Shirobako is a 24-episode anime television series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. It aired in Japan between October 9, 2014, and March 26, 2015. A manga adaptation began serialization in ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Daioh magazine in September 2014, and a novel was published by Shueisha in January 2015. An anime film premiered on February 29, 2020.
The title Shirobako refers to videos that are distributed to the production staff members prior to their release. These videos were at a time distributed as VHS tapes enclosed in white boxes and are still referred to as "white boxes" (thus the meaning of shirobako) despite the fact that the white enclosures are no longer in use.
Plot Aoi Miyamori and her four best friends, Ema Yasuhara, Shizuka Sakaki, Misa Tōdō, and Midori Imai, were all part of their school's animation club, promising to make an anime together. Years later, Aoi is now working as a production assistant for the animation production company, Musashino Animation, where Ema also works as an animator, while Shizuka, Misa, and Midori are working as a voice actress, 3D graphics artist, and an aspiring writer respectively.
The story focuses on Aoi and her team at Musashino Animation as they work on two different anime projects, an original anime series and a manga adaptation, and face the obstacles introduced by each project.
Characters
Main characters
She is a production assistant of Musashino Animation and later the production manager. She is a former member of the Kaminoyama High School animation club and is called "Aoi" by Ema and Shizuka, nicknamed "Oi" by Misa and Midori, and referred to as by Erika. Having worked at Musashino Animation for a year-and-a-half, she has great driving skills and is acknowledged by her coworkers Erika Yano and Tatsuya Ochiai as suitable for the production industry. However, she admits that she has not officially decided exactly what job she will take in the anime industry.
She is a key animator at Musashino Animation and a former member of the Kaminoyama High School animation club. She is later promoted to the position of assistant general animation supervisor for The Third Aerial Girls Squad. She admires the work of character designer and general animation supervisor Rinko Ogasawara, who is her higher-up. She has a secret that she shares with Iguchi: they do workout dances on the roof together.
She is a voice actress at Akaoni Production and a former member of the Kaminoyama High School animation club. She is called "Zuka" by her friends. She also works part-time as a waitress at a pub. Her first notable role was as Lucy Weller, a character featured in the final episode of Musashino Animation's The Third Girls Aerial Squad anime adaptation.
She is an aspiring 3D computer graphics operator and a former member of the Kaminoyama High School animation club. She once worked at computer graphics studio Super Media Creations, but later quits due to her dissatisfaction with her work and finds employment at Studio Kanabun. Nicknamed "Mii" by her friends, she was initially confused in choosing between working in the fields of 2D and 3D, but ultimately chose the latter. She was inspired to work because of Ema's drawings. She dislikes working on projects that have no plot or emotion behind them, which is the reason she leaves Super Media Creations, as she only designed wheels during her time there.
She is a university student and aspiring story writer. She is a former member of the Kaminoyama High School animation club and is nicknamed "Rii" by her friends. She is the youngest of the group and continues to strive to reach her goal. Her enthusiasm on researching earns her the nickname "Diesel" after she creates a helpful guide for Musashino Animation when they make an informal request for information on engines for Exodus!. She later finds employment at Musashino as a setting instructor, and later assists in the script ordering.
Musashino Animation Production desk : Production manager of Musashino Animation. He decides to leave Musashino Animation to become a pastry chef. After his departure, he is revealed to have lost much weight during his sporadic pastry delivery visits to Musashino Animation. : Production assistant of Musashino Animation. He is later promoted to chief production assistant after Honda's departure. He is known around the company for being irresponsible, loud and being extremely protective of his ego and reputation. This often earns him rebukes from Aoi and Erika, as well as annoyance or indifference from all other characters. : Production assistant of Musashino Animation. She is Tatsuya and Aoi's closest co-worker, known for a short temper and generous attitude. She lives in Utsunomiya with her sick father, which causes problems with workloads. : Production assistant of Musashino Animation. He rarely speaks to anyone but Erika although he is respected around the office. He leaves Musashino Animation to become the production manager at Studio Canaan after a former colleague of his requests his assistance. : New production assistant of Musashino Animation and an otaku. She is very enthusiastic to the point where she forgets what is important. : New production assistant of Musashino Animation. She is very responsible, but is horrible with directions. : New production assistant of Musashino Animation after Honda's departure and Tarō's subsequent promotion, although he is in truth very experienced. He is known for being easily annoyed and standoffish. His experience lends him connections to various companies and people in the show, although all of them are mediocre at what they do. When he joins Musashino, due to past "trauma," he initially believes that anime just needs to get finished and that quality does not matter. He later comes around and starts to appreciate what professionals put into their work and that quality does matter.
