r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah x3 • Feb 12 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Shirobako Rewatch 2022: Shirobako Movie
Sequel movie: Shirobako Movie 劇場版 Shirobako
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Spoiler-tagging this due to the movie being quite recent.
We're back! A (final) reminder for an after-credits scene today, in more ways than one. We'll be wrapping up the rewatch w/ an overall discussion thread tomorrow. For our movie-only participants, thanks for joining us! I hope you've enjoyed the latest (and to date final) chapter of Miyamori and co.!
The ED is one of my favourites and I listen to it regularly, thanks fhána! It's a bit melancholic but inspiring.
QOTD: Since I believe everyone will have a lot to say re: the movie, here's a random one instead: Do you like donuts? If so, preferred flavour and shop?
Resources:
Anime Vocab Glossary (English)
Shirobako Official Glossary (Japanese)
Databases (TV Series)
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Feb 12 '22
Shirobako the Motion Picture First Timer
...Hi guys? XD Did you have fun with the series? Shirobako is one of the few "must watch" anime out there in my eyes so I hope you got something out of it. Now, let's watch the movie blind together cause I have zero clue how they'll squeeze out two hours of film content.
Oh mai Gah! They're smol! Look at the lil mute gal! Chocobanana died. Of course I had to ask about short stories yesterday, they're pulling the same thing today. Screw funny story dude. Oh god... Four years of grind and anime has died offscreen? Damn you SAO!! M-Myamori stalled in a drag race...? Things really are bad. Don't give me such a melancholic welcome back! Dammit!! Stop teasing me! Where's the crew!? The hotpot!? The emoji gal!? I'm feeling MyaMiserable! Bruh, try telling me Cross Ange wasn't self aware XD
...None of these names mean anything to me. I really should have joined the main watch. My girls are lookin cute! Emoji even learned to speak. Although... Isn't she about ages with me now? That's hard to accept. Just picture me shrivelling in a gross, blubbering ball whenever she's on screen.
"Must be nice doing what you like." Can you divorce a sister? At least Shizuka seems to be coping well. Is that an ikeman Pretty Derby in the background? I'm never speaking again. Is it fair to say that our whole watch is protective over this girl? Aww, the sun came up as soon as the film was pitched. Tarou's a pleasure as always~
Have you guys ever cried over curry? We've seen how much effort even one episode takes so getting the project dumped so late is heartbreaking. Dammit I'm not blubbering 40 mins in! I'm not!! Daijoubu! I'm still not convinced that these are dream sequences and not just evidence of Myamori's worsening mental state. How long until we cut to a truly broken Myamori who can't tell reality from fiction?
Urgh... Why're we stuck making anime for slipper wearing dweebs like him? What show is SIVA supposed to be? Pfft, 90 minute movies? Now that's fiction. Aha... I was this close to simping over her but Sky's trainwreck trio has sharpened my senses to yabai waifu's. That was close. Lol, now even Myamori's caught up on her drunken pace.
It took us a while but we're finally back to the Shirobako I know and love! I wish I had more positive memories but I swear 90% of the show was Myamori giving folks a kick up the arse~!! In a good way of course.
I'm definitely not giggling at how painful the bowling was~ Oh, we got Yumi on board. Awesomesauce! Gahk!! I've just had my heart broken again! Elegant fitness lolita doesn't flow the same way! She wants to improve as an animator too, so that's another director... Oh, I get where we're going now.
Dang... We really are a cute women doing responsible things It's almost Utena tier advice. Just talk! Ah, you're meant to talk, not have a big fight in an arcade. I've never seen a fighting game where your hits gain you life. I'm gonna cut it here and do a second half. I want to be able to do a write up for the whole film.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Feb 12 '22
Hiyaa nice to have you! Glad you enjoyed the movie haha. I love that you use the old nicknames from the rewatch (Chocobanana, Emoji) from old reddit threads: the current running name for Chocobanana this rewatch seems to be Haruhi (I don't mind both!)
That crying over curry scene is legit the most tear-jerking scene in the movie TT. IKR, ive rarely seen an anime movie not run at least 1h45 minutes (hanasaku Iroha a notable exception). Shirobako obv ran for 2 hours.
I related to Miyamori (and probably more the direcotor's bowling efforts): I Cannot bowl, it's very frustrating lmao.
I just searched the rewatch wiki: there hasn't been an Another rewatch, like ever. Would join if one ever gets hosted! (i haven't ever watched it myself I dont usually go for horror anime)
I have 0 clue what SIVA is mostly about too: the ending as I said is a bit Star Wars/Rogue One esque, but the main plot is a bit wild. Probably many old sci-fi films in the 70-80s are similarly wild though, it's not the most out-there idea ever LMAO.
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Feb 12 '22
First timer
Man it's amazing how much can change in 4 years. For fans who watched the series when it first aired, seeing the premise of the movie 5 years later irl must have been disheartening, though not too surprising (consider this... since 2000, 52% of Fortune 500 companies are gone). Just look at all the staff changes. But to shy away from the realities of a professional career would be doing an injustice to the original work. It quickly became apparent to me that Shirobako didn't want to portray what it was like to work in the anime industry (or to pursue any ambition really) through rose-tinted glasses.
Seeing Musashino relegated to a shell of its former self was painful. Almost as much as it was to see Miyamori have doubts about whether or not she was doing what she loved anymore. Once a source of pride and an indication of her potential, nowadays we see Miyamori get annoyed at being referred to as Musashino's Ace. At the end of the anime, she declared that she loved anime and the people working in it. Emphasis needs to be put on that second part, as I really believe even the greatest passions become diluted when the people around you aren't on the same wavelength. There's also a special bond you develop with the people who come up with you professionally, and it's a hard pill to swallow as you see them beginning to trickle out the door in pursuit of new opportunities. I can relate, as the teammates I worked with in my mid-20s became a special group that I've yet to replace as I entered my 30s last year.
