Look Back

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Look Back – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 7/10 – 7 x 0.275 = 1,925
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 7/10 – 7 x 0.225 = 1,575
Enjoyment – 7/10 – 7 x 0.3 = 2,1
Total: 7,2 -> 7

Story – 7/10
... Look Back is a short but sweet story written by Tatsuki Fujimoto, creator of the worldwide famous Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch. Actually, it’s not the first time Fujimoto has given us a one-shot that is very interesting in its approach (Goodbye, Eri), although Look Back is way more traditional than Goodbye, Eri.
Look Back tells the story of two children (Fujino and Kyomoto), where one of them becomes fixated on being a mangaka (Fujino). Their fates would later intertwine and Fujino would become a somewhat famous mangaka. However, a rather unfortunate turn of events would turn everything upside down.
Look Back is a simple manga that tells a very humane story: one about dedication, frustration, overcoming one’s obstacles and, most importantly, grief, regret and friendship. There is nothing wrong with this manga or story, but it is really simple.
There is also some contemplation on we do the things that we do daily, but mostly on the perpetuity of the memory of lost ones. This part is essential to understand Look Back.
The ending is sad and heartwarming.

Art – 8/10
The art is your typical Tatsuki Fujimoto: great character design, a unique art style with personality, and good backgrounds and landscapes. The cadence of the panels is good as well, making the story easy to follow.

Characters – 7/10
There are essentially two main characters in this one-shot: Fujino and Kyomoto. The manga focuses on their relationship, friendship, and looking up to each other. All of this is done quite well; the rest are figurines.

Enjoyment – 7/10
This manga fits perfectly into the definition of short and sweet. Moreover, it leaves a good aftertaste and gets progressively better as time goes on. Being a one-shot, it is also a very quick read with not much dialogue and beautiful art. For all of these reasons, and being a story that poses important questions about life, it deserves a recommendation.

Original review in french below
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Fujimoto is one of the hype mangakas of the moment. By reading Firepunch (I haven't looked into Chainsaw Man yet) it's easy to understand why: a dark, absurd, crazy, disturbing universe, but steeped in humor. Here, everything seems much more peaceful, sober. Look Back is certainly a meta manga, since telling the meeting in primary school of two apprentice designers. But the approach to the subject is probably more reflective on the very activity of drawing than on the narration or the format itself (by contrast, the director commenting on and directing the action in Fire Punch was much more disruptive). ... Reflective and sensitive, a certain care having been brought to certain boards, for example, those revealing like a Monet painting his haystacks over the seasons, Fujimoto crunches the obstinacy of his young mangaka, in a fixed position, impervious to change climates that surround it. Or again, the one detailing the black and shaken gaze of the young girl learning terrible news... Vacuity of the fact of drawing, if not that of being able to rewrite history and escape into the imagination, as an epilogue seems to claim whose evanescent and dreamy scope we can measure with our fingertips.

But also a story of friendship sketched out, between two teenagers, one arrogant, mischievous and falsely sure of herself, the second, shy (even hikkimori) but careful and diligent; their complementarity being symbolized by these mangas that they will draw with four hands, one for the scenarios/characters, the second for the extremely neat decorations. Only, rather than clinging to these sensitive little details, Fujimoto, himself perhaps still a teenager in his approach, cannot help slipping slightly down two slippery slopes: on the one hand, the one who thinks that t is absolutely necessary that a drama occur (as such, he probably went beyond the medium and its prerogatives less than he thinks), then, that of a pathos sometimes slightly too strong. Despite everything, a recommendable one shot, revealing the sentimental aspect of an author ostensibly more busy rolling mechanics.


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Fujimoto est l'un des mangakas hype du moment. En lisant Firepunch (je ne me suis pas encore penché sur Chainsaw Man) on comprend aisément pourquoi : un univers sombre, absurde, déjanté, perturbant, mais pétri d'humour. Ici, tout semble bien plus apaisé, sobre. Look Back est certes un manga méta, puisque racontant la rencontre en école primaire de deux apprenties dessinatrices. Mais l'approche du sujet se veut sans doute plus réflexive sur l'activité même de dessiner que sur la narration ou le format même ( par contraste, la réalisatrice commentant et orientant l'action dans Fire Punch était bien plus disruptive ). Réflexive et sensible, un soin certain ayant été apporté à certaines planches, par exemple, celles dévoilant tel un Monet peignant ses bottes de foin au fil des saison, Fujimoto croque l'obstination de sa jeune mangaka, dans une position fixe, imperméable aux changements climatiques qui l'entourent. Ou encore, celle détaillant le regard noir et ébranlé de la jeune fille apprenant une terrible nouvelle... Vacuité du fait de dessiner, sinon celui de pouvoir réécrire l'histoire et s'évader dans l'imaginaire, comme semble le clamer un épilogue dont on mesure du bout des doigts la portée évanescente et rêveuse.

Mais aussi une histoire d'amitié ébauchée, entre deux adolescentes, l'une arrogante, espiègle et faussement sûre d'elle, la seconde, timide (hikkimori même) mais soigneuse et appliquée ; leur complémentarité étant symbolisé par ces mangas qu'elles dessineront à quatre mains, l'une au scénarios/personnages, la seconde aux décors extrêmement soigné. Seulement, plutôt que de s'accrocher à ces petits détails sensibles, Fujimoto, lui-même peut-être encore adolescent dans son approche, ne peut s'empêcher de légèrement glissé sur deux pentes savonneuses : d'une part, celle qui pense qu'il faut absolument qu'un drame advienne (à ce titre, il a sans doute moins dépassé le medium et ses prérogatifs qu'il le pense), ensuite, celle d'un pathos parfois légèrement trop appuyé. Malgré tout un one shot recommandable, dévoilant l'aspect sentimental d'un auteur ostensiblement plus occupé à rouler des mécaniques.

So, yeah. Nothing to see here. A very short, simple (simplistic) story. I can only assume that the author had some personal reason for spending time on this because he's put a lot of effort into the art. Perhaps he knew someone at Kyoto Animation or something.

The ending is confusing and the rendering of the two central characters is poor enough that you sometimes have to think about which one is speaking or doing something. The backgrounds are generally very well done, though.

I can't say anything about the plot because only one thing happens in the whole story so anything I say would be a ... spoiler.

Waste of money.