15 Similar Anime Like Only Yesterday

As a project of Studio Ghibli, it comes as no surprise that Only Yesterday is one of the finest and most beautiful films out there.

Released in 1991, it tells the story of a woman named Taeka who visits her brother-in-law in the country to spend time away from the big city and relax.

While following her on the trip, we also take a journey through her childhood as we see her recall fond memories as a young girl and the fun she used to have with friends and family.

During her time with her family, she forms new bonds and relationships while strengthening older ones.

Through these bonds also comes the possibility of romance as she considers her former self and compares it to the present while wishing to live life to the fullest.

While Studio Ghibli is known for making anime which targets a younger audience, Only Yesterday is a beautiful and nostalgic story which can be viewed by an adult audience as well.

In this list, we shall look at anime like Only Yesterday, which will evoke the same bittersweet and joyful feelings in you.

15. Poco’s Udon World

• Number of Episodes: 12
• Number of Seasons: 1
• Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural
• MAL Rating: 7.75
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Prime Video

Poco’s Udon World, similar to yesterday, follows a young man named Souta who travels back to his hometown to escape his busy and congested life in the city.

While reminiscing about his past and working at his parent’s restaurant, he comes across a young boy.

With the impression that the lonely child had nowhere to go, he fed and clothed him and later found out that he was a supernatural being capable of shapeshifting.

The anime follows the wholesome tale between Souta and the young boy named Poco as they spend time in each other’s company, leading to a simple yet satisfying and cheerful story.

14. Millennium Actress

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
• MAL Rating: 8.25
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Prime Video

Millennium actress and Only yesterday are very similar movies that deal with an older woman who looks back on her life as well as follows her growth.

The anime follows an interview with a retired actress that becomes much more as we are taken on a trip through Japan’s history and the actress’s distinguished career.

Despite being a sweet and simple story that deals with defining moments in life, Millennium actress still has a very mature feeling to it which is meant to hit adults on a deeper level, complemented by its bittersweet moments and beautiful moments of animation.

13. Hitotsubu ni Kawaranu Ai wo Komete

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Short Film
• Genres: Slice of Life, Drama
• MAL Rating: 5.97
• Where to Watch: No Official Sites Have This Anime

Hitotsubu ni Kawaranu Ai wo Komete is an extremely short yet sweet story about a single mother’s life.

While she seems to enjoy raising her child, her journey as a single mother is also very stressful.

An invisible girl attracts her attention when it looks like it’s becoming too much for her to handle.

The girl then takes her on a journey through her past and the experiences of her own self as a teenage girl and the trouble she caused her mother.

Through this journey of nostalgia and remembrance, she is reminded of the important things in life and how beautiful it can be if we keep treading forward with a positive attitude.

12. The Tale of Princess Kaguya

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Fantasy, Drama, Adventure
• MAL Rating: 8.20
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Vudu

With its stunning animation and a story that takes us on a self-introspecting journey, the tale of Princess Kaguya follows a little girl discovered by an old bamboo cutter in a shining stalk.

While she was initially very small, the tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady while living in a free-spirited way with her friends, the old man, and his wife who she considers family.

However, upon finding treasure, the old man believes this to be a sign and sends Kaguya into the city while giving her the life of a princess with the belief that she was brought into this world to be in a position of importance.

While the new and mysterious young princess enthralls all who meet her, she finds her new surroundings dreary while only having memories of her time spent in leisure with her friends.

Princess Kaguya is a seemingly straightforward story with many complex emotions around it as we see a young girl struggle to deal with the weight of expectations placed upon her and what she wishes to do with her life.

11. The Garden of Words

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 7.91
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Prime Video

The Garden of Words is a mature series dealing with meaningful subjects and realistic characters.

It follows a young and aspiring shoemaker who runs into an older woman coincidentally in a garden.

Together they start a conversation while expressing each other’s likes and dislikes, eventually reaching a deeper level.

The girl reveals that she is being choked by the big city and cannot find her place in society. At the same time, the boy expresses his energy yet uneasiness regarding his future, and they both bond over their misgivings.

With a romantic subtext, The Garden of Words is a very serene and calm anime that will leave you with a bittersweet feeling by the end.

10. Ocean Waves

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 6.54
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, HBO Max

Ocean Waves is an enjoyable story set in a high school while dealing with everyday topics such as friendship, love, and the balance between them.

It is a simplistic yet effective story that tells us about a high school student who is entranced by a beautiful girl and starts forming a bond with her, much to the dismay of a mutual friend to both.

The girl has her troubled past, which is affecting her present negatively, as she tries to move past it with the help of our protagonist.

Without getting into too much drama, Ocean waves try to stay natural while telling the tale of youngsters and their feelings when they get their first love as they go through both painful and happy experiences on their journey to adulthood.

9. Whisper of the Heart

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 8.22
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max

As one of the classics in anime, Whisper of the heart is a refreshing tale of adolescence and young love.

It tells us the story of a young and vibrant girl searching for a boy who shares her interest in literature.