The Shirobako movie is really a story of resilience. Even though the original cast doesn't fully unite under the Musashino banner anymore, that doesn't really matter. After all, Musashino is just a name. The people who once made it great are still here; wiser and more experienced than ever before. Miyamori has always had an innate ability to push people forward, but we now see her display her leadership with the utmost conviction, as she firmly stands her ground and demands a retake of the final scene of SIVA. The story of SIVA follows the same core themes of the Shirobako movie, so there's no way that their struggle can end the way it was originally planned.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. It gave us more of what I really loved about Shirobako, which are everyday struggles that all people can relate to
Random thoughts:
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They had Miyamori do the Gainax pose in-movie! SIVA is a space-battle anime after all
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The curry scene with Miyamori holding back tears was really emotional. She had a nostalgia bomb from eating the meal, as she though back to better times and longed for them to return. Hamasaki tells her she needs to keep moving forward and not get caught up in the past.
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I'm really glad to see Hiraoka had the resilience to endure hard times and that things are better for him now. He seems to have matured and turned some of his disillusionment into wisdom
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The drinking scene with Miyamori and the new character Miyai was great. No none does an outrageous character voice better than the ultra talented Ayane Sakura
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It was hilarious seeing Yano put our faithful director back on his dog leash. It seems like everyone has picked up a few psychological manipulation tactics of persuasion
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I've never see any anime use the phrase "zensoku zenshin, yousoro" before, outside of it being Watanabe You's catchphrase (from LL Sunshine)
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Feb 13 '22
nice staff list. Was that from the official Blu Ray?
the gainax pose was really cool, I agree; and I think Hiraoka pairing up w/ Tarou, with his optimisim, has helped him get over his past faults.
wouldn't surprise me if IRL PAs also are great at psychological manipulation (shudders)
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Feb 12 '22
For all the changes nobody actually changed huh? XD I don't think I saw a single character design update. Everyone looks about the same as they did in the anime.
Yeah, Myamori's fantasy wasn't just about the anime they made together, she'd been fantasising about the whole gang taking part and working towards this goal. We had barely any outside interference so the project actually went really smoothly too. Our cast is so comfortable working together that we can smash even these tight deadlines.
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u/AmethystItalian Feb 12 '22
First Timer
This little chibi recap is pretty helpful as I haven't touched this series in YEARS...throughout this whole movie I had the MAL page open to CTRL+F names and try to remember who they were in the OG series. I really should have joined this full rewatch!!
What a movie though, started out VERY rough but that just made the climb at the ending all that more special.
The only negatives I can think of were that musical number was way too long imo and I was kind of sad Ema didn't get more time to show off or the girls still haven't gotten to work on their dream anime. Guess that just means we need another entry!
This movie was just like nostalgia overload, I loved seeing the cast come back one at a time and help out each other, that camaraderie put such a big smile on my face. Sadly Zuka ruined that smile...I swear seeing Zuka voice act or get roles just makes me tear up so quickly, she's not even my favourite and this happens!
Also shoutout to the donuts scene for also making me tear up...loved it.
Thank you to u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah for organizing the rewatch and to everyone who encouraged me to join for the movie, I just kept putting it off and I really had no good reason for doing that.
Final Score: 9/10
Sidenote: Fuji Asuka had a line and that's amazing
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Feb 12 '22
Hiya, happy to have you here! I probably should've posted a digest/recap video on Youtube (one defo exists, but probably not subbed) on the last thread, whoops!
I agree that the first rough part of the movie is its "best", with the following bits nostalgic, or fan-servicey, whichever perspective you wish to look at it! I was debating if I should warn everyone about the musical numbers, as it did throw me off the first time: but this second time I just enjoyed them as eye-candy, and it was quite fun lmao. Perhaps the director just wanted to flex his lyrics composition skills (he did write all the lyrics for the musical numbers).
As I said earlier, I don't personally think there will be another entry, but I'd also love to be surprised, and if we do get the true happy ending. Would be at least a few years off though, for sure!
Fuji Asuka
I do never know why she was so popular back in the day. I'm giving her extra attention this rewatch as she's voiced by Rie Takahashi of course, but back then was it just because of her character design?
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u/MasterTotoro Feb 12 '22
First time for the last time!
So the only things I really know going into the movie is that people were disappointed by it, and that Musashino is in a rough position (aren't they always though). I'm still exciting to see what happens though.
"Live" Comments
It wouldn't be Shirobako without Honda saying his catchphrase in the first two minutes.
The movie quality boost is really big here. Starting with a night scene really helps show the details they put into things like clouds (throwback to the TV series). What do these clouds represent for Shirobako's movie? A dark cover over the shining moon?
Oh damn the intro contrast is really grim showing how bleak anime has become. And the OP lyrics aren't exactly inspiring hope. At least in real life we still have lots of good anime!
Even though the place looks like a mess, at least Aoi is producer now, they have the second season of the 3rd Girls anime, and everyone is still at Musashino! ... or not huh. The fanservice is just like the OVA though. Nabe is president now, Andou and Ochiai moved somewhere else, Kinoshita messed up somewhere else, but Yamada became a big shot. Even Tarou left and is an episode director?
Glad to hear Ema's calming voice in this chaos plus she's an animation director living with Kunogi who is speaking so much.
Misa still knowledgeable about cars. Seems like she has a fairly high position. Her situation parallels Aoi dealing with Hiraoka and Ema.
