why do we create art for as long as Humanity has existed we've tried to answer that question whether we started for expression or curiosity or maybe even just to communicate we may never know the answer however on a personal level every artist has needed to answer that question for themselves on the surface art is such a superficial thing drawing is just pencil on paper and literature is just an assortment of words however none of us actually feel that way about a piece of art that we really love and if you trace back and try to
figure out why that is there may not be an answer and so the question of why do we create art has become one that thousands upon thousands of poets and Painters have asked themselves even now in the present day and that very question is the one presented to us in the 2021 oneshot manga in 2024 film look back the story follows a young girl by the name of fujino who writes weekly manga for her fourth grade newspaper she loves to write manga but maybe even more specifically she loves the praise and admiration she gets from
her fellow classmates reving in their compliments and posturing her skill to make her seem better than she is but eventually a teacher asks fujino if she would be comfortable giving up one of the mongus slots to a child by the name of kirimoto a little girl who hasn't been able to come to school but still wants to draw Anyway by the time the next issue of the school paper is printed fujino eagerly finds the manga section only to be shocked koto's drawings are incredible with artwork befitting A near professional level of skill and it's as
these two artists are given a sidebyside comparison that fujino and her classmates realize that in reality fujino is just a bit better than average her manga is cute and sweet enough but it's nothing like the expertly crafted backgrounds and imagery featured in kimoto this sends fujino into a frenzy and she spends the next few years of her life obsessed with art she studies and practices improving each week but never matching her unknown Rivals level of talent and skill and finally after seeing yet another manga issue where she is completely and utterly defeated fujino decides to
quit art the story then provides a second time skip showcasing fujino's life without her obsession with art she's able to hang out with friends after school and watch movies with her family her separation from art is so strong that she doesn't even care to not have the years of her work preserved in any fashion this follows her even through Middle School graduation where by convenience Kyoto's graduation papers are delivered by fujino herself and it's here where fujino finds something that never thought she would kimoto has been collecting copies of fujino's work in the school paper
presumably since fujino started drawing and when the two of them meet and we finally get to see kumoto it's revealed that she's actually just a big fan to the point where she can recall exact mang strips and the dates they were released shotu reveals that she noticed how much better fujino's art was as time went on praising her storytelling skill and ability with such a genuine nature fujino can't help but to be flattered but it's here where kioto asks why did you stop drawing in sixth grade fujino doesn't tell her the truth instead saying she
wanted to prepare a manga to submit for an award and Koto erupts with excitement begging to read it once it's finished fujino agrees and then we get some of the most beautiful panels I've ever seen in manga the pages give us time to breathe and very slowly follow fujino's walk home in the rain and you can feel this sense of Awakening Freedom between the Motions of her walking rigidly barely able to contain her excitement to these Grand leaps of absolute joy and just take a look and breathe in with fujino as she's once again been
validated for her skill and her passion the interaction inspires her so much that fujino and Koto begin to write manga together publishing a oneshot by the name of metal parade and winning second place and a prize of 1 million yen it's from there the story takes a slight breath from the art and the beauty of art to Simply let us observe the lives of these two girls they use their money to go get crepes and ice cream to explore town and simply have fun and enjoy life and it's here that I think look back starts
to reintroduce the purpose of drawing back into the Forefront of the narrative Koto reveals that the reason she never went to school is because she was terrified of leaving home and she started drawing because she was bored but because of that small decision she made on a whim she is now outside with her friend and in that way art changed her life the two girls continue to work together and by the time that they graduate high school they've published seven One-Shot manga and have an offer for their work to be serialized however this is where
the story hits a crossroad while fujino wants the pair to continue to work in together Koto wants to go to Art School what happens next is a bit of a spat where fujino does her best to discourage her friend from leaving with harsh words and a dismissive attitude she brings up that Koto is bad at speaking to others she's scared of strangers and that there aren't many jobs for people who graduate art school but Koto wants to be independent and stop relying on fujino for everything and and eventually Koto begins crying and screams out that
all she wants is to become a better artist this idea is one that fujino can most likely understand and deeply resonates with choto wants to become a better artist and that desire is leading her in a different direction the story then abruptly cuts a few years into the future and shows that fujino has continued a solo career becoming so successful that her work is being adapted into an anime and then this is where the story starts to challenge everything about creativity and art as a whole fujino sees a News Report featuring a massacre in which
12 people were killed and three were heavily wounded and among the people who died was kioto the visual storytelling now takes the focus of our attention as we follow fujino back to koto's house where she had all the newspaper clippings still stored away she happens to see an old strip she Drew where Koto died as a shut in and somberly Whispers that everything is all her fault if she hadn't drawn manga on that day and committed to quitting then Koto would still be alive and it's here that fujino on the ground and weeping over her
