Line #10 Anime/Shirobako


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/41830e00_1677_4abe_8f49_65f7754d9d01.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Cute girls not always included; [[ExhaustedEyeBags long hours]] guaranteed.]]
3
4	-->''Don-don-donuts, let's go nuts!''
5
6	Five high school friends -- Aoi Miyamori, Ema Yasuhara, Shizuka Sakaki, Misa Todou and Midori Imai -- vow to produce an animated series together. As the Animation Club of Kaminomiya High School, they worked together to create an animated short for the school festival. Soon enough the former three graduate, but all five vow to one day meet again and see their dream of creating an anime professionally fulfilled.
7
8	Fast forward to two-and-a-half years later: Aoi and Ema are now working as production assistant and key animator, respectively, at struggling Musashino Animation. Shizuka is a newbie voice actress, but still hasn't landed an anime role. Misa feels trapped in her well-paying but monotonous routine at a 3D graphics studio. Midori plans to be a writer, but is still in college. Day in and day out, they're exposed to the harsh realities of the industry they so loved, like long hours, production delays, and production staff at loggerheads with each other, never mind how this leaves little time for them to do what ''they'' want. Is it still possible for them to reach their high school goal of doing a series together?
9
10	A 24-episode (though [[http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-30353.html it was planned for 50 episodes originally]]) AnimeFirst production from Creator/PAWorks directed by Tsutomu Mizushima (known for his work on ''Manga/SquidGirl'' and ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer''), ''Shirobako'' (literally ''White Box'', after the white box that finalized production videocassettes were packaged in) takes a look at the workings of the Japanese animation industry, particularly on the studio side of things.
11
12	Two [=OVA=]s were released for the series, both connected to the shows that the Musani staff animated, both bundled in as specials for the Blu-Ray release. The first OVA tackled an early episode of ''Exodus'', a Musani-original series, while the final Blu-Ray included the first episode of ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'', the anime adaptation the studio worked on during the series' second half. A movie was released on February 29, 2020.
13
14	''Shirobako'' ended up the first in a ThematicSeries about young women working in Japan.
15
16	In a hilarious bit of {{Defictionalization}}, Takeshi Nogami released a complete volume of '''Third Aerial Girls' Squad''' for the 2015 Summer Comiket, published as it would have appeared ''entirely in-universe'', complete with an advertisement of a mousepad for ''Sailor Suits and [=F3s=]''.
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18	If you are interested in understanding more about Japanese anime and manga related fields, we recommend ''Manga/SeiyusLife'' for voice acting, ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' for manga production (and ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'' for {{hentai}} manga production), and ''Literature/GirlishNumber'' for a more cynical spin on anime production. See also ''Manga/KeepYourHandsOffEizouken'' for a look at animation ''specifically'' (not to mention an amateur project, rather than a professional work), as well as [[DeconReconSwitch a view of the ups and downs of artistic endeavours]].
19
20	----
21	!!Examples of the following tropes have been rejected by the author. Funny story...:
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Tropes Present In The Main Series]]
25	* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects:
26	** The cars throughout the series are rendered in 3D CG, which sticks out amidst the 2D elements.
27	** The idea of CGI in otherwise 2D anime was also used as part of the conflict for a few episodes, and is shown on computer monitors in varying unfinished states.
28	** The ''Zoo Park Story'' sequence in episode 10 is also done up in a different style. Though unlike most of the show's examples, it's a self contained sequence.
29	** Also appears in the two one-off episodes as a result. Again, mostly used for vehicle animation.
30	* AdaptationDecay: InUniverse, this is what happened to the adaptation of ''Sailor Suits and [=F3s=]'', an earlier work of Takezou Nogame (author of ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'', which [=MusAni=] adapted in the second half of this series). The otherwise fairly serious sports manga was retooled into a GagSeries, with its battle-hardened ActionGirl protagonist [[{{Chickification}} being turned into a vapid moeblob]]. The ratings were so poor Nogame's reputation declined (even though he had no say in the way it turned out) and working on it was a big step in production assistant Daisuke Hiraoka, himself a fan of the original manga, turning into a burnt-out cynic by the time he was hired by [=MusAni=].
