Best known for creating Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch, Tatsuki Fujimoto has released several intriguing manga series and one-shots over his decade-long career. His 2021 one-shot, Look Back, received an anime film adaptation by Studio DURIAN, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to consider it the best anime film of 2024. The nuanced story with deeply emotional moments was already well-loved among fans before the film adaptation, but its popularity skyrocketed after the anime’s premiere. Look Back is a coming-of-age story following Ayumu Fujino, who always draws four-panel manga for her school newspaper and enjoys creating art while being praised for her talent. However, she had to turn over one of her manga slots to Kyomoto, a fellow school member who barely attends school.
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Fujino is overwhelmed with jealousy when she sees that Kyomoto is getting more praise than her for her detailed artwork. Hence, she devotes all her time to learning to create manga and eventually meets Kyomoto when she was in sixth grade. Despite her initially salty feelings for her, Fujino and Kyomoto eventually became close friends and began to create manga together. Look Back deals with grief, loss, and the journey of self-discovery through an artist’s lens. The film began streaming on Amazon Prime just last year, and now the official X handle of the anime has announced the release date of the Blu-ray, which, unfortunately, will only be available in Japan for now.
Look Back Blu-Ray Has Several Surprises For Fans
The film’s Blu-ray will be released on January 21st, 2026, and the limited first edition will include an original artwork by director Kiyotaka Oshiyama. As per the official website of Look Back, there will be two varieties of the film’s Blu-ray, each with a different price and bonus content. The standard edition Blu-ray costs 5,500 yen and includes audio commentary by the film’s director, Kiyotaka Oshiyama, and animator Toshiyuki Inoue. The same bonus is also available with the DVD version at the price of 4,400 yen, which will be released on the same day. Additionally, the first press limited edition offers a lot of benefits at 11,000 yen, including two Blu-ray Discs, a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, and a CD.
The extras include the same audio commentary as the standard version, along with overseas footage of the staff members, the soundtrack mini-album by Haruka Nakamura, among many more benefits. The international release date hasn’t been revealed yet, but we may get an update after the Japanese version is out. Fujimoto wrote the one-shot as a personal tribute to someone he lost, as he writes about the frustrations and sadness of an artist, making the story a partial autobiography. The film made its Japanese premiere on June 28th, 2024, before releasing internationally in October of the same year. Look Back won the Film of the Year at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, along with several other nominations and awards since its release.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
