Look Back Review
Tatsuki Fujimoto is one of the most exciting creators in manga right now. Chainsaw Man was a global smash-hit that combined crowd-pleasing gory ultraviolence with the story of a downtrodden guy manipulated into a toxic relationship – it was absurd beyond the realms of humanity, while also being intimately so. However, I believe that it is Look Back, the surprise hit anime of 2024, that best encapsulates why Tatsuki Fujimoto is the next big creator to watch.
Adapted from Fujimoto’s one-shot manga of the same name, the film tells the story of the overly confident Fujino and the shy shut-in Kyomoto, two girls who meet in elementary school and grow alongside each other through their shared love of drawing manga. They grow together both creatively and personally as they collaborate on manga together, but as their skills and ambitions grow, their paths that were once aligned start to diverge in ways that they never imagined.
It was only recently that I read the manga for the first time, and it was such a profound experience that I had been eagerly anticipating this film ever since. I consider myself a creative person, and I love all manner of works about creators and their processes (Pompo the Cinéphile and Shirobako being among my all-time favourite anime). Look Back scratches that itch, but it also speaks beyond that narrow audience, which is probably why it has resonated so much in the United States recently, propelling Look Back into Letterboxd’s much lauded Top 250 Narrative Feature Films list.
Look Back is about more than just two budding manga artists and how a one-sided rivalry evolves into a creative partnership. It could be said that Look Back is a reflection on life, our potential – and how fragile it all is. Although I found Fujino unlikeable, with her stubborn boastfulness, perhaps a part of that is because she reflects the ugliness in me. Threatened by the shut-in Kyomoto’s sudden emergence as a talented artist, a frustrated Fujino reasons with herself that of course someone will improve at a faster rate than someone who actually goes to school. It was mean-spirited, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t empathise with Fujino – all too often, I’ve found myself frustrated about how I’ve fallen behind others because I have to work for a living. I even felt a twinge of jealousy when I discovered that Tatsuki Fujimoto himself is roughly my age! There is also a more sobering aspect to Look Back that in ways feels like a response to the horrific arson attack on Kyoto Animation and how the potential of so many talented creatives were cut short – it hasn’t gone unnoticed that the original web version of Look Back was published on the second anniversary of the tragedy. To say too much about the narrative risks spoiling too much, but anyone familiar with how abstract Chainsaw Man can get might better appreciate the direction Look Back’s story goes in, which some viewers could find confusing.
At only 58 minutes, Look Back barely qualifies as a feature film by most people’s measure, but it is a complete and extremely faithful adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s original one-shot, which was later published into a single manga volume. Often, anime fans measure adaptations on their “faithfulness” to the source material – often wanting little more than 1:1 recreations. I have mixed thoughts on this. I will out myself as one of the seemingly few people who disliked Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, because in having to expand the book’s short story into a film, it added elements and characters that I felt just didn’t suit my favourite childhood book. However, building on a shorter source material can also elevate a work to new heights, as was the case with Takayuki Hirao’s adaptation of Pompo the Cinéphile, which embraced the cinematic medium that Shogo Sugitani’s original manga celebrated (and is far more romanticised than Look Back‘s sobering realism). So, I am torn on Look Back. Tatsuki Fujimoto’s original manga is a masterpiece of introspection, and expanding on that just to fill a run-time quota could have sullied that – especially as I highly doubt there’s anyone who understands how Fujimoto’s abstract yet grounded mind works (does he?). I might have personally liked to see more of Fujino and Kyomoto working on their manga together, but would that have fit the overall story? I’m not sure.
Being so committed to recreating the original story shows an appreciation for this deeply personal yet also universal story, and the film is wonderfully made by Studio Durian, for whom this is their first Animation Production credit (they previously assisted with Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron). Durian goes to great lengths to replicate Tatsuki’s Fujimoto’s recognisable artwork for the big screen. The movie’s main theme “Light Song” performed by Urara is also such an ethereal note to end the film on as its credits roll.
Look Back is a sombre reflection on what it means to be a creator, and on the human condition – the joy, the bitterness, and the pain all in one succinct package. I hope that this adaptation brings Look Back to new audiences and makes more people aware of Tatsuki Fujimoto beyond Chainsaw Man (which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea). I don’t think there are many manga creators today who capture the complexity of what it means to be human quite like Fujimoto.
Look Back is released in cinemas by K-Movies on Friday 25th October, and will be available on Amazon Prime Video from Thursday 7th November.
