Shirobako

It all started in Kaminoyama High School, when five best friends—Aoi Miyamori, Ema Yasuhara, Midori Imai, Shizuka Sakaki, and Misa Toudou—discovered their collective love for all things anime and formed the animation club. After making their first amateur anime together and showcasing it at the culture festival, the group vows to pursue careers in the industry, aiming to one day work together and create their own mainstream show.

Two and a half years later, Aoi and Ema have managed to land jobs at the illustrious Musashino Animation production company. The others, however, are finding it difficult to get their dream jobs. Shizuka is feeling the weight of not being recognized as a capable voice actor, Misa has a secure yet unsatisfying career designing 3D models for a car company, and Midori is a university student intent on pursuing her dream as a story writer. These five girls will learn that the path to success is one with many diversions, but dreams can still be achieved through perseverance and a touch of eccentric creativity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Miyamori, Aoi Main

Kimura, Juri Japanese

Yasuhara, Ema Main

Yoshimura, Haruka Japanese

Sakaki, Shizuka Main

Chisuga, Haruka Japanese

Imai, Midori Main

Oowada, Hitomi Japanese

Toudou, Misa Main

Takano, Asami Japanese

Yano, Erika Supporting

Yamaoka, Yuri Japanese

Ogasawara, Rinko Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Kinoshita, Seiichi Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Kunogi, Ai Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Andou, Tsubaki Supporting

Hayama, Ikumi Japanese

Horikawa, Kenji Producer, Planning

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Kawase, Kouhei Producer

Nagatani, Takayuki Producer

Reviews

May 9, 2015

Veronin

Recommended

Shirobako is a love letter to the anime industry. It doesn't glorify it or portray animators as hyper-talented geniuses, and many of the characters in the show admit they do not even understand why they're working in the industry. But there's something that keeps them passionate about what they do, even if it may not be the most respected form of media out there.

Shirobako is also a genuinely well-written and entertaining story in its own right. It's a highly informative and interesting look at what the process of creating anime is all about, but it is more than that, too. And it is also ... courageous for being an original series and for telling a story about adult characters rather than the typical high school fare that anime is seemingly incapable of escaping from.

If you are expecting tons of drama or deep, philosophical themes (in which case I'd argue you're in the wrong medium), Shirobako is not going to be for you. It is a story about the mundane, the everyday struggles of the workplace. Rushing to meet deadlines is often the most the characters have to deal with in any given episode. And there's something inherently appealing about that, I think. The closer something is to reality-- the more mundane it is, the more you can relate to and empathise with what's going on. Being able to empathise is perhaps the most important part of any story.

Shirobako does attempt to break away from otaku fantasy-land by making its world more resemble ours. There are obese characters, old characters, married characters and all sorts of other types that populate our world and yet are seemingly extinct in the vast majority of anime. There's definitely still a large 'moe' appeal for most of the female characters, but there is never a point where it becomes overbearing. Shirobako doesn't resort to panty-shots and beach episodes and other sorts of contrived nonsense in order to make the girls appealing. Their cuteness is more natural; it stems from their personality and their flaws rather than their body, even if Yano's stockings and Diesel-chan's side ponytail are perhaps the greatest things my eyes have ever witnessed.

I do have to wonder why anime are so afraid of including female characters outside the high school age range, as if they are somehow incapable of being interesting or likeable once the clock strikes 18. The girls of Shirobako are in their 20's and yet they are far more appealing (and yes, more cute) than the vast majority of teenage characters. Maybe that could be my own oldness speaking, but I'd like to see more variety and more 20-somethings like there are in Shirobako. There's far more that can be done with adult characters. Shirobako understands that life exists outside of high school, and it isn't afraid of showing that life.

But only talking about the appeal of the characters would be a disservice, as there is far more that makes Shirobako an outstanding anime. Most people who watch the show are going to have their attention on its portrayal of the anime industry and the animator's lifestyle, which are shown with extensive detail in each and every episode. Even if you have no knowledge of how the anime industry works, by the time you finish Shirobako, you'll have a pretty OK idea of how it does. It does not just focus on the animators alone, but also the lower roles (such as the delivery dude/lady), all the way up to the very top management who decide the voice actors and how the anime should end. It does lend to a deeper appreciation for anime as a whole, as you'll realise that even the complete stinkers may have sucked because of a minor managerial mistake rather than incompetence.

I cannot speak to how accurate these things are since I'm not an animator myself, but what I can tell is that the show is obviously idealised to some extent. It is, after all, meant to be a piece of entertainment rather than a documentary, so occasionally the characters will do things such as working at superhuman speeds or engage in the usual manzai routine for comedic effect. The story actually goes completely bonkers in the last couple episodes (with one of the characters actually deflecting bullets with the lard in their belly - YES REALLY), so it wouldn't be a good idea to expect Shirobako to be a perfectly accurate representation of reality. And then there's those talking stuffed animals that are never really explained. Magic, or something?

