The Look Back anime had a difficult production

The director of the film adaptation of 'Look Back', Kiyotaka Oshiyama, has shared surprising details about the production process. Oshiyama revealed that he was working on the film until yesterday, a day before the anticipated release in Japan, and that he hasn't left the office in more than two months.

In a recent interview, Oshiyama commented, "I was drawing until noon yesterday. Then, I heard there was an event today, so I didn't have any clothes to wear, so I worked hard at noon and at night to buy something. So everything is new," he said, drawing laughter from everyone. "Even the staff hasn't seen the whole movie yet."

Reflecting on the arduous days of production, Oshiyama stated, "Those were extremely hard days. It felt like I was doing a tough triathlon. Every day was so exciting, and it's barely over. In fact, it's still too early for it to be over, so I don't feel like it's really over yet, so I thought that by all watching the movie today I would finally feel like I'm done," he said with a wry smile. "I was drawing until yesterday afternoon, and I finished last night. I stayed in the office all day for about two and a half months. Finally, I went home yesterday and slept on my own futon. I think I've built up a fair amount of sleep debt," he remarked with an exhausted look.

The animated adaptation of 'Look Back' was made at Studio Durian, with Kiyotaka Oshiyama in charge of directing, character design, and even writing the scripts. In addition, as a character designer, he also had to work directly with the animators and shoot stills himself. This is not about "exploitation", but that he himself decided to work in this way. However, it is also a reality that other productions with much more staff still suffer from this type of problem, being a constant problem within the anime industry that is increasingly asked for more and more productions with shorter delivery times.

Synopsis of Look Back

Ayumu Fujino, a fourth-grader, regularly draws four-panel manga for her school's newspaper and is praised for having the best artwork in her class. One day, his teacher asks him to give one of his manga slots in the school newspaper to an absentee student named Kyomoto. When Kyomoto's manga appears alongside Fujino's, it receives high praise for its detailed illustrations, which provokes Fujino's jealousy.

Fujino refuses to be defeated by someone who barely goes to school and dedicates himself to learning how to create manga. However, as time passes, his goal of eclipsing Kyomoto seems more and more distant, and Fujino, now in sixth grade, eventually gives up and stops doing manga. Graduation day arrives and Fujino is asked to give Kyomoto his graduation certificate. By chance, the two end up coming face-to-face, and their unexpected encounter will end up having consequences far beyond what either of them could predict.

Source: Oricon News