full disclosure- I'm planning to give this a rewatch the following day. I may even heavily edit or rewrite this review upon having done so. Even with just one watch, however, I can attest to the inherent beauty and soul that this adaptation of Look Back has within every frame. For starters, it's animated so intriguingly but so beautifully- somewhere between an impressionist painting and watercolor brush stroke- and it really works for how simple yet achingly human and beautiful this short story is. rom the animation to the tenderly approached story to the wonderful music, this movie moved me to tears at multiple points and really got me thinking about how our youthful passions lead to our development as adults, one way or another. It was by total chance, but these two women had a love for drawing, and it being something they both prized is why they ended up in just that right place, at the right time- and it led to a beautiful working friendship, though fraught with ups and downs. I like that they didn't shy away from these young artist not knowing how to handle money at their age, or Fujino's fears of Kyoumoto being unable to make it in the chaotic workflow of university life. I think it's so beautiful and poignant that even when Fujino envisions an AU to escape her survivor's guilt due to the death of her friend, ultimately drawing manga becomes a part of her life even there. This story is one in love with artistry itself, yet unafraid to acknowledge the fleeting nature of it, and the sacrifices ultimately required to succeed in a creative industry. It never glorifies it and sanitizes the downsides either; I like how they depicted people simply refusing to understand the desire to create art, as if it's something you can simply turn off, as well. The finale too, just kept me enthralled the entire time. I was even wondering if we were suddenly entering a supernatural phase of the story- but thankfully the door simply serves as a gateway to a "what if?" kind of story, which feels a lot more appropriate. those last 20 minutes in particular destroyed me, but the way that the film ends is so perfect. It's both fitting and sad at the same time that in the end the best thing Fujino can do is to remember her friend fondly by pasting an old comic on her window- and continue to push forward in the industry like Kyoumoto presumably would want for her, even after all that happened. I can understand why some might see that semi-negatively as a prioritizing in the end of work over all else- but I don't see it that way. I see it as Fujino choosing to continue to explore her passions, and not let her guilt about things she ultimately had no power to change anyway determine how she lives her life in the aftermath. And frankly, that's something every artists in some way can resonate with. Most people in general can.