Trivia / Look Back

• Creator Breakdown: The 17-21 collection of Fujimoto's one-shots had a blurb from the man himself explaining that Look Back was inspired by and born from his feelings of helplessness and seeming meaninglessness of his art, citing his attempt to volunteer at reconstruction after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake as a grim reminder that his vocation seemingly did nothing to help. Thankfully, Look Back reminded him of how drawing kept him going and reminded him of good times, to the point of wondering why he ever focused on the bad to begin with.
• Edited for Syndication: The one-shot eventually came under fire from readers who saw the mass murderer as a discriminatory caricature of the mentally ill. In response, lines for future versions of the manga were altered so all allusions to mental illness were excised and the killer was now merely attacking Kyomoto and others out of generalized hatred for artists.
• Meaningful Release Date: The manga was published on the anniversary of the Kyoto Animation arson attack, and features a similar massacre at the hands of a delusional man accusing his victims of plagiarism.
• Write Who You Know: The story and characters, Fujino in particular, seems to be heavily inspired by Fujimoto's experiences as a young manga prodigy, and Fujino even writes very similar manga to him. Kyomoto also attends the same school, and is enrolled in the same program that Fujimoto graduated from. The main characters were also born in about the same year as Fujimoto (1993).