Look Back is a one-shot work that was written and illustrated by the famous mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto, who is also the author of Chainsaw Man, Fire Punch and several one-shot compilation collections. This number received an anime adaptation, the release was made by studio Durian and fascinated so much in Japan, that it was quickly announced that the film would also be coming to Mexico. But have you ever wondered what inspired the work?
Tatsuki Fujimoto is an interesting person, beyond his violent ink and deep narratives, the author has lived certain things that have inspired his works.. He once shared that he ate his pet – a Japanese rice fish – because he couldn’t bear the thought of it being eaten by ants after he tried to bury it in frozen ground.
The idea that Denji would “eat” Pochita and that this would lead the little dog demon to accompany his friend inside, would see the light later, this would suppose a beautiful and poetic protection for the protagonist of Chainsaw Man. And at the end of the day, narratives come from the world, whether it’s from a note the authors read in the newspaper, from something they experienced firsthand, from a friend’s story, or from the many narratives we know from film, manga, or literature. Stories, like language, are recursive.
Tatsuki Fujimoto is a generous author who often talks about his inspirations, no matter how grotesque or strange they may seem, and this leads us to learn about the history of the reality that inspired him. Look Back, the latest success of the author of Chainsaw Man.
Look Back: Its Grim Origins
What inspired the story of Look Back?
Did you hear about the attack that took place at the Kyoto Animation offices in 2019?
It was a terrible event that occurred on July 18, 2019. Shinji Aoba entered the facility one morning, closed the emergency exit doors and poured gasoline at strategic points, as well as on several employees, after which he set fire and escaped.
This caused an exposure that affected the entire building, even though he was captured, the formal accusation proceeded until December 16, 2020, and the death sentence was declared until January 25, 2024.
The merciless event resulted in the death of 36 people, while 34 more were hospitalized for serious injuries. The Tokyo Animation fire is considered the worst massacre in Japan —certainly—after World War II, and as the deadliest fire since the one at Myojo 56 in 2001.
The culprit claimed that Kyoto Animation’s productions plagiarized his works and because of this he exercised “justice” on their own and going all the way. Well, what does this have to do with Look Back? I’ll tell you below, remember that there will be spoilers because we get straight into the subject of what happens in the title and in a very specific way.
Look Back and the Kyoto Animation fire
The event was certainly a revelation of true terror for all those working in the anime industry. Tatsuki Fujimoto as the author was no exception, it was a traumatic event for everyone, who also inevitably grieved the losses of the violent disaster.
Towards the end of Look Back, The protagonists who aspire to be mangaka part ways. Fujimoto, with effort, keeps her serializations going; meanwhile, Kyomoto, thanks to having grown up with Fujino, takes the reins of her life and attends the school of Fine Arts. One terrible day, a man breaks into the institution and murders the students. After killing more than a dozen young people, he declares that he did it because his work was being plagiarized there, which was the same thing that the Kyoto Animation killer said after the attack.
The killer of Look Back He uses a ferocious axe to slaughter the students, which gives an overwhelming touch to the story, as well as providing Tatsuki Fujimoto’s characteristic seal.
What few people know is that the sketches of Look Back The murder of Kyomoto and his companions was scheduled to occur on July 18, 2019.but it was modified and a new date was agreed: January 10, 2016.
However, Look Back It was released in Japan on July 19, 2021, so it was probably motivated by the second anniversary of the attack.
Look Back It is a beautiful title that reflects on tragedy and grief, however, “looking back” does not imply stagnation, sometimes it also directs us to look towards the future, taking with us everything we love that, although it is no longer, nor will it be, it was and perhaps that is what we can hold on to. However, getting out of the “would have” is one of the most difficult issues that Fujino will have to face after the loss of her dear friend.
Look Back It is a true beauty, as tragic as it is sublime.
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About plagiarism: The stone of madness by Benjamin Labatut and the Kyoto Animation fire
Suspicion of plagiarism and madness are a terrible mix, Things can get out of hand as we see in the Kyoto Animation attack. Benjamin Labatut also mentions this in the second part of his brilliant work “The Stone of Madness” in which he dismembers and elaborates on the reality of our environment and the act of creation itself.
Labatut “meets” a woman who claims that he and many other people have plagiarized her work, he also talks about a black market of unpublished texts, and the abilities and possibilities of the author to create and generate reflections around the hard sci-fi. The composition of the journey that the author makes when (re)cognizing the existence of women and their postulates will make us renew the air with which we see the story of plagiarism and violence that is proposed in Look Back.
Regardless of the reality of plagiarism, the belief in it can lead to irrevocable actions in which the insinuation of “stealing” ideas no longer matters, because the consequences are (sur)real in a tragic and deplorable way.
Labatut does not suffer attacks, but the detail of madness next to plagiarism will always make one’s breathing stagnate. Look Back will try to keep the details in our memory, and in a sincere, sad and beautiful way.
Look Back will arrive in Mexico by the hand of Madness Entertainment, dates have not yet been announced, but the screening is guaranteed for August 2024.
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