Is Look Back Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read
Quick Answer
Yes. Look Back is a short, beautiful one-shot about two girls who bond over drawing manga, and it's one of the most affecting things you can read in an hour. Tatsuki Fujimoto, the Chainsaw Man creator, packs a whole life's worth of ambition, friendship, and regret into about 140 pages. Just go in knowing as little as possible.
Quick Verdict
“Maybe the best hour you can spend with a manga — short, devastating, and close to perfect at what it sets out to do.”
Best for: Readers who want a short, deeply emotional story, and anyone who's ever made something or loved doing it.
Not for: Readers who want action, a long epic to sink into, or a light, upbeat read.
- Type
- Manga
- Genres
- Drama, Slice of Life
- Status
- Completed
- This review
- Minor Spoilers
- Author
- Tatsuki Fujimoto
- Publisher
- Shueisha
- Platform
- VIZ Media
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Format | Manga, 1 chapters, 1 volumes |
| Run | 2021–2021 · completed |
| Community score | AniList 8.3 · MAL 8.4 · MangaUpdates 6.4 |
| Content | Grief and loss |
| Where to read | VIZ — official |
Overview
Look Back is a one-shot manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, best known for Chainsaw Man, and it's a completely different beast from that series. In about 140 pages, it tells the story of two small-town girls: Fujino, a confident kid who draws the popular comic strips for the school paper, and Kyomoto, a reclusive shut-in whose art is even better. A love of drawing pulls them together, and the story follows their friendship and their work over years. That's the whole pitch, and saying much more would spoil it — this is a story best read cold.
It's short, quiet, and on its surface very simple. It's also one of the most acclaimed pieces of manga of the last several years, and it earns that reputation.
What it does well
The first thing that stuns you is the economy. Fujimoto makes you care about these two, and about the thing they make together, faster and more deeply than most series manage in dozens of volumes. By the end of a single sitting, it has landed an emotional punch that stays with you for days.
The cartooning is the engine. Fujimoto is doing career-best work here, and a lot of the story is told without words — a page of someone hunched over a desk drawing, a shift in posture, a season passing. It trusts the pictures to carry the feeling, and they do. It's the kind of comic that reminds you what the form can do that prose and film can't.
And it understands making art better than almost anything out there. The thrill of getting better, the sting of envy when someone is more talented, the obsessive grind, the question of why you keep doing it at all — Look Back gets all of it, honestly and without sentimentality. If you've ever poured yourself into creating something, it will hit a nerve. It also helps that it's totally standalone and short, so it's an ideal entry point whether or not you usually read manga.
Where it falls short
The honest "weaknesses" here are really just about fit. It's very short — a single concentrated hit, not a world to live in — so if you came for a sprawling epic or big action, that's not what this is. It's also emotionally heavy and a touch melancholy; it's moving, not comforting, and not the thing to reach for when you want something light.
And because it's deliberately quiet and grounded, there's no genre "hook" in the conventional sense. Its power is entirely in small, human moments, so a reader who needs constant plot momentum or spectacle might wonder what the fuss is about. For most people, though, the restraint is exactly the point.
Verdict
Look Back is close to perfect at what it sets out to do, and it does it in under an hour. It's a short, gorgeously drawn, deeply felt story about friendship, ambition, and loss that ranks among the best one-shots the medium has produced. If you want an epic or a fun, breezy read, look elsewhere — but if you're open to something quiet and devastating, this is essential, and it's about the easiest "just read it" recommendation there is. Go in cold, give it your full attention for an hour, and let it land.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- It's a masterclass in economy — in about 140 pages it makes you care deeply about two characters and lands an emotional gut-punch most long series never reach.
- Fujimoto's cartooning is incredible here; a single wordless page of someone drawing can say more than chapters of dialogue.
- It captures the real feeling of making art — the joy, the envy, the obsession, the doubt — better than almost anything else in the medium.
- It's completely standalone and short, so anyone can read it in one sitting with no prior manga experience.
Weaknesses
- It's very short, so if you want a big world or a long story to live in, this isn't that — it's a single, concentrated hit.
- It's emotionally heavy and a little melancholy, which won't suit every mood; this isn't a feel-good comfort read.
- The deliberately quiet, grounded style means there's no plot 'hook' in the action sense — its power is all in the small, human moments.
Similar Titles
Fujimoto's other one-shot — a similarly bittersweet, inventive take on making art and memory.
If you want more about the obsession and pain of making art, in long-form.
Another short, deeply emotional standalone about young people and regret.
Where to Read Officially
| Platform | Format | Pricing | Region notes | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIZ Media | One-shot volume (print & digital) | Free + Paid | Region availability varies | Open |
Prefer to watch? There's an anime
LOOK BACK: see where to stream it legally, plus episode guides and trailers, on Watchanimee.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Look Back?
It's a single one-shot of about 140 pages — you can read the whole thing in under an hour.
Do I need to read Chainsaw Man first?
No. Look Back is completely standalone and unrelated. It's actually a great first Fujimoto story, or a great first manga, period.
Is it sad?
Yes, it's emotional and bittersweet. Going in knowing as little as possible makes it hit hardest, so try to avoid spoilers.