The fact that Shirobako is an anime-original series and not an adaptation of some other manga or light novel makes it an inherently positive presence in anime, I think. P.A. Works not only made a great anime, but something that is strictly 'anime' and not a property of some other medium. Personally, I am getting pretty bored of anime's role as the 'adaptation medium'. The industry would benefit from more titles like Shirobako, even if that means studios taking a bit of a financial risk.

Shirobako can be a bit misleading, though. The first episode creates the impression that the entire story is going to be about the five high school friends working together in the anime industry, but that isn't really how things pan out. It is a story about the events of Musashino Animation. Only two of the five girls work there as regular employees for the majority of the series, with my goddess Diesel joining in the latter half and the remaining two pitching in at the very last moment. Some people may find this a bit disappointing, but I thought it was the proper route for the story. Adult life rarely ever works out exactly as planned, and Shirobako is very much an anime about adult life.

It would be pretty ironic if an anime about animation had poor animation, so it's fortunate that Shirobako looks and sounds as nice as it does. There is none of the usual 'sameface' phenomenon that plagues most anime with a moe art style (which Shirobako most definitely has), and the backgrounds are often filled with detail (like an anime figure sitting on a desk to the side) which makes having a wandering eye recommended. It's a bright and visually pleasant show, while the music, even if it's not particularly notable, creates an appropriate atmosphere. There are no melodramatic 'PLEASE CRY NOW' piano pieces, and for that I am thankful.

Regardless of preferences and standards, I think Shirobako is more than capable of being one of the most enjoyable experiences anyone has with anime for a very long time-- especially so if you have any sort of passion for the anime industry. It's well-written and free of any noteworthy flaws, sure, but it's also informative and unique for a medium that has been plagued by sameness for decades. Why there haven't been anime like Shirobako until this day remains a mystery to me, but it has made me regain some hope for the anime industry-- it's still capable of creating great things, it seems.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 9, 2016

ItIsIDio

Mixed Feelings

Shirobako is a good choice for you if you want to have a look into the anime industry but without events and characters seeming like they progress in a natural or realistic fashion, but still giving you somewhat of a decent insight into the industry regardless.

You see, Shirobako does do a good job at putting on the line some of the goals and aspirations the characters want to do, even if it's half corny and generic safe responses and the other half is mostly what would feel natural for someone that has entered into the industry making a decision that fits their original goal presented ... in a situation that makes sense. Well maybe it's more like, 60-40%. Well... maybe... erm...

Anyway, what it absolutely fails to do is present the situation of the working space in a believable way. You see there is this director who is, putting it mildly, the absolute worst thing in the world. He constantly procrastinates, he is usually indecisive and he had no sense of direction to the point that when he was asked what he wanted to do with his series, his answer was simply "moe". That was his answer for why he created the series and where he wanted to take it. I'm sure anyone, despite however rancid might think has gotten and maybe wanted to capitalize on the moe factor, if that was at all the case in this director's case, would have at the very least an idea on how to capitalize on moe and give a different answer. But, no, he said that because he was asked what were his original intentions with the series in order to get help from another writter, and that was his answer. And he's already known in the industry for his poor direction and what not, because he had failed on directing another original work called "Jiggly Jiggly Heaven" which is exactly what you're probably thinking. I won't represent him as antagonistically as I can, but trust me, he seems very unqualified all throughout the first cour.

The reason I'm mentioning all this and I'm stopping here is because I want to ask you the following questions:

Would you work under him?

Now think a bit before you answer because these are the guarantees of your job: you will probably be forced to take a lot of retakes due to his indecisiveness and work under a very limited timespan due to how much he's delayed writing the storyboards due to him procrastinating, which would make the retakes that much more difficult. Also keep in mind that he has a terrible reputation and if you're there and he fails he probably is going to drag you down with him as well. Maybe you're asking yourself how would I have known which, okay, good point, then I'm gonna ask you the following question instead.

What would you do when you found out he's this way?

Would you continue working so the anime won't be a permanent stain on your resume and make it as great as possible, would you bail because as soon as you could before you would be able to have it as a permanent stain on you or would you have an outburst at the director and tell him to get his shit together? Or would you simply just quit as soon as the project is done? I mean, you would feel at every point like you're in a sinking ship, right? Or maybe if you wouldn't, someone else at least would?

