Hello there Just a small disclaimer. This is the script of a video review I did on this manga if you want to check out this review in video format please click herehttps://www..com/watch?v=3aFgXfTZnOc. Otherwise feel free to read the review below. If you end up enjoying the review however itd be really cool if youd check out my channel or my other reviews on AL afterwards Thank you While we all waited for Tatsuki Fujimoto to start the second part of ChainsawMan he surprised us all by revealing that he was actually working on a oneshot unrelated to ChainsawMan and with 140 pages almost a full volume of manga. And today were going to take a look at this short story So hello and welcome ladies and gentleman My name is Crash and Look Back was probably the best oneshot Ive ever read. The only other one I can think of that can rival it is the original Koe no Katachi or Silent Voice oneshot which is still probably the best version of that story even if I love the series and the movie in their own right. Look Back however does one thing I dont think many oneshots actually do which is to deliver a fulfilling and completed story in a short amount of time. So lets go through that story and discuss my opinion and what I think are the main themes of each section. There will be spoilers all over this review as I go beat by beat through what happens so Id ask you to go over to Mangaplus and read everything for free if you havent yet We are first introduced to our main character Fujino in elementary school as she is praised for her four koma manga in the schools newspaper. And if you think Fujino sounds too much like Fujimoto well thats most definitely on purpose because the other character we are introduced is one Kyomoto. Now Kyomoto doesnt appear for most of the first segment but its still her actions that drive the narrative as she starts to draw for the newspaper as well and she draws like a pro already versus Fujino whos just pretty good for an elementary student. The other students quickly point this out to Fujino and that drives her to actually start prioritizing drawing to try to improve and be better than Kyomoto. https://i.ur.com/PeMIi9r.jpg This is where we are kinda introduced to the first meaning of Look Back which by the way is the actual title even in Japanese as we spend a lot of time and we do again and again throughout the entire manga just looking at Fujinos back as she sits in her desk and draws and draws. Tho what I think is the main question in this entire manga is Why do you draw? Fujino is introduced to the manga saying that she just did the 4 koma in 5 minutes and that she really doesnt want to be a mangaka much preferring to follow a career in sports. And while were going to see that this is not completely true it does seem like shes doing it mostly because its an easy way to get praise and look good. Shes doing it for the fame and glory or at least the closest that she can get in elementary school. But when Kyomotos work gets into the scene Fujino is forced to decide if she wants to put in that extra effort to become better or not. And she takes the decision to do so having now a second reason to work hard and to draw. Competition. Having a rival or someone you want to beat is very often a good motivator and it definitely was for Fujino at least at first. Fujino does improve in the next two years a lot but at the cost of her friendships and grades and all that to still not be on par with Kyomotos art. So she decides to give up. That is until graduation day when she is tasked to go to Kyomotos house to give her the diploma. At first Kyomoto doesnt leave the room but that changes when Fujino draws a strip and drops it under the door. Kyomoto runs to her and admits that she is a big fan of Fujinos work having read every manga that was published in the newspaper since 3rd grade And this helps motivate Fujino to go back to drawing And if we can stop here for a second what I find interesting is that this can kinda be an objective versus subjective argument or even about the value of manga compared to pieces of art like paintings. Kyomoto was objectively the best artist of the two theres no one in the entire planet that would look at the two side by side and say that Fujino was a better artist but that didnt invalidate Fujinos manga. It still had value to some people in this case to Kyomoto and Fujino still had a strong point while Kyomoto was the best at drawing backgrounds Fujino was undoubtedly the best at drawing manga And by doing that she helped Kyomoto and this is what mangaka do Through their stories through their ART they help people like me and you through hard moments by providing us with entertainment And its in realizing this value that theres someone out there that enjoys her stuff on a deeper level that really appreciates everything she worked for that she gains a completely new drive to draw But this time shes not alone. Kyomoto helps Fujino to draw a manga to submit to