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 2nd 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!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
Honestly, if shirobako ended right here I would be totally satisfied. The main cast got development, we learned a bit about the anime industry, and exodus was finished well. That we get more to watch is a good thing. The key image for season two made it seem a few more girls will be main cast members too. I can’t wait!!
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I agree. I feel satisfied with Shirobako as it is, and consider anything still coming a bonus. Great series!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
Rather than saying anything else is a bonus, you should want the next material to live up to the standard of what they put out so far. While most conflicts in the show were addressed,few were truly resolved. There are many places the show can and should still go to.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, this is a show about life, and very few things in life, especially big questions, get resolved in any way besides eventually waiting them out past when there’s actually any choice.
For the rest of the series, I do expect we’ll get more with Misa, Shizuka, and Midori, since this first half primarily focused on Aoi and even Ema. I don’t know when it will be, because it seems like kind of a waste to just go into the next show if that doesn’t provide a lot of room for all of them to grow. I think it would be better if there was a bit of time elapsed so that we could see where Aoi’s moved on from the newbie PA to maybe even her first job as Production Desk, or maybe she wants to go into Line Production.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
There were two highlights for me in this episode. #1 Kanno treated Aoi with respect. Sure, he trolled her about changing the horses into fighter jets and he turned her down. But he let her in, heard her out and looked over the script. Plus, he gave her some good advice and told her who she should ask to do the remaining key frames. #2 Sugie had his time in the Sun. Both he and the studio learned he could still contribute and his skills were still relevant.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, who knows how much effect Onoue’s asking Kanno to humor her had, it was probably what got her in the door, But past the trolling (which I think he was justified in), I think that Kanno sincerely felt he could help by giving some advice, and that it led to Sugie was more serendipitous.
I didn’t have the space to mention it (or time, because I need to publish these articles sometime), but I also thought the touch of Sugie’s wife being a former animator was nice. It gave a nice little “oh, that’s how they met” and also kind of showed what the choice for her was. I wonder if there were other things she worked on and moved up in the animation business, or after meeting Sugie with Andes Chucky, she quit to become a wife instead (since in-between is probably about as low as you can be).
And gosh, who knows how old Andes Chucky is. They were surprised that Aoi had seen it (and it was only because of reruns). That makes me think it’s something like a mid-80’s to early 90’s show, 25-30 years ago.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
So The Young Lady (Aoi Miyamori) has meet Mr. Kanno (anno?)…Well Fine, I Think he give the Young Lady some good advice actually!, i was thinking who will be next to meet with…An Urobochi Gen Look Alike
And I was thinking of Mr Tarou Takanashi I Think he is just like wally from dilbert
and…i mention of something like…Mahjong, Yes I see those guys playing them, I was wondering if The Director Himself will had the plans for Mudazumo Series or perhaps…this…