Name: It's reductive to think of this movie as solely about creativity. It's much more than that.
Item: LOOK BACK
Rating: 80
Author: patkarunungan

Waifra

It's reductive to think of this movie as solely about creativity. It's much more than that. · Waifora

I somewhat enjoyed the manga and it seems that watching the movie is a logical choice as everybody is saying that it enhances the source material. But I can't help but feel mixed feelings towards it.

§ Overview

Fujino Ayumi is a girl with many talents. She can draw manga, she excels in her studies, and she is athletic. After an impressive establishing shot, we see her drawing and we get to see an impressive sequence of her work — First Kiss — come alive. But then, she was bragging to her classmates that she rushed the work yet ended up so good.

One day, her teacher asks her to give a page to a reclusive student named Kyoumoto. At first, she doesn't feel like this is a big deal. But it turns out that she can draw better than Fujino. This incident is the start of her obsession to defeat Kyoumoto. And the rest is for you to find out.

§ Remarks

I've since had mixed feelings about the story. It's not bad, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Firstly, I read on social media that it's about the passion for creating a work of art. But considering how unlikable Fujino is, it doesn't seem to be one that romanticises creativity. (If you want to see a film that does this better, I recommend 'Pompo: The Cinéphile'.) Rather, it shows that the motivation for creating a piece of art can come from unflattering character traits or situations. This also applies to Kyoumoto.

The how-to aspect of creativity can be extracted, but the reason why is something personal. The motivation for Fujino's and Kyoumoto's creativity is not flattering.

A number of readers have remarked that the two characters, Fujino and Kyoumoto, are different aspects of the mangaka, Fujimoto Tatsuki. (Take the FUJI from Fujino and the MOTO from Kyoumoto, and you have his surname Fujimoto.) Fujino represents that part of him who uses his artistic skills to create commercially viable media, and Kyoumoto represents his more artistic side, that part of him that he seemed to have killed. Thus, it seems to me that, rather than being a manifesto or celebration of creativity, 'Look Back' feels more like Fujimoto Tatsuki's confession.

Whilst I do not subscribe to Sainte-Beuve's biographical criticism, i.e. in order to fully understand a piece of work, one must understand the artist's biography, I take exception to 'Look Back' because Fujimoto Tatsuki himself says that it is a product of his experiences. In this article — "Drawing Felt Meaningless": Chainsaw Man's Creator Already Explained The Real Reason For Making Look Back, & It's Heartbreaking — we learn that Fujimoto experienced difficulties when he volunteered to help with cleaning efforts in the great 2011 earthquake.

He channeled his frustrations to this work. Also, it's apparently a tribute to the KyoAni arson. Some have reported that a friend of Fujimoto died there, but I can't find a credible source.

It's a sad film. I don't know if Fujimoto had Class S / subtextual yuri in mind when he created this, but it feels like it. It really reminds me of early yuri material.

What specifically gives me mixed feelings is how unlikable Fujino is. (I don't know if Fujimoto himself is unlikable as a person, going by the direction that 'Look Back' appears to be a confession.) Firstly, she was obsessed with how to defeat Kyoumoto.

When she finally meets Kyoumoto, this begins their strong friendship.

Spoiler, click to view

She learns that, far from her misconception that Kyoumoto was laughing at her expense, Kyoumoto was actually an avid fan of Fujino. And so, both collaborate to create their first manga.

Their friendship seemed to be one of the happiest moments in Fujino's life.

That said, she is such a control freak. She had used Kyoumoto's abilities, disregarding her feelings. Kyoumoto wanted to go to art school in the hopes of improving her drawing skills, but this meant stopping drawing along with Fujino.

Fujino in turn

Spoiler, click to view

shamed her and told her that she was replaceable and could find other assistants. Worse, even when tragedy struck, she thought that she should not have made Kyoumoto leave her room and continue to be a recluse.

Newsflash: Shit happens.

Spoiler, click to view

Even if leaving her room meant that Kyoumoto would die, as far as Kyoumoto is concerned, it was a step towards overcoming her fear of people, and it is something to be commended. Thus, Fujino was so patronising.

The movie has the same defect as the manga with regard to not having a smooth transition between reality and fantasy. When Fujino went into Kyoumoto's room, she found a comic strip titled 'Look Back.'

Spoiler, click to view

Kyoumoto has apparently anticipated something bad happening to her, and it's a look at an alternative reality. Aside from the lack of transition, it's hard to believe Kyoumoto really thought something that was too close to what actually happened and drew something close to an alternative reality had Fujino done differently and not enticed Kyoumoto to leave her room.

But I'll forgive them as this is a dramatic moment of the story. Fujino was looking back in regret.

When Kyoumoto

Spoiler, click to view

died, Fujino stopped working on her manga. After some thinking, she brought the comic strip 'Look Back' to her workplace, and then the credits rolled.

At this point, we can only speculate what happened next. She is clearly

Spoiler, click to view

drawing something. It's natural to assume that she is continuing her work despite her sadness. But it is equally plausible that she might be writing a new one-shot titled 'Look Back,' a one-shot telling the story of her relationship with Kyoumoto, which is precisely what we are reading in the case of the one-shot manga, or watching in the case of the movie.

This had been done before, but Fujimoto did not go that far, but we can only speculate what if he did.
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The technical aspect of this movie is impressive. We get to see some of Fujino's comic strip become animated.

Also, the montage of their activities as friends is impressive. I like the animation when Fujino was leading Kyoumoto as they ran.

The musick is great, but there was great use of silence at that fateful moment.

§ Conclusion

The story gave me mixed feelings because of how it was sold to me, but it's a very good story. Just manage your expectations.

It's impressive when we talk about technical aspects. Ultimately, it is Fujimoto Tatsuki's confession of his life as an artist veiled in what appears to be Class S. He seems to be looking back with regret.

It's not a treatise on creativity, but touches on creativity partly. Creativity is a personal thing, and it's up to the creative to find a different source of creativity, something different to what Fujino had, so that he or she would not look back in regret.