a magazine and they get an award Most of this next segment is just showing and establishing this new friendship as the duo continues to work together to deliver more oneshots. Its done mostly with silent panels and it does such a great job. At this point we are seeing the multiple shots of Fujinos back for the second time in the manga but while the first was just Fujino alone this one has two people and its not just that shot we get multiple shots of Fujino and Kyomoto although sometimes just Fujino having fun going to the cinema to the aquarium the bookstore We get this feeling that Fujino met someone that truly completes her not just in the manga department but in life. And again this is done in such an effective way in such a short amount of time. But then they get accepted to a serialization Which is great but Kyomoto doesnt want that to herself. She wants to become her own artist she wants to improve and she wants to join an art school Thats her dream not to have a manga serialization. https://i.ur.com/BlXfuql.jpg And that is fair because going back to their origins it was always Fujino that drew manga Kyomoto drew landscapes and backgrounds so it makes sense that she wants to follow her own career. Fujino tries to change her mind pointing out essentially all the reasons why Kyomotos more antisocial and reserved behaviours may end up causing her problems and how everything would be easier if she just followed along. But Kyomoto wants to be herself and wants to improve herself in order to be a better artist. And so we go back to Fujinos lonely back. We see that she publishes what essentially is a spoof of both Fire Punch and ChainsawMan Fujimotos two serializations in one Also a note here is that she keeps her pen name which has Kyo in it. Which is most likely from Kyomoto And she gets 12 volumes in but then an incident changes everything. An axe murderer got into Kyomotos school and killed 10 students including Well I suppose you can guess who. This traumatic event causes Fujino to go into a hiatus due to her mental health. And lets stop here as I think this mentions a couple of events. First one is kinda obvious in retrospect but Ill be honest that it was other people have pointed me out to it which is the connections with the Kyoani incident which if you dont know was an arson that happened in July 18 2019 in Kyoto Animations or KyoAnis studio in which 33 people got killed. The suspect was someone who had his novel submitted and rejected by KyoAni years before but thought that KyoAni was ripping it off. When in truth after people looked into it they found that the novel that it was submitted had little to no resemblance with ANY of Kyoto Animations productions. In Look Back the murderer is also screaming to Kyomoto that she stole his art before trying to hit her with his pickaxe. Besides this theres the Kyo in Kyomoto that sounds too in the nose but this is also a guy called Fujimoto who called his two main characters Fujino and Kyomoto so yeah I think it is on the nose on purpose. And theres also the fact that this came out on July 18th 2021 EXACTLY two years after the incident except technically it did not it came out on the 19th in Japan were just a couple of hours later than them. Still its undeniable that its still very very close. The other element though is the hiatus which is a topic thats been hot lately so to speak for a couple of reasons. Both the death of Miura and recently the hiatus of JJK due to Geges health. I just dont think we are giving the mangaka the treatment they deserve as human beings which in the end they are. And this comes in both ways I dont think the industry is giving them that respect and treatment and I dont think the audience is as well. And Im sure this isnt what Fujimoto was going for Fujino goes on a hiatus because she lost her will to draw and shes going to have to find her reason to continue which is again the main theme of the entirety of the manga. But either way I still felt like it was something worth bringing up. Which is cool but now oh now were getting into the weird part. Fujino goes to Kyomotos house and finds the strip comic she originally drew that made Kyomoto leave her house and she feels incredibly guilty for having put Kyomoto into the path that would eventually lead to her death. She rips the paper and we get treated into an alternate timeline in which Kyomoto didnt leave her house. Now I kinda expected this to go to some specific ways to go to one or two classic messages. Like for example wed see that it wouldnt change a thing and Kyomoto would still die or even if she didnt she wouldnt be as happy as she was with Fujino and the point would be that it was still important for Kyomoto to have had that experience. And while that message technically is still here its not how this segment happens. Which just helped remind me that you shouldnt try to predict Fujimoto. Actually what happens is that Kyomoto yes ends up going to the art school anyways and face to face with the murderer but a passing Fujino ends up saving her they talk a bit and Fujino reveals that shes actually starting a new manga and she invites Kyomoto to be her assistant. Kyomoto goes home and she draws a 4Koma manga in the style of Fujino called Look Back recalling the early events and a gust of wind sends that 4Koma under the door and it comes out to our reality and to our Fujino. 