Shirobako Movie

In the early moments of Shirobako's latest film endeavor, one of the new characters lays witness to a discussion on the radio regarding the difficult state of the modern anime industry. Perhaps the anime bubble had burst, and buyers have long been dwindling away from the market? The song that follows is a fitting follow-up to these concerns, lamenting how there is little that can be done, save for embracing the reality and pushing onwards.

This stark contrast to other anime and manga, where said industries are celebrated and deified, presents a more sober and realistic take that is scarcely found elsewhere. Perhaps we have been ... seeing the decline of an industry for quite a while now, and have just failed to notice. An anime centered upon the anime industry holds more truths than is immediately apparent, as it is in some regards a vehicle for animators and writers to discuss their own experiences. If they do not say it directly, they can instead express it through creative mediums.

On the surface, Shirobako is just an ordinary moe anime, filled to the brim with cute girls creating anime, pushing themselves to the limit and doing the nigh-impossible. And on these merits alone, the Shirobako movie provides plenty more fun for those it appeals to, with the movie's storyline mostly reminiscent of that from the TV series. Personally, however, I find that moreso than plot or characters (which are serviceable in this case), this subtext is what gives the most credence to Shirobako as an artistic work.

If there is one criticism I might have, it is that the male characters are largely doofuses. This brings essential comedic value to the series, and consequently keeps things varied and exciting, but I do wish that some of them (namely Takanashi and Big Boy) had a few more layers to their personality. The antagonist of the movie is also another stock buffoon, a shady 'businessman' skirting the thin line between legality and crime (and failing at doing so, to incredible extents). But they are not the stars of the show, and they hardly hamper the integrity of the story or its enjoyment thereof, so it is largely a trivial issue.

If you can forgive a mildly degenerate digression, I do feel obliged to state that Erika is a hell of a girl (twintails, short shorts, AND thigh-highs, all at once?), with her remaining my favourite from the series. It is a shame there isn't more of her (I had initially thought she wouldn't even appear in the movie), as I feel she could have made for an exciting and more dominant member of the main cast.

But there is little to gripe about with regards to the main five. Shirobako had one of my favourite female casts in all of anime when it aired five plus years ago, and that remains the case even now in 2021. I could watch these characters for many more movies yet, and still be excited in what their individual story-arcs have yet to present, with their differing albeit interconnected careers. Still, it would have been nice if the movie wasn't so fixated on Aoi, as the rest of the main cast are treated with what seems more like cameo appearances, rather than anything meaningful or substantial— similar in many ways to Erika's disappointingly small role in the story. Those excited for more Ema or Midori, for example, might find themselves a bit disappointed, as their scenes feel quite wanting. Perhaps they have a couple minutes of screentime each, which in some cases, is less than characters we can barely even remember the name of.

It is of course difficult to manage such a large amount of characters in a two hour format, though, so I suppose it goes to reason that the writers would choose instead to tell a smaller and more focused story. And while said story can be mild and potentially even underwhelming on a surface level (the rush to meet deadlines is something we have already seen aplenty in the TV series), I feel it is the deeper meanings that elevate the Shirobako movie into being more than merely decent. If the staff have made an entire movie expressing the pinch that animators, writers, and the industry as a whole currently finds itself in, then I might argue that there is more information to extract here than even most news sources could possibly provide.

I have to admit, I was not expecting to be watching another Shirobako anime in 2021. But in recent days, we have been seeing a multitude of anime receiving sequels many years after their originals. And for this I am happy, and thankful, as it shows that some creators are willing to please their fans instead of perpetually chasing monetary phantoms.

If you've watched and enjoyed Shirobako in the past, you already know whether or not you should watch this movie. And for those who have no experience with the series, I can only hope that you might give it a try.

It is, in my opinion, one of the most enjoyable and meaningful anime from the previous decade.

The original Shirobako is, maybe a bit oddly, one of the most original and unique experiences I've had with anime over the years of being a fan, despite not offering a complex plot or well-developed characters. What it offers is a really simple but endearing story of people working in an animation studio. Not much more, not much less. It uses its simple setup to tell very effective personal and collective stories and does so in an interesting, realistic, and fresh setting.

