I re-read this today while I was organizing my bookcases and considering whether or not to keep it. After the re-read, I’ve decided it can remain, so it’s been granted a stay of execution for now. Look Back is a one-volume manga about the friendship and working relationship of Fujino and Kyomoto. The two women meet in grade school, during which they both do comic strips for the school newspaper. Kyomoto is a shut-in and Fujino is sent to bring her her middle school diploma. Due to this meeting, they start working on a manga together and become professional mangaka before they graduate high school. However, Kyomoto decides to go to art school and their partnership splits up. Look Back then deals with the repercussions of this action on their friendship and lives.
I enjoy manga about making manga and how much passion and dedication it takes, and this is the main thrust of Look Back. What struck me was how important the act of creation meant to both characters, and how it became a transcendent act that bonded them across space and time. Fujino talks about how she doesn’t enjoy making manga and how much of a hassle it is, but the experience of seeing her friend enjoy what she made is so important to her that she continues to create. Human connection in that instant of sharing art is the core of this story, and it’s shown movingly in wordless moments between the two. Fujimoto’s art has a lot of sketchy lines and he draws eyes and faces in a unique and interesting way. He gets across emotion, especially anger and sadness, very clearly and beautifully. The scene where Fujino dances in the rain in triumph particularly stood out to me. I have skimmed his other work and it hasn’t really been for me, but this book is pretty universal if you enjoy art and work about what makes artists tick.
Warnings for: physical assault, murder