220https://i.ur.com/MZYrbEi.jpg And its a really weird part right? Of course we are used to weirdness from Fujimoto but I think the difference is that the rest of the manga is very realistic. Its not a Fire Punch and its not a ChainsawMan. And theres always the approach of this not being real. And upon my first read since we do get some symbolic interaction between the two timelines I took it at face value as just two realities that just existed. On my rereads Im starting to think that its more of a coping mechanism of Fujino to create this ideal world where its not really her that leads Kyomoto to the path that leads to her death and on top of that shes also saving her. Both interpretations are valid I think but Im definitely leaning more to the second one now. Then we get to the climax of the story. Fujino enters the room and reminds herself of her time with Kyomoto and one moment in particular when she was saying that she didnt like drawing manga and Kyomoto asks her Then why do you draw? And Fujino doesnt really answer or if she does it cuts before it but what follows are scenes from when the two of them were together. Laughing writing reading and its those memories that make Fujino go back to her room and start drawing again. And yeah lets answer that why did she go back to drawing? And of course the obvious answer is because of Kyomoto she was a fan of Fujinos works she always what fueled Fujino to continue working hard and even though she is gone its Kyomotos passion for Fujino and Fujinos passion for Kyomoto that drives her back to manga. But lets move a bit away from the actual manga and look back at everything and answer why Fujimoto drew THIS specific manga or oneshot. I think a lot of people will say this is a tribute to KyoAni and while yes everything aligns and yes it most definitely IS a tribute to that event I dont think thats the main reason for the manga. All in all the parts that relate to the incident makeup probably not even a fourth of the entire thing. Rather I think this is Fujimoto looking back at his career. This is Fujimoto after having written Fire Punch a pretty successful manga in its own right but then he just did ChainsawMan and that is right now one of the most hot manga around. Its super popular everyone is talking about it and we know that this isnt the peak. We still have Part 2 to come we still have the anime adaptation to come. ChainsawMan might explode soon. This right now is the best time for Fujimoto to not just jump into Part 2 but instead take a moment look back and question himself why does he draw? And I think its that reflection on why he does it that is Look Back. https://i.ur.com/pSM5dPB.jpg What I dont think Look Back is however is simply Fujimotos story. I know its easy to look at the names and make that connection and I think there might be some elements that are true but I dont think it is as close as saying like Fujimoto wants to draw because a friend of him died and he wants to honor him or something. Rather I think Kyomoto represents the fans. The ones that love Fujimotos works and let him know the ones that follow and eagerly await each and every chapter he writes. Those that were changed by his works. ChainsawMan and Fire Punch and now Look Back these works resonated with me in ways I never expected them to and they are definitely some of the most important manga Ive read in the past few years. And Fujimoto helped me change the way I look at the media. Its different its wild and its meaningful. There is value to Fujimotos works and that value is recognized by the fans. A lot of my favourite manga a lot of the manga that changed my life that impacted it. A lot of them are not manga that you would expect to be that valuable. Beelzebub Agravity Boys and Love Hina. And maybe you think my connection to these manga are stupid but I dont care. These manga have value just like Fujinos stupid 4Koma gags had imense value to Kyomoto. And I think its because of us that Fujimoto and that a lot of other creators not just mangaka do it. Storytelling is such a powerful tool to impact peoples lives in positive ways. Were not all barking Makima fans. And yeah Look Back is beautiful. I know a lot of people wont see the wildness and weirdness of Fujimoto in this oneshot. Its far more realistic and grounded and to be fair Fujimoto has a lot of oneshots that are like that. This reminds me of Imouto no Ane the oneshot that Fujimoto drew between Fire Punch and ChainsawMan since its also more grounded and it talks about the value of art as well.