31	* BenevolentBoss: Shizuka's boss at her waitress job is kind and supportive, encouraging her to clock out to spend time with her friends.
32	* BlandNameProduct: Or, specifically, companies. Check their [[ShoutOut/{{Shirobako}} Shout Out]] page.
33	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Aoi (honey-blonde), Ema (brunette) and Shizuka (redhead). Also Tarou (blonde), Yukata (brunette) & Tatsuya (redhead)
34	* BookEnds:
35	** The series begins with the five girls putting together their animated short for the school festival, ''Shinbutsu Konkou: The Seven Lucky Battle Gods''. [[spoiler:At the end of Episode 24 they renew their vow to one day remake it for commercial release, and imagines seeing the characters in their short sail past by them from their flying boat.]]
36	** Episode 5 begins with the original version of Arupins' "I always knew" clip from ''Exodus'', which the company spends the entire episode redoing because Kinoshita doesn't like it. It ends with the revised version.
37	* BossSubtitles: Because of its large cast, this is compulsory for everyone, even for Aoi.
38	* CareerResurrection: InUniverse, ''Exodus!'' helped [=MusAni=] repair some of the damage dealt to its reputation by the disaster that was ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven''.
39	** In the movie, after almost going bankrupt after a project was canceled mid-production, SIVA is the first original work [=MusAni=] attempts to create since.
40	* CastHerd: There's too many people to cover for this show, therefore each episode would focus on a selected group of cast depending on the progress of their [[ShowWithinAShow project]].
41	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: The voice actress preferences raised by some members of the production committee for ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'' in Episode 14 accounts to this:
42	** A game developer representative wants a famous actress despite her voice [[LarynxDissonance not fitting her character at all]].
43	** A record company representative wants someone who can sing, even if that means an InUniverse case of DawsonCasting (i.e., a 60-year-old lady playing a 17-year-old girl).
44	** An event organizer representative believes that SexSells, so his choice is a big-breasted ex-model who completely bombed her audition.
45	* CoolBike: Nabe-Pi's old-school Ural with all bells and whistles, which also served as a model for the Alpine's bike in the ''Exodus''.
46	* CoolCar: Again Nabe-P and his classic Volvo, Okitsu's Alfa-Romeo in the finale.
47	* CostumePorn: Somewhat understated and not in-your-face, but if you pay attention, it's easy to notice the amount of work that went into the character's outfits. This is, however, treated quite realistically: while the more fashion-minded almost qualify as the UnlimitedWardrobe -- Aoi alone has no less than six or seven outfits that are rotated and combined throughout the series -- the other barely change the T-shirts. Katsuragi, for example, is almost characterized [[IconicOutfit by his pin-striped dress shirt and suede jacket]].
48	** In the movie, Aoi and Kaede both put on fancy kimonos to [[spoiler: negotiate the copyright of the movie SIVA.]]
49	* CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation: The series runs on this, as it's pretty obvious that much of the production staff's (particularly Mizushima's) real-world experiences go into each episode. Even the high-profile voice actors cast for this series are tasked with the [[WhamLine heaviest lines]] that shed light on the dark side of their glamor, which can be seen especially clear within the ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'' Casting Committee.
50	-->'''[[Creator/MasayaMatsukaze Nabe-P]]:''' "A voice actor's top priority is his acting[, not [[IdolSinger singing]]]."\
51	'''[[Creator/MitsuakiMadono Yarase]]''' (in response to Nabe-P): "This is why the anime business is shrinking, we're not in the Showa Era anymore."\
52	'''[[Creator/NobuyukiHiyama Director Kinoshita]]:''' "You know, my ears get all confused after listening to more than 13 people (who auditioned)." [[note]]Out of an average of 100 people auditioning for one anime project.[[/note]]
53	* CreatorKiller:
54	** InUniverse, ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven'' ran [=MusAni=]'s reputation to the ground and ruined the once-promising career of its director, Seiichi Kinoshita. Viewers hated it, and publishers became skeptical of their ability to make faithful adaptations, at least until they redeemed themselves with the studio's first original anime in six years, ''Exodus!''.
