Yesterday wo Utatte or Sing “Yesterday” for Me ( free translation: Sing “Yesterday” for Me ) is a slice of life – seinen, which differs from the other animes of the season due to its complex characters but with common problems, making the viewer relate to the characters easily.
Yesterday manages to show how mundane lives have special parts that normally go unnoticed, like deep feelings hiding behind trivial attitudes, the subtle value of everyday life.
Author Kei Toume started “Yesterday wo Utatte” inspired by the homonymous song by the band RC Succession (which was used as the 3rd ED in the anime ), which is inspired by the Beatles ' song Yesterday and to understand this work and analysis a little better, I strongly recommend listening to them before reading.
The four main core characters of the story presented here are: Rikuo Uozumi , Haru Nonaka , Shinako Morinome , and Rou Hayakawa .
The following text is based on the beginning of the anime and not the complete work.
Warning! Spoilers below!
Rikuo Uozumi
Uozumi finished college 6 months ago, he had the goal of confessing his feelings to his friend Shinako on graduation day, but he didn't.
Without any clear goal in mind and feeling lost, he started working at a convenience store, where he met a strange girl named Haru, who always came to visit him at work, despite feeling uncomfortable about it, he always finds himself thinking about her.
However, Rikuo meets Shinako again in Tokyo and ends up declaring himself and being rejected, and despite all the disillusionment and sadness he finds a hobby in photography, but always unsure of taking a step forward.
Haru Nonaka
Nonaka dropped out of high school because her school disapproved of her work at the Milk Hall cafe, which sold alcohol late at night. Despite being a lively and positive girl, she has her moments of sadness, but always for good reasons.
Haru has feelings for Rikuo and says he met him 5 years ago, but at first he doesn't remember her because of her big change in appearance, before a girl in uniform and tied hair and now an extravagant and sincere person who has a crow named Kansuke as a pet.
Having dropped out of high school, she tries to avoid Shinako, who was her former teacher, but after learning that Rikuo likes Shinako, Haru confronts her and declares war, saying that she will not lose to her former sensei.
Shinako Morinome
Morinome is depressed because her teenage boyfriend passed away due to an illness, which made her leave her hometown in Kanazawa and go to Tokyo, but in Tokyo live her late boyfriend's father and younger brother, and she visits them often, which leaves her with a hole in her heart, always carrying the death of her beloved in her chest.
In addition to the fact that her late love's younger brother, Rou, romantically invested in her, leaving her feeling guilty for causing this type of behavior in someone she considers a brother.
For these reasons, Shinako cannot close the doors of her past nor open new ones for the future, not knowing how to respond to Rikuo's feelings and even with her former student Haru declaring war against her for Rikuo, their conversations always keep her feet on the ground, inspiring her to move forward.
Rou Hayakawa
Hayakawa is a high school student and the younger brother of Shinako's late boyfriend. He enjoyed drawing, but after his older brother's death, he stopped, only returning to it years later.
He has unrequited feelings for Shinako, feels he needs to give the support that his older brother couldn't, forcing himself to mature faster so that Shinako considers him a man, but continues to act like a spoiled child, seeing Rikuo as a rival.
Concept map demonstrating the relationships between the characters
Yesterday wo Utatte is an anime adaptation by Doga Kobo that consists of 12 episodes and 6 specials, premiered in April 2020 and was based on the manga by writer and illustrator Kei Toume, published between December 1997 and June 2015 by Shueisha in the magazines Business Jump (1997-2011) and Grand Jump (2011-2015) with 11 volumes.
“Living is 49% about the past and 51% about the future”
