It’s no secret that anime has been performing incredibly well in theaters. In just the last few years, Demon Slayer broke the record for highest grossing Japanese film in history on two separate occasions, while a number of other franchises, including Jujutsu Kaisen, have also scored their own major box office hits during the 2020s.
Established shōnen anime series aren’t the only titles doing well in theaters, either. Standalone films have also received a great deal of acclaim in recent years, with 2024’s Look Back receiving an extended run in the U.S. while boasting a 100% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now, Look Back is set to return to theaters, this time in a live-action adaptation directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, the renowned filmmaker behind movies like Nobody Knows and Shoplifters. The film will be the fourth adaptation of a manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto in just the last two years, an unprecedented number that suggests Fujimoto might just be the greatest manga artist of the 2020s.
Look Back Will Be the Fourth Adaptation of a Tatsuki Fujimoto Manga since 2024
Tatsuki Fujimoto is a bit of an anomaly in the manga industry. After garnering attention from magazines and editors with stories he drew for competitions as a teenager, he began his first major serialized work, Fire Punch, just after graduating from art college in 2016.
In the 10 years since his debut, he’s published successful one-shots, including Look Back and Goodbye Eri, as well as the widely acclaimed, massively popular Shōnen Jump smash-hit, Chainsaw Man. At one point or another throughout his time as a professional manga artist, Dandadan‘s Yukinobu Tatsu, Spy x Family‘s Tatsuya Endo, and Hell’s Paradise‘s Yuji Kaku all worked as his assistants.
It’s rare that any manga artist achieves such success with multiple works like Fujimoto has thus far, and it’s nothing short of astonishing that he’s done so this early in their career. On top of that, several of his stories have now received massively popular adaptations from some of the biggest names and studios in the industry.
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Chainsaw Man‘s success speaks for itself. 2025’s Reze Arc movie is estimated to have earned $180 million at the box office, instantly making it studio MAPPA’s most successful project to date. Just weeks after the film’s premiere, an adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto: 17–26, in which several studios gave a crack at adapting the artist’s many one-shots, became available on Prime Video.
In 2024, Look Back hit theaters and became a surprising success around the world. The 60-minute film, directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama with Studio Durian, remains one of the highest-rated anime films on Rotten Tomatoes, while Letterbox’d crowned it the best animated movie of the year.
Now, Look Back will be returning to U.S. theaters in 2026 in the Hirokazu Koreeda-written, directed, and edited live-action adaptation. Koreeda, a veteran of the film industry, said he could sense the “desperate resolve” in Look Back, a feeling he experienced during the creation of his own 2004 award-winning film, Nobody Knows. That resolve is what compelled him to lend his own vision to Look Back.
Fujimoto Is On-Track to Be Crowned the Best Manga Artist of the Decade
An Unprecedented Fourth Adaptation in Two Years Proves Fujimoto Is One of the Greats
The job of a manga artist is unforgiving. Schedules are hectic and tight, deadlines are strict, workdays are often entire days, and expectations are impossibly high. Most artists, if they’re lucky enough to pen a successful, ongoing series, will have their work adapted, and the quality of that adaptation is entirely out of their hands.
Sometimes an adaptation will go on to become more popular than the manga, and will attract a greater number of readers to the original source material. Other times, an adaptation will become infamous for its poor quality, forever staining the story to which it’s attached. It’s extremely rare that an artist will have their manga successfully adapted more than once or twice.
2026’s Look Back will be the fourth adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga in just two years. 2024’s Look Back, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, and Tatsuki Fujimoto: 17–26 were all handled with exceptional care and received widespread acclaim, and with a distinguished figure like Hirokazu Koreeda leading the upcoming Look Back film, fans can expect much of the same.
Known for the visual aesthetic of his work, Koreeda’s Look Back was reportedly shot on 35mm film, and was in post-production at the time of its announcement in December 2025.
After a rocky start with 2022’s Chainsaw Man, which divided fans with unique visuals and changes to the original manga, each adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga has been incredibly well-received, and there’s likely more to come in the future.
Major Works by Tatsuki Fujimoto Have Yet to Be Adapted
The number of shows and films based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga is already impressive, yet the artist still has more to lend to screens. 2016’s Fire Punch has yet to be tackled by a filmmaker or studio, and though its subject matter is often mind-numbingly dark, the series would still make for good television.
It might be tough to find animators willing to draw a character who’s constantly on fire, though. Goodbye Eri, which was released shortly after Look Back, is also waiting for an adaptation. The one-shot is already largely drawn from the perspective of a phone camera, so it would lend itself well to a short film.
The remainder of Chainsaw Man will also be adapted in the coming years, with the International Assassins anime currently in production at studio MAPPA. There are roughly 200 chapters of material that have yet to find their way into the anime.
Look Back will be the next major adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga, and any fan familiar with the work of Hirokazu Koreeda is likely doing all they can to keep their excitement in check before its 2026 premiere. There’s still nearly half the decade to go, but Fujimoto is sure making a strong bid for best manga artist of the 2020s.
- Release Date
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June 28, 2024
- Runtime
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58 Minutes
- Director
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Kiyotaka Oshiyama