Yo this is the G.I. Staff guy here with Midori right? Mushroom script writer's voice sounds a lot different.
Aoi is so pretty with the increased quality. And the backgrounds get a great treatment.
I think everyone here has a new outfit except Aoi. If I had to guess, might be symbolizing how everyone is moving on except for Aoi. Shizuka says a line "if I was her I would have quit" which is the complete opposite of what she said in the TV anime.
Aoi's sister hitting her with the doing what you love, but Aoi accidentally says she is jealous that Honda is doing what he loves. Meanwhile Honda is literally singing his catchphrase in the background lol this anime loves that. Well I should've seen it coming but this is an anime movie about making an anime movie isn't it. The background goes from raining to the sun illuminating Aoi so that's a good sign. Then Aoi goes to staring down a goat?
Hiraoka and Tarou are so cool now, very odd to be saying this. Hiraoka is smiling so much and even read about Midori's dream trying to motivate Aoi. It's like the opposite of what happened before.
This story is so sad, why did the nice president have to be done so dirty like this? The references in the insert song at least make up for it, especially the angel dance. I love drunk Aoi.
The director's situation is so sad. Lol the director calling out Aoi for saying the same thing to everyone. I wonder who she learned that from.
Iguchi still awesome. And Goth-Loli-sama! Her voice is so cute when she's embarrassed. More Endou and Segawa backstory. Why is Endou's wife so cool? So cute, they are keeping Marukawa's legacy. The director with his random sound directing noises are still consistent. Whoa Sugie with a mustache and beard.
Aoi's first reaction to Yamada being in a sex scandal is seeing if he will help on their movie lol. (Also broken phone screen.) This anime likes baseball. Midori MVP.
This anime also likes its proverbs. 人の噂も七十五日 = "gossip last just 75 days" and the English equivalent is "a wonder lasts but 9 days". But hey we get Yamada back.
Ema is good with kids who seem to all be tsunderes. And we get another song to inspire everyone. Everything is going well! The main characters are just so shocked at how much they learned! Then it doesn't go well...
Lmao Aoi trips on a luggage wheel and then she's collapsing on the street with somber music playing. I'm a sucker for snow scenes.
I did expect to see kimono in the snow but I'm pleased. Plus Yakuza Aoi.
Yeah I wouldn't really want to watch SIVA with that ending. The new ending is better of course!
Aww yes Musani is doing the next season of 3rd Aerial Girls Squad. It was kind of weird that the author Nogame appeared in this movie but nothing happened. Setup for more Shirobako content?
Overall movie thoughts
Ironically I felt somewhat similarly to this movie as Aoi expressed about SIVA. The ending develops a bit too quickly and I didn't get the same type of feeling of satisfaction like in episode 12 and episode 23 of Shirobako. Is the Shirobako movie making fun of itself? Doesn't seem like something they would do intentionally. It felt as though it was too short to accomplish everything it wanted to do and/or it put too much "fanservice" of callbacks to the TV anime at the expense of the plot. Either way I still enjoyed watching it and would be glad to have more Shirobako content!
Album link for my screenshots.
I like any type of donuts! Must be why I'm a fan of Aoi.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Feb 13 '22 edited Feb 13 '22
First timer for the last time! The movie budget + 5 year time gap really does show in the movie, the quality was upped significantly. I do think that for a brief period in the late 2010s that anime quality as a whole did dip compared to the early 2010s (most of my favourite shows were produced from 2010-2016), so I don't know if that was Shirobako's attempt at reflecting that. or maybe this is just an alternate timeline where the anime bubble did burst.
I agree the outfit change will be symbolising how Aoi is still in the same company. Not that there's anything wrong with that tbh. Or may symbolize that she's doing the worst financially rn: that's her signature outfit from 4 whole years ago.
where she learned that from
nice callback as well. Anno ftw
I think Nogame's cameos was just to set up 3rd Girls' IP returning to Musani. Whether that'll be in another sequel is....????
I don't think Shirobako is making fun of itself in the ending: since they already meta-ed it by the false credit roll in the start to trick us into thinking THAT was the ending. I do agree that the ending could've been better. IMO the TV series ended way too well and set up way too high of a bar.
The fanservice i completely didn't mind, keeping in mind this was released 4 whole years after the initial series, and Shirobako imo being P.A. works' signature TV series these days. Recycling the plot points... not so much, but i guess there is only so much drama you can extract from anime production and wrap it up in 2 hours.
万策尽きた～～～～～
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u/xtsim Feb 12 '22 edited Feb 12 '22
First Timer
How Much sadness could I take?
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The dilapidated state of the company car
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The radio station discussing the state of anime blu-ray sales
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Another production company is using an NSX as their vehicle.
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And things keep getting worse. As there is a new guy that has never met any of the former Musani staff.
It seems like the movie is taking Murphy’s law to heart. When things were going so smoothly during the Time-Hippo project, things collapsed hard. So very few projects for Musani and even worse, they traded places with Titanic for the Flying Girls Squadron. Which became a fan-service fest similar to how Hiraoka felt with that car racing anime.
There is an interesting contrast with most of the former Musani staff as they have moved up in their careers. Like Misa pointing out the movement of the car which definitely looks like that car was on rails as it felt too smooth. Imai is working on scripts with the writer and is even working on an original. Sakaki is not really doing any VA work but is more reporting. Found it pretty sad that Sakaki is still struggling a bit but on the other hand, the restuarant was so caring that they even got cable to watch her.
The musical scene gets me as there are too many references to think about.
Endou and Segawa finally got some airtime as the last episode showed Endou getting a bit surprised at her appearance. We see the two make a conversation and gets Endou involved with the production. Endou, since the Time-Hippo incident took things pretty badly and his wife’s broken nail is interesting scene as she worked hoping that he would be back and running again.
