Mar 31, 2015
Take it with a grain of salt: this is my first MAL review(?) and I logged in to just write this; haven't logged on to MAL in year(s)?
The big reason why I like Shirobako a ton is because it is actually very typical of a PA Works product. I like most of them as they focus on intermingling the character development aspects with usually a solid appeal to some thematically relevant, emotional aspect of the story. I think what perhaps makes it a much more accessible crowd-pleaser than some of their other works is because the plot and direction are from "Girls und Panzer's" Mizushima
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Tsutomu, and he was able to transform a mundane corporate environment into an exciting and dramatic struggle between an anime company and its obligations, between youthful dreamers and the cold, harsh reality they live in.
Better yet, what pushes Shirobako over is the plethora references for serious anime otaku, as in, people who actually don't consume anime as a bunch of files they collect but rather as the works themselves, as the creation of creators. And in Shirobako there is the whole gamut of famous people and nobodies in which the audience can draw connections with. It uses a tone that people who talk about anime online for a long time can get comfortable with. Sure, the educational aspect is good and people enjoy that, but it's more its ability to describe that work environment in a very personal way that makes the show so much more easy to connect. And that's how it handles the otaku side of the theme.
Normally that stuff is esoteric and would be kind of boring, so being able to dramatically turn that into a weekly joy is quite spectacular. And maybe that's why Shirobako is such a well-accepted work.
It's still got tons of flaws, including the very same kind of production issues they had to deal with within the show, plus having to do retakes because of copyright issues, and many others. But it is what it is, and watching and understanding Shirobako puts all of its flaws in to perspective, too.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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