Debatable Portrayal of Mental Illness Bared in Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Look Back

Tatsuki Fujimoto is currently the man with the golden touch in the manga industry. Anything he creates becomes the reigning hit, so when his latest one-shot, Look Back, was published, unsurprisingly, the whole world’s gaze landed on it. 

The manga quickly amassed a whopping 1.2 million views, but unfortunately, a controversial issue had been pointed out in the work.

Even the most famed artists can make mistakes, but Fujimoto-sensei has amended his errors in the one-shot, thus earning our trust once again.

The latest tweet of Shonen Jump + has revealed that many readers have pointed out the usage of “inappropriate expressions” in Look Back.

The editorial department has announced that they intend to avoid any depiction in their works that might lead to prejudice and discrimination. Thus, corrections have been made to the manga to rectify the issue. 

Readers have pointed out that there are inappropriate expressions in the “Lookback” work. As a result of careful consideration, I wanted to avoid that the depiction in the work would lead to prejudice and discrimination, so I made some corrections.

Shonen Jump + Editorial Department

English Translation, Twitter Translate

So, what exactly went wrong that the celebrated author’s one-shot had to be edited?

In the manga, one of the protagonists, Kyomoto, is killed by an unhinged person who attacks the art school she attends. In the original one-shot, the antagonist kills Kyomoto as he suspects her of plagiarizing his idea. 

Hints towards the character being schizophrenic and other such mental illnesses had also been placed.Readers have protested that this sheds a negative light on people with mental illnesses.

The editorial department had accepted these claims and made specific corrections related to the character. 

Now, the killer’s motive has been changed from personal grudge to general apathy and hostility. The allusions to his mental illness have also been removed.

Although there is still some discontent amongst fans claiming the edit to be a result of unnecessary censorship, Jump + took the right decision by discouraging prejudices.

Since Tatsuki Fujimoto’s works often deal with the darker sides of humanity and the unknown depths of the mind, I understand that such a slip-up is possible. 

In a world where mental illnesses are still looked down upon and often go unacknowledged, this step from Fujimoto sensei and Shonen Jump+ is an appropriate answer to concerns. 

About Look Back

Look Back is a one-shot manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto that was published on 19th July 2021 on the Shonen Jump+ magazine.

The one-shot focuses on Kyo Fujino and Kyomoto who form a duo of prodigy mangaka. As they grow up, they publish several one-shots and finally get a chance to serialize a manga.

Misfortune befalls Kyomoto and Kyo Fujino loses all hope.

Source: Shonen Jump+ Twitter

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