UlasanAnime.com – As I was watching ME!ME!ME! last night, I found myself thinking about Shirobako. This isn’t an unusual occurrence, as every Thursday my mind naturally drifts to Shirobako mode. It begins in the morning with matome blogs and Japanese Twitter filling up with other viewers, either anticipating or having already watched the latest episode. The day progresses as the first wave of English-speaking viewers tweet their reactions and responses, followed later by those who have normal day jobs and can only watch after work. My own day was somewhat abnormal, so I wasn’t able to catch up to Ema’s struggles until late.
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Observing ME!ME!ME!, that Animator Expo clip, it struck me as a music video created by a budding animator who had worked on several post-Gainax projects, including Panty Stocking and Khara’s Eva 3.0. It resonated with me in a way that was both poetic and sufficiently attention-grabbing, setting it apart from what typically passes as sexually aggressive and violent cartoons from Japan. The narrative might simply be about the corruption of “moe,” illustrating how our cherished memories of earlier 2D creations have transformed a certain subset of otaku into desensitized individuals, constantly force-fed sexually gratuitous media over the years. This is not something easily described without sounding condemnatory. It’s akin to walking around Akihabara and being handed tissue papers with scantily clad cartoon girls on the wrappers. It’s like seeing eroge PR posts in your news feed on sites like Yaraon. It’s reminiscent of /a/ and 2ch, with a touch of Sad Panda.
It’s poetic because I found ME!ME!ME! to be a poignant illustration of spiritual death. Regardless of its value as cultural criticism, the barrage of overt sexuality presented to the Japanese subcultural consciousness in this segment of modern visual media inevitably elicits a reaction from those sensitive to such content. The only reasonable ways to cope are either to ignore it or to grow indifferent.
This is just one interpretation. ME!ME!ME! offers numerous ways to be understood, and I believe this is what makes this particular entry in the Animator Expo so artful.
But what about Shirobako? I think it all boils down to the concept of monozukuri. In the same way that crafters imbue their art with meaning through its very existence, anime is a sufficiently malleable medium. One or a hundred people can collaborate to create something that carries a multitude of voices alongside an individual voice. Each design, cut, scene, line of dialogue, or piece of music comes together to express something. This could manifest as a pulse-pounding video where breasts are firing anti-air weapons at you, or the story of a struggling young adult striving to succeed in her dream career. The details are incredibly telling. For instance, the moment Iguchi took Ema’s donut. That brief exchange is imbued with so much subtle meaning that it leaves us, or at least me, trying to unpack it. Or rather, it provides food for thought after the weekly installment concludes. Will we get a follow-up? I certainly hope so.
How difficult was it to write, direct, and animate something like this? I hesitate to even contemplate it. Yet, here it is, laid bare before us. The spirit of SHIROBAKO is screaming, much like the all-caps English script in which its title is officially written.
