There is so many anime series and movies that it makes sense that there ought to be an anime series about an anime house. Turns out there is one. Shirobako aired in 2014-15 with 24 episodes about five women who started an anime club in high school and are now working at Musashino Animation studio in various roles. The show centered on Aoi Miyamori’s on a new anime series and a manga of the same show. They want to get people watching and reading the project. Aoi gets help from her longtime friends Ema Yasuhara, Shizuka Sakaki, Misa Tōdō, and Midori Imai. The titled Shirobako comes from the white cardboard boxes they’d put on the VHS tapes for the early versions of the episodes before broadcast. The series won numerous awards and kept a loyal following. That loyalty was paid back when <I>Shirobako: The Movie</i> arrived in Japanese theaters and has finally arrived on this side of the Pacific.
Instead of picking up when the show stopped, we’re taken four years later when Musashino Animation is dealing with a crisis. Turns out their partner on Time Hippopotamus is pulling out their IP elements. This leads to the boss of the anime company turning in his notice and a new team coming into power. Aoi is still working there and is feeling down about the situation. She’s not alone. Her four friends are also experiencing the grind at the company. They aren’t getting the buzz that came from their early days of imagining what could happen making fun animated shows. Things start to pick up when they begin work on Air Amphibious Assault Ship SIVA. The women are excited to be once more on a project they can contribute to making. This emotional rush doesn’t last long when another dispute crops up that might implode the project. Aoi doesn’t want another Time Hippopotamus to happen to her and her friends.
Shirobako: The Movie is enjoyable without having seen the original series. They set up the characters and the situation in a way that you won’t feel completely left out of the action. For the casual fan of anime, it’s a revealing look into the production side. You can see how intense things can become in small companies that aren’t mega-sized like Disney at its prime. The Blu-ray does let you enjoy the little details of the supplies on an animator’s desk. We also get a sense of the power structure within the studio building. There are even musical moments during creative crisis times. My favorite is the song about the fun of making anime. I wonder if this song gets sung a bunch a anime conventions after parties. While I won’t give away the ending of the movie, don’t press stop when the credits roll since you might not be sure if it is for the end of the real movie or the movie being made within the movie. Shirobako: The Movie might get you inspired to make your own limited animation show.
Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The colors and details pop no matter which level of reality in the anime you’re watching. Audio includes a DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo tracks. Both are in Japanese. The film is subtitled in English.
DVD has the movie and bonus features.
Teaser (0:31) promises a new battle at the animation studio.
Trailer (0:36) has the women ponder if they have achieved their anime dreams.
Main Trailer (1:32) has the show finally coming to theaters. The movie promises to show the battles that go into making an anime series.
After Release Promo Video (1:43) is all about the women reuniting.
Re-screening TV Commercial (0:32) promises they’re going to give it all they got to make it happen.
Booklet has drawings of the characters and their position at the anime company.
Shout! Factory and Eleven Arts present Shirobako: The Movie. Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. Screenplay by Michiko Yokote. Starring the voices of Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Ayane Sakura, Yûsuke Kobayashi, Ai Kayano, Masaya Matsukaze, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Mai Nakahara, Atsushi Tamaru, Shinobu Matsumoto & Juri Kimura. Rated: Unrated. Running Time: 120 minutes. Release Date: December 7, 2021.