lost friend Whispers out that drawing is completely useless she eventually remembers back to how much she hates drawing manga it's hard to learn to draw every step of the process is a hassle and it takes so unbelievably long that you could work a whole day and make almost no progress and it's there that fujino remember is kioto asking her a question something so simple yet so unbelievable complicated then why do you draw fujino the rest of the story plays out with no words only animation or Manga panel showing the two girls working tirelessly over art
in their childhood and the story never ends up giving words to fujino's answer we're left to assume the whole reason she draws art is because of Koto and as fujino stretches and sits back down to work on the final page that will continue to be the case for as long as she lives and all of that emot and meaning of the story is put to an even greater context when we take a step back and look at the man who wrote This brilliant work tosky Fujimoto Fujimoto was born in the Akita prefecture of Japan on
October 10th 1993 it wouldn't take him long to begin drawing and telling stories like many creators Fujimoto found himself inspired by the incredible blockbuster movies believing all of the great creators must consume a lot of good work and you can feel that love for films come out during the cinema scenes in chainsaw man or his one shot goodbye Airy or even in fire punch where a character Loves movies so much that she believes living would be worthless without them this early inspiration in his life eventually led him to creating and submitting his first ever one
shot at the age of 17 it was called a couple clucking chickens were still kicking in the schoolyard he wrote it without a theme in mind fueled by sadness from news of his sick cat and eager to get paid for his submission the story itself is exactly what you might think from among that had no forethought and no storyboarding the art is a bit weird at times the paneling is a bit awkward with narrative and story that is distinctly amateurish but what is phenomenal is his incredible ideas and the way he communicates them following this
Fujimoto would continue to practice despite never having been able to attend a prep school for art as there were none located where he lived he had a very unique mix of strengths and weaknesses because of this on one hand Fujimoto was very unpolished and in many ways scaled as an artist however on the other hand Fujimoto was a genius that aspect of himself being easily noticed by the editors all the way back when he was 17 a comment from the editor who worked on a couple clucking chickens were still kicking in the schoolyard said this
about young Fujimoto quote his ideas are incredible however the structure that comes from the storyboarding is lacking the fact that the point of view changes between characters so frequently also makes it difficult to read seeing comments like this reminds me of the scene and look back back where kioto tells fujino that she is a manga genius despite fujino herself struggling with the value of her art and what it means if you haven't notice fujino and Koto each contain four letters of fujimoto's name and I don't think that's an accident to me it's very clear that
what he's writing about in look back is very personal and intimate and that is incredible it's very rare that we get a tender look into a Creator's mind and insecurity when it comes to the creative process and I think this comment stayed with Fuji and continued to be a weakness of his for a while look back was written in 2021 after the serialization of Chainsaw man but that moment still feels so reminiscent of that editor's comment from when he was 17 but the beautiful thing about that is we can look back over fujimoto's works and
see everything he's published since then and I think the best way to see both of his strengths and weaknesses work together in tandem is in his first serialized work Fire Punch I don't think I've ever read a work quite like fire punch the world is so nihilistic in an Earnest way and edgy while somehow being very sincere if I needed to describe it I would say it's like if you took the power system of my hero Academia and blended it with the world of berserk on this planet a select few people have supernatural abilities called
blessings the land has been covered in an oppressive snow and everyone lives in an eternal winter and what initially stood out to me about this world and is most apparent in Fujimoto storytelling here is that neither have any boundaries when you think about human nature what is the first thing that comes to mind if you who lived in a relatively civilized life in a first world country were forced into a situation where you would need to throw away some of your Humanity what would you end up looking like and one step further what would the
world look like as a result of that Society or at least what's left of it has been reduced back to exor qualities and within the first 10 chapters there's already a handful of scenes which include sexual assault or harass m in very disturbing and horrifying ways violence is not just an aspect of life but a prerequisite and what's really powerful about this world is that it pulls no punches all of the questions that might arise from those conditions are explored and treated with the utmost respect most of the time people have become obsessed with pleasure
in order to find relief from this terrible world with things like rape or child abuse common Horrors that these people are forced to fight against incest is a part of life with no parents to guide or no moral code administered and Humanity treats each other in such vile ways that are incredibly visceral to read in this world people who have powers are abused by those who do not take Agy the main character and his sister Luna who before escaping are used as a fuel source thanks to their regenerative abilities their bodies are chained up and