Except that's not what happens. Most people continue working so the work won't leave a permanent impact on their reputation in the industry but there is absolutely nobody, except one guy who downright forces the director to work. There's nobody that expresses any sort of frustration at the chaos the director has caused at things that are completely his fault. They had opportunities to do so with a bunch of characters, but no, they instead chose this path with this character: "Everyone struggles until the asshole finally fucking gets some inspiration and then everything ends fine and dandy." I can't imagine in a realistic situation where there wouldn't be at least one person lashing out or at the very least talking the director behind his back for being this pathetic at what he's doing, hell, I barely can imagine someone being this tolerant in a fictional scenario built in my mind. Instead people just take it and do their work and eventually the director stops fucking around. You could've given the director some motivation to correct his ways through consequences of his work force simply not accepting what he's doing by lashing out at him or quitting or anything. But, no, that would make too much sense. Lets instead have his actions have very little voiced consequences and everything ending up pretty much okay.

And this is the main problem with Shirobako, whenever there is a problem, everything ends up okay in the end, to the point where you get to the content of the second cour, where everything works even better in the project and the director isn't even a problem anymore, whenever a "oh my god a setback" happens there's no sense of urgency behind it and the tension from this type of situation is pretty much gone. There's no consequence to things going wrong other than, okay, lets work a little bit harder mkay? Okay. You're writing a story about an industry, there's always a risk for someone doing a bad job, but quitting and being fired are totally natural responses a person or a company could take in these situations. Failing a deadline or the work suffering a drop in quality are also possible consequences of incompetence or simply harsh conditions. As a result of this, none of the events happening in Shirobako have any dramatic value, despite trying to build them up and failing spectacularly at them. You know they will strive to make things in the series as optimistic as possible while creating tension with only one result, you feeling relieved it worked out.

It looked like all the characters were pulling punches in the hopes that things will work out and they will somehow manage, which made me feel very cynical about the whole experiences they've went through.

That was what mostly almost kinda made me drop the series a bunch of times but instead I continued watching the series because quite frankly, I enjoyed the parts where Shirobako presented the motivations and ambitions the characters had in the industry, or their loss of motivation and how they got over it. It does do a genuinely good job with that whenever they don't go on the safe route and offer some sort of insightful advice through a conclusion you could draw out from what the characters experience which is a good thing to see. Like what happens when you lose inspiration (no, I'm not talking about the director) or when you are stuck in a loop where you don't get any experience that would help you improve in the future. If the story focused more on this aspect of what it was trying to do while creating tension and focusing more on how to get over yourself and how you've achieved that and what consequences this could have not only on you but also on the team, I'm sure this could've been quite good, but it wasn't. I thought this aspect was enough for me to second guess calling this show bad, but I can't say it's fine for the lack of repercussions for every problem in the series that has appeared in it and making it seem quite unrealistic.

The art style of the show is generally good, given its a show about creating anime and animation plays a big part in it, most things are animated well. Everything looks well put together and you could technically see the process behind it too, which will probably help you have a better appreciation of it. The art style is a bit too cutsey for me but, I can say that it looked good regardless. The sound was generally fine too, although if I caught a glimpse of either the intro or ending I would immediately get turned off because I hate j-pop, and there are some downright cringy moments in the series that are meant to be heartwarming when the main character along with her friends go on and say this: "DON DON DONUTS LETS GO NUTS!". Ugh.

As you might or might have not guessed from what I've already said, the purpose of the characters is mostly to display one aspect of the industry or that area of expertise through either shared wisdom or experience or the difficulty said person might have in their area. The situations presented by them tend to be hit and miss but they usually are enjoyable enough for what they're trying to do and they tend to have some insight into them.

If you think you'd be frustrated by the lack of consequences the problems in the series, like the poor direction or the problems created by the staff itself, having little to no consequences to the overall quality on the series could be a hurdle for you, or the fact that the interpersonal relationships of the series being treated so casually is a really bad thing just like me, I can't recommend this series to you at all. But if you think some of the insight Shirobako might provide into the industry might be worth it, although I would suggest looking for some documentaries that might offer the same insight into the industry from real people talking about real experiences, you could have a look into it. As I've said, it does present some insightful situations and how people get over their own hurdles, which might be something you want. But I don't know if that would justify it as a good series for you, given it's possible you could get the same feedback from different sources. I managed to enjoy Shirobako enough to finish it and thought it was an okay enough experience, despite the hurdles, but I can see them being too much for other people as well.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 31, 2025

Alchemi_

Not Recommended

This anime hit way too close to real life for my taste. Have a dream? Work tirelessly for it, get so close you can almost touch it, and then… fall just short? Yeah, that’s reality for a lot of people. Instead of achieving that dream, you settle—maybe as a project manager, maybe taking whatever roles you can get while serving coffee to make ends meet. It’s frustrating because that struggle is real, and while the anime does a fantastic job portraying it, that’s exactly why I didn’t enjoy watching it.

Don’t get me wrong—the story is well-written, the characters are compelling, and the art is beautiful. ... Everything about it is objectively great. But when I come home stressed from work, the last thing I want is to watch an anime that mirrors the very struggles I’m trying to escape. If you’re looking for something relatable and grounded in reality, this might be a perfect choice for you. But for me? I watch anime to get away from real life, not to relive it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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