Shirobako episode 4

XO So many more posts to get to yet it is growing colder by the minute. Being from Florida my version of cold starts at 60 so needless to say the recent temperatures of 30 and 28 have been....SUPER FUN! I look like I am ready for a hike up a snowy mountain in my own house. Break out the blankets folks. Of course......every other state has...you know....cars buried under 6 feet of snow and people running out of food. You know...almost the same as Flroida?

Adults? The real world? NOOOO!

But the posting must continue. I will just break into my cocoa box that is about 343 years old because it takes me that long to finish a box due to how many cold days we experience in Florida. Up now is Shirobako episode 4. You know, everyone's favorite anime about 5 friends working in the anime industry. Or you know..mostly Aoi. Maybe a bit of her friends but mostly Aoi.

Yeah no. Just no. I rather sleep all day then help you on my day off.

Episode Summary: Shizuka is on her way to a voice acting audition and decides to practice her lines on the subway which is a bit special given you are to be quiet on the subway and some of the lines are special. At work Aoi is having to deal with Tarou who acts like he is the one who keeps everything together. Aoi has no sympathy and walks away from the delusional boy. She walks into a fight with Animation Director Hironori and Seiichi about the AC. Seiichi says it is hot and he can’t work under these conditions and Hironori is like you are just fat. After that is not settled Ema pokes her head around and reminds Aoi that she is a bad friend and that Shizuka has a voice actress audition today. Aoi immediately feels bad as she was unable to take Shizuka’s phone call and texting hasn’t been invented yet and how was she to know?! Ema seems to think everything will be okay as everyone is getting together the next day anyway. Shizuka and her bundle of nerves arrive at the audition where she practices her lines with others sitting in the waiting room. Shizuka almost loses her mind when she sees a super famous voice actress arrive. The girl in question is super modest but people in charge of the hiring process fawn all over her so Shizuka starts to lose hope. Shizuka is finally called for her turn and off she goes with her bundle of nerves. During her audition she is called out for being nervous which surprisingly makes her more nervous as her voice breaks all over the place. She finishes the audition and leaves dejected. Most people weren’t impressed with her but one person liked the rawness of her voice and the fact that she was a newbie. Shizuka doesn’t know that of course. Aoi gets packed up to leave for the day while Honda grills her on things that she needs to have done on Monday. Aoi seems to be on the ball with episode 9 as she gained some experience points the disaster that was episode 4. Tarou tries to guilt Aoi for having a day off but gets super interested in Aoi going out with her friends. He seems to think one of them will marry him. Aoi skips home to reheat a to go bento meal when her mother calls. It turns into a conversation everyone can relate to, a parent getting a new piece of technology and not understand what Aoi does for the show. Still her parents are super proud of her…and then her mom does the worrying about her eating right and should more food be sent to her jazz. As Aoi hangs up she gets a text message from Shizuka and decides to call the girl to apologize for being busy with a passed out co-worker. Aoi tries to be the supportive friend and asks about the job audition but she senses Shizuka and says they can talk about it tomorrow. Slightly awkward. Shizuka gets off the phone and watches the anime they made in high school with a bit of sadness.

First day off in forever from anime...so lets go see anime!

The next day everyone meets at the train station almost at the same time because none of them are named Tenchi. Look Misa and Midori exist! After there are greeting and what not all the girls go and watch an anime movie together. Then they sit around and eat pastries while talking about the movie in regards to what they do for work. Midori seems super impressed anyway as she isn’t really working in whatever field she wants to in anime yet.. They spend the afternoon at a park which houses something that relates to their anime they made in high school and at a local anime/manga store. After some window shopping Shizuka takes them to the small mom and pop store she works at for some drinks. The couple that owns the place really seem to like Shizuka and treat her and her friends well. They drink a bit and Midori is a bit sad that everyone is living the dream and she is still a student. One day she will write anime scripts though…maybe. Misa and Ema talk about how stressful things are at their jobs and Aoi chimes in with how she is always needing to be bailed out. Shizuka decides the other girls are lucky to have stress at their jobs because that means they have jobs. The others try to point out that Shizuka has had work but all she has done was be a mascot’s villain and some dubbing over a foreigners voice that doesn’t even sound like her. The audition comes up and Shizuka explains not only did she mess up but a super famous actress was up for the same roll so of course she isn’t getting the part. All the girls are super supportive of Shizuka and tell her she is going to kill it next time. That doesn’t stop Shizuka from getting drunk. Aoi excuses herself to take a phone call from Tarou. He won’t say why it is so important that she come to work right now so Aoi goes inside to drink with friends. They all talk each other up and Aoi has to pause as she doesn’t know what she wants to do yet. The girls point out she should be a producer and get their original anime made into a movie. They all get silly and a bit drunk. Misa takes home super drunkie Shizuka as Ema and Aoi go home mostly together as Aoi talks about how she doesn’t know about her future. Shizuka walks home singing a drunkie song and ignoring Tarou when he calls again. He is panicked about something but never explains. The next day Honda lays into Seiichi for not having the storyboard done for the final episode and it turns out the man is super behind. Seiichi tries to blame it on the AC. Aoi then sees Endou having a meltdown in front of Tarou. He is crybabying about something and quits as supervisor over episode 7. THE END!

