Look Back

by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Overview

A heart-wrenching single-volume story about the struggles of being an artist, from the creator of Chainsaw Man.

The overly confident Fujino and the shut-in Kyomoto couldn’t be more different, but a love of drawing manga brings these two small-town girls together. A poignant story of growing up and moving forward that only Tatsuki Fujimoto, the creator of Chainsaw Man, could have crafted.

The overly confident Fujino and the shut-in Kyomoto couldn’t be more different, but a love of drawing manga brings these two small-town girls together. A poignant story of growing up and moving forward that only Tatsuki Fujimoto, the creator of Chainsaw Man, could have crafted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781974734641
Publisher:	VIZ Media LLC
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	20,474
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Tatsuki Fujimoto won Honorable Mention in the November 2013 Shueisha Crown Newcomers’ Awards for his debut one-shot story “Love is Blind.ˮ His first series, Fire Punch, ran for eight volumes. Chainsaw Man began serialization in 2018 in Weekly Shonen Jump. “Look Backˮ was published in 2021 in Japan to widespread critical acclaim.

Editorial Reviews

08/26/2022

Fujimoto's (Chainsaw Man) stand-alone story depicts the friendship between Fujino, a confident storyteller with a comic strip in her school newspaper, and Kyomoto, a truant classmate who never leaves her house, but whose drawing abilities far outpace Fujino's. When they finally meet and decide to collaborate, they find great success. But Kyomoto remains pensive and interior, focused on the beauty of landscapes and backgrounds, and eventually deciding to pursue art school rather than work in the manga industry alongside her friend. A brutal tragedy leaves Fujino reflecting on their relationship and what might have been different in a misty moment of supernatural time travel. The plot is poignant, but the visual celebrations of quintessential manga moments define the mood of the book in a moving, elegiac way. Ultimately, it's an appreciation of the art form, its artists, and the reader. The translation and the English text layout are a bit hasty, which is a shame, because the story is compelling and could use more cultural context for the less familiar. VERDICT A beautiful, dream-like story about art-making, friendship, and growing up, best appreciated by manga fans with a basic sense of the visual and cultural cues of the genre.—Emilia Packard

Library Journal