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Look Back (film)

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Look Back
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Katakanaルックバック
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnRukku Bakku
Directed byKiyotaka Oshiyama [ja]
Screenplay byKiyotaka Oshiyama
Based onLook Back
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Starring
Music byHaruka Nakamura
Production
company
Studio Durian
Distributed byAvex Pictures
Release dates
  • June 2024 (2024-06) (Annecy)
  • June 28, 2024 (2024-06-28) (Japan)
Running time
58 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box officeUS$12.6 million[1]

Look Back (Japanese: ルックバック, Hepburn: Rukku Bakku) is a 2024 Japanese animated coming-of-age drama film based on the one-shot web manga of the same name by Tatsuki Fujimoto. The film is directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama [ja], who also wrote the screenplay and served as a character designer, and produced by Studio Durian. It stars Yuumi Kawai and Mizuki Yoshida as two girls with a passion for drawing—the outgoing Fujino (Kawai) and the truant recluse Kyomoto (Yoshida), the latter of whom's artistic ability inspires a competitive fervor in Fujino that soon develops into a partnership.

Look Back premiered at the French Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2024. It was theatrically released in Japan by Avex Pictures on June 28, 2024.

Cast

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  • Yuumi Kawai as Fujino
  • Mizuki Yoshida as Kyomoto
  • Yoichiro Saito as HR Teacher
  • Kota Oka as Man
  • Kureha Maki as Fujino's sister
  • Koya Yoshihashi as Editor
  • Takeshi Miyajima as Newscaster
  • Daisuke Takahashi as Announcer
  • Jun Ito as Teacher
  • Kaori Takeuchi as Friend's Mother
  • Masumi Taira as Grandmother

Production

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In February 2024, an anime film adaptation of the manga Look Back was announced.[2] In March 2024, it was announced that Kawai and Yoshida had joined the voice cast as Fujino and Kyomoto, respectively.[3][4]

Music

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The music is composed by Haruka Nakamura; the film's theme song, "Light Song", is composed by Nakamura and performed by Urara.[5][6]

Release

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Look Back premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which took place in Annecy, France, from June 9–15, 2024, in the "Annecy Presents" category, a non-competitive category created to showcase a variety of international animated films to audiences.[7][8]

Look Back received a theatrical release in Japan by Avex Pictures on June 28, 2024, screening in 119 theaters nationwide. Due to positive critical and commercial response, including positive word of mouth, its release expanded to 11 more theaters on July 5.[9]

In the United States, the Japan Society screened the film on July 14, 2024, in Japanese with English subtitles, as part of the "Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Cinema" event at New York.[10] The film has been licensed in North America by GKIDS and premiered in theaters on October 4, 2024.[11] Singapore-based film distributor Encore Films licensed the film in India and Southeast Asia countries and released it in theaters.[12][13] The film was released worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on November 7, 2024 (November 8 in Asia due to timezone differences);[14] it includes the original Japanese audio with English subtitles, as well as an English dub.[15]

Reception

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Box office

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Look Back grossed US$2 million in Japan and US$10.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of US$12.6 million.[1] The film grossed over ¥227 million (around US$1.47 million) in its opening weekend at the Japanese box office.[9] By July 17, after 18 days in theaters, it had made ¥1,017,961,780 (around $6.41 million).[16]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Look Back has a 100% approval rating based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10.[17][18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 90 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[19]

IndieWire's David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of "B+", praising the character design and the emotional weight of the story; Ehrlich wrote that, "the fleeting nature of Oshiyama's film, which so fluidly renders eons of labor with the lightness of memory and the brilliance of a shooting star, is what ultimately allows it to crystallize a truth that most artists can only hope to accept for themselves [...]: Making things isn't a waste of time or a way of isolating oneself from the world, but rather the most beautiful way of belonging to it."[20] Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave the film a score of five out of five stars, praising its visuals as "wildly yet unassumingly beautiful" and its plot as accessible "yet philosophically rich"; he concluded: "There's a haiku-like purity to it: 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."[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Look Back". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  2. ^ Jones, Mat (February 13, 2024). "Anime Adaptation of Look Back From Chainsaw Man Creator Officially Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  3. ^ 映画『ルックバック』河合優実&吉田美月喜のW主演で声優初挑戦【コメント全文】. Oricon News (in Japanese). March 14, 2024. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  4. ^ Dempsey, Liam (March 13, 2024). "Tatsuki Fujimoto's Look Back Anime Film Announces Main Cast". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  5. ^ Mateo, Alex (February 13, 2024). "Chainsaw Man Creator Tatsuki Fujimoto's 'Look Back' 1-Shot Manga Gets Anime Film". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  6. ^ Tai, Anita (April 16, 2024). "Tatsuki Fujimoto's 'Look Back' Anime Film Unveils Trailer, Theme Song, More Staff". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  7. ^ Mateo, Alex (May 10, 2024). "Tatsuki Fujimoto's 'Look Back' Anime Film Screens at Annecy". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  8. ^ 劇場アニメ「ルックバック」アヌシー映画祭で上映、藤野＆京本の新規カットも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. May 11, 2024. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  9. ^ a b 映画『ルックバック』口コミ効果で上映劇場が拡大 小島秀夫氏・山崎貴監督らが絶賛. Oricon News (in Japanese). July 2, 2024. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  10. ^ Cayanan, Joanna (June 20, 2024). "Japan Cuts Film Festival Screens Live-Action Blue Period Film, Tatsuki Fujimoto's 'Look Back' Anime Film". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 20, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  11. ^ Mateo, Alex (August 23, 2024). "GKIDS Screens Look Back Anime Film in N. American Theaters on October 4 (Updated)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (June 3, 2024). "Encore Films Teases Tatsuki Fujimoto's 'Look Back' Anime Film". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  13. ^ Sayyed, Rayan (October 18, 2024). "Look Back Anime Film Releasing on October 25 in India". IGN India. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  14. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (October 22, 2024). "Amazon Prime Video Adds Look Back Anime Film Globally on November 7". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 20, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Mateo, Alex (November 7, 2024). "Amazon Prime Video Streams Look Back Anime Film with New English Dub". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 7, 2024. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  16. ^ Harding, Daryl (July 17, 2024). "Look Back Anime Film Passes 1 Billion Yen at Japanese Box Office". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  17. ^ "Look Back". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on November 22, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  18. ^ Valentine, Evan (October 3, 2024). "Look Back, Anime's Top Film of 2024, Is Dominating Rotten Tomatoes". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  19. ^ "Look Back Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  20. ^ Ehrlich, David (October 1, 2024). "'Look Back' Review: Teen Girls Become Manga Superstars in a 53-Minute Anime Stunner About the Agony and Ecstasy of Artistic Creation". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 8, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  21. ^ Collin, Robbie (November 8, 2024). "Look Back: this bittersweet animation is a beautiful visual feast". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on November 17, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
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