They exist to hear about Shizuka's problems anyway.

What is this? The other girls actually exist?! Do my eyes deceive me?! Apparently all the drama that happened with Aoi was actually minute by minute and there were no days or gaps in between. So maybe she didn’t go too long without contacting her friend Shizuka but I am still side eyeing her a bit. Sounds like she hasn’t had a lot of time to get together with the other girls outside of work because I guess if you work 6 days a week you pass out on the 7th like it says in the Bible. But not texting Shizuka back was a bit eyerolling.

Now imagine her moaning that....

I was side eyeing Shizuka a bit though. Like hello this is anime based in Japan. Everyone must play up to all the norms and standards that exist in Japan. You must respect the signs on subways and be quiet. Especially when some of the dialogue is super suggestive. I guess when you trying out for voice acting parts you get bits and pieces. Like a line here and a random line from this episode. Just a lot of moaning and high voiced lines for a closed in space like a train. Maybe because the train is sorta empty she feels okay doing that? If it was rush hour it would be a no no. I don’t know. I guess I am thinking too much into this scene. We are just supposed to feel how nervous Shizuka is. This is her big break and she is going to practice up until her name is called. Plus…we actually get to see her. Poor underclassmen Misa and Midori. They get no love.

YEAH! Says all the cold people of the world.

Aoi has a lot of people she has to deal with at work. Lots of personalities. Lots of people in general. The show realizes that too and continues to put names and titles under people. But Aoi has to deal with Tarou being delusional. I don’t know if this is Tarou’s first assistant job but it is Aoi’s first job. So him complaining to her and calling all the time for help is a bit…you know. Backwards. And even if it is his first assistant job Erika should be the go to person even if he thinks she is not as approachable. Although it isn’t like Aoi is going out of her way to befriend the boy either. Anyway Tarou is complaining about how tough his job is and everyone else is like dude please. Aoi runs away from Tarou’s complaining but walks into another juvenile situation. Or maybe not so juvenile. It was Seiichi verses some other important due in a battle over the AC. I remember those days. Before I worked at Mike’s Pizzeria with no AC and DryCleanersRUS with super high AC with NO ability to change it I worked a mom and pp…consignment shop if you would. I worked with 3 older ladies. All in different stages of overweightness. Needless to say me and my giant jacket became best friends because someone was always having a hot flash and I was never going to get my way. Of course the owner would come in and yell at me for wearing a jacket and would tell me to wear something more classy AKA expensive looking. Because at 6.67 I could afford to shop at old lady shops where 200 sports jackets are the norm. but I digress. So I have experience with AC wars. The husband wants it cold and I want it warm and I always lose because it is easier to put layers on than take them off. But since this is Japan Seiichi is going to lose. Especially in a post 2011 Japan where saving electricity has become common place. How dare you be wasteful! So what if you can concentrate on your drawings? No AC for you.

I have no picks of Ema so have one of Tarou being very Tarou like.

In the middle of all this crazy is Ema. Like oh hello friend. My lovely friend. We promised we go to the big city together and find cool animes in the anime field and well…at least we have each other? Thank you so much for being here for me Ema. What is that? Shizuka has a voice actress job interview today? And since I couldn’t continue her phone call while tending to a passed out person on the ground I was left out of the loop for days? I mean….damn people. Text message exist for a reason. If you call me and I don’t pick up and it was important leave a message or text me. Or even if it is exciting news. People can be busy in this world but it really pisses me off when people can respond to texts later in the day or the next day. Like damn people I see you all the time with phones in your hand. Can’t take a second to say hi or whatever? So yeah…I think it was a little dramatic that Shizuka didn’t text Aoi. Like….Shizuka can have a busy work life and care about your friends. Now Aoi has the guilt dear goodness.

