Shirobako episode 5

Time really flies when it is pitch black outside and it is slightly freezing cold. Like I don't know how you people do it up North and in other countries. I know people complain about it being hot here but cold is just so different for me. X___X Like even going to the bathroom is a pain because I feel like I am wasting ten gallons of water waiting for the thing to heat up so my fingers don't break off. Begone cold...but I want it to be Christmas please.

Release the secret weapon!!!

As I cuddle into a blanket that threatens to take me to sleepy land have another anime episode post tonight. Up now is Shirobako episode 5. Spoilers for animes of the world being decided on by barely legal assistants who really shouldn't be making decisions at all.

How about it is zero percent her fault?

Episode Summary: Tarou tries to follow Endou outside and pretend like he doesn’t understand how angry the man is. Endou is like no I completely quit for episode 8 peace out and leaves. Tarou is completely overwhelmed and it really isn’t his fault but he does not gain sympathy when he decides to assign some blame to Aoi. Aoi is like no and Tarou tries to open up about what happened when Erika walks by. He seems determined to not involve her or Honda despite Aoi suggesting to do that. He might have been right though as they go to morning assembly and find Honda having a meltdown that Seiichi hasn’t finished the storyboard for the last episode and at this rate it will be done after the broadcast is off the air. The office lady with a sleek haircut opens her drawer and suggests they use IT. Seiichi seems to be in a great mood and hops up to Honda who has promised him friend chicken. The man must be on crack as he allows Honda to take him into a dark room for said chicken. Turns out this room has a sort of jail cell in the corner and Honda has locked the man inside with no cell phone and piss bucket. The man is not allowed to leave until the storyboard is done. Honda is going to stick it out with the man in the room too but Seiichi keeps making excuses and what not. Despite all of this Aoi thinks Tarou needs to tell Honda what happened. Tarou has to take Aoi aside as Erika was listening in to the conversation and he wants it hush hush. Basically Endou had a crybaby attack because someone on the 3 D team wanted to make an explosion at the end of episode 8…3D and not traditional art. Tarou knew that Endou was drawing that part and the 3D department told Tarou to tell Endou. Endou basically got offended and said he was about to start it and tell the guys no. Well Tarou goes back and forth between the two groups using no tact at all and ends up getting Endou super offended. The next morning Endou comes in and starts working on the scene and Tarou was like….I told you the 3D people already did it and Endou had his explosion and left. Aoi is like….so basically you screwed it up. She still wants to go to Honda but Tarou tries to make her see the light. When that doesn’t work he fails at complimenting her. Honda however is busy on Seiichi duty, not giving him chicken and following him to the bathroom. Endou comes home surprised to see his wife not at work. She switched shifts so he has to lie about why he is home. He tries to distract her by going out to eat but she wants to stay in as they have a loan to pay off.

Ange having her own derp face moment.