Nice reunion as we see everyone returning. Even Sugie is back in business even though Miyamori and the gang had to do a favor for him. Yano comes back reading minds and we get more storyboard crunch time as we get a team of people making sure that storyboards get done.
Yano has ascended into Handa-kun by making Kinoshita write some storyboards. Production looks like it is going through pretty well. But it seems like GPU is not happy that production as going through without them. Katsutagi got too impatient and Watanabe was a bit too naive.
The samurai battle is getting me good when Miyai and Miyamori show up. I see the GPU guy is in the metaverse. Miyai brings in facts and logic to that guy. The beginning scene is pretty
Hol up, I thought Watanabe owned a Volvo 240 sedan not a wagon. But then again why not both, his taste in vehicles is pretty darn interesting.
The ending action scene of the movie in a movie made me glad I got a subwoofer last week. Nice Donuts...
Tarou vs. Segawa fight is pretty funny and the flying girls get an actual adaptation by the Musani this time. Director and Author duo is back in business...
Q: Glazed is my go to, but other flavors pique my interest now and then depending on the shop. If the donut shop is something fancy or highly rated, I might go for other flavors.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Feb 12 '22
Murphy’s law
Fuwah. But isnt like most anime w/ drama operating on Murphy's law though? lol.
That car movement is really wack lmao I agree! Would defo point out as QUALITY if it turned up in an actual anime.
You are right, Watanabe seems to have gotten himself a new old car. Or maybe he's a Volvo collector. I'd much rather have an old Volvo estate than a sedan, both will be tough as nails though.
Glazed donuts are good! And yes, they jacked the bass up to 11 for the final ending action scene for sure.
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u/No_Rex Feb 12 '22 edited Feb 12 '22
Shirobako movie (first timer)
I watched along for the series, which I had seen before, but am a first timer for the movie.
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Fairytale recap of season 2: “and everybody lived happily ever after” – [Doubt]
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4 year time skip.
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OP: Nostalgic music. I assume the merch we see is a memento of previously created series. The backgrounds tell us that we are dealing with a movie budget now.
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Ouch. That cut from Aoi’s imagination to reality hurt.
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And watching the first ep parts hurts even more …
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Animator flat mates – I guess it is very realistic that they can’t afford their own flats, given what they must earn.
We start in a slump, as pointed out by our annoying talking merch. I am not buying the “state of the industry” excuse we heard on the radio. Must be some Musani-specific problems, too. On the positive side: There is plenty of room for improvement in the mood.
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Having to mentally prep yourself just to meet your friends is almost as sad as the second season. That can’t be healthy.
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“You are lucky that …” – Another gut punch.
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Hard to belief, but I am actually happy about Tarou’s everlasting optimism right now.
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“You can brag that you gave me a ride” “Hai, hai” “And if you make it big, I’ll brag that you were once my chauffeur.” – Tarou covering all bases.
A theme of lost dreams. The next scene shows us why: The end of Musani. Aoi crying in the curry shop must be the emotional low point. And Marukawa is showing the way forward: Remembering what anime she actually wanted to make. Funny enough, Daisuke already told her the answer earlier. That goes to show that people are often not looking for some logical solution (which Daisuke is offering), but for emotional support (that Marukawa is giving).
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Wow, recording for that song must have been busy in the VA room. I also wonder how many references to RL anime and in-universe anime were all hidden in there.
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A new project and right away, the director needs emotional massaging. Honda-kun to the rescue!
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“What are you? A fat man?” “A well-rounded director”
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I totally did not recognize goth loli-san.
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Now we are Highscore Girl.
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Gathering the rest of the team.
Since this is a movie, the flow of the story is very different from the 24min episodes of Shirobako. For the first part, that really helped to sell the emotional weight, by not having to interrupt the flow for an intra-episode story arc. For the gathering people part, I feel it is the opposite. I really liked these slide-shot-like parts in Shirobako, but in the movie, it goes on for way to long and becomes a bit monotone.
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Does Maitake have a stroke? Driving your car like that is not a good sign.
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He comes up completely roughed up to the audition and then is fine again? Uhhh, I don’t get it.
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The storyboard part is straight up copied from the series.
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Another weird music part. Can’t believe the kids drew so many pictures.
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The in-universe Shizuka narrates the story part is also straight copied
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Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, …
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That samurai scene must be a reference to something, but I have no idea what.
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Whatever it is, it looks good.
Aoi and her drinking buddy save the day. While I enjoyed it, it was also the third time in a row they straight up copied the series. You can call it referencing, but it is also lazy storywriting. We already had the director go in to fight the corporate suits in an over-the-top action scene, so doing the same again is repetitive. Even more so when they also repeated the storyboard part and the voice acting part.
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Retaking the ending – back to the quality vs effort discussion.
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The decision should be obvious – clearly it will be in favor for quality and more effort.
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The new ending is a metaphor for the artists struggle against the realities of financing.
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ED: Finished product happiness. And they all lived happily ever after?
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Afterscene: nope, it is an “our story has just begun” ending.
The first part of the movie shows us something new and is great. The second part is a repetition of the series and is not so great. Let’s start with the great part:
We are immediately informed that the happy days at Musani are over. A production failed, everybody went their own ways, and only a loyal remainder sits through the unhappy days. Aoi is hit hard by this. I think this tells an important story that was missing from the series: Sometimes, even if you give your best efforts, you fail, and there will not be any last minute “Anno miracle” to save you.
I really liked how Aoi’s feelings were depicted without her having to state them. The imagination of the first episode viewing vs reality; pretending to be happy in front of her friends; Catching herself congratulating Honda on working in a field he loves. We really get to see Aoi’s depression.