:( Well that is slightly sad.

Well Aoi couldn’t call Shizuka right now even if she wanted to. The girl has made it to the audition spot and Shizuka has to focus on getting this job. Sometimes I believe you can study too much for a test. Like if you cram it might all explode your head. There were very few lines for Shizuka to learn and the fact that everyone got to have the paper in front of them and will always have the script in front of them means Shizuka could probably have just practiced on pitches and what not. Her mind would have remembered the sentence structure naturally at that point. But even if Shizuka wasn’t nervous at that point it all flew out the window when the famous voice actress came in. Like damn that girl is getting all the rolls lately and this isn’t an open audition for any part. It is just ONE part and chances are this girl will get it. Personally I agree with the one dude, the one who liked Shizuka for being new and raw. Like if someone has work on 10 shows right now everyone must be sounding the same. Time to spice it up. But after Shizuka allowed her nerves to break through…it is hard to say what will happen. Maybe some anime magic but they had a lot of people auditioning for the role and they might not have time to help a newbie. But I got to give Shizuka props for going through all the lines despite it going..well not so great. If she gets this role it will be by anime magic. I rather her learn from this and get the next job, full of confidence and learning from her mistakes.

Too bad neither of our phones have texting abilities.....

But right now Shizuka wants to have a cry and pout. It must feel pretty lonely to move away from home and only have a few friends from high school be your support group. And that support group is super busy doing their own work all the time. The second Aoi was done with her work she called Shizuka so that counts yes? Well first Aoi went home and made some dinner. After Tarou was giving her grief about having ONE day off. Like yeah Japanese people love work so much they are going to constantly be at the office on their days off. Sign me up for some health problems there. Oh wait and Aoi talked to her parents too. But since Aoi doesn’t leave near her parents first and she is going to see Shizuka the next day I will allow this too. I like how cute the parents were. Like we don’t know much about anime or the big city where you live now but we will act cute and ancient, just happy that our daughter is living the good life now. Parents are always proud of their kids. Well most of the time. Some parents are just like thank goodness we got through that. But then after lying to the parents about eating properly she called Shizuka back. Because remember no texting. The size of Shizuka’s room makes me a sad panda. Life is like that in Tokyo I suppose. Just starting off and all. Shizuka wasn’t in the mood for talking though since her audition went bad. Well you are probably going to have to talk about it tomorrow so….

Where are the shopping bags?!

And then tomorrow came. WOOHOO for friends and arguing about being on time and who is late. Everyone arrived within 2 minutes of each other which I think is a miracle. I think anyone reading this would know who would arrive last out of my group of friends. Hint: She is the one writing this right now. XD GO ME! But yeah it is the first time we have seen Midori and Misa since it was graduating doughnut time. Funny how a few years out of high school and people act like they are super adults. Sometimes I don’t even feel like an adult. But I guess that is not the point. The point is 5 girls went out for a day together and no one bought anything. I understand window shopping but all of them?! Well they did buy treats. I love that part though. I hate watching animes when the stick girls want to be on a diet. Like no I am going to eat cake and be happy. Time with friends should be full of things that….well you do by yourself in your house and feel guilty about but still.

That was pretty cool.

It is interesting that on their day off all the girls go to an animated movie. Like damn this is what I do all day for work I want to escape it please!!!! But then again…they could be the kind of people who want to work in this industry because they love that product. They just….well have a better appreciation of how that anime came into production. I would think if I were Aoi though I would want to take a break. Like I love you anime but we need to take some time apart before I kill everything in this room. Oh did I mention when we had sad Shizuka we saw a bit of their original anime? It was….done by high school kids but still a TON of work so many props there. Anyway after the anime was over and the girls were all chowing down on their delicious looking snacks the girls then….talked shop. Like how many frames was that, the voice actress was a newbie, 3 D crap because that is what Misa does. Like look how adult and mature we are, knowing how these things work. I don’t think there was any bragging. Just….WOOHOO I actually knows this and it is fun to know this weee!

:( At least she didn't start crying again...