And here we are today, with a direct sequel of the original Shirobako at hand. A sequel that didn't feel needed. After all, the ... original story was finished. Nonetheless, the announcement was definitely welcomed, and I really felt that it could be a worthy successor of the original series. So, is it a worthy successor? Well, one thing is for certain:

Shirobako Movie should've never been a movie. It should've been a 2-cour series with a similar structure and pace the original series had. Only that way it would've been able to realize its potential to the fullest. The plot is simply too thick, focuses on too many characters and too many ideas to fit into 2 hours worth of screentime. The original series already had a problem with making a case that anyone besides the main few characters has their name worth remembering. With that said, most of them were simple enough to succeed in their purpose - showing how many people it takes to create anime, how hectic and hostile can the studio atmosphere be, and most importantly, why people go out of their way to make anime in the first place.

The movie has these ideas as well, but because every conversation, every idea, and every sign of personal struggle is so obnoxiously rushed, they just don't come to fruition. Which is a very big shame, because as far as potential goes, I'd say the movie has a core idea that in theory offers a more complete and interesting experience than the original did. At the start of the film, the studio is at their lowest, the original cast of characters scattered, but in the end, they all come together to work on a passion project they always dreamed of. If realized, this could've been amazing. But it's not.

Together with execution problems, the show also has certain plot elements that I thought weren't good to begin with. For one, I kind of dislike how the movie goes to incredible lengths to make literally everyone from the old studio come and work on this new anime. Most people? Sure, but it's been several years since the main series. People moved on and started living different lives. I would've liked to see some people who just straight up refuse to come back, for whatever reason they may have. I think it would've added some sense of realism to the movie, that otherwise just ends up feeling like a utopia of sorts.

There is also a really stupid plot about another animation company who is, for one literally not doing the job they were under contract for, and for two holding the copyright rights to this very same job hostage, so that no one else could do work on it. It feels like the movie honestly could've ended 10 minutes in, if the Musashi Animation producer knew one thing about how to handle a situation like this and sue people for not respecting contracts. Something they end up doing anyway, at the end of the movie, after about half a year of in-anime time! Amazing! All in all, it just feels like the movie picks the easiest route of having a clear bad guy on whom all blame can be shifted. Which is something the original series did as well, but here it feels even worse because our heroes are so clearly supposed to be in the driving seat of their arguments with the villain company, but the anime acts like they actually aren't.

While the fast pace made the plot suffer significantly, the lack of screentime is especially rough for many of Shirobako's characters. The main series focused on the motivations and lives of many people, but it also had a core main 5 whose old friendship tied many aspects of the show together. In this movie, it's very much just Aoi being the main character, and we see almost everything through her eyes. Almost all other characters, main or side, appear so little that it doesn't even feel like they were really there, more like they showed up to make a short cameo appearance. What did Erika do to deserve this?

It's also important to note that the movie wastes a lot of time on aspects that could've easily been cut in favor of putting more time into the actual story, characters, or slowing down the plot a bit sometimes and making the work feel more atmospheric. The movie barely ever takes a breather, and almost always feels like it's just rapid-firing dialogue in order to quickly get to the next conversation because there's simply too much to be said.

Its production values feel fine, but not amazing for a movie either. Its animation is very comparable to the main series, the character designs still look as colorful and gorgeous as they always did. The movie has a few nice and funni insert songs, some of them straight-up feel like PA Works are just doing their best Walt Disney impressions.

Long story short, Shirobako Movie is a story of unfulfilled potential, much like what Chikai no Finale is for the Hibike! Euphonium franchise. What could've been an interesting twist on the original story, using a very similar structure but introducing new ideas and themes, ended up being something I can't but be disappointed about.

Yes, it's fine. But this wasn't supposed to be fine.

It was supposed to be amazing.

Possible spoiler!

SHIROBAKO Movie
one of my favorite let's review

starting with the introduction of full season 1 shirobako, making this movie quite friendly with new audiences BUT I highly recommend watching season 1 first, why?
because all the character relationships in SHIROBAKO itself build up in season 1.

The main story itself was at the time of the destruction of the Mushani studio where our MC was working. In those difficult times, Aoi, who had become a producer, tried to revive the heyday of this anime studio

a fairly realistic slice of life story, plus a pretty heart-wrenching drama, as well as comedy inserts that I feel fit to wrap ... Shirobako into one of the anime that I like

the way the author delivers the message through a piece of dialogue and manages to make my tears flow is quite a beautiful thing. The memory of SHIROBAKO season 1 that was reviewed is also quite reminiscent of my heart, making me feel like I don't want this to end.

sfx and bgm that are not excessive and insert "drama-musical" that is inserted comfortably heard and seen, the ending song that was delivered by Fhana also brought a cheerful atmosphere

tldr;
one of the best slice of life, realist with an insert joke and heartrending drama.

one of my fav / 10
recommended for slice of life drama lovers!

