Lookback

I encountered a work that made me want to check its meaning repeatedly.
It’s “Lookback” by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the author of Chainsaw Man.
It has also been adapted into an animation, with music by Haruka Nakamura, whom I adore.
The anime can be watched on Amazon Prime.
It was the first time I had encountered a work that made me want to understand the creator’s intention so strongly right after finishing it.
That’s how much I believe this work allows for various interpretations.

The story begins with an elementary school girl named “Fujino” who is good at drawing, and another girl named “Kyomoto” who is also good at drawing but doesn’t attend school.
They each serialize their work in the elementary school class newspaper.
Without ever meeting each other, they reach graduation, and Fujino is asked by the teacher to deliver Kyomoto’s diploma to her house as fellow contributors to the same serialization.
This is where they meet face-to-face for the first time.
From there, their lives change dramatically, and eventually Fujino becomes a successful manga artist, while Kyomoto goes on to art college.
Then an incident occurs. I’ll omit details of this incident as it would completely spoil the story,
but because of this incident, Fujino truly begins to consider the meaning of “looking back.”
I was deeply moved by Fujino’s answer, and various emotions—loneliness, helplessness, anger—welled up inside me,
causing me to end up crying.

In life, we often look back and wonder, “What was the meaning of that?”
However, in those moment-to-moment experiences, we don’t consider their meaning.
Meaning always follows later.
And how we interpret it depends on the individual.

For example, when something very sad happens,
the sad reality overwhelms us to the point where we can’t even think about meaning.
After some time passes, we finally have an opportunity to consider its meaning.
We look back. There is certainly meaning there.
There must be meaning that helps us move forward.

While living, we encounter tremendous despair, get hurt by thoughtless words,
blame ourselves for repeated failures, get betrayed by people we trusted—we tend to think negatively about being alive.
But even in the most desperate situations, there is always a way to overcome the absolute.
Question assumptions, never give up, trust your companions, and charge toward what you believe in.
For that reason, I want to look back again and again. I want to look back and find great meaning.
I feel like “Lookback” gave me such realizations and learnings.
Especially in times like these, I want to envision a bright future.