frequently dismantled in order to be used to keep the town warm even after they escape that idea of being a renewable source is so ingrained into them that Agony takes a sister away from their home every day where he cuts off his own arms in order to feed everyone he cares about and what's captivating about how Fujimoto portrays these ideas is that no matter how edgy or disgusting the elements are they are all treated with such incredible care and authenticity you can feel the tragedy spilling from the pages as you read and fujimoto's genius ideas
and unorthodox thinking really excel in these bizarre and Bleak Worlds the absolute best example of that in the story being the main character himself Agy like I mentioned the series is called fire punch so you might think that the main character in the story titled that would somehow have superpowers that is related to fire but like I mentioned earlier it's not AG's power is regeneration and after his town and everyone in it is murdered by A Gifted with the ability to unleash an eternal flame Agy is the only one who survives but not in the
way you might think while Agy is set on fire because of his strong regenerative skills every time his skin burns he comes right back and he's left in the snow presumably to burn forever the pain fresh and unbearable with each passing moment and from there he spends a total of eight years desperately trying to hold on for Life while constantly being on fire until he fully adapts and can move freely again only now his entire body is constantly being burned and constantly healing itself the ideas and Concepts at play Within the world of Fire Punch
are so unabashedly raw unique and brutal that I think that Fujimoto really excels when piloting a story with that tone he has this incredible ability to strip things down to its purest form whether it's the ambition for Revenge Express me of regeneration dji's desire for love and Humanity explored through the ability to transform into chainsaw man or fujino's Tender insecurity around her art and creativity his storytelling skills are so good that his peers often appraise it ishid daui the author of Tokyo Ghoul Morata yusuke the artist of one punch man and one the author of
one punch man and MOB have all read fire punch and Echo those same sentiments in a way it's like he breaks down the concepts to its purest form then reshapes the world and character around them so that the audience is able to see and feel all of that raw emotion and in that way I think Fujimoto really is a genius but there are sections of Fire Punch where the story feels like it's failing to live up to the intentions it had for itself and I think if you look closely enough you can feel that in
a way it's almost like this genius is restrained by his own abilities and that idea is very much reminisent inent of the relationship between fujino and her art this little girl who is obsessed with becoming better so she is able to properly communicate what she wants through her creativity and while that may seem like a leap in conclusion I'm going to prove to you why it's not Fujimoto appeared in a two-part interview all the way back in 2017 with one samura hiaki most famous for his work on the blade of the immortal manga and what's
really interesting about this interview are both the topics of discussion and the the timing by which it happened at this point in time Fujimoto had not yet written chainsaw man and was not yet finished with fire punch meaning that these years are very tender and special for Fujimoto himself and I think the biggest way that is expressed is how he talks about his relationship with art while he's barely into the interview Fujimoto shows his hand very earnestly saying quote this is the first time I've had an interview with another Creator samura Sensei you previously had
an interview with Kishimoto the author of Naruto didn't you but for someone like me to I'm dressed like usual I didn't even shave the conversation delves into various topics about manga and everything surrounding it along with the lives of both respective mangaa but the first time I think we get to see fujimoto's insecurity and his art is toward the Middle where he says quote if you can draw well your art looks more convincing right I won't be able to convey what I want with mediocre drawing so I need to improve end quote what's really interesting
about this statement is you can feel the frustration insecurity coming from that sentiment in an earlier line he expresses his frustration over not having enough time to really dial in his background or Having learned enough this insight into his mind and thought process continue with the following sections of the interview where he asks if there are any secrets to drawing along with expressing his frustration that his art is weak in comparison to others saying quote when I see a good artist it makes me think that they must be cheating somehow like they got to redo
their life or something or else it wouldn't be possible to achieve that level of skill there are a few people I think of like that and you're number one another one is Kim Jung G I feel like they all must have sacrifice something in their lives to get more time to draw if the parallels to himself and other artists compared to fujino and Kyoto weren't obvious enough before I feel like now they're almost impossible to miss interactions like this continue and we get a taste as to where Fuji Motes in security may come from while
lots of other manga go through prep school and have the opportunity to to improve through traditional means that wasn't the case for Fujimoto the best he was able to do was attend oil painting classes with a bunch of old people in those he briefly mentions that he told himself if he didn't get better than them within 4 years he would just kill them hopefully this was a joke however because he didn't want to go on the run as a good artist he would just need to get better and work hard and one of his greatest
regrets during that period is having not done enough real life drawings and I think that this unorthodox origin along with his unusual mix of strengths and weaknesses as a Storyteller haunted him at this time through the serialization of fire punch and like I mentioned earlier there are sections of the story that fail at achieving their intended quality after talking about how much he references other manga while he's drawing to try to learn Fujimoto says this quote I'm nowhere close to imitating them I have trouble copying the poses too if you have an elaborate pose that