The Shirobako anime has garnered a respectable fan base over the few short years since its debut, and it's been well deserved. Shirobako brought the meat and potatoes of anime production to audiences with a fun cast of characters and a meaningful story to go along with it. Despite having an almost overwhelming number of characters, it managed to juggle all of its themes together in 24 well paced episodes.

Fans were delighted to hear of a movie sequel just as meta as ever - an anime movie about making an anime movie. But can this film accomplish what the TV series did in just ... 2 hours?

The film starts 4 years after the events of the series, with an overworked and jaded Miyamori Aoi, still chugging away at Musashino, gutted from years of more bungled productions. It begins to explore another harsh reality of the industry - when the passion fades, your dreams seem too far gone, and you start questioning if you even enjoy your work anymore. Aoi forces herself to put on a smile and keep herself going every day. It's a poignant hook, much like the first episode of the series where it ends with a character fainting from overwork.

However, as Aoi & co start picking up the pieces to put together a crew to make an anime movie, Shirobako begins retreading familiar territory at a frightening pace. There's a few new faces, but mostly old ones. Inviting, but stunted. The film rarely takes a breather as it hops from one plot point to another.

Near the end - 3 weeks to the release of their movies theatrical release - Aoi vows to re-take the ending as the production team agreed it felt rushed and lacked a satisfying crescendo. I find myself having the exact same sentiments about this movie. I was actually shocked where it ended - despite it running 2 hours, by the time you're feeling the film is entering its 3rd act, it's over.

Happy end aside, I can only recommend this film to Shirobako fans. And maybe that is who it's intended for. In fact, I imagine if anyone came in to this film blind they would be utterly lost. There's too many callbacks to the series for this to stand on its own.

While I'm disappointed to give this a mere 6/10, I feel I may actually be generous here. I did not dislike this film, but I think it could have been a lot better, especially as a 2nd season rather than a film. It needed more room to breathe and explore the wonderful cast and intricate workings of animation production.

Wishful thinking, but I hope someday we get to see the Musashino crew again under better circumstances.

If you love Shirobako, this one's worth a watch. Otherwise, go and watch the series, and then come back here if you loved it.

Writing a short review on the movie as someone who really liked the anime

I feel the movie loses a bit of the magic that made the anime so great in the first place. The passion is there but is nowhere near well thought out or well-paced as the anime.

The story is generic and follows the template laid in the anime but the problems they face in the movie feel superficial and also unsatisfying when solved.

They bring back pretty much everyone in the anime which was great but they also introduce a new character who pretty much does nothing. \

Overall, it was decent but ... not as inspiring and well thought out as the anime and I found that I was watching the movie just to relive the memories of the anime.

For good I will say that the film is extremely dynamic, it is not boring at any time, and it deals with the same issues with the same seriousness and maturity as the anime did, but this point weakens a bit with those musical numbers that personally I didn't like them, they seem totally expendable to me. As for the CGI animations, they seemed not so good, the texturing makes them notice too much and makes them look like a video game, I don't know if it's on purpose but I didn't like it very much, the same thing happened with the anime OVAs, yes ... Well, they are only complementary, I think that the quality of these is much lower than that presented in the anime during production. Speaking of the plot itself, in this film they make it even clearer that it is a fairly small animation studio, with quite a few problems, even many more than those presented in the anime but many of those problems remain entirely in the air because they do not close properly, for details like those the end was too accelerated, and it will be time to continue waiting because these 5 friends can finally adapt their own anime in a future production if it is possible.

Shirobako the Movie is an entertaining movie with a lot of effort put into it, however, it suffers heavily due to the script.

Before starting the actual review, I just want to thank ElevenArts for offering an early screening for review purposes. I really appreciate it and will thus be completely honest with the review. Now on to the review.

Shirobako the Movie is a sequel to the show Shirobako, which is a great series. My overall thoughts on the series was that it was a breath of fresh air, though it felt a little aimless at times and there were a few episodes in the ... second cour that felt boring due to lack of plot and felt that a shorter episode run would have fixed my issues with it.

This movie has the opposite problem. It could have easily have been a full cour show if it was given time to flesh out all of its ideas and characters.