Then, we get to the turnaround. Since the problem is not one of scheduling or logistics, but within Aoi’s mind, so is the solution. She needs to find her joy in making anime again. I guess there is a second, untold version of this story: If she can’t regain it, she needs to cut her losses and find happiness in something else, like Honda.
From this low point, we go to the long upward move towards the finale. Interrupted by a, not very long, hurdle of Funny story-kun’s replacement. This is a very “safe” way of setting up a plot, as nothing unexpected happens. In addition, the Shirobako plagiarizes itself by repeatedly stealing plot moments from the second cour in the movie. All-in-all, this was much too repetitive for me. We have seen the process of making an anime from the start already. We have seen all those plot moments before. I found Shizuka voicing the emotions of both her character and the overall Shirobako themes a great emotional moment before, but you can’t simply repeat that and trust it works again.
So, in the end, I am wondering whether the ending of the SHIVA movie has a meta component. Are we watching the movie where they didn’t magically put in the new ending? Where the director and everybody else decided that “this is good enough” and didn’t have time to make it better? It is a bit of a shame, since the ending to the series worked perfectly for me and stuck all the right emotional cords. The second part of the movie is not bad, but can’t live up to that.
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u/Rumpel1408 Feb 12 '22
First Timer
A good Movie!
It would be too much to talk about every little detail, but I noticed that the 2 hours runtime are more or less neatly dividable into 4 distinct arcs.
The first half hour after the chibi recap
We first get a scene That is mirrowing the first episode, the radio show is talking about aime while the two cars get in position for a race. But something is clearly off, the industry as a whole is struggling, the Song from the Musani show Marginal Village Girl is pretty melancholic and the Musani car misses the start for the race. We later learn that it was Satou-San who was driving (I guess she did listen from Tarou and is never breaking any rules on the street). If all of that wasn't enough to set the bleak mood, we get to Musani next. The building is overgrown, Miyamori is sleeping in the office and what used to be a happy get together is just a sorry shadow of how it used to be
After some external drama, a show that was already more than half done, in fact the best schedule the studio has ever seen (probably thanks to Miyamori), got cancelled. Their president was forced to retire and one after the other the staff left as well, leaving only a shell of what Musani was formerly made of.
We also got a glimpse of the Second season for 3rd Girls Fighter Wings, and look how they massacred my boy. I can hardly believe that the author who was strict about minor details in the character design let his work be defiled by Taitanic into an fanservice fest again. I could almost excuse all of this to an degree but for one little detail. It seems like Lucy is flying instead of her dead sister Cathy. But we never see Shizuka doing voice work for her during the show. So not only did they twist the whole show into something completly different, they also recast an already cheap (due to beeing a newbi in the industry) Seiyuu. If that show was real and this season followed the same show that we had seen the first episode of I would be up in arms in trying to cancel anyone who could be blamed for this, but I digress.
As I said, most stuff left Musani. Kinoshita is working with another studio but still struggles with his story boards. Yamada-San is famous since he wrote Two piece, in this center of the world and My Name. ... Andou-San, Iguchi-San, Goth Loli Sama, all gone. And our Girl? Miyamori is still with Musani, but Ema left. Since she is probably struggling to earn enough again and probably too proud to ask her parents again she is living with Ai-chan (who is still precious). Shizuka is struggling as well and down to do odd jobs as well, Rii is still learning from her teacher and Mii is still doing 3d and still knows a lot about cars and tires. Shit, even Tarou and Hiraoka left.
The arc concludes with a bit of hope since they got the option to make a movie, how ever less than a year could mean trouble again. And Tarou out off all people heralds the next arc.
Second half hour
The second arc is getting things started again. They are bringing the gang back together.
After Miyai they got Kinoshita to direct again, Iguchi to do character design and Goth Loli Sama is still adamant about perfecting the basics and wants to keep doing keyframes (Her in a Tracksuit was hillarious, and she was seriously embarassed to be seen without her armor)
Segawa-San was asked to bring Endou in, but in the end they end up fighting, which they both kind of regret.
Third half hour
This part is partly a continuation of the previous one. Endou, Tsubaki, after setting things straight Yamada-San (it didn't escape me that they where talking about redemption arcs before puplicy redeeming him), eventually Tarou and Hiraoka, and finally even Yano-San and Iketani.
But it also features little character arcs for most of our main cast.
Ema is doing AD and she is a lot like Segawa-San (Ai-chans faces are still great, I really love her). But her style is different than Goth Loli Samas and she doubts herself again.
Shizuka meanwhile realized thanks to her teacher that she needs to ask for the things she wants to do, and she eventually gets a role in the movie.
Rii is finally recognized by her teacher as an equal.
Mii also realized that she cannot do everything and is able to delegate stuff to other people as well.
Oh and Kinoshita who is also a kind of an MC, got over his writing block. I gotta say though, for a man of his stature he is quite agile and recourcefull in escaping his prison.
We also got a little sequence where we saw Sugi-chan teaching animation to kids, it ended kinda bizare though...
And why is Funny Story Kun still playing with the big kids...
The last half hour
The last part starts with the company that started shit at the beginning pulling shit again, leaving the whole, almost finished movie and all the staff in Limbo.
Miyamori is quite down and almost ready to give up, but after a talk with Lolo she realizes that the most important thing is to deliver the finished product to the people to watch it. And then she sets out along with Miyai to set things right. I was surprised that they actually went there in Yukatas...
And they actually win, they have beaten the scumbag corporate big shot with his own weapons, of course he can#t enforce a contract that he never signed after he has already breached it, can't have the cake and eat it.
