If you cried during the Look Back anime movie in 2024, you might want to prepare some tissues again. Tatsuki Fujimoto’s most personal one-shot is coming back — this time as a live-action film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, one of Japan’s most celebrated filmmakers of all time. The movie just premieres at the Venice Film Festival on September 7 before hitting Japanese theaters on September 11, and the main trailer that dropped in July has fans convinced this could be one of the biggest Japanese films of the year.
The Trailer That Arrived in July
On July 15, 2026, K2 Pictures unleashed the main trailer for the live-action Look Back along with brand-new visuals and an expanded cast list. The trailer leans hard into the emotional core of Fujimoto’s original story: two girls, a shared love of drawing manga, and a friendship that changes both of their lives forever. Even in two minutes, it hits the same devastating beats that made the 2021 one-shot a phenomenon and the 2024 animated adaptation a critical darling.
Kore-eda Meets Fujimoto
The project pairs Fujimoto’s raw, aching storytelling with Hirokazu Kore-eda — the director behind international masterpieces like Shoplifters, Monster, and After Life. Kore-eda isn’t just directing: he wrote the screenplay and is personally editing the film as well. That level of hands-on involvement signals this isn’t a cash-in adaptation. It’s a passion project from a filmmaker who clearly connected with the source material. The score comes from Yuta Bandoh, adding another layer of pedigree to the production.
Who’s Playing Fujino and Kyomoto?
The cast is anchored by two breakout performances. Natsuki Deguchi takes on the role of Fujino, the confident elementary school star who thinks she’s the best manga artist around — until she meets Kyomoto. Aju Makita plays Kyomoto, the shut-in with severe social anxiety whose raw talent quietly destroys Fujino’s confidence. Furi Nanase and Rokka Okada play the younger versions of the pair, while Masaki Suda — one of Japan’s biggest actors — joins the cast as Maeda, a character who becomes important later in the story.
The Story That Still Hurts
For anyone who hasn’t read the one-shot: Look Back follows Fujino, who draws manga for her elementary school newspaper and loves every second of the attention. When a classmate named Kyomoto — a reclusive girl who never attends school — starts submitting far superior artwork, Fujino’s world cracks. The two eventually meet and form a creative partnership that carries them from childhood into adulthood. And then the story delivers one of the most gut-wrenching twists in modern manga, a moment that left readers worldwide staring at the final pages in silence. If you know, you know.
Venice First, Then Japan
The live-action Look Back will have its world premiere in competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2026 — a massive statement of confidence from distributor K2 Pictures. Japanese theaters get it four days later on September 11. International distribution is already locked in through GKIDS, which previously handled the 2024 animated film, so Western audiences won’t have to wait long either.
Why 2026 Is Fujimoto’s Year
The timing is perfect. The Chainsaw Man manga ended its historic run in March 2026, with the final volume arriving in June. Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc has been streaming on Crunchyroll since April 30 as part of the platform’s Ani-May celebration, where it became one of the year’s biggest anime events alongside the massive Fall 2026 lineup Crunchyroll just announced. And now the live-action Look Back completes the trifecta — proving Fujimoto’s name alone is enough to draw crowds, whether it’s animation or live action, television or cinema. It’s the same momentum we saw when Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle shattered box office records — Japanese anime-adjacent cinema is having an unprecedented moment on the world stage.
The live-action Look Back also continues a fascinating trend of beloved animated stories being reimagined in new formats, from stunning new studio projects to ambitious live-action swings. Whether Kore-eda’s version can match the emotional devastation of the 2024 animated film — directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, which earned near-universal acclaim — is the question every Fujimoto fan is asking right now.
What do you think?
Are you ready to cry all over again? Will Kore-eda’s live-action Look Back live up to the animated masterpiece, or is a live-action version even necessary? And with the Chainsaw Man manga now finished, what do you want to see Tatsuki Fujimoto tackle next? Drop your thoughts in the comments — the Fujimoto fandom is notoriously passionate, and we want to hear every hot take.
