Shirobako (2014–2015) User Reviews

Really shows how an anime is truly developed!

[Irishchatter · 8/10 · 14 July 2019]

If you watched Bakumon first on how a manga is developed, then watch this anime as a sequel to how an actual anime is made in a production studio. It's very interesting but also very intense to see what each role a person takes to make us audience wait for an anime to come out each week. I know a range of animes can be equally good or bad but you still have to give props to the people behind the scenes of the anime. It's not at all an easy task and Shirobako proves that well enough to wake you up with reality!

Definitely watch this folks if you're thinking about doing animation as a career or are a curious cat like me to see how a anime is created!

Shirobako

[lobosalvaje · 8/10 · 6 September 2020]

Shirobako

Anime portrays the anime industry as such. Any lover of this entertainment should see this anime as a must, since it portrays the emotions, difficulties and viscissitudes of this world and what its creative world entails, from the approval of the manga or the original story to the delivery of the episode to the network that will broadcast it.

I thank @Josafat for such a wise recommendation.

An anime series about anime production

[Tweekums · 10/10 · 6 April 2015]

In the opening scenes of this series we see members of a high school anime club working on an anime short; when they finish they swear that they will continue to make anime. Cut forward a couple of years and the club members are indeed working in the business; Aoi, the club leader is working as a production assistant at the Musashino anime studio alongside Ema who is a key animator; Misa is working for a games company and Shizuka is a voice actress. It isn't glamorous and they have to work hard for little reward; Shizuka is working as a waitress while waiting to land a role and Misa's work mostly consists of animating wheels in racing games.

The series is centred at the Musashino studio where we are introduced to a large cast of characters and quickly begin to see that making anime is far from easy as the production company seeks the people it needs for the job, struggles with corrections and rapidly approaching deadlines… even missing the odd deadline leading to the dreaded recap episode!

If you are a fan of anime then this really is a must see; it may not be full of dynamic action, life and death struggles or hilarious moments but it is an entertaining and fascinating insight into how anime comes to be. That doesn't mean it has a documentary feel. The cast may be large but the characters are distinctive and well written with a core group taking centre stage. As well as the old school friends there is the director who is struggling to repair the damage done to his reputation after he made 'Jiggly Heaven' an apparently notorious series and a rather annoying member of the production team. The characters are so believable that when we see scenes from the shows they make one thinks it was them that did a good job rather than the people who actually made the 'Shirobako'! Indeed as the series neared its end I was a little disappointed that the series they were making, "The Third Girls Aerial Squad", was only a show within a show rather than something I'd actually get to watch! While it feels real for the most part it doesn't avoid events that have clearly been added for comic drama and possibly to show off their own animation skills… the last episode even features a great scene where one of the workers races to deliver the tape to the TV company chased by several police cars! If you haven't guessed by know I really liked this show and heartily recommend it.

An unexpected downer..?

[MeiAboulfath · 6/10 · 30 July 2021]

What's better for an anime lover than a "behind the scenes" anime right? And regarding that only it was accurately good, which is why I gave it a considerably high rating..? In fact it was too detailed that I ended up getting confused over what was going on, who was doing what and why, and when did it happen... which brings me to my next point: too many characters and too much shallowness. It was so hard to keep track of people's names and jobs, and I needed more of a backstory to add some depth to the main characters, if not everyone else. There were many dragged episodes as well, so it got less exciting as time passed by.

I really wish I was able to enjoy it though, it had the potential..