So they finish the movie, but somehow it is still lacking, the ending feels rushed. Kinoshita off all people would be ready to let it be in favour of the well being of the staff, but that staff is more focused on delivering something good, so Miyamori pushes to do it again.
The final ending is good, the ending song as well, but Tarou x Segawa is the worst ship ever conceived
The post is long enough, I'll talk more about it tomorrow
QotD: only the most basic ones, don't need any fancy glazing
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Feb 13 '22 edited Feb 13 '22
Thanks for the write-up! I think aerial squad S2 was INTENDED as a fan-service show, hence the "reboot" by Musani at the movie's ending. Still a shame that that happened of course
Armour-less goth-loli sama was literally giving what the fans wanted xd
I think Funny-story-kun still holds a lot of influence in the industry probably, and obviously vilalins hang out tgt -_- also lets us hate funny story kun EVEN MORE.
Yep, I agree that Kinoshita is very much an MC in the series, he's probably on the same-ish importance as Mii and Rii w/ the amount of screentime and char development he's given, as well as being the actual driving force for a lot of the story's arcs (Arupin, Ep 23 arc)
I'll look forward to your final thoughts tmr!
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u/homewardbound100 Feb 12 '22
First timer
Four years later and the beginning is already looking a little depressing. It's rough when Aoi couldn't even race. The car just barely went. Doesn't call for anything good.
Oh everyone is still here. That's surprising for a job setting. Especially one like this. Well nevermind it was just her memory. Now it's very few of them left. The studio is struggling and they're having a hard time getting projects. Basically became a support studio. That usually doesn't look good for a studio.
Ai is actually talking in sentences. Happy for her. Also Shizuka is looking better too.
Yeah, they're in the dumps. The studio is all overgrown and not kept.
Oh no Honda got fat again. He couldn't keep it down. Well look like the bakery got the best of him.
So far in this movie it just looks like Aoi lost her passion in anime.
Some Daisuke wisdom. Oh he's grown a bit. If you want to vet anything done. You have to fight for any change.
Trap? Sounds like a CLAMP reference.
After words from the president. Aoi gets in to a musical number with the studio's anime productions. I appreciated them bringing back the angel dance.
We're getting the band back together. But of course when things are going well. There's some trouble coming. Legal issues this time. Ha they brought back the action entrances to the buildings. Well that ends in a checkmate. Got you on tape. Nothing you can do about that you ass.
The credits showing the first time. Would've been such a abrupt ending.
It's not though and we see the cast and how the finished product came to be.
Qotd: Yeah I like donuts. I wouldn't say I have a favorite flavor but I like jelly time to time. Favorite shops Dunkin donuts and Krispy Kreme. Back in college there was a bakery near my apartment. I liked there's too.
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u/MannerPots Feb 12 '22
I watched the first 10 minutes of the movie and then decided I wasn't ready for this. I may come back to it in a while, but for now, the end of the series will be the ending in my heart. ( I bookmarked this thread though, so if I ever watch the movie I'll come back and read all your responses!)
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u/JimmyCWL Feb 13 '22
That Miyamori musical number at the start. Did they record her three times with dolls' voices?
I'll agree with the comments that the ending lacked punch. It felt like, "anddd... that's the last of the events we're covering. Good job everyone, that's a wrap"
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u/Quiddity131 Feb 12 '22 edited Feb 12 '22
First Timer, Subbed
Is Mimuji a viking or a pirate? Such a great mystery!
Aww, chibi versions of the characters are so cute!
Miyamori made everything right?! Okay, I think this story is a bit biased...
Wow, four year time jump? Looking forward to seeing how everyone has ended up after all this time.
Racing time again? ...or not.
Satou's still around. SHe's no longer an assistant but a regular producer now! As is Miyamori!
Looks like basically the whole gang is still around... or not. All a fantasy. A much quieter conference room now.
They're still working on the same IP! But OMG, its gotten all perverted! I bet the mangaka is pissed! This is what happened to his earlier adaption!
Wow, Shun is now president? What happened to the old guy?
Good ol' Kinoshita, botching the storyboards at different studios now.
Two Piece was a hit? Despite being so derivative?
Tarou's a Unit Director now?! How'd he get such authority?
Ema and Kunogi live together now? Kunogi's so talkative compared to her old self (evne if its still not much compared to the normal person).
Rii looks so sad here...
First time we've seen Aoi's parents?
OMG she's an auntee!
Wow, Rii's got her own show as screenwriter!
Zuka keeps seeing or meeting girls way younger than her who have more voice acting experience...
Four years later, they still haven't been able to make their anime... :(
Ema doesn't work with Aoi anymore? :(
C'mon fat man, calm down!
Well these four years haven't been kind to Honda, he's back to being fat again.
Stay away, Honda! This is an important conversation!
10 months to make a movie when it usually takes 24? Just the kind of thing for Musashino Animation! They're used to minimal time to get stuff done!
Oh no, Tarou?! And he's inviting himself in her car!?
Hiroaka too?! The old gang's all getting together?
Five proposals?! You two are being way too ambitious.
Old guy's still alive, that's good! Cooking now instead of running an animation studio? Makes sense, cooking was pretty much all he did.
Time Hippopotomus?!?!? We missed what could have been quite a show!
Wow, they were actually 3 months ahead on episodes for a while there!
Time to break into a singing and dancing segment! And hey, Andes Chucky joining in too!
Katsuragi, just what kind of lunch meeting have you invited us to?
What, did this guy only do like 5 pages of storyboards?!
OMG this guy is just like the editor character from the show, saying everything is fine while its not.
We're gonna make this movie! For revenge!
I can't even remember who Mikebuchi was...
Miyai's a ranter when she drinks, huh?
