Shirobako – 12

“Come on, Come on!”

And DOWN the stretch they come!

Look Inside

Aoi’s guts get her here, but maybe a bit over her head

So Aoi did go to the well-known Kanno to ask him to help. And while she realizes when pressed a little just how desperate and out of turn she was to come ask someone of his caliber to help. Kanno even teases Aoi about the content a little with asking if he can change the horses to fighter jets. But honestly, he was never going to draw key frames for Exodus! but what he does do is give Aoi a couple of good lessons. One is that people are people, even if they’re animators, and they want to feel like they are valued. And the other is that many times there are resources under your nose, perhaps ones that you intentionally overlooked.

Kanno’s a fan also

As an aside, I also thought that the camaraderie that sprang up between Kanno and Aoi was rather interesting, although someone who is as into the whole of anime like Kanno is going to be able to connect with anyone with an interest in it. Even though Andes Chucky certainly doesn’t seem like it would be a huge anime, Kanno knew the history and the plot, even the production details. That’s the kind of thing you get with someone who is that in-tune with his industry, that invested in his work. And I think it really did forge a bit of a connection between him and Aoi, in addition to the fact that she had the balls to come talk to him.

Having that meeting to decide the bad things

But back to Exodus!, Aoi brings up the resource that Kanno mentioned, Sugie, who has been something of a mentor for Ema, but has not been asked to work on Exodus! to this point, because of a fear that he doesn’t like moe, and that he wouldn’t be very good at it. But it’s crunch time, and they need someone to do it. The idea of CG is brought up, but they’re already tapped out (good, cause it’d look like Vanadis, ick), and the only other thought is to make it easier to draw. But Aoi gets the go-ahead to ask Sugie, and that’s really the turning point for the rest of the production. What’s more, this isn’t just an effort on the part of Sugie, staying later than he has in a long time, but because he’s working fast, he’s going to have the same problem that Segawa had warned about with Ema’s hastily drawn keyframes for episode 9. But at this point, with the ability to plan, and to farm out the 2^nd Key Animation amongst the rest of the lead animators – Ogasawara (goth-loli-sama), Iguchi, and even Endou, the Animation Supervisor for the series – they’ll be able to spread the load around to get it done. There’s also the mutual benefit that Iguchi mentioned in her conversation with Ema a few episodes ago: the way you learn is by copying. It’s not Iguchi who says it this time, it’s Ogasawara, who is viewing it as a learning opportunity.

A New Purpose

Sugie takes charge

While it’s a bit TV-convenient, the way that Sugie’s self-worth is refilled when he finds out that he’s still of value to a current anime, and of value to the rest of Musani as that senior source of technique and instruction, not just platitudes, is nice to see. I think we knew that he’d end up being a major part of the climax here (especially when Aoi was “AHHH!”ing about the horses two episodes ago). So yes, it was a bit fantastical, but that’s what TV is. And I think that there actually was an impetus here, because while the others knew that Sugie had a significant body-of-work, I think they all kind of felt the same thing he did, that it may not have been exactly relevant. But we’ve seen multiple times through Shirobako that even if you’re not doing something exactly the same, having the basic knowledge is still relevant (now, if the basic knowledge becomes irrelevant itself, that’s a different story).

She finally took the letter!

And finally, Exodus! gets done. We knew it would, but I think it’s important that it got done the way they wanted it to, without having to make those shortcuts to save the time. Yes, this was a bit sanitized, and yes, not everything always works out in real life. But as I said above, it’s TV. We watch TV, in part, to see the good guys win. So it’s not bad that things worked out here. If anything, it gives us something to aspire to, to always try to be successful.

About Highway

Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!