Summary
Look Back ends with Fujino slowly coming to terms with Kyomoto's death and learning to move on with her life. The tragic ending of Look Back emphasizes the importance of not letting grief overwhelm you. The director of the film adaptation perfectly captures the bittersweet nature of the story's ending.
Warning: Contains spoilers for Look BackSummer 2024 sees the release of the film adaptation Look backa short story by Tatsuki Fujimoto, author of the famous Chainsaw Man. Like the original manga, the film follows the growing friendship and manga partnership of the two main characters, Fujino and Kyomoto, but as they enter adulthood, their friendship is hit by a tragedy that neither of them can overcome.
Look Back is perhaps the most realistic of Tatsuki Fujimoto's stories, and plays a big part in its tragic ending. After more than half an hour of emotions surging from Fujino and Kyomoto's friendship, Look back suddenly turned dramatic with Kyomoto's death and Fujino's subsequent state of depression and grief.
The execution and final ending of the story made for a great ending in animation as well as in print. There was a lot that went into the ending of Look Back, and as such, there was a lot of value in presenting everything.
How Look Back Closes Its Tragic Story
Animation by Studio Durian; Based on Manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto
After learning that Kyomoto was murdered by an axe-wielding madman, Fujino, in a state of depression, put her manga on hold and returned to Kyomoto's house. There, Fujino found the comic she had drawn as a hobby that had started their friendship, and in a fit of rage, she tore it up while blaming herself for Kyomoto's death. As she did so, a sheet slid under Kyomoto's door, and somehow, The only panel in Fujino's comic that went back in time when Kyomoto meets Fujino and convinces Kyomoto not to go out to meet her.
In the new timeline, Kyomoto is still in art school, and she still becomes the target of a madman who wants to kill her because he believes he plagiarized her work. Luckily, Fujino, who happens to be in the area, appeared to save Kyomoto with her karate skills.and with Fujino apparently planning to return to manga, she promised to hire Kyomoto as her assistant after graduation. Kyomoto returned home that day and drew a manga about Fujino saving her, and somehow it crossed over into the original timeline where Fujino was still mourning Kyomoto's death.
Confused, Fujino runs into Kyomoto's room and finds it still empty, and a window shot confirms that the timeline where Fujino saved Kyomoto's life was just something Fujino imagined in her griefThere, the manga Fujino saves Kyomoto from, combined with multiple copies of her Shark Kick manga and Fujino's signed cape, makes Fujino remember that their friendship is the only reason Fujino continues to draw manga. Fujino realizes that Kyomoto does not want her to drown in grief, and the final scene is Fujino returning to work as the character introductions play.
The ending of Look Back is both beautiful and tragic.
The truth of Fujino's pain is nothing short of tragic, and Fujino is so heartbroken that she imagines a world where she could save her only further emphasizes the harshness of it all. However, all of that has led to Look back only oneemotional cleansing conclusion revolves around the importance of not letting tragedy rule your life, no matter how big it is, and Kiyotaka Oshiyama's brilliant direction does wonders to convey that further. Look back's adaptation captured the importance of the ending perfectly, and that helped make the story just as good as the animated film, if not better.
