A Bomb in the Lasagna: Childhood is Funny, Sad, and Important in “Only Yesterday (1991)”

For a movie originally released in 1991, set in 1982 but frequently flashing back to 1966, much of Only Yesterday feels timeless. Directed by Grave of the Fireflies director Isao Takahata and adapted from a manga by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Tone, the themes of Only Yesterday –which was released in US theaters for the first time in 2016– will be…