Look Back (2024) : A visually touching film about friendship and the struggle of artist's.
Look Back (2024) has a sense of passion in the making as well as the subject put forth. It is a wonderful small coming-of-age directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama. It is loosely based on one-shot web manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto who is popular for his manga Chainsaw Man and how the passion and desire of drawing manga can unite two people and also disturb them emotionally.
Fujino who draws for the school magazine is wooing her classmates with her one-shot manga panels. Her capabilities are with only praise and she loves the showers of all the praise she receives. She becomes the center of attention and boasts her outgoing capabilities. But she is told another student who is a recluse and shy and often misses classes is also an artist and she is to be given another space in the magazine for her drawings to be showcased. Fujino due to her complacency of superiority brushes off and accepts as it may not affect her superior work. But all this goes to shatters when the drawings of Kyomoto can be seen to surpass her talent. This makes Fujino more competitive and she gives all her time and effort to become better than Kyomoto. But despite her efforts she eventually fails and gives up.
Fujino at the early stages of her quitting is asked to deliver Kyomoto’s graduation certificate to her. She first is reluctant but then decides to go and visit her in which upon meeting for the first time it becomes a surprise to her that Kyomoto has always looked upon as Fujino as her sensei and inspiration which in turn leads them to go upon a creative and artistic journey working together to become great mangaka artists.
The film has stunning and beautiful visualization. The animation is gorgeous to look at with its color palettes and the usage of a distinctive face animation makes the film look unique in its style. The unique visuals also bring out the depth of a simple story but with many complexities and how a certain event during the film has an emotional and devasting impact on the viewers.
The representation of the artist is also shown with poignancy and the touching nature of the struggles that any artist and aspiring artist goes through can be cathartic to some as this is loosely based on the real authors life. The montage sequences of Fujino during her persistent hard work to how many mangaka artist have hundreds of sketchbooks lying around their workspace and the struggling of their work to get published is shown so touchingly in the short amount of time given. All this is coupled up with an emotional rigid tale of friendship that deals with bitter truths in life and the life of artists.
Look Back contends with the universal aspect of creating art and why we do so. Despite its small runtime it is a masterful showcasing of visual storytelling where we can hear and see silence when needed and plays with the aspect of time and nostalgia. And how any artist who doodled or wrote in a notebook can always look at the past and feel the need to create.