Back to the positives of the movie, the art and animation are phenomenal, and not just because the studio P.A.Works is generally well known for their polished art and gorgeous animation, but also because this movie experiments and displays many different styles of animation, which one could expect from a movie about animation. Sometimes, a change in animation could take the viewer out of the experience, but the changes were done in a way that fit seamlessly into the scenes that they were in. Seriously, the animation in this film can't be praised enough.

Often working in tandem with the animation, the other outstanding role in this film would belong to the music. Like the animation, the music style varied greatly from scene to scene, depending on the animation and atmosphere of the scenes. Many of the songs were creative as well as sounding good. Even outside of the soundtrack, which is terrific, the voice acting and the sound effects were all perfect.

These two attributes leads to another interesting aspect about the film, and that is the fact that it's almost a musical. Almost. There are a couple of musical numbers in the beginning of the film and a couple in second half of the film. These musicals are the scenes that have the varied animation and the varied soundtrack and of them look and sound wonderful.

Some other miscellaneous positives to the film would be the self aware nature, humor, and references hidden in the film. In addition, there are two highlight scenes, both action oriented.

Those are the strong aspects of the film. Now moving on to the biggest weakness of the film. The script.

This movie is 2 hours long, which should be enough time to make a movie about making a movie work. But alas, it was poorly scripted. The plot of the movie is that Miyamori, the main character, due to some unforeseen circumstances, needs to start of movie from scratch for a premier that starts in ten months. That right there is a great direction to take the series in, as anyone familiar with the animation process knows that making an original anime film generally takes two years, as they mention in the film, and ten months is a herculean ordeal. That's a nail-biter story right there.

The problem is, it doesn't focus on that plot for the majority of the movie, and even when it does, only a couple of scenes (the highlighted one mentioned before) actually portray the difficulty of that daunting task. Besides for those two scenes, the characters act like there isn't major crunch time and they act like they have all of time in the world. Again, those who have been in the community for enough time would know how the employees and studio would really be acting in those circumstances.

But even if they focused on crunch time every scene that it could be brought up, it still wouldn't be enough. Again, the movie is 2 hours long, but the plot doesn't kick into gear until the 45 minute mark and they don't actually start making the film until 60 minutes in. That just leaves 60 minutes to express how crunch-timing a film would be. However, most of that run time is spent on introducing characters that we already knew from the series and dealing with character motivations and other character related issues. That is a great thing to do, but not in if it negatively affects the plot. There are perhaps 5 minutes of accumulative run time in this film where you actually feel the stakes of the creating the movie in crunch time, and for a movie whose plot is tethered to that premise, that's a little disappointing.

This also ties in to the characters of the movie. The main cast have a great chemistry and have engaging personalities and stories. However, due to the script and pacing, they are largely overshadowed. It was promising in the beginning when the film took time to breathe and could introduce their current statuses in life and their goals, but once the main plot kicks in, those are largely ignored. Even their main goal of making an anime together is barely brought up when they eventually make it happen.

The rest of the supporting cast had their moments, but they tried cramming in too many characters and subplots to this film for any of them to hit their mark. There just wasn't close to enough time for all of them.

As one can imagine with such a poorly written script, the pacing was all over the place. Perhaps the movie could have juggled most of its subplots in the run time if they didn't waste it on the musical numbers. The musical numbers were really good, as stated before, though since they disappeared for most of the film, they do seem a little random and pointless at times. They weren't necessary, despite being welcome, and that could have easily made more room for the plot to develop.

Despite the aforementioned problems, the movie is very enjoyable. It has enough great action scenes and musical sequences spread throughout to keep one entertained if the plot and sub-plots themselves aren't engaging enough.

In conclusion, perhaps the biggest issues were the expectations. Thinking it would soundly resolve the series and characters, but it didn't so that, at least not in a satisfying way. They even tease a potential sequel at the end. The art, animation, and music are all top notch, but everything is dragged down by the baffling script which doesn't know what it wants to focus on.

Overall, I am scoring this anime an 8. I enjoyed it, and might even watch it again if it gets a dub. But the story is too poorly scripted for me to score it higher.

At the end of the film, when they showed part of their anime, I really just felt like I would have rather watched that anime than this one, which is never a good sign. I definitely didn't feel that way with the original series and the anime they made.

In the end, I would say that it's definitely worth checking this film out, since there is a lot to learn about how anime is made, but don't expect to be blown away by the story.

