Shirobako might be the most meta show I’ve ever watched.
With the start of the second cour, the show has changed from being character focused to a documentary about the production of Miyamori’s second show. With all the new kids starting work, and a few of the jobs shuffled around, this pre-production time is used to bring everybody up to speed and lay the groundwork for when production goes full swing.
Ever since I started watching Shirobako, I’ve been making many mental notes about the similarities between it and GuP, mostly in the directing style. When I see Kinoshita remark on numerous occasions that he wants to do these things that I liked about GuP and Shirobako, to the show that he’s working on inside the show, it’s both vindicating, exciting… and weird.
After this episode, I’ve realized that I’m watching this show on two levels. On the surface level it’s a fascinating insight into the production of an anime. On a deeper level though, this is practically a post mortem on the production of GuP through the allegory of 3GFW. It’s fascinating to see the way research was done, the way the music was plotted out, the way that the CGI was to be designed and animated.
Through Shirobako and the crew within it making 3rd Girls Fighter Wing, I’m getting insight from the director himself about how I got what has become one of my favorite anime of all time, and the show that I’m watching right now.
