Look Back

Popular, outgoing Fujino is celebrated by her classmates for her funny comics in the class newspaper. One day, her teacher asks her to share the space with Kyomoto, a truant recluse whose beautiful artwork sparks a competitive fervor in Fujino. What starts as jealousy transforms when Fujino realizes their shared passion for drawing.

Based on the acclaimed manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the creator of Chainsaw Man, Look Back captures the highs and lows of pursuing artistic excellence and the special bonds formed through creative collaboration. The heart-wrenching story is the stunning feature-length directorial debut from Kiyotaka Oshiyama that will leave you in tears and inspire you to chase your own artistic dreams.

Look Back is a celebration of all that is drawn [it] enters the pantheon as one of the great works about art. It’s not allegorical like The Boy and the Heron (its closest contemporary in animation and theme), but is rather a film that sits in the work of art. It is a requiem for art lost to violence, to circumstance, to conformity. It is also an argument to create.

Autumn Wright, Paste magazine

A touching story that’s also a pleasure to look at thanks to director Oshiyama’s springy, supple use of animation… Look Back runs just under an hour — it feels exactly as long as it should be.

Matt Schley, The Japan Times

A film that excels in terms of writing, animation, and overall direction… already an easy contender for the best anime film of 2024, if not the best-animated film of 2024, overall.

Joshua Fox, Screen Rant