I watched Look Back and it was horrifying (in a good way)
will contain spoilers for the movie Look Back
I recently watched the movie Look Back. Its a story about these two girls and their love for making manga. I kept seeing people talk about it on Twitter (or X...) and so I decided to watch it. I went in completely blind.
My mom had promised to watch a movie with me that day and that I (me!!) could pick it so I picked it. She however, didn't want to watch another stupid anime movie with me especially one about loving artwork. She ended up sitting there on her phone for 5 minutes and then left, intermittently coming back to sit down with me glued to her phone for a few minutes and leave again.
I have always had an aversion to anything not animated. Full House used to freak me out as a kid for some reason so I never watched it. I just kinda never grew out of it. As a result, pretty much everything I watch is animated. I understand the limitations such a thing brings and how it limits me or whatever, but also I just cannot stand the unease I get when watching live action. I tried to watch Monty Python and The Princess Bride in class and it gave me so much discomfort it was embarrassing. Anyway, thats probably why my mom was pissed– she doesnt really like animated stuff while I only watch animated stuff.
As I was reading her the synopsis for the film she said to me something around the lines of "Look, I get you love art but you also don't focus on the right things to draw. You could've been so much better if you didn't always draw cartoons." and she says this to me pretty much anytime I bring up my love for artwork to the point where I'm too embarassed to talk to her about anything art related. She's been saying this exact same thing since I've been in elementary school when I used to show her my Undertale fanart.
“Look, I get that you like to draw your um… fanart of this undertale game, but why dont you try to draw realism?” Well maybe because I didn’t want to idk??
I get her point, I really do. In order to get better you do have to study. I, in fact, do study she just doesnt like what I focus on drawing for fun. She has good intentions and I understand where she’s coming from but it does irritate me at times.
I “gave up” art when I went into college. My mom was a huge part in that. I could never draw in her presence without her saying something demeaning. Im trying to get into it again. Im starting to get back into the habit of gesture and figure drawing and hopefully I’ll get back into the groove of drawing every day like I used to.
Look Back was a great motivation to start again. The character’s passion for art was just so relatable it made me feel a deep unease. Like, omg this is so mecore???
I watched the English dub – i would’ve done the sub but I was under the impression my mom would watch with me and she doesnt like subtitles. I don’t usually have a problem with dubs but good god this dub took me out at times. The girl with the long hair was an absolute earsore when she was first meeting Fujino. There were also times that the voices definitely didnt match up to the lipsync but that is pretty much a problem in every dubbed movie.
Some of the animation felt a bit choppy at times as well. The opening scene was a bit… cheesy? Im not sure how to describe it. It was a bit nauseating honestly. I loved the roughness of the lines though and I think that added a lot to it. Sometimes it did look a bit odd though, especially some of the character’s eyes. Overall though, I think it did fine. That animated comic scene was one of my favorites and definitely stood out to me.
I didn’t know this guy made Chainsaw Man and only figured out that he did when I finally looked up what people were saying about it on Reddit. That makes sense I suppose. I’ve never watched Chainsaw Man so it never really hit me. I’ve seen a lot of people say it’s good though so maybe I’ll watch it. Though, a lot of annoying people watch it too so maybe not… idk… I’ll have to see…
The scene where Fujino finds out that Kyomoto died by getting mauled by a pickaxe of all things was so horrific. Her calling her then immediately getting called by her mom… what a way to convey that.
The scene where Fujino goes in Kyomoto’s house and sees all of the drawings and mangas Kyomoto kept and read… OGHGHGH i started bawling my eyes out. It was so horrifically sad. It also reminded me of how I keep all of my one friend’s drawings up on my wall because I love him and his art so much. Art is but another part of a person.
The final scene where Fujino is sitting there and drawing really got me. Even though her best friend, the reason why she’s there in the first place, is dead, she still has to draw– for herself and her friend. It reminded me a lot of this Steven Universe comic where Pearl misses Rose but she still has to do her laundry. (I dont know SU stuff at all but i think its a great and ingenious way of showing grief)
Overall, the film was so relatable it was almost scary. The jealousy, the rivalry, the determination to be better, and in the end, not being better. It was awesome, and a great reminder that you should see other artists as people and not just something to one-up. It made me want to draw like any good film does. It’s beautiful.
If you’re thinking of watching or rewatching this movie I really think you should. It’s awesome and my words definitely dont do it justice.
Anyway, now that im done rambling im gonna study some art!!! Im also in the process of uploading some proko courses to the internet archive so hopefully i’ll get that done someday haha (internet archive upload speed is sooo slow