Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Look Back," an adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga (previously made into a 2024 animated film), tells the story of Fujino, a confident young manga prodigy who is unsettled when a reclusive classmate, Kyomoto, produces work that surpasses her own. Rather than remaining rivals, the two girls form a close creative partnership, and the film traces their friendship from childhood into their teenage years as it explores themes of talent, jealousy and connection over achievement, in keeping with Kore-eda's characteristically humanistic approach.

According to the review, the film's opening stretch risks feeling overly precious in its depiction of a child's world before reaching a more transcendent, emotionally resonant second half. Fujino and Kyomoto, played as children by Furi Nanase and Rokka Okada and later as teenagers by Natsuki Deguchi and Aju Makita, rise from school manga strips to a professional deal with the Shueisha publishing house, guided by an editor played by Masaki Suda. The narrative is deliberately structured as a two-hander, with adult and secondary characters kept in the background, while sound design, including the noise of pencils on paper and Yuta Bandoh's score, plays a notable role in the storytelling.