As we come towards the end of production for Third Aerial Girls Squad, a couple of characters still need to confront their inner doubts about why they are working in the animation industry at all.
What They Say:
Episode 21: “Don’t Hold the Quality Hostage”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I was right about the last episode being tied so closely to “why we animate,” as the show opens up in that territory again, showing various minor characters we have met expressing (or not in the speech-challenged Ai Kunogi’s case) their reasons for doing what they do. It leads back to Aoi, however, who is being grilled by her delusions Mimuji and Roro. Aoi seems to be filling with doubt about why she is doing what she is doing. In that sense, a forum poster was right to note the parallels we were seeing between the situation of Aria, the lead character of Third Aerial Girls Squad, in the series finale of her show and the existential crisis that Aoi appears to be plunging into. Whether they will be resolved in the same way remains to be seen.
It will remain to be seen for the moment since first we must have our comic relief, as we’re presented again with what seems to be a running gag as Yano constantly thwarts episode director Iketani’s attempts to escape from work (in increasingly sophisticated ways worthy of The Great Escape (1963), which certainly had to be something of an inspiration). Her efforts are paying off, as episode 5 is getting done, even though the work was largely subcontracted to Studio Titanic. Further, we learn that Chazawa from Yotaka Booksellers even writes “funny story” in his email correspondence. That these running gags do not seem tired or trite is owing to P.A. Works’ care and attention paid to preparation throughout this second half of the show as everything has been brought in, piece by piece, and carefully staged, not just dumped upon the viewer with no subtlety or finesse.
We also see the spotlight return to some of the minor characters in the show as Misa reappears, this time called upon to animate a baby boar that appears in the cockpit of Aria. In a callback of sorts, we are getting the answer to Misa’s desire expressed earlier in the series to animate characters, not car tires. We also see Sugie, the veteran animator, brought in for the same scene, since he’s one of the few who knows how to animate animals well, though he asks if Ema would like to help him since the character Aria is also in the scene and his animation style for humans is considered somewhat old-fashioned in the current era. And we further see another side of the whole production world as a young man comes in and jokes that he’s Miyamori’s boyfriend (the staff are surprised but somehow taken in). The reality is that he’s Hisamitsu Isokawa, the president and production staff of his own small studio A.C Tsuchinoko. Isokawa’s appearance is not entirely unconnected to the small world of anime that Musani itself encapsulates, as he knows Hiraoka. Here we get the reveal of how Yano and Hiraoka know each other, as the three of them (with Isokawa) went to the same school and even worked together on a project there.
Of course, Hiraoka seems more than a bit irritated, most likely because his old schoolmate has gone on to found his own studio while Hiraoka is still just a production assistant.
How does this tie into everything on the larger scale? It does if you watch for the small signs hidden within the large set pieces. The next big scene comes with the premiere of Third Aerial Girls Squad that night. After noting the competition (GunColle, ha ha ha…) the show airs as we watch various denizens of the Shirobako world view it. Madoka, watching the internet reaction furious, declares it a hit, though Kinoshita (who still has trauma from the internet) ignores him. The one person very much out of place is Hiraoka, who appears disinterested throughout the proceedings. Not even Marukawa’s legendary curry can tempt him to remove his frown.
This big moment for the production staff is ruined a bit for Aoi, however, the next morning, as she gets a call from Segawa, the animator/animation supervisor. She asks Aoi not to assign Hiraoka to work on episodes she serves as animation supervisor for, since the animators he calls upon to provide key animation do sloppy work and when she asks for retakes, Hiraoka apparently gets annoyed and causes trouble. In her view, all he thinks that is necessary is to bring her the necessary number of cuts, with no thought to anything else. Thus we have the title of this episode invoked, since the problem with Hiraoka all along has been quality. He lacks the care for quality that most people at Musani have. She even openly states that Tarou would be better…which really says something.