Animation department : Star key animator, character designer and general animation supervisor at Musashino Animation. She was the character designer for Exodus!, but after its last episode, she decides to return to her roots as key animator, inspired by Shigeru's horse animations. She is known for her calm demeanor and fashion: gothic dresses. She is also an accomplished softball player. : Key animator at Musashino Animation. The assistant general animation supervisor of Exodus! and the character designer of The Third Aerial Girls Squad. After her character designs for The Third Aerial Girls Squad were rejected multiple times by Nogame, Rinko lets her in on her secret place: the softball range. Afterwards, she no longer wears typical casual wear, but instead a pinkish kimono with purple stripes. She also does workout dances with Ema on the roof, a secret between the two. : Key animator at Musashino Animation. : Key animator at Musashino Animation and Endō's junior. He is a massive proponent of hand-drawn animation being superior to CG animation. : In-between animator at Musashino Animation. She is later promoted to key animator for The Third Aerial Girls Squad. She is extremely nervous and shy, almost never completing a full word. This leaves her very much attached to Ema, who seemingly magically interprets what she wants to say. She is also deathly afraid of insects. : Senior key animator at Musashino Animation. He was once the character designer for the now-defunct Musashino Pictures. His old age means he no longer has the speed to work on Musashino Animation's main projects, but he proves crucial to the completion of the final episode of Exodus!, where he teaches the other animators to animate horses, a lost talent by the time Shirobako takes place. In addition to horses, he can design and animate many other animals.
Other staff : The president of Musashino Animation. He was once the production desk at the now-defunct Musashino Pictures. He is more often than not seen cooking absurd amounts of food for his employees. In the past, he had a distinctive hippie look, with long hair past his shoulders and a headband, but in the present, he is nearly bald and has a distinctive gap between his front two teeth. His name and design are based on anime producer and entrepreneur Masao Maruyama. : The general manager of Musashino Animation and a former production assistant. She does not tolerate smoking or violence in the office, and is skilled at defusing situations as well. The police have nicknamed her "Woman of the Speed of Sound", as she will drive over the speed limit to deliver episode tapes on time to broadcasting companies around Japan. : Line producer at Musashino Animation. He is often nicknamed "Nabe-P" by his colleagues. : Color setter at Musashino Animation. : Director of photography at Musashino Animation. : 3D Director at Musashino Animation. He loves Idepon, citing it as his inspiration to work in anime, a common ground with Ryōsuke Endō, a key animator. : In-between animation inspector at Musashino Animation.
Production staff Directing staff : The director of Exodus! and The Third Girls Aerial Squad. He loves fatty foods, leaving the air conditioner on, and not working. His work style often leads to him suddenly changing the story or refusing to work on his storyboards, leading to delayed production. He has a fatal flaw when people reference his greatest failure in the past, Jiggly Jiggly Heaven. He is also known for celebrating losing weight by eating unhealthy foods, although he measures this in minuscule amounts of grams. His character and design are in part based on Seiji Mizushima. : The episode director of Exodus! fourth and ninth episodes, and an episode director for The Third Girls Aerial Squad. : The episode director of Exodus! third episode, and The Third Aerial Girls Squads third and seventh episodes. : The episode director of The Third Aerial Girls Squads fifth episode. He is contacted as an emergency by Erika, formerly known as "the bearded hermit", with barely any money. He is used as comic relief as he often attempts to escape Studio Taitanic with many different ways which included tunneling out and escaping through the vents, always only to be caught by Erika smiling at him at the end. : The former episode director of The Third Aerial Girls Aerial Squads fifth episode, hailing from Studio Taitanic. He is completely disinterested in working with Seiichi or anime in general, referencing Jiggly Jiggly Heaven and signing episode cuts without having seen any of it. He then disappears after meeting with Musashino Animation.
Sound department (R&B Studio) : Director of audiography. : Sound production supervisor. : Mixer. : Assistant mixer. : Sound effects engineer. He also works at Sawara Studio.
Freelance animators : Freelance key animator. The animation supervisor for the Exodus! third and eighth episodes. He has a rivalry with Misato Segawa. He gets annoyed when other characters voice their negative opinions of his work. He loves Idepon, citing it as his inspiration to work in anime, a common ground with Yūichirō Shimoyanagi, a CG animator. : Freelance key animator. The animation supervisor for the Exodus! fourth and ninth episodes. Ryōsuke Endō considers her a rival, as they have common work history together. She is very diligent, often working throughout the night to exhaustion. : Freelance key animator. He is very lazy, not working until he is "in his groove", and sleeping well into the afternoon. He is also an avid biker.
Voice actors : Voice actress. Voices Akane in Exodus!. Her name and appearance are nearly identical to her voice actress Mai Nakahara. : Voice actress. Voices Aya in Exodus! and Catherine Weller in The Third Aerial Girls Squad. Her name and appearance are nearly identical to her voice actress Shizuka Itō. : Voice actress. Voices Arupin in Exodus!. Her name and appearance are nearly identical to her voice actress Ai Kayano. : Voice actress. Voices Onee-san in Exodus!.