But that doesn't mean an average anime viewer would want to be bothered with learning and understanding how an anime series is made, as long as we get to enjoy the final product, who cares?
Which is why Shirobako is such an entertaining watch. It manages to juggle around explaining the basic procedures of anime production, at the same time featuring a great balance between comedy and drama to ensure that viewers are constantly hooked. The recipe is just right.
Revolving around the tale of the five female leads who made their vow during their highschool days, we are told of the struggles they faced in the anime industry. Each of them ventured into vastly different roles: Aoi manages to land into the production line, Ema with her great drawing skills naturally plied her trade in animation, while Mika contributes by making CGs. And so and so.
In between them, we are also shown a myriad cast of characters with their respective roles in anime production. We have the goofy and enthusiastic director Kinoshita, the animation director Endou who doesn't really approve of the usage of CGs, the president of MusAni Marukawa who always provide mental support to his employees with his great cooking skills etc etc. Despite the huge cast, they are fleshed out sufficiently and will most often ended up being memorable and lovable.
Being a two-cour show, we are treated with the production of two anime shows by MusAni, one for each cour. It is truly an exciting ride often riddled by suspense and tension during the production process, with many different crisis popping out here and there to disrupt the otherwise smooth sailing. Watching how the crew of MusAni pull themselves together and made it all the way is undeniably satisfying and touching, it is not easy to hold up tears of joy as you celebrate together with the production crew when they succeeded in finishing an entire anime series.
Besides having anime production as the main theme of the show, Shirobako also frequently entices viewers with what it takes to excel in a workforce. Is having an interest simply enough? Perseverance? The ability to notice and grab the opportunity when it presents itself? What will you do when things aren't going as you wanted? How would you stand up and face your challenges? So in the end, Shirobako does provide tons of moral values and inspirations for its viewers. Which is always something I like in an anime show.
Produced by PA Works, you can expect high quality animation throughout the show. The buildings featured in the show are based off the real life locations found in Japan, and the amount of detail present in the backgrounds are amazing, for instance the dilapidated and neglected working room of Studio Taitanic really captured the glooming atmosphere lingering within.
The character designs? Nothing that I can complain of. We have people from various ages joining in the fray, some are fresh into the working force with their innocent and naive look, while some are seasoned veterans with grey hair and wrinkles around. We also have fat people around so it's quite realistic in a sense that most animes featured perfect and unrealistic bodies in them.
I believe in order to convey the right emotions to the viewers, the music has to play a very important role, otherwise what supposed to be an intense scene filled with feels will be falling terribly flat. Thankfully, Shirobako manages to pull this one off very well, and the viewers will easily suffer an anxiety attack at the crisis scene; an adrenaline rush during a "resolution" scene; as well as shedding tears during the tear-jerking moments.
Not much comment on the voices, as I think all of them portrayed their character well. It is always nice to see how the seiyuus in the show performing their different voices appropriate to the roles they are given.
All in all, a truly enjoyable watch. Perhaps the heavy jargon and slightly fast pacing in the first three episodes might turn some viewers off. But fear not, as the pacing eventually slows down and you will find yourself familiarize with the animation jargon pretty quickly.