Shirobako: The Movie is very aptly named. It takes the basic plot arcs from the original series, and applies them to the making of an anime movie, in a movie. If you think that this sounds like playing it safe, you're absolutely right. Shirobako: The Movie is playing it safe, practically guaranteeing that those who enjoyed the original series will enjoy this movie, but at the price of not really letting characters progress like they might have or really innovating in terms of plot. Shirobako, the anime, was truly an original work; Shirobako: The Movie, far less so.

Let's at least start by giving credit where ... credit is due. Shirobako: The Movie has absolutely stellar animation. First, P.A. Works flexes and provides a wide variety in animation styles to suit individual scenes. When you can see the CG, you know that your ability to see the CG is intentional on the part of the animators. Further, while staying true to its slice-of-life roots, Shirobako: The Movie manages to include some excellent action scenes, animated well throughout. The art backing up the animation is similarly excellent.

As I previously mentioned, the general plot arc of Shirobako: The Movie does not deviate too far from the plot arc of the original anime. This does provide the strengths of familiarity, but in the end it manages to hurt the movie more than it helps it. The primary issue here is that the time constraints of a movie are drastically different from the time constraints of one-cour of an anime. One cour of anime gives you about 2.5 times more time than a 2-hour movie, and that's before considering that Shirobako: The Movie happens to have a fairly long introductory sequence before moving into the primary arc, so in reality we get all the plot of a full anime cour crammed into about 1.5 hours.

While this could perhaps have worked had they done a good job of trimming the side plots from the main plot arc, they chose to cram a large number of these in as well, meaning that the entire latter part of the movie moves a breakneck speed. Not only does this render the character beats hard to follow, but it also kills any of the tension that is supposed to exist. To be fair, the familiarity does make this speed more coherent and tolerable, but it still feels like the plot would have been far better serviced had it been given a full anime cour instead.

The introductory portion of the plot does do a lot better than the main sequence, since they allow the plot enough space to breathe and develop. We get a brief tour of where the main five are now in their lives, along with a chance to spend some time with Aoi, who is going through a difficult time. The ambient mood of this introduction is superb, right up until the end. At the end of this sequence, a musical dance number was selected to tie things up and get things ready for the next part of the plot. That choice was certainly a bold move, but in this case it fails since the music disrupts the mood, leading to it being intrusive instead of cathartic.

In terms of sound and music, the overall quality was very high. Voice actors all did a great job reprising their roles, and the music generally fit well, with the exception of the two musical dance numbers that were added. The second admittedly was far better than the first, but it still felt a little out of place, though that was probably more due to the pacing of the story than the music itself. All in all, the soundtrack wasn't the type that you'll download and listen to on a regular basis, but it was fully serviceable.

Character was the arena where my personal view may be the most disparate from the average viewer. For those who just want to see the cast back together, you'll be generally well pleased. There are no bold moves in terms of characterization, but that ends up being my precise problem with how they did it. Shirobako: The Movie takes place a full four years after the original animated series. The problem is that none of the characters really seem to have experienced the weight of the years. Certainly, they've all had changes occur in their lives that were necessary in terms of the plot, but they didn't grow or mature at all beyond that. Considering that P.A. Works has Nagi no Asu kara in their repertoire where they managed to use a time skip to fantastic effect in part because they included these character dynamics, I was certainly let down here. Nothing changes us as individuals as much as the slow passage of time, and when that change is forgotten the results are jarring to me.

All in all, Shirobako: The Movie was a very enjoyable film, but it was not the sequel I would have hoped for in the franchise. Significant pacing problems really hobble the show in terms of emotional weight, a problem compounded by the missteps in characterization. Still, I don't regret seeing the movie at all, and hope that the next entry in the franchise (if we are so lucky) manages to learn from these mistakes and soar to the heights of its potential once again.

I think the movie premise had a lot more potential but felt a bit rushed and production quality was lower than the original series even though it was a movie.

It's more gritty than the original, it doesn't shy away from the reality of life and how you have to roll with the punches with the ups and downs and how people tend to just accept their circumstances that they're in and it's difficult to push beyond to reach farther heights. Money is what makes the world goes round, passion and comradery is not enough to keep people working together and you have to be realistic ... with the situation you're in. Not a spoiler, you'd only understand it if you watched the movie, but it's ironic that this movie had the same issue with their final project that they complained about...

