Look Back Movie Review: Where Art’s a Lifeline
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Pro tip – Read the manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto first, and you’ll be able to appreciate the anime adaptation better.
Directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, Look Back—much like the original manga—follows the story of the exuberant, extroverted schoolgirl Fujino and her unlikely friendship with the reclusive Kyomoto, who never attends school. Fujino is the star of her class, thanks to her hilarious weekly comics in the school newspaper. However, the 4th grader is brought down a notch when Kyomoto’s artwork is published alongside hers one day, making Fujino’s work seem amateur by comparison. Initially, a fierce rivalry brews in Fujino’s mind, but once the two polar opposites finally meet, they quickly become best friends, bonded by their shared passion for drawing manga.
The film version of “Look Back” is faithful to its source material, but the animators make maximum use of the medium to enhance the storytelling. For instance, the manga opens with a funny 4-panel manga titled ‘First Kiss’ made by Fujino. In the anime version, the 4-panel strip is first shown as a static picture, and then it’s converted into a mini-animated joke, which immediately makes it funnier. To be honest – I didn’t even get the joke while reading the manga. And unlike the black-and-white manga, the animation is a colorful fever dream about the joy, madness, obsession, and loneliness that comes with making constant art.
The clashing personalities of Fujino and Kyomoto is better captured in motion, with Fujino constantly fidgeting while drawing, while Kyomoto is more calm, and collected, despite being the more nervous of the two. Fujino is the story-teller, the one who is able to churn stories every week, while Kyomoto is the meticulous artist, who draws still life and backgrounds, so even though her drawings are more detailed, her art has no emotional ethos. Combining their talents together, the two small town girls start making full-fledged one-shot manga together, finishing their first one while they are both just 13.
With a crisp 58-minute runtime, the first half of “Look Back” is a celebration of art, friendship, and the unintentional ways people inspire each other to grow. Both Fujino and Kyomoto initially create art just to kill time, but as Fujino’s comic strips gain popularity at school, she thrives on the adulation. However, seeing Kyomoto’s more polished artwork motivates her to take her craft more seriously, while Kyomoto, in turn, is inspired by Fujino’s unwavering dedication to her weekly comics. Unfortunately, towards the end, the two young women part ways on a sour note, with Fujino becoming a popular Mangaka, while Kyomoto goes to art school.
Like the manga, Look Back takes a tragic turn towards the end, forever altering the lives of the two young women, with Fujino almost giving up art for the second time. I still feel it didn’t need to be quite so sad, but in the anime, it felt less jarring—perhaps because I already knew the story. If you watch the anime first and read the manga later, you might end up appreciating the manga more, as it offers a more layered perspective on the story. There’s a slightly confusing “what if” scenario towards the end, and depending on which you experience first (manga or anime), the story tends to make more sense the second time around.
In the end, Fujino ‘looks back’ on her friendship with Kyomoto and realizes that, even if she hadn’t become friends with her or brought her out of her shell, Kyomoto would have still pursued her passion and gone to art school. Fujino’s hubris blinds her to the fact that it’s Kyomoto who truly pushes her to greatness, and ultimately, she continues creating art as a tribute to her friend. If you’re looking for a bittersweet ‘slice of life’ tale on friendships and find tragic endings cathartic, this is absolutely worth a watch.
Rating: 8.5 on 10. Stream “Look Back” on Prime Video.
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