Chainsaw Man Creator's Manga Gets Live-Action Treatment From Oscar-Nominated Director Hirokazu Kore-eda!

Get ready, manga fans! The creator who brought us the visceral world of Chainsaw Man is making his mark on the big screen in a whole new way. Tatsuki Fujimoto’s massively popular one-shot manga “Look Back” is getting the live-action treatment, and it couldn’t be in better hands than Oscar-nominated director Hirokazu Kore-eda. The Hollywood Reporter just broke the news that GKids has acquired distribution rights for this highly anticipated adaptation, bringing this emotional coming-of-age story to North American, UK, and Irish audiences.

“Look Back” first took the manga world by storm when it was published on Shonen Jump+ in 2021, racking up an incredible 4 million views in just two days. The print version has been a global phenomenon, selling over 900,000 copies in Japan and more than 750,000 internationally. The manga’s success earned it a nomination at the 2023 Eisner Awards in the Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia category, cementing Fujimoto’s status as one of the most impactful mangaka of the past decade. The story follows two schoolgirls—one a shut-in with severe social anxiety—who form an unlikely bond through their shared dream of becoming manga artists.

Kore-eda, who won the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018 for “Shoplifters” (later Oscar-nominated for Best International Feature), brings his signature humanistic touch to this adaptation of Fujimoto’s emotional work. In a statement, Kore-eda compared the desperate resolve he felt in Fujimoto’s creation to his own breakthrough film “Nobody Knows” (2004). This collaboration between two master storytellers from different mediums promises to deliver a powerful cinematic experience that bridges the gap between Japanese manga and international cinema.