Look Back Takes Teen Jury’s Top Feature Prize at Kineko Festival
Judges aged 13 to 18 chose the winner from Japanese and international films made for their age group.
The Look Back anime film won the Kineko Grand Prix Teens Feature award in Tokyo on Tuesday. It adapts a one-shot manga by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto.
The anime adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot manga Look Back received the Kineko Grand Prix Teens Feature award in Tokyo on Tuesday. The honor came at the Kineko International Film Festival.
The category covers Japanese and foreign films intended for viewers aged 13 to 18. Judges within that age range select its winner.
Look Back reached Japanese theaters in June 2024. It placed second in opening-weekend ticket sales but led the weekend’s box-office earnings. Over its first three days, it sold 135,000 tickets and earned 227 million yen, approximately US$1.40 million.
GKIDS brought the anime to North American theaters in October 2024. Its opening weekend at the U.S. box office generated US$688,253.
Yūmi Kawai voices Fujino, a fourth-grade student who creates four-panel comics for her school newspaper. Mizuki Yoshida voices Kyomoto, a classmate of Fujino’s who has been skipping school.
Kiyotaka Oshiyama, known for Flip Flappers, directed the anime. He also handled its screenplay and character designs, while his Studio Durian produced it. Singer urara performed the theme, “Light song,” composed by Haruka Nakamura.
Fujimoto published the original one-shot on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ in July 2021, drawing more than 2.5 million views on its first day. Viz Media and MANGA Plus released it digitally in English. Viz Media’s print edition followed in September 2022.
A live-action adaptation of the manga opened in Japan on September 11. Hirokazu Kore-eda directed and edited the film and wrote its screenplay. His other films include:
- Shoplifters
- Our Little Sister
- Air Doll
GKIDS will distribute the live-action film theatrically in:
- The U.S.
- Canada
- The U.K.
- Ireland
Select North American theaters will screen it on December 30, ahead of a wider theatrical release on January 15.
Fujimoto, also the creator of Fire Punch, launched Chainsaw Man in Weekly Shonen Jump in December 2018. Its first part, the “Kōan” (Public Safety) arc, concluded in December 2020.
The second part, “Gakkō-hen” (School Arc), began on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ service in July 2022. It concluded on March 24, or March 25 in Japan.