alone makes an impact when you're reading but it takes time with the sketches is and everything so I'm forced to give up I really wish I could draw the snow inor detail too but I don't have time and I want to draw Vaper coming out of the character's mouths when they talk but when the deadline is in a day and it's like I'm going to die I end up thinking never mind about drawing The Vapor it's awful I hate how many compromises I have to make this perspective whether or not you think it's too harsh
shows what I believe to be one of fujimoto's most intense struggles as an artist his artart is not not good enough at least not within his own perspective and I think that tenderness to his art and mindset is what makes look back feel so raw and emotional when fujino wants to quit art or questions why she even does it in the first place I think those are real feelings and thoughts that Fujimoto felt and had the scene of fujino running in a frustration after realizing her art isn't as good as her peers or dancing in
the rain after being admired for her hard work have so much more weight behind it when we step back and look at the art within its context and what makes this idea so beautiful to me as well is how fujino matures throughout the story there's a small scene where the girls are both young and Koto mentions she wants to be better as an artist fujino's reply was look at my back and you'll grow I believe there is a lot of meaning wrapped up in this reply and I think that the answer is born out of
fujino and fujimoto's confidence after so much hard work all of those weaknesses that Fujimoto had in the real world forced him to work harder than he would have needed to and I think the skill of that effort combined with his UniQue Ideas gave birth to a genius so many people talk about when referencing taty Fujimoto because of this perhaps his greatest strength has been the ability and desire to learn the intangible force of passion there's that famous quote that goes hard work beats Talent when Talent fails to work hard I believe with all my heart
that quote is generally true but the undertone of that is in a world where both parties worked as hard as reasonably possible there is still something else that will inevitably separate the two people but there's another quote from the manga Grappler Baki that I think better puts towards the idea in the first statement that quote being someone who works hard can never beat someone who enjoys himself the idea being that if hard work beats Talent then passion will beat hard work because mere effort cannot withstand the burning ambition of inspiration some of the people who
have worked under Fujimoto in the real world or in other words at his back this man who never went to prep school or never worked as an assistant help teach in work with Yugi Kaa the author of Hell's Paradise toia Endo the author of spy family and yukinobu Tatu the author of dondon something like that is unorthodox and shouldn't happen and yet it did because Fujimoto was the one who did it and so if we can safely assume that fujino is fujimoto's close standing within the story of look back what is his reason why does
he draw well we couldn't ever know unless he told us with his own words I think that the answer is clear fujino looking back on camoto could very well be liken to Fujimoto looking back at movies like I mentioned at the top of the video Fujimoto loves films and the stories those movies told him in the interview he mentions that seeing them makes him want to tell stories like them and so I think the reason Fujimoto creates isn't all that complicated I believe that tasy Fujimoto draws because he is inp ired he saw or experienced
something that made him want to create and so he did and that passion burned within him and took him from someone with no time in prep school and almost no practice on the human body with no work as an assistant and turned him into one of the most dynamic and amazing mangaa in this generation his lacking of Talent OR skill didn't matter because he enjoyed himself maybe not the hard Parts maybe not the process but the feeling of being inspired and telling a story through his own art and I think the reason look back was
so inspirational for me is because I relate to that I remember when I was 13 and I finished the Red Pyramid and I immediately just started crying the story was so good and the idea of stories were so beautiful that I wanted to share that with other people I've written seven books as of now and self-published two but I have also struggled with the weight and the feeling that my art simply isn't good enough seeing fujino walk through the same path I did although through a very different art form was very relatable and personal what
I believe to be fujino and fujimoto's reason was also mine that feeling of needing to create just because you're inspired and so before I end this video I have a question for you why do you create the exact reason doesn't need to be the same as fujino Koto or Fujimoto but I think that for every creative person it's worth looking in the mirror and asking that very hard question and I think that the great thing about that answer is it doesn't really matter why maybe you just want to be known as a great artist or
maybe you think it's a great way to make money it could be because you just want to have a hobby or because you think it's fun I do not believe the exact answer matters but I think having that answer does and if you don't know what the answer to that question is don't you want to find out the Earth has existed for thousands and thousands and thousands of years and throughout all of that time you are alive right now on a literal anatomic level there has never been anyone like you who's walked the face of
the Earth and there never will be again so if there's a story within you that wants to be told whether YouTube videos or Manga or novels or paint it deserves to be brought to life for this brief time that you are on the earth and you are alive and breathing for the five or five million people that will see what you made that story should be told Art doesn't have value because of how many people see it but because of how many people couldn't have created what you can and everything you can do is completely
and wholly unique if you enjoyed this video consider subscribing or checking out some of our other work and if there's a spark of passion within you don't ever let it die until next time keep dreaming
