Favorite: A film not to be missed!

Look Back is a manga originally conceived and drawn by Tatsuki Fujimoto (author of Chainsaw Man, Fire Punch and Goodbye, Eri). Following its success, an adaptation was made into a feature film, directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama.

As for the story, we follow the adventures of Fujino, an elementary school student who uses her drawing skills to create manga, which she publishes in the school newspaper. She finds herself in competition with Kyômoto, another talented pupil who remains permanently cloistered at home. Despite her best efforts, she was unable to keep up with Kyômoto and decided to give up drawing. At the end of the year, Fujino is asked to give Kyômoto her diploma. Once inside her house, she realizes that Kyômoto is in fact a huge fan who avidly follows her stories! What follows is a friendship through which our two heroines evolve and create manga together during their high school years, before fate finally pulls them apart.

A monstrous amount of work was put in by the team, using an unconventional method: the director chose to use the first versions of the key animations, which had not been cleaned up, giving the film a particular aesthetic with a more organic line. This “human” aspect was important to Oshiyama, who wanted the film's visuals to be lively, to contrast with the AI work.

Oshiyama's love of animation is also expressed in his hard work: of the 700 shots in Look Back, he drew the key animations for around half (and took the opportunity to redraw some of the others!).

The color work of Maya Kusumoto, who had to deal with new issues due to the animation style, and of Kiyoshi Sameshima as art director, are also worthy of note. The film exudes a very special atmosphere that is totally unique to it!

So don't hesitate, and take advantage of this weekend to go and see this unique work that has taken the Japanese animation scene by storm!

Click here to see the list of cinemas showing the film!