Honda and Seiichi are looking like crap in the jail cell and Honda is like…well why don’t you cop out and have a recap episode for the final episode. Seiichi has flashbacks when he got an award for best director for his debut anime. He promised big things for his next project and it turned out to be some Jiggy anime, the one that everyone mentions. It turned into an utter failure and this anime was supposed to be his major comeback. There is a brief moment of motivation then demotivation when there is no chicken but later the motivation is found. Sorta. In the meantime Endou takes out his underling to meet with his mentor. We will call him Mentor since I don’t need any more nonsense in my life. Underling is clearly team Endou and traditional animation and didn’t get the memo that the events of yesterday/today were not to be brought up. Endou starts to trash 3 D animation thinking that Mentor will agree with him. Well it turns out Mentor has gone traitor and has started teaching 3 D classes to kids. Endou is singing the drunkie traitor song but as Mentor explains…..this field is growing. He thinks traditional is the way to go but there is no doubts that the animation world is changing and maybe they need to work together with 3 D animators and not against them. Underling and Endou get butthurt and Mentor says if Endou blames others well maybe he should just quit. It is time to adjust with…well the times. Aoi and Tarou tried to call during this dinner but Endou kept hanging up on them. They go back to the studio where they run into the 3 D animator and Tarou informs the man that Endou has quit. The man is like X___X but Tarou promises it will be okay even though Aoi is glaring at him. Aoi leaves for the night and runs into Emo at the supermarket. They end up making a meal together and Ema lets Aoi know that many people know about Endou’s tantrum. Ema talks a bit about 3 D animation and how that might affect her career and what not. Aoi feels guilty and goes back to work to hear Tarou trying to find another animator to take over as supervisor for episode 8. He thinks that will be easier than convincing Endou to come back. He wants to handle this problem so Honda doesn’t worry. Aoi goes to pick up more frames from Misato who knows about Endou’s tantrum. She is also worried about the future of traditionally drawn verses 3 D. She also asks how this will effect episode 9 as their episode opens up with the explosion from episode 8. Aoi slightly panics and vows to find out the next day. But when she gets to the office Endou is there and wants to watch the 3 D scene. Aoi shows it to him and he seems shocked. Aoi leaves the room briefly and she is told episode 9’s beginning is done with regular animation. That means Endou has to do the last scene with regular animation. Aoi freaks out and blames Tarou when he walks by. He seems pleased that Aoi is now in deep crap too so she has to help him. THE END!

Are you serious about being this behind in anime blogging?!

MOG I started writing this like weeks ago. Why do I do this?! I did write the summary the day I watched the episode. You know…so it would be fresh in my mind. Unlike the rest of the episode which has been erased and deleted already. Because those two things are necessary. Delete something and it goes to the recycling bid because maybe you really didn’t want to delete it. So maybe I just erased it. Let me check my mind to see what happened.

Sweet talking will not get you out of this young man.

Okay so when we last saw our heroes…I mean main characters Aoi got a day off which she ended by pounding back a few drinks. Which was well deserved and I don’t think anyone was all pointing fingers and blaming Aoi for what happened with Tarou and his special brand of crazy. Even after learning all the details I don’t know how Tarou could blame Aoi with a straight face. In the end it does become her problem but while I don’t think Tarou was 100 percent innocent there was nothing Aoi could have done if she has picked up the phone. Just would have ruined her night as well. Of course it took a lot of the episode to get to the meat of the problem so I will just cut to the chase and explain why….having very young assistants in charge of much older adults might be a bad idea.

See? Tarou was...okay at first.

So going chronologically and to the point Endou needs to learn to stop being such a baby. He had problems with Misato in the first episode and tried to brush it under the rug when the woman never did anything to him. She seems to know he doesn’t really like her work for some reason and is careful to not step on any toes. More like there is well known information that Endou is a giant pain in the ass to work with and no one wants to be on the receiving end of his tears. Basically the 3 D department over stepped their bounds and decided to do a scene that wasn’t originally assigned to them. They thought they were helping the overworked Endou and that their explosion made the scene pop. It is up to Tarou to tell Endou not to do the scene and be the in between of the two parties.

Aoi has lots of compassion for people not named Tarou.

As expected this does not go over well. When Aoi is finally told the whole story (as she saw Endou walk out at the tail end of the drama) she feels as if most of the fault is with Tarou. I can’t really agree with ALL but some. Some folks. Because….I feel as if the part of my brain that stops my mouth from saying unfortunate things either doesn’t exist or is on a permanent vacation. But Tarou takes that to a whole new level. There were times he could have said the same thing but with different words and the same message would have come across. Or rather he just made up random crap, put words in people’s mouths. I believe part of this business involved a lot of ass kissing and stretching the truth. Like Endou…everyone knows how you have been so busy lately and what with Aoi causing all that drama last week…well we are just trying to keep on track and the 3 D team is going to take over this one scene so no one else falls behind or passes out. Like throw people under the bus. LIE. Lie in a way that makes sense and won’t cause people to question your lie. Because people coming together and talking about your lie leads to your downfall every time. Instead of doing any of that Tarou lied in ways that made the situation worse. Like well Endou I guess people don’t think you can do it. Well 3 D team I guess Endou hates your guts and thinks everything you do is crap. Like…Tarou needs to learn to be a people person. Or people need to learn that everything he says is lies and perhaps people should take the 5 minutes to stand up and talk directly to the person, breaking some Japanese code of speaking through people to not be confrontational or something. Because Tarou is beyond confrontational.

