Anime Review – Look Back

Tatsuki Fujimoto rose to fame through his manga series Chainsaw Man. Many thought of Fujimoto as being brash, comical, and a bit over-the-top because of his work on that series; however, a one-shot was released in 2021 that would change everyone’s perspective of him as a manga artist. Now, that one shot became a 60-minute anime. This is Look Back.

Let’s go!

The Story

Look Back is a slice-of-life story centering around a young girl named Fujino. She drew manga strips for her class newspaper; however, one day she is called into the faculty room because a girl from the class next door named Kyomoto wants to have a spot in the next paper. She doesn’t come to school so they thought it would be meaningful to have her participate. Fujino, who is a bit full of herself, argues but eventually accepts. When she sees Kyomoto’s work, she is appalled at how much better she is than her. So much so that it drives her to madness and she goes to pick up every “how to draw” book that she can find so that she can improve her art. In other words, she saw Kyomoto as a rival.

This continues for years until the end of 6th grade. It’s graduation time so her teacher asks if she can deliver Kyomoto’s diploma to her. Again, reluctant due to their rivalry, she refuses but is eventually talked into it. When she arrives, the house seems quiet and empty but she realizes that someone’s home. She goes to approach Kyomoto’s door but has second thoughts. Instead, she notices a blank 4-koma sheet on top of a pile of sketchbooks and decides to draw a manga depicting Kyomoto as coming in first place in the shut-in competition. The paper slips out of her hands and underneath Kyomoto’s door! Kyomoto notices but Fujno runs away in shame.

Kyomoto catches up with her outside and tells her that she’s Fujino’s biggest fan. Fujino lies and tells her she’s working on a manga series for a competition but she hasn’t drawn it yet. Fast forward and the two of them are working on a one-shot together. This continues several more times until they are notified that they want to serialize their series. Everything seems wonderful until Kyomoto informs Fujno that she wants to go to art school and cannot help with the series.

What transpires is a series of events that tell the story of how rivals became friends who cherish everything that they had with one another.

Characters

Fujino simply is a girl who loves to draw; however, she also has a bit of a fragile ego. While she received praise for her work, the instant that she was compared to Kyomoto, her ego took a huge hit and instead of improving for the sake of improving, she seemed as if she did it just to beat Kyomoto and show her up. She even mentions how she won’t accept a shut-in who doesn’t come to school to be better than her. When her art doesn’t improve past Kyomoto’s, she flat-out gives up. This alone proves that she wasn’t trying to improve for herself. She turned it into a personal competition and it ended up destroying her… until she meets Kyomoto.

Kyomoto, on the other hand, you just wanted to hug. She has social anxiety and finds it very hard to talk to people but after meeting Fujino, she begins to come out of her shell. In fact, after they do a one-shot together, Fujino takes Kyomoto out in celebration and it begins to give her the courage to try and be more interactive with the world. This sets Kyomoto down her own path and brings us to that pivotal moment that makes Fujino come off as a bit self-centered.

To see Kyomoto’s excitement when she meets Fujino for the first time, though… that infectious happiness and excitement was enough to get Fujino back into drawing. Fujino even said she had an idea for a manga that seemed as if it came from out of left field. For someone who quit because of Kyomoto, how would they have an idea for a manga? It almost came off as if Fujino had made that up on the spot just to impress Kyomoto or to show her that she had bigger aspirations than drawing for a school newspaper. Kyomoto bought it though and she practically begged Fujino to show it to her. In a way, Kyomoto was the catalyst that gave rebirth to Fujino’s passion and became the foundation for their friendship!

Art, Animation, and Sound

Studio Durian brought to us an animation style that was very rough around the edges but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Tatsuki Fujimoto has a very specific drawing style and if you watched this, you would instantly be reminded of Chainsaw Man’s art style when you saw it. Even though this was turned into an animated film, Chainsaw Man, oddly, looked as if it had a higher budget… but that’s not a complaint because Chainsaw Man was meant to be an action series. You don’t need high levels of detail and CGI. The “lower” budget look here drives home the story perfectly and encapsulates everything from the world to all of the emotions that you are meant to feel while viewing this.

The character designs truly did Fujimoto’s art style justice. It provided that signature style he’s known for while keeping everything looking unique and fresh. The animation, though, was very good. Even the opening scene looking like a beautiful watercolor transitioning into a very rough motion-style… almost as if you were looking at a colorized storyboard seemed a bit jarring but once you realize what this series was about, that arti direction made perfect sense.

As for the sound, typically, the soundtrack for a slice-of-life anime is often forgettable but I find that to be true throughout a 12-25-episode series. In Look Back, we’re just talking about 60 minutes (if that). In that short time, you are allowed to fully absorb yourself into the music… when there is music. One of the things this movie does very well is use silence at the perfect moments. Silence can be awkward or it can be profound. It is the latter here as it just amplifies the gravity of certain scenes and moments and in others where you need to feel the emotion, the somber music kicks in as if it’s embracing you and making you feel alongside the characters. When it needs to be playful, it’s playful. The sound direction is very well done and the composition is good to where you can actually remember the music in your head… a feat of strength for a slice-of-life show!

Overall Thoughts

Simply incredible.

If you had a perception of Tatsuki Fujimoto just solely based on Chainsaw Man, prepare to have all of your preconceptions shattered. If you think that he can’t be serious and tell an emotional story then just take 59 minutes and change out of your day and watch Look Back and be proven wrong. While the art style is a bit jarring at first, it grows on you and becomes a non-factor. The opening scene alone seeing Fujino’s back sitting there and drawing manga is a masterful work. You may just see a leg tapping but soon you notice the pillow she’s sitting on reacting. Then you notice the slight twitches of her right hand, the reflection of her face in the mirror, and so forth. The more you watch that opening scene, the more you see happening, and to put that much detail and nuance in it truly shows the love that was put into forging this piece.

From start to finish, Look Back is a phenomenal story that takes you on a journey. Despite only being an hour long, it doesn’t feel rushed. It feels complete and the pacing is nice and smooth. There are no true slow parts and the characters/story keep you engaged the entire time.

Look Back is one of those shows that you need to go out of your way and watch. VIZ Media also has the manga available which I have also done a review for. As someone who has read the manga, I can definitely say that the movie does it justice. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription… watch it. No excuses. It’s that good.

How good? I very, VERY rarely do this because I have to be sure that a story feels as complete as complete can be and that the story and characters take you on an incredible ride that will last in your mind for a long time to come.

Look Back does this.

5/5