The Chainsaw Man creator’s acclaimed manga is getting a live-action film. The new Look Back teaser trailer reveals cast and plot details.
Look Back teaser released with new visuals
GKIDS unveiled a teaser trailer and two key visuals for the live-action Look Back film from director Hirokazu Kore-eda. The film adapts the 2021 one-shot manga by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto and opens in Japanese theaters on September 11, 2026 (via Crunchyroll).
The trailer also revealed the film’s cast. Natsuki Deguchi will portray Fujino, while Aju Makita takes on the role of Kyomoto. Furi Nanase and Rokka Okada will play the younger versions of the two leads. Deguchi and Makita previously featured in The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, also directed by Kore-eda.
Kore-eda directs, writes, and edits the film, which K2 Pictures produces under Daiju Koide. The story follows Fujino, a confident young manga artist, and Kyomoto, a reclusive classmate with superior drawing talent. Their shared passion for creating manga brings them together and shapes their lives from elementary school into adulthood. The project marks the first live-action adaptation of the manga.
The Palme d’Or-winning director discovered the manga at a Shinagawa Station bookstore. Kore-eda said he “felt the desperate resolve” behind Fujimoto’s work after reading it in “one sitting” (via Deadline). He compared his connection to Look Back with his own relationship to Nobody Knows. Koide then approached Kore-eda with the adaptation offer, and after meeting Fujimoto, Kore-eda stated he “had no choice but to do it” (via GKids).
The film was shot in Nikaho, Akita, with local residents cooperating throughout. Filming reportedly spanned February to November 2025 across all four seasons. GKIDS will distribute the film in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland later in 2026. Goodfellas handles international sales outside of Asia.
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.