...And I could have fixed this last night? HOW?!

So yeah…not sure how Aoi was going to help out Tarou in that aspect of his life. She can’t teach him now at the age of 22 or however old he is how to have tact. Usually junior and high school beats that out of you. But Aoi places all the blame on Tarou and his lack of…..workplace words. In reality Endou was being just as immature as Tarou was being. Yes the man felt slighted. Yes they should have asked Endou his thoughts on the matter before even starting anything. That is where the toe stepping started. Sending in Tarou instead of manning up to what they did…not a fan. Even if it is Tarou’s job to keep things on track I don’t think it is his job to stop two grown men from having a fight…even if he started it. I think the fight was going to happen no matter what the kid said just based on what was happening. Endou just has an attitude and this was a moment where anyone would feel slighted. Like I can do this scene amazingly and now someone is going to come around with their 3 D glasses and make it unnecessary. I think that Tarou probably should have gone to Honda sooner….or at all. This was over his head and I don’t think he should have made the decision or helped make the decision on what should actually be on air.

X__X How can the end not be done yet?!

Aoi keeps saying that Tarou needs to go get Honda. I think Honda should have been brought in earlier. Because now the man has locked himself up with crybaby Seiichi in a tiny room with no hope of ever seeing the light of day again. Because it is funny that Seiichi, a man who needs redemption in his life, has yet to write the ending to anime that is already airing. Just let that sink in folks. People are basically finishing the actual episode, drawings and all, a day or two before it airs. But now we are so backed up things are looking iffy on that point. But now…now…the person who has made up the entire anime from his own head doesn’t even have an ending for it! How did this show get picked up?! Especially with a man like Seiichi who apparently rose quickly and fell just as quickly in the anime field. Had this been a manga or game adaptation or someone who had been consist with regards to hits yeah back up the guy. But Seiichi was like look guys…idols and they just gave him a show? Perhaps if he was conflicted on ONE detail of the ending I might understand. But it sounds like he has no idea what to do and was lala living in fried chicken land when he should have been really reviewing his material and coming to ending that is satisfying.

There is a bucket. Get to work NOW!

Is this real life in the anime field? If so I am really am understanding the derp/C-Team scenes more and more now. How Recap episodes come into being. How the last episode ends with no ending at all or an ending that really isn’t an ending and everything felt like a giant waste of time. Perhaps not all studios have a special key that basically lead to a dungeon under the studio. Okay in the studio but you know what I mean. Honda acted like he was turning into a demon when really the man was just trying to save everyone’s jobs including Seiichi. He was going to eat more chicken! No chicken for you until you finish something. Although I might have drawn the line at the piss bucket since I locked myself in there too to ensure work got done. Just…Seiichi has a lot of regrets about the past and his horrible looking anime that probably would have failed anyway just based on the drawings but still. Honda is just trying to help…everyone. Which means he has no time to help Tarou and Aoi fix this problem. Because a no ending is a bigger deal than a crybaby attack.

Speaking of showing professional and wearing big boy panties....

But it is still a deal. Not a deal where Tarou needs to suck up to Aoi. I agree that maybe they should have talked to Erika and see what she would suggest if going to Honda was not an option since she has been around the block for a while. I think a lot of this episode had to do with Japanese interpersonal relationships and that is why it seems so…off to me. Like just talk to people. Or fire people. If Endou wants to play this game he can go somewhere else. Especially when others like Misato finds out what is going on and she isn’t even at the studio. Show some professionalism. I especially was….well was something at the husband trying to sneak home after stomping out of work and finding his hard working wife cleaning the house. Like I wanted to beat him when he asked why she wasn’t at work. Like fool why aren’t you at work?! Guilty face! Plus she is going to work later. As probably the primary breadwinner Endou needs to think about having HIS FEELINGS hurt at work. This coming from a girl who has made bad decisions at her job in the past. But I am not the primary earner. Work is work and sometimes you are going to have your feelings hurt. But if Endou just had put his big boy panties on and talked to the 3 D people he might have learned Tarou was saying some crappy things and perhaps there was a different point of view. Or at least he could have explained how passionate he felt about the topic.

