Sharing a passion with someone close can be a bliss, but depending upon circumstances, it can be a burden as well, as it brings forth questions about our own selves that we do not like to face. The anime movie adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s (Chainsaw Man) one-shot slice of life manga, Look Back, deals with this conundrum with a beautifully animated, heart-wrenching story of two friends whose shared love for art navigates themes of friendship, destiny, emotional turbulence, and the essence of life itself. Look Back is gorgeously animated, perfectly capturing the coming-of-age vibe, and the vibrancy of the art only makes the emotional scene that much hard hitting.
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Fujino And Kyomoto Meet?
As a fourth grader, Ayumu Fujino is quite a talented artist, and four-panel manga strips drawn by her regularly feature in her school’s weekly paper. Fujino is a confident, outgoing kid who is well aware that her peers and family appreciate her skills a lot, and she takes a bit of pride in that as well. One day Fujino learns that her manga panels will share space with one of her batchmates from another section, a talented student who is homeschooled due to her crippling social anxiety, Kyomoto. Too confident in her skills, Fujino doesn’t think too much of Kyomoto, which is all the more reason as to why she finds herself spellbound after seeing Kyomoto’s artwork for the first time. As an artist, Kyomoto appears much more talented than Fujino—a realization Fujino isn’t able to take in a healthy, competitive way. She can’t help but feel a sense of inferiority, which makes her feel that everything special about her has been snatched away. Desperate to excel in her craft and surpass Kyomoto, Fujino rigorously practices—forgetting her family, friends, and social life as a whole for two years. Her art significantly improves, but she realizes it’s still nowhere near compared to that of Kyomoto’s. Fujino decides to quit drawing, returns to her normal life, and makes peace with the fact that Kyomoto will remain a better artist between the two of them.
On the graduation day, Fujino is entrusted by her class teacher to visit Kyomoto to deliver her diploma, and despite being unwilling to meet her initially, Fujino eventually changes her decision. Standing outside Kyomoto’s room, Fujino realizes that Kyomoto has completely submerged herself in her craft and draws a funny comic strip to address Kyomoto’s reserved tendencies. The strip flies away and enters Kyomoto’s room, and embarrassed, Fujino thinks it is a wise decision to leave the diploma at her doorstep and simply leave. However, Kyomoto catches up to her, and being able to recognize Fujino, she appears to be absolutely elated, as just like how Fujino was inspired by Kymoto’s craft, she too considered Fujino as her idol. Fujino doesn’t reveal the fact that she doesn’t consider herself to be anywhere near as good as Kyomoto is and takes a sense of joy in realizing Kyomoto looks up to her.
Why Did Fujino And Kyomoto End Their Partnership?
The duo quickly hit it off, and in no time, they start collaborating with each other while sharing their passion for art. Kyomoto gets a taste of the outside world for the first time thanks to Fujino, and their works get published as one-shot mangas, which quickly become popular. Their bond of friendship is strengthened as the experiences shared by them find their way into their manga, and the friend duo grows up, celebrating their success together. However, Kyomoto feels Fujino is taking her to a world of her own while she struggles to catch up with her friend. Kyomoto is willing to improve her art by going to the academy, which is why she hesitantly refuses to assist Fujino when the publishers ask the duo to serialize their manga. Fujino doesn’t convey to her friend that she needs Kyomoto by her side, nor does she acknowledge what a brilliant artist Kyomoto is. Instead, their final meeting ends in a heated argument, which ends with Kyomoto breaking down in tears.
Why Did Fujino Decide To Draw Again?
Years go by, Fujino continues the serialized manga under the pen name of her collaboration with Kyomoto while being assisted by other artists; readership fluctuates, pressure mounts up, and eventually Fujino gets busy with her own life. One day, a terrible tragedy strikes as a psychotic mass murderer attacks students from Kyomoto’s academy, and Kyomoto turns out to be one of his victims. Fujino is devastated by the horrid reality that she never got to make amends with her friend, but suffered a much more severe emotional blow after going to Kyomoto’s home, where she finds that Kyomoto had kept the four-panel mange Fujino had addressed to her the first time she visited her home. Fujino is wracked with guilt and agony as she blames herself for changing the course of Kyomoto’s life, which eventually resulted in her tragic demise. Fujino decides to quit drawing altogether, and in her anger, Fujino rips apart the artwork, a piece of which flows in air and once again enters Kyomoto’s room.
What happens next can be considered a guilt-ridden Fujino’s wishful thinking, or indeed a beautiful miracle, as the piece of paper travels to Kyomoto’s room in the past—the same day when she first met with Fujino. However, this time, seeing a torn piece of paper that doesn’t convey any meaning, Kyomoto finds no reason to leave her room, and she doesn’t meet with Fujino. Despite that, Kyomoto ends up in the same situation, as she enrolls in the art academy later in life and faces a similar situation when the psychotic murderer launches an attack on her. However, this time, Fujino, who was apparently passing by the area, manages to stop the assailant—and saves Kyomoto in the process. The duo get acquainted with each other, and Kyomoto recognizes Fujino, as she used to look up to her in this alternate life as well. Fujino promises to collaborate with her, and an overjoyed Kyomoto sketches a funny four-panel strip titled “Look Back,” where she depicts Fujino saving her from the assailant. A gust of wind blows the strip, which finds its way back to the past to Fujino, who is visibly shocked after looking at it, and finally musters up the courage to enter Kyomoto’s room. Fujino is heartbroken as she realizes that even though they parted ways long ago, Kyomoto kept track of Fujino’s work, admired her till the very end, and her dress, on which she had taken an autograph from Fujino during their first meeting, bears testament to this fact.
Fujino knows how much she and their shared love for art meant for Kyomoto, and now she finds the resolve to change her decision. Fujino sticks “Look Back,” the four-panel artwork made by Kyomoto, at her workspace and submerges herself into the overworked routine she has become used to as the movie comes to an end. Kyomoto’s artwork will remind her of what really drives her to dedicate herself to art; it is a testament to her friendship with Kyomoto, which bears all the unexpressed feelings she had for her. As an overburdened mangaka, Fujino will soon find herself lost in daily pressure, but whenever uncertainty about the future or disillusionment about the present crops up in her mind, Kyomoto’s memories will be there to comfort her.
