The lively modern industrial world, whether it’s creative industry, manufacturing, electronics, or industries of any kind, indeed has its charm with its unique, dynamic and erratic movements; Shirobako neatly portrayed that world in a way that everyone would love. It’s easy for anyone who had played in this hectic playground to be charmed and appreciate this piece of gem.
This show tried to be realistic by including the complexities and subtleties of production that we, consumers, always take it for granted. Although this show certainly succeeded on that with glowing feat, some idealism is kept high and strong here and there without being childish. It were those idealism that brought back the hope when the industries has fallen into paradigm “Budget over quality and deadline not passion” . That same idealism made this anime sweet and warm, and for some, brings back memories and nostalgic feelings; I could relate how I overflowed with emotions on some episodes.
Shirobako in its execution is very well paced with a lot of interesting events that engage the viewers with high excitement until the very end. What astonished me the most is how they managed to depict very well developed characters in 24 episodes, regardless of the huge number of characters. The characters are strong, even for those who just appear every now and then, providing a well established basis for the elaboration of the story.
As a whole, Shirobako in its deepest meaning (personal opinion involved), paint a beautiful picture that describes “dream” which can’t be explained by any length of literal words. Shirobako ask a fundamental question “do you need a reason to do what you love?” . I recall when I worked on my assignment project where I had to code for 22.5 hours in one day. Why would I do that? I’m not sure, but one thing, I enjoyed it to the fullest. Shirobako taught me that it's all that’s matter.
The only small thing that refrain this show from getting my perfect score is how they made the pace of episode 13 and 14 slowed down with some unnecessary filler. But surely, a firm foundation won’t budge by a mere breeze, so I would love to end this review with my sincere positive recommendation!
Score : 9.5/10
