Koreeda’s sweet tale of friendship can be over sentimental but still manages to showcase his abundant humanism.
There is much joy to be had in the delicate handlings of an adored manga series in legendary Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda’s 18th feature Look Back. Based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga of the same name and first adapted in 2024 into a 57 minute animation, this is the first live action version of the story. The extended take utilises the sweet emphasis on dedication and perseverance as a pursuit of artistic and social authenticity all while championing the introvert.
We start by spending time with the young Fujino (initially played by Furi Nanase) , a positive and outgoing student at her elementary school who soon becomes obsessed with the time consuming yet absorbing world of drawing manga. Her friends muse about her obvious talent and she’s at least the best in the school. She’s popular but her friends bemoan their lack of social time in Fujuno’s search for perfection. There’s a consistent innocent naturalism complimenting the gorgeous Northern Japanese Tohoku region framed like mini paintings. Koreeda is so confident and experienced now that his beautiful subtlety and careful consideration of small visual moments can almost be taken for granted but he keeps reminding us why he’s one of the great modern humanists.
As it turns out, there’s a student that may actually be even better at drawing than Fujino. The reclusive Kyomoto (first played by Rokka Okada) is equally as obsessive, resulting in bruised ego, so Fujino decides to give up drawing. But when Kyomoto doesn’t turn up to collect her graduation diploma Fujino is tasked with bringing it to her house where the girls eventually meet to the joy of Kyomoto who is a loyal fan of Fujino’s retired mangas. They soon become best friends and creatives despite their opposing personalities. Here the joy of the creative process, marked by the satisfying ASMR scratch of the girls’ pencils, brings together a shared passion in ways only people with a natural talent and appreciation for artistry understand. Drawing could be tiring and arduous to the uninterested but it’s also beautiful and vividly rendered by the two vibrant and adorable young performances.
As the girls age into middle schoolers they’re now in full on manga mode and seriously talented. Forging a successful “one-shot” series they’re published under a shared pseudonym and pretty much professional straight out of middle school. Fujino (now played by Natsuki Deguchi) is all eyes on the prize, aghast and delighted at their quick success but Kyomoto (Aju Makita) wants to go to art school. This impasse both highlights the girls’ severe differences and our understanding of what it means to feel fulfilment. The joyful youth of the early manga’s are still present in their later tales but when Fujino accepts the offer of a long running series the pair and their priorities split.
There’s a coldness to the electronic counteractivity towards time consumption and delivery of product which feels less human and less collaborative. Koreeda uses squared off backgrounds showcasing stunning nature to place the camera in places as if it were the view of Fujimi or a manga reader. In this switch to modernisation, gone are the boxes of colour and quirks of nature, replaced by the finest of fine lines and patterns that stack on top of each other. How far can a friendship stretch or was it just the process and discovery of ideas that brought Fujino and Kyomoto closer together rather than the people themselves?
In the latter stages the film has a bold and unexpected swing that veers into melodrama and contrivance. The subtlety of the missing space in time between the pair is suddenly smashed to pieces which feels out of place beside the otherwise gentle and celebratory tone. Koreeda pulls it together with clever time and perspective shifts as he did in Monster and a sharp emphasis on collaboration as friendship rather than serving friendship. The remnants of the drama lightly stain the otherwise beautiful sentiment but it never feels less than emotionally whole.
3.5 / 5
Look Back is not upper echelon’s Koreeda but even a less ambitious work feels full of wonderful, resonant nuggets on the nature of growth and the importance of those we hold close.