Anyways it felt like another arc but in movie format and the time constraints didn't do the movie justice but still an overall enjoyable watch, if you liked the original series.

It's a "The gang comes back for one last project" kind of film. While the original series can drag at times, it did its job in establishing the important characters as well as provide an outlook on anime production as a whole. The movie on the other hand is a very very briskly paced affair on a now-troubled Musashino Animations and their struggles to get back on their feet for one last hurrah.

Mizushima's signature quick cuts (and military action) is here, and the pacing is very quick akin to Das Finale 1 or Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai, but it does help to string the ... story along without leaving a moment to spare. Of course as with those two one of the major setbacks is the lack of character as a result of the heightened pacing, which does hurt Shirobako more than the two seeing as by nature it is more of a Slice of Life Character-Driven show as opposed to an Action-Fest. At times I did find it hard to keep track on what's going on because it's been 7(!) years since I last watched Shirobako.

Still, it's really great to see everyone back again, and the film does have a nostalgic factor to it. Even minor characters like Funny Story Guy get a cameo in this and it makes me laugh every time. I do think it's a shame we didn't get an Initial D reference with the other production lady, but oh well.

There is some irony that the film's ending did feel a bit rushed, but even then it still doesn't diminish the value of the film as a whole. While not as good as other anime followup films, Shirobako is still a worthwhile watch. A great Slice of Life Working Comedy film is hard to come by, and Shirobako definitely fulfills that niche even after this many years.

7/10

I maintain that probably the best part of the original Shirobako was its very realistic plotting and pacing. The way that the show gradually expands its cast of characters and scenario, sometimes with slightly dead-end plots, really drives the "workplace drama" aspect of the scenario very well and sets it apart from other aspirational stories. The film goes for a very basic plot and focuses on reacquainting us with all the old characters, which while necessary to some degree does undersell the effort that the original communicated so well. That doesn't keep it from being a fun watch though.

The oddest thing about this movie is ... its approach to talking about the broader industry. In the far off year of 2019, the beginning of the film lets us know that fewer anime are being produced. However, this is a pretty odd idea that not only contradicts the realistic setting of the Shirobako universe but also never comes up again except as a backdrop for the troubles of the central studio. Of course this film launched in the middle of COVID-19, which put an ironic wrench in production schedules, but also resulted in more anime being produced than ever before. The framing, therefore, will always feel extremely odd.

All that aside, the film drip-feeds the reintroduction of most of the cast from the original show. Some in more or less meaningful ways, showing how many have moved up in the world to various degrees. Of course it culminates in "getting the band back together", which serves as the plot's overall structure. This facilitates some expansion on characters, getting to see a few new sides of them, as well as retreads of old character scenarios. I did enjoy some of this, having watched the show a long time ago, yet at times it felt more like a tribute to the series rather than an expansion. Likewise the few subplots didn't really do much to really make the situation more meaningful, which the show had the luxury to do.

One thing that stands out in its absence from this movie - both in narrative and visual design - is the recognition of the increasing role digital integration has played in the latter half of the 2010s. At one point it's mentioned that the CGI looks too digital, though the term "compositing" never comes up. This vital new aspect of production (used to notable effect by studios like Ufotable and KyoAni) is something that P. A. Works has used well in the past. Despite its cinematic effect though, notable use of it is nowhere to be seen in Shirobako: The Movie. The film looks almost identical to an episode of the original series, with perhaps some better realized background art as the only notable difference. Leaving out these bits of production was a missed opportunity in all departments.

The film is a lot sillier too. There's musical sequences, a whole choreographed fight, slipping of the fictional characters into the thoughts of the main character, and even some very cartoony actions from otherwise semi-realistic people. These pieces do mostly land. At the same time, so does the more grounded comedy. I wish it stuck more to one side or the other, only punctuating the extreme like the famous Director scene from the original show. Overall it feels a bit unbalanced and lacks (ironically) a strong directorial spirit. Though that's not super uncommon from this studio.

I still had a ton of fun getting to know the characters of Shirobako again. Character acting, script, and delivery were still great fun just as they were from all those years ago. I wish it had some deeper things to say about creativity and industry at this point, though a lot of that was definitely dried up from the series. P. A. Works being in its unique position of almost solely creating anime originals, I would have expected a bit more expansion on things like production committees and merchandising which they have a direct perspective on. My hope is that if they find the creative energy to do a Shirobako Season 2, it will be as much a critical look at the industry as a celebration of it.

