Recensioni de* critic*

Look Back is as neat and yet also as overflowing as the four-panel strips in which its leads once diligently honed their craft. And if something so beautiful also feels too brief – well, that may be the idea.

If there’s a complaint to be made about Look Back, it’s that there’s not enough of it: Adapted from Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot manga of the same name, the story it tells is purposefully contained.

It’s fitting that a story about the inspirational power of art has received such a carefully crafted adaptation, one that implies the folks at Studio Durian were similarly inspired by the source material. All of this beautiful animation intrinsically drives at why people create in the first place, highlighting both the life-affirming and deeply messy realities of making manga.

“Look Back” is every bit as lovingly well-rendered as its story requires. The character designs are realistic but supernaturally expressive, the soft lines on Ayamu and Kyomoto’s faces rich with feeling in a way that underscores the vital importance of each cel; what Ayamu and Kyomoto might see as another hand-cramping all-nighter is clear to us as the best times of their lives.

ook Back’s reflections on the struggles of artistic creation feel even more relevant today than they did when the manga first came out. Both the message of its story and the quality of its production now play as rejoinders to the threat of A.I. After watching the anime, many viewers will want to immediately pick up a pencil… once they’ve put down their tissues, anyway.

Look Back is a requiem for art lost to violence, to circumstance, to conformity. It is also an argument to create.

It’s a touching story that’s also a pleasure to look at thanks to director Oshiyama’s springy, supple use of animation.