Look Back (ルックバック) is an anime movie based on a manga by the same name. It premiered in Japan on 28 June 2024, but I didn't have the chance to catch it until yesterday as it was not showing at the nearby cinema. Still, I had been very interested in this movie so I finally made my way to the cinema in the next city that was still screening this movie.
They are still handing out this memento to those who watch the movie at the cinema. It is a set of four postcards with line drawings used in the movie.
For a movie that premiered more than a month ago, cinemas are still screening it several times a day, and even though I was there on a weekday afternoon, the seats were still about halfway filled.
The story itself is something that most creators (artists, writers, etc. included) can empathise with. The desire to become better in our art is a curse that drives us to spend more and more time into it. And we inevitably compare our works to other people's works, seeing the flaws and imperfection in our own, which drives us to want to become even better. And while we may suffer setbacks along the way, and some of those setbacks may even discourage us so much that we drop our art, we will eventually again find our way back to it.
There is no running away from our love for our art.
And no one else better to direct a movie that revolves around such a story. Oshiyama Kiyotaka, the director, also wrote the script, designed the characters, supervised the sakuga, and drew like half of the key frames himself. In the end, what we have is a movie that stays true to the feel of the original manga, bringing the manga to life through animation and sounds. Running at 58 minutes, the movie packages the story in a manner that is easy to enjoy, and triggers you to think about your passion for your art or whatever it is that you are pursuing. It is like reading the manga, except that the manga is moving and the words are being read to you.
Note: The story includes a part where a killer went around on a killing spree thinking that people stole his art. This may feel similar to the Kyoto Animation arson attack but I hope viewers will not think too much into this.
For those who wish to see the places which were featured in the movie, you can find them on this map from Nikaho City in Akita Prefecture.
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