[Video name]: Bits and pieces of childhood/Fairy tales of time

[English name]: Only Yesterday

[Original work]: Okamoto Ying ?Tone Yuko

[Production]: Tokuma Shoten/Nippon Television Network Hakuhodo

[Director]: Script. Supervision/Isao Takahata

[ Producer, Producer]: Hayao Miyazaki

[Music]: Hoshikatsu

[Video Category]: Drama/Animation

[Length]: 118 Minutes

[Premiere date]: 1991 (Japan)

It is said that it is very suspicious for a person to keep reminiscing about his childhood.

On the way to the countryside for vacation, Taeko, a Tokyo office worker, remembered the past events from her fifth grade in elementary school again and again: going to Atami hot springs, eating pineapples for the first time, seriously failing the math test, The scolding from the father, the admiration of the boy who was on duty, the first menstruation... The night train rumbled forward, and the dark carriage was empty.

Ten-year-old Taeko's childlike face poked out from behind the gauze, grinning.

Why? she asked herself.

That may be a turning point of transformation, and now I am also encountering another time when I need to transform, she thought.

Taeko is 27 years old. Work, life, relationships, everything is pressing her.

The youth approaching its end is like a rose in late summer, which has gradually shown its tired and wilted color.

2

"Sunny day, cloudy day or rainy day, which one do you like?"

When I was in elementary school, I was always earthy and wore my brother's leftovers. She is wearing sportswear, braids, and her complexion is sallow. There is no cartoon pencil case with Snow White on it, no beautiful pink hair flower, and no admiration from boys.

When the boy who was a good baseball player in the last class stopped Taeko in the alleyway home and asked such a question with a red face, the adult Taeko and I smiled slightly.

"That... sunny day, cloudy day or rainy day, which one do you like?"

"Cloudy day..."

"Me too Yeah! ”

A conversation that is almost meaningless can make two children fly to the sky with joy. Is it love?

Do you need verification?

White clouds circle gently.

The sky is so blue.

3

"It takes 12 baskets of safflower seeds to get one gram of red..."

Picking safflowers is what Taeko calls a vacation.

The golden flowers all over the slope were picked off one by one in the early morning of sunrise, mashed, dried and turned into rouge. Red is a beautiful color for girls.

Taeko stood in the field, wearing a flower hat and smiling like a willing peasant woman. She was beautiful.

No matter how you look at it, the adult Taeko is just an ordinary young woman, with an ordinary appearance, an ordinary position, a kind heart, and a fear of change. Like every one of us, we often feel overwhelmed by the vastness of life.

The whole film has a smooth picture, comfortable color palette, fields, clear streams, large tracts of deep and light green, distant mountains with light ink, and vivid brushwork.

I like it very much.

4

“How do you divide 2/3 apples into 1/4?”

Taeko was miserable when she explained to Min Xiong how to divide fractions. An exam that I can’t bear to gamble on, 25 points. She still has persistent confusion about such abstract arithmetic - how to divide 2/3 apples into 1/4?

It is said that those who can successfully master the division of fractions will have smooth sailing in the future. Taeko continued to say that Yuriko, who was in the same class, always had mediocre grades, but when it came to fraction division tests, she could always get 100 points. Now she has successfully married and is a happy mother of two children.

I have accomplished nothing.

I have accomplished nothing and am alone.

Although, my math scores have always been excellent, and I am considered a smart child among teachers and classmates.

5

"Mr. Crow, please go well..."

On a Wednesday in the third grade, when it was supposed to be the afternoon of rest, the music teacher quietly called me I was told to come to school to rehearse - dance!

This is usually an honor reserved for cute girls with pink headbands and rosy faces, and they are worthy of great pride. But being extremely enthusiastic about dancing and dressing up was a huge shame for the children at that time.

When someone from the Young Pioneers informed me that the squadron would have a regular meeting in the afternoon, I was confused.

The inexplicable shame made me choose to attend the meeting instead of rehearsing. A girl who seemed ordinary at the time filled my shortcomings - a snowman wearing a beautiful hat and dancing with rubber bands.

Later, she performed on behalf of the school many times, becoming more and more beautiful and fashionable. By the time she was in her senior year, she was already the backbone of the school's literary and artistic cast.

I am still gray-headed and pale-faced.

I wonder if most people have similar regrets in their childhood.

Taeko talked about the role in the drama troupe that she missed at the time, and I saw the infinite nostalgia in her eyes.

If there is another beginning, will I be another person now?

6

Is every child as willful as Little Taeko, picky about food, poor in communication, holding on to suppressed desires, and refusing to speak out?

Is it true that every adult is as afraid of aging as I am, complains about life, and subconsciously avoids responsibility and shirks responsibilities?

I remember when I was very young, my biggest wish was to become another person, a rabbit, a cat, anything, just to escape from the real world.

At that time, my mind was as simple as a blank piece of paper. My biggest evil thought was to pray for a big earthquake on the eve of the announcement of the final exam results. It was far from the situation now where a fire would burn the entire earth if I was not satisfied. A vicious thought is like a white slip.

In fact, they are both escaping from life, and no one has made much progress than the other.

At the end of the film, Taeko returned to the village on the way back to Tokyo, giving up her routine life in the big city and becoming the wife of a farmer (Min Xiong). As a child, she and her classmates were jubilant in the carriage, urging her to jump off the train quickly.

At this turning point of transformation, she used her fifth-grade self to solve the headache of being an adult.

The picture is extremely beautiful, the carriage is full of joyful children, the sun is brilliant, and time overlaps.

That was her own voice.

It can be said to be an excellent movie, or it can be said to be unremarkable.

There is no in-depth discussion of the so-called human nature, no big rights and wrongs, not even a discussion of gains and losses, just a warm sketch.

Taeko, who was a child and an adult, stood on both sides of the river of time, moving forward bravely together.

7

I am who I am and cannot be another person.