Tongue-in-cheek title aside (I seem to wind up with a lot of those for these columns, not sure why), this probably ranks up there with the more ambitious posts in terms of attempted idea communication that I’ve done for Crunchyroll. It’s also potentially one of the most flawed (depending on what you think of some of the underlying assumptions I made in writing it), but haven’t I always said that flawed anime can be interesting? I hope this post is, as well.
Subtitle: On the Importance of Workplace Communication
Shirobako‘s a pretty sneaky show—it gives us an episode titled “Those Who Blame Others Should Just Quit!” and then proceeds to give us an entire episode of one guy who probably really does deserve to be blamed (although not entirely). It’s pretty eye-opening to watch Tarou’s exhibition of his absolutely abysmal communication skills (and lack of common sense), and as fun as it is to just blast him over sucking at his job, I think there’s a pretty impressive opportunity for self-reflection here. Even if you don’t have a job right now, Shirobako‘s highlighting a pretty important message here: communication is key.
And, along with all that, Shirobako managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of jokes, commentary on the 2D-3D debate, parallel that debate with Aoi’s struggles with her future, and lead us into the “one person’s problem is everyone’s problem” episode.
It’s generally against my philosophy on reviewing shows to do any sort of review after one episode (other than drops), but Kyousougiga‘s episode 00 is something I just couldn’t let go by without saying something. After Crunchyroll so graciously picked up the show a few episodes in, I gave it a shot out of boredom, knowing nothing about the plot, characters or anything else. I could try to describe the episode, but it’d be better for you to just watch it. Click the picture to take off on 25 minutes of excellence.
http://www.crunchyroll.com/kyousougiga/episode-0-646481
In case you need more convincing, allow me to highlight the strengths of this episode. Continue reading
Mage in a Barrel 