Look Back

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kiyotaka Oshiyama directs. Kazuto Izumita behind the camera. haruka nakamura scores. Kiyoshi Hirose cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 58-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2Released 2 years ago.
• 3Directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, shot by Kazuto Izumita. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by haruka nakamura. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Kiyoshi Hirose shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Yuumi Kawai and Mizuki Yoshida and Yoichiro Saito carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Manga drew them together. Life made them best friends.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt31711040 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 16 themes, including "friendship", "elementary school", "friends", "school".

The technical file

Cinematography

Kazuto Izumita

Original score

haruka nakamura

Editing

Kiyoshi Hirose

Runtime

58 min · 0h 58m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$25,198,872

Original language

JA

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Look Back (2024) ↗

Also by

Kiyotaka Oshiyama

• 
  Devilman Crybaby

  2018 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Shishigari

  2019 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Space Dandy

  2014 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Flip Flappers

  2016 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Red Memory

  2025 · ★ 6.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  4K Collector's Edition First Look

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer 2 [Subtitled]

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer [Subtitled]

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2024-10-30
  ★ 7/10

  "Fujino" is the class favourite when it comes to her four-scene manga that she draws for the weekly school newsletter. Then one afternoon her teacher asks her if she wouldn't mind letting "Kyomoto" have a go. She's never at school - indeed she's routinely called the truant, but he thinks that this might be a way of getting her more involved. How good can she be, thinks "Fujino"? Well it turns out that she's actually pretty good - but she still never shows up. At graduation time, "Fujino" is tasked with delivering the certificate to her unknown rival and that's the start of something that neither girl could readily have anticipated. It's quite an emotionally powerful animation, this one, taking a look at ambition and isolation amongst young people craving for acceptance, purpose and friendship as they start to emerge from childhood and face a much less sympathetic world. The girls have synergies and differences - at times they act as one, at others - well, anything but - and as the short story develops and the timelines shift about a little, we get to know a little of the enigmatic nature of their personalities and just what makes these girls tick. There is a lot of information on the screen - even if you do understand Japanese, and though I'm usually loathe to recommend dubbed versions, it might make it slightly easier to follow if you are not trying to read the top and the bottom of the screen at the same time as watching the simply effective animation. I'm not sure it needs a big screen, but it's worth a watch.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Studio Durian

  JP

• 

  avex pictures

  JP

• 

  Shueisha

  JP

Key crew

• Character DesignerKiyotaka Oshiyama
• Art DirectionKiyoshi Sameshima
• Color DesignerMaya Kusumoto
• EditorKiyoshi Hirose
• Sound DirectorEriko Kimura
• Theme Song Performanceharuka nakamura
• Key AnimationKatsuhiko Kitada
• Storyboard ArtistKiyotaka Oshiyama
• Key AnimationAyako Hata
• Key AnimationTakuya Niinuma
• Key AnimationToshiyuki Inoue
• Key AnimationYuuya Geshi
• Key AnimationHidekazu Ohara
• Animation DirectorKiyotaka Oshiyama
• Key Animationddasang
• Assistant Art DirectorTakashi Omori
• Assistant Art DirectorYoshio Harisaki
• Theme Song Performanceurara
• Key AnimationKiyotaka Oshiyama
• ThanksYoshihiro Oyabu
• ThanksMasayo Kushida
• ThanksMari Suzuki
• ThanksKensuke Hosokawa
• Sound RecordistAichi Minami

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• friendship
• elementary school
• friends
• school
• based on manga
• shounen
• anime
• philosophical
• complex
• mangaka
• depressed
• admiring
• adoring
• amused
• joyful
• akita, japan

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2024-07-17· JAPAN CUTS
• Premiere2024-07-06· Anime Expo
• Theatrical (limited)2024-10-04NR· New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California
• Theatrical2024-10-06NR
• Digital2024-11-07PG-13· Prime Video
• Physical2026-09-08NR· 4K Ultra HD Collector's Edition

Also known as

International titles

• Rukku BakkuJP
• 룩 백KR
• LOOK BACKUS
• LOOK BACK: Continúa DibujandoMX
• به گذشته بنگرIR
• ลุค แบ็คTH
• 蓦然回首CN
• 驀然回首TW
• ОглянисьRU