So Aoi must confront Hiraoka. This is the heart of the episode. We have two characters whose motivations for working in the industry are unclear, though we do not start there. We begin simply with Aoi asking Hiraoka to care more about the quality, which results in Hiraoka throwing the episode title at her, but not in the sense which most viewers likely expected that phrase to be used. He throws back the problem involved with animation production that while everyone cares about the quality of their own work, they don’t care about the time taken to make it good. Therefore, it’s the Production staff and people like him who get blamed when things fall behind schedule. All that matters is having the work finished in time. Aoi counters that but then launches her torpedo of a question: “Then why do you continue doing this job?” He cannot answer her, preferring to run away.
In a not unexpected development, we see the sympathetic side to Hiraoka’s story. It doesn’t take much to notice that he’s disillusioned by the whole industry part of anime. Aoi talks to Yano, wanting to learn more about Hiraoka and she tells her (and us) his story: while Isokawa (the “success” in the field) was an indifferent student, Hiraoka was earnest and serious, going to class regularly. He even showed leadership qualities, being in charge of the school festival. But it’s those types who seem to become the most disappointed and disillusioned with animation production when they learn the reality of it. The same could be said for Aoi and the message is there just as much for us, the audience, about Aoi as it is about Hiraoka for Aoi to learn.
Aoi digs a bit further, as she has a chat with Isokawa at his studio. There, he reveals his whole reason for doing what he does: he can’t draw at all, so what he does is maintain a place where the creators (animators) can do their work. This is his way of helping to create. He also answers the “quality” vs. time issue: he works with the creators to set reasonable goals that all can agree on. It’s important to maintain quality, but it comes from working together. And all this time, Isokawa wonders if he’s said something serious. This is, perhaps, the way the creators at P.A. Works want to show that they are not setting themselves up as masters of the concept, lecturing others, but are simply putting forward their own personal philosophy. From satire, they cross over to advocacy. A good call, since it prevents them from appearing condescending or hectoring, something they do deftly avoid.
So, where do we end? With Aoi giving further instructions to Hiraoka (she’s not just going to cut him loose, as others may have done in the past, but attempt to get him to move forward). And then we see Watanabe drinking with Inami and another figure from rival studio “The Born,” and talk gets to production staff and Aoi enters the discussion. They then demand Watanabe drag Aoi there for a chat. Here we can see how much Aoi has grown in two years, for back in the past we know that she interviewed for a job at The Born and Inami frightened her to the point she was visibly shaking. Now, however, Aoi is very confident (and very diplomatic when the drunken Inami demands to know whether he really did threaten her or not at that interview).
She’s also found her answer to why she is in the industry.
While we’re not even at the end of this series, I feel pretty confident in saying that the second cour of Shirobako is some of the finest work I’ve seen made by the animation industry in Japan. While it plays to certain themes that critics sometimes attack industry types for, that it shows them being too enamored of themselves and their work (look at the commentary about the Academy Awards and how it seems that movies about those who make movies, such as The Artist, Argo, and Birdman, appear to be winning perhaps a bit too often, possibly reflecting levels of narcissism among entertainment creators that one might think could not go any higher in fact doing so), the quality here is just too good to ignore. Yes, Shirobako is a story about people in the animation industry and their experiences, but it’s also a very mature look, even with the occasional goofy and absurd humor, at the lives of people who just want to make a living doing something they love. And they do it well.
In Summary:
Aoi faces the question that was put before others in the last installment: why does she want to work in the animation industry. While her answer was indeed telegraphed already from last episode, it’s not just a simple journey for her. There are detours along the way as work on their current project must continue and another staffer with motivation issues, the production assistant Hiraoka, must be either whipped into shape or cut loose. Of course, given the generally optimistic and positivist outlook of Shirobako, we know that no one will literally or figuratively be thrown under the bus. Instead, everyone will work together to move forward. It’s that idea that there is something every one can do on an individual level to advance their common purpose that helps Aoi answer the question for herself. She has grown much during her two years in the business.
Episode Grade: A
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
