In Honor of the Late, Great Isao Takahata, read "Elegy for a Lost Tomorrow," my Thesis on his Films

There are pieces one hopes never to have to write, even when holding onto that hope is holding out against one of life’s simplest inevitabilities. 

Reporting on the death of Isao Takahata, the Studio Ghibli co-founder and Japanese animation titan who passed away today at 82, is one of those pieces. And that sentiment – of holding onto or coming to terms …