But then there was the flip side. Everyone knows you call your girlfriends when there is money burning a hole in your pocket and when you want to blast a hole in someone’s head. Gotta have the gripes. Some people are happy about their accomplishments and knowing about how animes are made but at the same time everyone else has a bit of envy in regards to the others. Not everything is roses. Ema seems pretty overworked too even though we see Aoi running around all the time being overwhelmed which in charge of everything. Misa doesn’t think she is doing that great at her new job as her elders are always yelling. And poor Midori…well she has big dreams. Dreams of writing animes. Like the actual storylines or coming up with the entire thing herself? I don’t know yet. But these seem like big dreams and I don’t even know how you get started in this field. So Midori feels as if everyone has left her behind when in reality Ema is pretty much the only one already in her dream job which seems pretty impossible as they are still fresh faced.

LET ME WORK!!!

But none of these gripes compare to Shizuka and her soon to be drunk self. I like how the people at the bar Shizuka works at have taken her in. Although that sounds very Skip Beatish, especially if Shizuka lives there too. But yeah…Shizuka is all like at least you guys can complain about working. That means you are working. Like okay Debbie Downer, we are allowed to complain about work even if you have no work to complain about. Sometimes you can wish for something and have your dream job and wake up to find out that it isn’t all Mickey Mouse and churros. But Shizuka has experienced what she thinks is a major setback. Another setback. No voice acting job for her. None that really matter in terms of getting her more work. The other girls don’t really help with her pity party when they are like MOG that famous voice actress auditioned with you?! Like thanks my friends….thanks for…well not lying to my face about how awful that is.

BLAH BLAH so sad my tears.

But like good friends the group tries to bring Shizuka up. Well Aoi could have done a better job at that if Tarou and his crazy phone call self wouldn’t stop interrupting. Like seriously I hate that when you get a day off and people call you for help. Unless you are manager, boss, or someone with tons of zeros on their paycheck leave those people alone. So Tarou…call your boss and make sentences that are complete and are of the sense making. Aoi handled those calls rather fast though although it interrupted the mood when she walked outside. I would have just turned my phone off since all my friends were right in front of my face. But as Shizuka drowned her sorrows in booze her friends were really supportive. Like wow your ability to sound like an American farmer abducted by aliens is amazing. And just because you didn’t get this part doesn’t mean things are horrible forever. Just keep trying! You can do it!

Well that was fast...

I think that is what is great about friends. They either say what will make you happy or they will tell you the truth you need to hear. I think I am more on the truth side. But this is a feel good anime so clearly Misa is….the best 3 D whatever ever, Midori will write the best animes ever, Ema…well she is already amazing so she should just buy the next round, and Shizuka will be the best voice actress ever. All this lifting up and beer drinking made Aoi realize….she has no idea what she wants to do with her life? She works at an animation studio yes but she knew at a young age she didn’t have…well the talent that some of the other girls had. So I think she took a job at entry level that didn’t require any skill. Nothing is wrong with that obviously even if I think the job is a bit fluffy. And nothing is wrong with working that job your whole life. I honestly believe that. But Aoi seems to see this job as a stepping stone, to get her foot in the door. Where does she want to end up? Well her friends took 5 seconds to answer. You want to produce anime right? Sorta like what you are already doing but being in charge? Like we need someone to lead us and get us back on track when we work together in the future. You can be that person. Be the Honda. Aoi and her slightly tipsy self is like WOOHOO I gotta a dream. She gots a dream folks! More booze for my friends, everything is going to be okay!

Err...I should have answered the phone?

In the end Shizuka ends up drunk like a little skunk and has to be taken home by one of the younger girls. Not setting a good example for your younger friends are you Shizuka? I mean I guess she has the right to drink if she is sad but if you are going to drink to the point where someone needs to help you I reserve the right to roll my eyes. This reminds me of when I was in Japan on vacation and my husband and I watched a very drunk man try to help his very drunk coworker up some steps. Lets just say it ended badly. So Shizuka should drink at home. Ema and Aoi were on their way to drunkie town too but managed to get on the train and home by themselves although I think Aoi could have sung a little less. People were probably sleeping. I like that Shizuka was ignoring Taro because 1 it was her day off and B he wasn’t even telling her what he needed. Like how are you going to ask for my help if you are going to hem and haw and not explain yourself. Peace out Taro….you know until the next day. When it turns out there is some major drama going on because key animators can just pick and choose what they want to do and apparently Aoi had the power to stop that…..so yeah. Until next time!