The second half of Shirobako kicked off with the 13th episode “What Kind of Cloud Do You Like?,” which you can stream on Crunchyroll. Premium members get first priority on the new episode and free members can watch it one week later. The episode starts off by celebrating New Year’s Day, where Musashino Animation has successfully created the full series to Exodus.
Exodus, which Shirobako’s first season centered on, was a difficult series to produce for many reasons.
You have little time to pat yourself in the back because you have new projects to produce, which generates revenue to keep the studio alive. It is not uncommon for anime studios to take on multiple projects at one time.
This is nothing for major studios because they have the necessary manpower and resources, but is difficult for the smaller studios because they lack the necessary manpower and resources. Masashino Animation is hired to produce a 13-episode series titled Third Aerial Girls Squad, which has to be ready by fall.
I cannot resist cringing and twitching whenever I see Taro. He is the token idiot that does and says stupid things in the workplace.
Taro is the person you want to punch in the face again and again. His cocky and overconfident attitude makes me want to roundhouse kick the back of his head. This is the last thing the studio needs since it is lacking in manpower due to Honda leaving to become a pastry chef and Yano temporarily leaving to care for her sick father.
If you want a career in animation, this episode proves that it is not fun and games. You have to make deadlines and the whole production is affected if at least one of them has not been met.
Aoi, the main protagonist, is promoted from production assistant to head of the production desk. This is a job that has a lot of responsibility. I can understand and sympathize with Aoi, who is overwhelmed with her new position.
It’s one of those holy f—king s—t moments at the workplace. The bad part, in a funny way, is that it is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It feels like Aoi’s brain got scrambled on drugs.
If you have no clue about anime, most series are adapted from an original manga or light novel series. That means you have to familiarize yourself with the original source material. You may have to spend your free nights reading the source material and doing your research as Aoi must do.
Aoi proves to be no pushover when she takes her job very seriously. I liked this particular scene of the episode because it resonates the valuable lesson of learning from the experience of others so you do not have to go through the same things.
Working as a production assistant on Exodus proved to be valuable experience as Aoi confronts the director immediately on his thoughts for the production. She is firm with him off the bat, which proved to be beneficial.
They start off energetic and upbeat about the project, but hit a rough patch when Gothloli-Sama refuses to do the character designs.
Gothloli-Sama does at least suggest a replacement for her.
Third Aerial Girls Squadron may be the first major voice role for Shizuka, who is struggling to find work paid roles in the voice acting industry.
I personally enjoyed this episode because it was intellectually stimulating and educational. If you can look beyond the fact that the series is animated, the 13th episode glosses over the true difficulties of adapting an anime series from an original manga or light novel. You have to decide to stick with the main story or create something original, transition from 2D manga to 3D animation, and more.
You can see that a single production is a business in itself. If one thing is out of sync, then the whole production suffers.
