Look Back Director Celebrates Premiere With Special Artwork

Look Back’s writer and director Kiyotaka Oshiyama went all out for the movie’s premiere!

Look Back is now working its way through theaters in Japan, and the writer and director behind the new movie is celebrating its premiere with some special new art! Chainsaw Man series creator Tatsuki Fujimoto took a break from the action series for a few months to release a few one-shot stories exploring different characters and ideas. Each of these shorts ended up being huge hits with manga fans, and the first of these releases, Look Back, was such a hit that it got an official anime adaptation now screening in theaters overseas. But it’s been quite the undertaking. 

Kiyotaka Oshiyama took on the project for Studio Durian, and has noted in the past just how much of their own time and work had gone into making the Look Back film possible. Handling the writing, directing, character designs, and a lot of the animation work according to previous statements, Oshiyama can now take a well deserved break now that the completed film has finally released. And to celebrate that fact, Oshiyama took to social media to shared a special sketch for Look Back‘s leads, Fujino and Kyomoto. Check it out below: 

本日から映画『ルックバック』の公開です。
猛烈に描いた一年が終わり、ひとときのボーナスタイム。https://t.co/N3e0wUUgAu pic.twitter.com/ep8V4GeRHW

— 押山清高/Kiyotaka Oshiyama (@binobinobi) June 28, 2024

Look Back Release Date

Look Back is now screening in theaters across Japan as of this weekend, but has yet to confirm its international release plans as of the time of this publication. The new film, however, will be hosting its United States premieres during special screenings planned for Anime Expo and Japan Cuts next month to help kick off its international launch in a smaller way. Look Back is written, directed, and with character designs provided by Kiyotaka Oshiyama for Studio Durian. Music is composed by Haruka Nakamura, who also performs the theme song for the film, “Light song” together with singer urara. 

Yumi Kawai and Mizuki Yoshida are headlining the cast as the two main leads, Fujino and Kyomoto respectively. With a run time of one hour and two minutes, Avex Pictures teases what to expect from Look Back as such, “Fujino, a fourth-grade student, serializes a four-panel manga in the school newspaper. Her classmates praise her work, but one day, her teacher tells her that they want to publish a four-panel manga by Kyomoto, a classmate who doesn’t attend school. The connection between the two girls is their earnest passion for manga. However, one day, an event shatters everything… A gripping and breathtaking coming-of-age story begins.”

Featuring an original story from Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto, Look Back‘s original one-shot story first debuted with Shueisha in 2021, and is now licensed for an English language release by Viz Media. You can find the physical release on shelves, and the digital release with the Shonen Jump app or Shueisha’s MangaPlus service.