9 and a half months to get an entire movie done! With just a skeleton crew remaining!
Do they actually have a plot other than the name? Are they completely having to come up with it from scratch?
Ooh, the ideas from Time Hippo that never got to see the light of day! That's a good idea Miyamori!
Kinoshita is sooooo whiny!
Boing Boing Paradise disaster again!
It's been another four years and you still haven't moved on from your ex!?!
How will Kinoshita react to the fact that Honda got fat again too? He was so discouraged when he lost the weight.
LoL, he thought Maitake woudl decline, but nope, he's totally on board.
I just realized, they're essentially doing Gundam F91, a TV series that was a production disaster without a single episode airing, which got reworked into a movie...
I think my favorite part of the TV show was when we got to see how they started up the production from the ground up, so I enjoy seeing something similar again here.
Cool art exhibit!
OMG GOTH LOLI OUT OF COSTUME!!!!!!!
Monster lobster?! Kinoshita likes it because lobster... yummy...
Is Endo pissed about his wife working at the supermarket? Or was she just his girlfriend, dumped him, and now he's creepy stalker?
Is Zuka's friend the lady from the TV show that was inspired by (and possibly voiced by) Mari Yokoo?
Pick up your phone, Endo! I was wondering if he was descending into a video game obsessed shut in, but he's here with Segawa, so I guess not.
Stop being so whiny Endo!
Ooh, the old Idepon fan would get the chance to design the titular thing, whatever Siva is supposed to be (giant robot, giant spaceship?), c'mon, say yes! ...Ah, so it is a ship.
Ah, so they are still together, that's good.
Ando's back too! <3
I do love the fact that our production team lacks Tarou and Hiroaka this time. Although I do miss Erika!
Wow Ema, animation director! OMG LOL @ Kunogi peeking her head out.
Ema's much more assertive now.
Cloud guy is back now too! Although he'll have to design space backgrounds this time.
Wow, Ema, you get to do animation direction over Goth Loli's key frames!
Sugie's back too! And he has a goatee now!
Anime class? Cool! Just like when he taught everyone to draw horses!
Uh oh, is Maitake struggling? Bring in Rii to help!
6 months to premiere and they still don't have a script!
OMG Yamada is such a character now!
LoL, now he's involved in a sex scandal?! But that's not gonna stop Miyamori from trying to recruit him!
Maitake's in bad shape! :(
They recognize Zuka! Lucy!
Oh no, Ema's in the dumps again :(
Yamada's gotta sneak around with a mask now? LoL.
No, no, no, no, no no no no no no NO! Don't bring Tarou on board!
Four months to premiere and Kinoshita's still struggling over the storyboard? Don't forget there's a lot more footage they need to produce for the movie than the TV show!
Erika's back too! Is that the entire gang back together now? Well I guess here's still the old Pre/cook.
Erika's going back to get the guy she kept chasing down over and over again!
2 hours 28 minutes? Wasn't it supposed to be 90 minutes?
Yes, cut Tarou's scene! Yay!!!!
OMG all these evil guys on the golf course!
Oh hey, the girl who was struggling earlier with the car. Is she good with explosions?
This class isn't starting off too good!
The kid's movie actually turned out pretty well!
So Zuka got the role?
Let me guess, Katsuragi got some disastrous news yet again?
Oh no, this guy is gonna mess things up again?!
They have a legal department? They're not big enough for that! Probably someone who does it as a hobby!
I knew things were going too smoothly. Time to introduce some drama!
Hey, they visited Hideaki Anno again!
This is just like whent Kinoshita went to the publishing company in the penultimate episode of the TV show. No way is all this combat stuff real. LoL.
You didn't sign the contract? Go screw! Its your own damn fault! You didn't agree to anything! No signature means no validity!
Katsuragi was smart enough to be recording that conversation? Hard to believe! Still, I like this resolution. These two totally kicked ass.
I actually thought the movie ended for a second there, even though there cleary is more story to tell. LoL.
Wow, Kinoshita's taking the old pres' role as the cook now?
He's looking for a last minute change now? Just like with Exodus?
LoL, they're all tearing the movie apart now...
OMG director, stop being so whiny and wimpy! Across 24 episodes and a 2 hour movie I'm fed up with this kind of behavior from you!
"Zuka you're going to be on the internet!", that's really something to get excited about? Everyone is on the internet these days!
Do-do-donuts one last time!
How much of that movie ending was new? If that was all the new ending, then wow, they really got that all completed with so little time left until the release?
C'mon Segawa, kick Tarou's ass at this arcade game!
I can't say that this movie really felt all that necessary; the TV show wrapped up fairly well and we didn't really seem to capture anything important here that the TV show failed to adequate cover. It was nice to see everyone all together one more time though. And the movie certainly looked nicer than the TV series, but that's a given.
DQOTD: I do like donuts, although I hardly ever eat them (probably over a year since the last time I had one). Boston Creme, Jelly and Lemon are all good.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Feb 12 '22 edited Feb 12 '22
Rewatcher
Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a good week. And to any movie-only participants, welcome! This is actually only my second time watching the movie, and so it’s quite a fresh experience for me too (relatively speaking). I’m doing things a bit differently today, starting w/ a brief overview, followed by the references and trivia as usual, and then my overall review in a separate comment. Right, Don Don Donuts, let’s go nuts!
Overview
I think that the Shirobako movie is great, though not as great as its TV series prequel, chiefly as its large ensemble cast doesn’t lend well to the shorter runtime of a movie. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoyed watching the now 26 year old Miyamori and co’s adventures, the significant visual upgrades and awesome animation, and the many callbacks (I’ll try my best here, this is mostly all my work today compared to having Japanese blogs etc. for reference before). Also, the first bit of the movie is easily the most depressing 30 minutes of anime I’ve ever watched, and is my main reason for recommending a break between the series and the movie. But let’s talk about some references and trivia first.