But they are meanie heads. MEANIE HEADS!

Instead he takes his underling out to get drunk and talk crap with Mentor. I kinda felt bad for underling as he had pressure to support Endou. I think on his own underling was all like TEAM DRAWING and not team 3 D. He seems knowledgeable and looks up to those who draw things rather than rely on computers. But he has to support Endou during this crazy tantrum the man is having. I think that Endou was expecting Mentor to support him as well. Like eff the police, we don’t need 3 D animation. How dare they take our jobs! Instead Mentor had a more mature point of view which sorta pissed Endou off. Like well….I believe in hand drawn animation too. But right now I am teaching 3 D animators. Because that might be the future. And instead of being left in the dust I want to help shape the future. Because if it does come down to only computers then I will need a new job. And if it continues to be a hybrid I will need to have a good working relationship with these other people. Things are changing and you can either change with it or be called a relic. I think some advice about picking your battles and being someone reliable might have been warranted too. Like dude no one is going to count on you if you stomp out the minute you don’t get your way. I know you felt slighted but do the best you can do so maybe if things fall through you can look like the hero.

Thanks for the drive by Emmaing and giving your opinion.

Aoi was stuck in the middle of these two factions. She was trying to help Tarou reach an angry and drinking Endou to no avail. She keeps saying bring Honda into this and Tarou refuses to do so. So on she goes to get some actual food to eat. I can’t help but notice this line of work seems to have long hours or not really a traditional set of hours. I was happy to see Ema and Aoi hanging out. I thought that the show was going to be more like that. The girls living close to each other and often going to each other’s house to complain or vent about work, having dinners together. So it was nice. Brief but nice. Ema was basically there to voice her concerns about 3 D animation herself. Like this is a big chunk of people’s lives. Sorta like when all the video rental places die. Change happens and a lot of people gain jobs while others lose them. So Ema sheds some light on what Endou must be thinking so I guess Aoi feels guilty enough to go back and help Tarou. Or maybe she was just on a break. Either way she comes back to Tarou telling lies to people that things are going well and him trying to find someone to replace Endou. Which I think was the right thing to do. Let Endou have his crybaby attack. I don’t want his help anyway. Time to find someone who can do the work without being all emo about things. I think Tarou did the right thing.

Okay so maybe Aoi was reminded at a different part of the episode...but still. What the heck?!

The episode ends with Aoi getting sucked back into the drama. Perhaps Endou had a change of heart or the booze got to him. Or maybe he realized that eating is a nice thing and he needs his job. Whatever the case may be he decides to ask Aoi to play the explosion scene in question. He needs to see for himself if this scene is worth having a crazy attack over. And I think folks…he saw the light. I think he knows that the scene (as incomplete as it was) looked really good in 3 D and he had to admit defeat. That all would have been fine and dandy but of course something else had to come up. Aoi is then informed (well she was informed earlier but now it is dire) that her episode is directly tied into the ending of Tarou’s episode. And that episode has already been drawn with traditional techniques. As in no 3 D. So now…the scenes don’t match. And clearly this is Aoi’s problem. This is why I think there are way too many hands involved with the anime process. No one knows what anyone else is doing and when people take it upon themselves to change things…well other things get affected. If Tarou had not told Aoi about this animation change problem she would have been caught off guard. But since she DOES know what is going on….that means she is responsible to help fix the mess. You know, the minute she got Endou on board now she needs to go crawling back to Endou and get the 3 D team mad for wasting her time. Her. Because Tarou is done being responsible. Like haha you are involved now so you fix it. Thanks a lot dude….