Review of Shirobako (2014)
Seen in 2015.
Among thinly disguised real-world correspondences, five students try to enter the Japanese animation industry in different fields: production, writing, CGI, cel-style animation and acting.
An office comedy. A pretty honest portrayal of the industry’s crushing schedules and obsession with pandering, juvenile topics. Obviously written from bitter experience. I like Midori flipping her sleep/wake cycle reading “Dost”, and Ema as Kunogi’s shyness interpreter. Bonus points for including a minor Swedish character, reasonably named Christine Waldegård, piloting a Viggen. I wish the main characters had been selected with a lot more variety, i.e. not 100% cute girls.
References here: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020).
moving picture animation Japanese production fiction series anime about anime production