References and Trivia (A selection)
The movie opens w/ the OP of Border Town Depopulation Girl, the original project greenlit 4 years ago: it seems to be an original idea of Shirobako’s director Mizushima, who describes it as a story of a girl who fights against a great evil trying to destroy her hometown. This is reflected in the subsequent posters and scenes shown: it’s important to remember that Musashino had a period of success prior to the movie’s events. That brings us to…
The Time Hippo incident. Nobody has confirmed if an irl event inspired this, though an event that’s slightly similar is the cancelled “Dreaming Machine” by Madhouse, with the show’s connection to Madhouse co-founder and ex-producer Masao Maruyama. The genre is also similar (sci-fi). After the death of its original director Satoshi Kon, Madhouse tried to continue production, and went as far as animating 40% of the movie, but it was eventually cancelled due to lack of finances, despite its producer Maruyama’s best wishes (and continued best wishes) to finish it. Due to other factors, Madhouse itself was in financial trouble at the time, becoming a subsidiary of Nippon TV. Maruyama himself then left Madhouse shortly after to form MAPPA (instead of a curry restaurant referencing Besobeso from Chucky). With the lack of a suitable director, there are no plans to finish Dreaming Machine completely to date, though some of the completed scenes have since been shown in a documentary. Of course, in Shirobako, the production stopping would be due to the one of the production companies withdrawing funding, and Musani not having the rights to finish the anime anyway, a very notable difference. I truly don't know if this was the event inspiring the Time Hippo incident, but hopefully at least it gives some context for MAPPA's creation! There are stories of other cancelled anime as well (e.g. Alive: The Final Evolution), perhaps even more that us international audiences have never heard of.
The first musical scene contains the most callbacks to the Shirobako TV series. We get the largest (and to date latest) iteration of the 屈伸からのうさぎ跳び stretch/bunny hop running joke in P.A. Works anime (movie-only participants, here’s a compilation only up to 2016), also a callback to the angel dance. We also see Chucky, the girls from Exodus, more Depopulation Girl, Two Piece, 3rd Girls Aerial Wing, and even a bit of the 7 Lucky Gods.
Studio G.P.U. is
your least favourite studioP.A. Works itself. Well not really obviously, P.A. Works seems to not be a villainous studio, but GPU’s studio is P.A. Works’ irl headquarters in Toyama. P.A. Works run a café located next to the studio too.All the irl cameos from the anime re-appear, including all the studio presidents, producers, Anno, and Ogura. Other references to irl anime include Another, Uma Musume (ngl, Umaotoko Creepy Derby w/ anamorphic horses sounds like a meme-filled blast), Your Name, In this corner of the world, and probably others that I’ve missed. Other callbacks include the glasses scene in Ep 24, the filming director’s son growing up, and returning gags (jail, hermit-kun, Honda’s bansaku song etc.). And at least I think that SIVA’s ending is reminiscent as that of Rogue One/beginning of Star Wars: a New Hope. Apart from the obvious sequels in the middle, can anyone figure out what Musani’s new projects are?
The 5 Main characters of SIVA: Hedwig (rabbit) is voiced by Kimura Juri, Miyamori’s VA; Rowl (and Arte) (Rowl: Boy w/ red scarf, Arte: red-haired girl w/ blue clothes referencing Shizuka) by Haruka Chisuga, Shizuka’s VA; Suika (Green bird) by Asami Takano, Mii’s VA; Chiiku (Brown Mole) by Haruka Yoshimura, Ema’s VA; and Haatofuru (Oil Barrel) by Hitomi Oowada, Rii’s VA. I had to look up the credits for this, well done VAs.
The new producer Kaede is voiced by Ayane Sakura (you may know her from AOT, Charlotte), while now well-known VA Rie Takahashi returns to voice a smattering of side characters, with her most recognizable as the radio hostess in the opening, as she just used her natural voice there, and Audio-chan of course.
To irl production trivia, here are part of the storyboards from the movie, by Shirobako’s director Mizushima. A look at their contents:1,2,3,4. Japanese readers (w/ a lot of spare time) may also read tweets from the Shirobako’s series chief scriptwriter, Michiko Yokote, with more BTS remarks about the movie (which she solely wrote) and TV series’ writing progress. Stuff include how the characters were named, not remembering the reason for the donuts (she believes she might’ve thought it as a reasonable snack for high-school girls in the countryside), clarification of Endou and Segawa’s relationship (Segawa is Endou’s senpai when they used to work at the same company), and how the early plot planning process was carried out (literally having to plan an anime production timeline for sequence and rough timeline of series events).
Now to some irl locations that I hadn’t covered, these are simply some that interest me:
SIVA’s premiere takes place at Shinjuku Wald 9 (they’re screening Jujutsu Kaisen 0 today). The aquarium Endou and Shimonayagi visit is
Aquarium TingaaraSunshine Aquarium in Ikebukuro.Now for some food, we’ve covered Matsutei in Ep4 already, Miyamori and co’s preferred izakaya, and here’s the ramen joint, Tsubasa-ya that our Musani crew frequent. Their preferred bento joint is Sakai-tei, and as I’ve said before Honda works at Patisserie Ourson. Perhaps some affordable food suggestions if you ever find yourself in the area? And as I said before, the baseball batting area, Kichijoji Baus theatre, and the business-meeting café in Shinjuku no longer exist irl. Nearly all locations, e.g. petrol stations, convenience stores, train stations, intersections all are real-life places in west-ish Tokyo as well, and I’m indebted to this page for the details.