Isao Takahata does not get as much credit as Miyazaki for his strong female characters, especially considering how, unlike Miyazaki’s characters, Takahata’s girls and women exist within the bounds of our society. His 1991 anime Only Yesterday revolves around a similarly strong female character, Taeko. She is a 27-year-old Tokyo ‘salary woman’ who is taking a summer vacation, and through a series of flashbacks, we get to alternate between her current situation and her perspective as a ten-year-old.

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