For now, Shirobako Movie is a fun return to form, if little else.

Out of 100 Nobles watching…
78 were impressed!
10 were confused
10 wanted more of the core cast
2 were hit by CG cars

Now you may be looking at that 78 and thinking “whoa now that’s a far cry from the courts original 98!” and you’d totally be right. As it turns out some premises and ideas change a lot when they change presentation structure. A tv show is very different than a movie and as Shirobako will show you in their own meta canon, making a movie is tough. Before I finish this first paragraph I will summarize and say I did not mind this movie. I liked ... this movie. If I did not like this movie you’d know about it, but I cannot in good faith dislike anything about MORE Shirobako. That said there’s a lot to unpack about my gripes.

I think most understandable and least personal of my criticisms would be we hardly see any of the main cast in this film. The movie takes place three years after the second season of the anime’s ending and where the two seasons of anime were about animation studios making a season of anime, this movies premise is about an anime studio making an anime movie. The premise of the series is that a bunch of gal pals from high school all want to get into the industry and make anime together. The movie touches base on this with the few interactions between all our main girls showing us the vision of their dream project like we saw in the show. Despite this presentation there are a few characters that are essentially absent for the entire film save for the sparsest of cameos. Every season of the show followed Miyamori Aoi primarily, but this is essentially just her movie this time around.

Timing felt very off over the course of the film with scenes paced far too quickly or cut in such a way that the viewer is left doing a lot of work ordering a timeline of events in their head. A three-minute cut in the middle of the film to do a musical number about nothing of consequence is cute and looks nice, but it makes you feel like the studio is padding time… which then has you notice the movies 2 hour runtime and you’re left wondering what the hell is going on. I have no information to corroborate this theory, but it certainly feels like this movie was SUPPOSED to be Shirobako season 3, but things happened, and they changed it on the fly to a movie. I would not be surprised in the least given the series’ meta nature if P.A. Works didn’t make this project out of spite to vent their frustrations over a bus they were proverbially thrown under.

The premise of the original series as I said earlier was that of an anime about an anime studio making an anime. If you are going to shoot for that sort of subject matter in this medium you have to know your stuff and present a product that shows it. The original anime series does all of this very well. With the film I am left looking at them complaining about the cg in the movie they’re making in-universe and thinking “but the cg you’re looks just as bad”. Ironically bad CG is still bad CG and the anime did a perfect job of showing examples of the production pipeline process. This movie just left me looking at poopy cg cars feeling annoyed.

In conclusion, I’m glad I got more Shirobako even if it’s not entirely what I wanted. I’m excited at the more or less confirmation of a season 3. Overall, it felt like they didn’t WANT to make this movie a movie, but wound up doing it that way because the story arc was about making a movie and you can’t have an anime season about making a movie now can you? No, you need an anime movie about making a movie.

P.S. All conflict in this film would have been avoided if Musashino Animation had literally ONE lawyer. They did this sort of plot in season 2, but redoing it again here but worse is infuriating.

In technical terms the film is on the same level as the series (actually a little better, but considering it's a movie this was expected), so I don't see any point in analyzing this part.

In general the characters are practically the same, with a good new waifu that and another weak villain. But in general it is interesting to see the subtle changes that many of them have accumulated in these four years, and the path they have taken.

The story still simple but interesting. The biggest change comes in the tone of the film, it's more serious and gloomy. Miyamori is unexpectedly discouraged ... and in general things are not rigth. In the first half hour we learn why things are like this, and the focus is very much on the protagonist's feelings. The following half hour it's the figth to get things improving. Overall it is a good change of perspective, especially after the timeskip, but I think that the pacing was too slow. Personally I didn’t like that first half as much, but people who prefer a more subjective approach to things may even like it more. The second hour of the movie is closer to the the original series, and it was very enjoyable.

In general if you liked the original anime you have no reason not to see the film, and if you didn't like it so much it may be worth taking a chance due to the more serious approach.

