goes on vacation to the countryside to visit her elder sister in-law and help with the safflower harvest.

 Girl, your ride is bad but U can’t compare
2 my baby black Cadillac, oh so rare
Take a vacation, I don’t care
Cuz I can get some simulation anywhere

Taeko reminiscences of her schoolgirl days; recalling memories of events that took place when she was a fifth grader. Taeko would envy her classmates who would go to their parent’s hometown for vacation while she stayed behind in the city. She also recalled the innocent events of her life; her family’s first taste of pineapple, the star baseball player who had a crush on her and of course the menstrual cycle.

Girl
U excite me so
Oohwee baby, your body’s like no other

Girl
It’s U I gotta know (Gotta know)
Oohwee baby, I bet you’re quite a lover

Reaching the countryside, Taeko is welcomed by family, her brother-in-law’s cousin, Toshio. Toshio takes her to the safflower farm. On the way, Toshio tells Taeko that he used to work in an office but give it up to tend to a farm. Reaching the farm, Taeko helps pick safflower petals. Her work and interactions with the family are interlaced with flashbacks of her childhood: how she hated hand-me-downs, how her father slapped her when she left the house only wearing socks and how she was awful at math and how her mother and sister thought she was not normal because of so.

There was 1 September day that Papa worked 2 hard
First he crucified every dandelion out in the yard
Then he screamed at baby twice 4 throwin’ rocks at passin’ cars
Baby didn’t listen, so like a priceless work of art
He got snatched by his Papa who then opened up the closet door
And pushed the four-year-old down, onto the closet floor
Baby cried “I’m sorry, I won’t do it no more”
Papa said “Yeah, I know, that’s what this here’s 4”
Smack!
Ooh Papa…
Smack! Smack!

Eventually Taeko begins to get comfortable and falls in love with the countryside. As time drew nigh for Taeko’s return to the city, her brother-in-law’s family urges her to stay, asking questions about her future: marriage, life and love. The credits end with Taeko and Toshio.

I’ll see U 2night in all my dreams
All my dreams
My spirit’s in flight in all my dreams
All my dreams
A submarine valiantly conquers a virgin sea
A child is born, a child is born, will U marry me?

 

General comments: an animated movie for a more grown audience. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. But one can easily get lost in it. So it’s good to reminisce, just as long as we are not stuck reminiscing and regretting things that were not meant to be. Getting lost is easy however, as everyone wants a place called home. A place that is always comfortable and welcoming. It is at these places where we do most of our learning: from the past, present and learning of our futures. Overall, the movie seemed to move a little slow but it was a good nostalgia piece.

… That’s that! Until next time! Keep watching.