The process of artistic creation is a scary, daunting, and isolating act. We put a part of ourselves into even the smallest of our creations, and putting any part of ourselves out into the real world is just opening us up to the judgement of others.

'Look Back' is about two manga artists who form a bond over the joy of artistic creation. Together they inspire each other to improve and become not just better artists, but better people. They both have their own reasons to stop drawing, but they realize they're better because of one another. The scene where Kyomoto thanks Fujino for getting her out of her room spoke to me on a personal level.

Fujimoto is quickly becoming one of my favorite comic book artists. I love how he explains things via the medium. For example, Fujino is repeatedly drawn from the back, head-down, by herself, ignoring the world around her while drawing. After she befriends Kyomoto, Fujino is still drawn in the same pose, but with Kyomoto hanging around and drawing too. However, the last few pages features a couple of beautiful, dynamic two page spreads of the two of them together, enjoying each others company, working together as one. Extremely moving imagery given what's happens throughout the book. The actual act of creation may be solitary, but it's ability to connect with others is unparalleled.

I went into this book blind, and it went in a direction I did not expect, and while certainly not for everybody, I found it to be a very poignant book that will really resonate with those on the same wavelength. ( )

A moving little yarn about competitiveness, friendship, despair, and hope tracks a couple of artists -- one a shut in, the other a glory seeker -- from middle school into their early twenties. It's all pretty straightforward except for one odd (this is the creator of the bizarre Chainsaw Man after all) but satisfying little digression. ( )

CONFUSING ( )

Excellent story. Adults: stick with this, you'll appreciate it. It follows the development of two female friends from grade school to college age. It shows the formation of the friendship, the change, friends making different choices, and then the dealing with tragic loss. The artist shows nice subtle development in sequences where the development is marked by changes in details in the backgrounds, which connects with the topic of one of the artists in the story doing backgrounds. ( )