My personal opinion about this "Shirobako Movie", for the story may be good, but there are still many story plots that are easily guessed by some viewers, even so the story of this anime is good because it gives me a personal impression to re-watch the whole series "Shirobako", From the description of the characters, it is very good according to Miyamori who tries to arouse MusAni and also the sadness of the staff when there are trials in producing an anime title, for my art it is still fine, but it seems that the art in the sequel film this time is not too ... highlighted and it makes me disappointed because when I look at the art of “Shirobako” with “Shirobako Movie” it is almost the same. Although the art is lacking in my opinion, this deficiency can be covered by the character designs that are maintained from the "Shirobako" series. Thus, this film can still be watched with a good impression, and in me there is still a feeling of re-watching this film again because the music and backsound in this film contribute greatly to making the environment in this anime feel alive which makes very interesting impressions. , the proper use of 3D CG led me to conclude that, “Shirobako Movie” was made seriously as a sequel to the “Shirobako” Series. Thus this film in my opinion is one of the best original anime adaptations and also gives interesting impressions compared to many original anime adaptations that I have watched a lot. Overall, I give 8 out of 10 points, and don't forget that this anime is highly recommended to watch for those who have watched the Shirobako series😊.

To put it bluntly, animation is entertainment and a business. Without one, the other will surely fail. Without the ability to entertain, word of mouth and bad PR will cause some viewers and many sponsors to think twice before opening their wallets again, and without money and business deals, the talented team producing the show will starve or pursue different careers. This is what's called "positive feedback" in game design: good times beget good times, and bad times can easily spiral out of control. And similarly to games like e-sports, it is much harder to get into good times than it is to fall upon ... bad times.

So the film version of "Anime production for noobs", AKA Shirobako, starts with this premise: What if it all goes horribly, horribly wrong? What if your animation production company put all its eggs in one basket, and bad timing or happenstance blows that basket up because Reasons?

The opening scenes (after the recap of the TV show's second half and an echo of episode 1) illustrate the immediate answer: Most of the crew gets laid off or go elsewhere, and Musashino Animation, having barely survived the ordeal and the resignation of its CEO, is compelled to continue surviving by taking on animation jobs it has zero control over, like a badly planned and executed sequel to your own hit series (off the top of my head, like Fullmetal Panic? Fumoffu, sort of). Our heroine Aoi is knocked down from production office coordinator (POC) to her initial role as production assistant (PA), and it's not smooth sailing for her friends in the old anime club either.

So as the second season of New Game! showed us how a game is made from the concept phase, this film shows us one way an animated production can be started pretty much from scratch, with a team that starts off as a skeleton crew and Aoi at the helm, this time as line producer.

Will Aoi and her friends pull off the impossible and create a successful production that brings Musashino back from near-death? Those who have seen the show can probably guess which way the movie's story will go. The movie doesn't go into full detail of the production because of the limited time available in a movie they've already covered most of it in the show. But I liked how they tied the fate of the production in the movie with the fate of the studio, blending the two endings into a coda that leaves the door open to another sequel.

The movie takes some inspiration from musicals and Disney animated films, with two insert songs performed by cast members. The rest of the soundtrack draws heavily from the TV show, perhaps with a bit more polish in the arrangement. Overall the acting is well written, directed, and performed, but it feels a little rushed, which may be deliberate to emphasize the pace of the in-show production and what led to a final retake. There is heavy use of 3D graphics, partly for comedic effect and partly to highlight its place in anime. It's not mindblowingly good or awful to the point which your brain crawls out and tries to eat you, but it's an entertaining and uplifting take on the industry with some nods to realism.

I watched Shirobako, the 24 episode anime, back in 2015 and I loved it! It was great to watch an anime about making anime and learn more about the industry. I gave it a 8/10.

When Shirobako Movie was announced I was absolutely thrilled. The animation is stunning. For 2 hours you'll get to watch many different animation styles and despite being different, everything just clicks and works. Anytime it changes, it's noticeable of course but it doesn't break immersion. Instead, it will amaze you to see so many different ways to do animation in a single sequence of scenes. It's like this movie is ... a tribute to the animation industry.

The voice acting was pretty solid and the soundtrack was also pretty enjoyable.

So... why such a low score? I struggle to enjoy movies longer than 90 minutes. I'd say that 60 minutes in I was having fun and enjoying the building up to the "meat" of the film but the truth is for me the pace slowed down so much that I lost interest in whatever happened afterwards. I'd rather have the movie speed up the beginning to focus more of the process of film making because by the time it got there, I was already tired of watching the movie.

My advice is to watch this movie but at 1,5x speed. I wish I knew that at the beginning, maybe I wouldn't struggle so much to pay attention to the film.

It's unfortunate but the pace killed this movie for me. It gets a 4/10 ):