Only Yesterday by Isao Takahata
Friday, March 7th, 2008
Only Yesterday - an anime by Isao Takahata (a long-time colleague of Hayao Miyazaki) is called Omoide Poro Poro in Japanese which means "Memories Like Falling Teardrops".
In the film, Takahata poignantly captures the emotions of the rite of passage between girl and young woman. The anime - much of it taking place in the countryside of Japan - is beautifully artistic. The plot revolves around the main character’s childhood dreams juxtaposed with her adult ones - switching back and forth between them. A coming of age tale, the story is simple, direct, heartfelt and crosses cultural boundaries as a story any girl or grown woman could relate to. Notably, the article at Wikipedia on this movie states "In spite of its subject matter, the film was a surprise box office success, attracting a large adult audience of both sexes." So don’t shy away from watching it just cuz your a guy.
I’ve read all of Jack Vance’s books at least twice. Then there are my favorite Vance books like Rhialto the Marvelous which I reread with great satisfaction every 3 or 4 years.