Summary
Look Back is scheduled to be released in North America on October 4 by GKids. Reviews of this anime adaptation have been overwhelmingly positive. Look Back has the potential to be the best anime film of 2024.
Animated film adapted from Tatsuki Fujimoto's beautiful manga Looking back Finally getting a theatrical release in North America after being acquired by GKids, the anime that shocked Hideo Kojima to the core has been eagerly anticipated by fans of Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto. With its heartbreaking story and stunning art direction, Look Back is not only a contender for animated film of the year, but also joins The Boy and The Heron as animated film of the decade.
According to an announcement posted on their X account, anime distributor GKids is releasing Look Back in North American theaters October 4. The release will include the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. There's no word yet on a potential English dub, though if one does happen it'll likely have to wait until the film is available on a streaming service or home media.
Adapted from Fujimoto's popular manga, Look Back tells the story of a young artist named Ayumu Fujino. Although Fujino is passionate and confident about her manga, her perception changes when another artist in her class, Kyomoto, begins publishing his own manga that Fujino feels is artistically superior.
Look Back has the potential to be the best animated film of 2024
Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive
A project that took place between Chainsaw Man Seasons 1 and 2, the manga was extremely well received. The animated film adaptation by Studio Durian received even more widespread acclaim, with reviews of Look Back hailing it as a new classic. The film was directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, a veteran animator who has worked on projects such as Gurren Lagann, Space Dandy, and The Boy and The Heron. The studio behind the film, Studio Durian, was a relative newcomer to the industry, with Look Back being their first major project outside of animating a cosmetics commercial featuring Neon Genesis Evangelion characters.
Oshiyama also designed the characters and wrote the script for Look Back.
While fans may know original manga author Tatsuki Fujimoto best for his work on over-the-top titles like Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch, Look Back is a markedly different manga for the enigmatic author. This one-shot is much more realistic than Fujimoto's most famous work, allowing the author to take his already fantastic characterization and atmosphere to dizzying new heights. Despite being more realistic, Look Back still contains many of the same surreal elements that are characteristic of Fujimoto.
Look Back may be one of the best animated films in recent times.
GKids has had some success recently. With Miyazaki winning his second Oscar for The Boy and the Heron, which GKids distributed, the distributor is clearly invested in helping the best animated films reach North America. While Look Back may not be the Oscar contender that The Boy and the Heron is, that's not for lack of quality. Looking back may be one of the best animated films of the past decade.
Fans can expect to see Looking back when it launches in North America on October 4!
Source: GKids