After finding him in a curious shop, the two strike a friendship quickly while discussing their goals.

On hearing the boy’s dreams, our main character also thinks a lot while listening to what her heart wants and finally working towards her goals.

8. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

• Number of Episodes: 2
• Number of Seasons: 1
• Genres: Drama, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 7.38
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is another short anime that shows us the beauty of the little things in life.

It follows a girl robot living in a peaceful Japan town while working at a cafe.

Her daily life is extremely boring and slow till one day, she is gifted a camera by her master, who wishes for her to take pictures that would stay memorable.

We follow her in the peaceful anime, which gives you a sense of calm as she takes beautiful pictures while creating new experiences and memories.

7. From Up on Poppy Hill

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 7.80
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max

Studio Ghibli has the unique ability to make films directed toward children and adults while eliciting a response from both through the medium of tv.

From Up on Poppy Hill is no different from this as we are taken to Japan after World War II, which is preparing itself to host the Olympics.

While there is an air of excitement surrounding this, our two main characters form a friendship while working towards preventing the destruction of their clubhouse.

As they have several adventures together and try to solve the mystery of the boy, who was an orphan’s past, we also see them fall in love.

The film is coming of age story which has a very similar feel to only yesterday while telling us the story of 2 kids.

6. Barakamon

• Number of Episodes: 12
• Number of Seasons: 1
• Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 8.38
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Prime Video

Barakamon is a feel-good story with very heartwarming characters and a calm atmosphere.

It revolves around a calligrapher sent to a remote island as punishment for punching a judge who insulted his work.

In his new setting, he searches for inspiration in what he believes will be peaceful. Still, with quirky and humorous supporting characters constantly disturbing him, he finds it hard to get in the zone.

Through this tightly-knit community he stays in, he learns many things while reevaluating his arrogant self.

5. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

• Number of Episodes: 11
• Number of Seasons: 1 + 1 Movie
• Genres: Drama, Supernatural, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 8.32
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Prime Video

Anohana is an amazingly written anime about forgiveness and coping with life after a tragedy.

When our protagonist, who lives his life as an introvert, is suddenly surprised by a friend who had passed away to hold to a promise made, he is reminded of several traumas.

After the “ghost” lives with him in his house, we see them live everyday life together while taking a journey through how our main character went from extremely popular in the past to a current recluse.

Anohana is an extremely depressing yet relatable story of how children grow apart and how hard it is to form those connections again.

4. Fruits Basket (2019)

• Number of Episodes: 63
• Number of Seasons: 3
• Genres: Drama, Romance, Supernatural
• MAL Rating: 8.22
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu

Fruits Basket tells us the touching story of Tooru Honda, a kind girl with no parents, who is taken in by a classmate and starts living among many boys.

While this seems like the perfect premise for a reverse harem, the anime takes us by surprise when it brings in elements of fantasy and lore by revealing that each character can transform into an animal and be a member of the Zodiac.

Tooru goes around while listening to these many of these zodiacs who are unhappy and making them believe that determination and kindness can be found inside everyone and that if they wish hard enough, it is possible.

Fruits Basket is an emotional journey that teaches us about self-love and how to move on with life without letting social restrictions bind us.

It is also an excellent romance anime showing how several characters fall in love.

Fruits Basket is a remake of a 2001 series with the same title and is also worth a watch.

3. Your Name

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Drama, Supernatural, Romance
• MAL Rating: 8.85
• Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Prime Video

Your Name is a very similar film to Only Yesterday as it uniquely tells us about friendship and love while never understating family’s importance and where you come from.

It is different from other romance films, as it takes us through a supernatural route where we see our main characters be able to switch bodies despite their distance from each other.

While living each other’s lives, they form a bond that goes from friendship to love as they struggle to find each other.

Your Name is one of those movies everyone must watch for its engaging story and beautiful animation style, with very comedic and bittersweet moments.

2. Grave of the Fireflies

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Drama, War
• MAL Rating: 8.51
• Where to Watch: Prime Video, Vudu

Grave of the Fireflies is an eye-opening movie about a group of children who also happen to be brothers and sisters who struggle to survive in Japan after World War 2.

As the brother is forced to become mature despite his young age and is only capable of dreams since reality is a horror, we see their brave journey through this event in history.

Even among the sad movies, Grave of the Fireflies stands out for how sad and heartbreaking it is as we see the kids go through tragedy after tragedy.

1. My Neighbor Totoro

• Number of Episodes: 1
• Number of Seasons: Movie
• Genres: Adventure, Slice of Life
• MAL Rating: 8.26
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Prime Video

The best anime you can watch if you wish for something similar to Only Yesterday is My Neighbor Totoro.

It follows two girls who are sisters and their father, who relocate to the country to be closer to their mother.

They find a large mystical creature and befriend it while having several magical adventures daily.

My Neighbour Totoro is an anime directed mainly at children but is also highly recommended for adults to watch for its feel-good moments, the cast of loveable and adorable characters, and the animation which invokes a sense of nostalgia.