Look Back

It’s still baffling that it’s been 3 years since I first read Look Back and it’s still able to move me the way it did when I first read it. I usually don’t like writing lengthy reviews because I’m not the best at properly articulating my thoughts on something and eventually just go on about how much I like something just because, but for Look Back I don’t feel much shame in doing that. This story means so much to me and seeing it get the adaptation it deserves is such an amazing feeling that I cannot describe. Fujimoto is one of the few authors I’ll just read or watch anything with his name attached and that's because every aspect of his creations feel so unique to me and truly speak to me in a way I think so few things are truly able to. When reading the one-shot when it came out I’d wonder to myself how exactly an adaptation of the story would be tackled with it being so short and this film is almost exactly what I’d wanted out of an adaptation of Look Back, to be able to see some of the moments of this movie portrayed in such a gorgeous way brought me to tears far too often. Everything here works so well together from it’s stunning animation and its swelling soundtrack. I truly hope other one-shots like Goodbye Eri get this sort of care and attention put into it. To anyone who hasn’t seen this please do so, it’s only an hour and is a clear love letter to art in general, and not only the people who will pour every part of themselves into making it, but the people who love animation, the people who care for emotional stories, the people who simply love art