55	** Time Hippo almost bankrupted [=MusAni=] after it was canceled, causing most of the staff to quit.
56	* CreatorRecovery: InUniverse, at the start of the series Seiichi Kinoshita is still having nightmares about ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven'', but after the success of ''Exodus!'' restores his reputation and self-confidence he performs far better as director. He even completes the storyboards for ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'' ahead of schedule, much to everyone's amazement.
57	** Kinoshita once again fell into depression after Time Hippo was canceled, thought it wasn’t his fault. It took Aoi and Honda encouraging and bribing him with cake to get him back to work.
58	* DeliberatelyBadExample: [=MusAni=] is a reasonably good company that made two hits- ''Exodus to Tomorrow'' and ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad''- on the heels of the massive failure ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven'', and most of its employees are competent, even if some have their flaws. Hiraoka's previous employers were not good places to work, with lazy and often verbally abusive employees, and one was responsible for producing a bad adaptation of a work by the creator of ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad''. Not only do they provide a FreudianExcuse for Hiraoka's poor attitude, but they make [=MusAni=] look better by comparison.
59	* TheDitz
60	** This is a plot point in Episode 2, as Kinoshita and the rest of the production were arguing about exactly how ditzy ''Exodus!'''s Alpine should be.
61	** Among the characters, Tarou, the [=MusAni=] head PA, and Chazawa, a Yotaka Bookshop editor, have clearly graduated from here straight into TheLoad category, especially the latter.
62	* DownerBeginning: Downplayed. The series begins with the leads in high school together and promising to work together on an anime one day... flashes forward to Aoi being little more than a gofer, Ema barely eking out a living as an animator, Shizuka waiting tables as she struggles to get acting work, Misa in a non-anime company and Midori in college. In short, all five of the leads are a long way from achieving their goals.
63	* DrivesLikeCrazy:
64	** Aoi and Tomigaya make a habit of racing to get the same parking spot, doing terrifying jumps that shouldn't be possible and drifting around corners -- in the cheap ultracompacts, mind you. One shot to the speedometer shows "50 km/hr", however, so this may be an exaggerated glimpse into their imaginations.
65	** In episode 16 even ''Nabe-P'' does this, driving his old Volvo with Katsuragi to find Chazawa.
66	** Satou in episode 17, after she ended up in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogawa,_Saitama Ogawa]], a good 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Musashino, because she has NoSenseOfDirection and missed her ramp on a highway -- all the while everyone were awaiting her and the keyframes she went to deliver.
67	** Okitsu in episode 24 does this while delivering the final episode of ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'' to the broadcaster. It's hinted in that episode that she's had [[TheBigRace a prior history with the police because of her driving]], earning the nickname "Speed Limit Goddess" by them.
68	* EasterEgg: Musashino Animation's supposedly fictional phone line ''did'' work in real life! If you dialed their Japanese number during its airing season, that phone would connect to an answering machine with Aoi's voice actress, Juri Kimura enacting as Aoi as if Aoi's answering your phone call on behalf of the company and then start to go berserk, shelling out all of her inside gossips or stress on you with whatever was going on with her during that week's episode in under 50 seconds. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcOvUtHDPO0 Some fans managed]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUjY-4E4_nA to catch some of them in time]].
69	* EpicFail: ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven'', [=MusAni=]'s previous work before ''Exodus!'', bombed so hard Kinoshita and Yamada were psychologically scarred for life. The anime was plagued with three {{Whole Episode Flashback}}s (for a ''TwelveEpisodeAnime'', even), one of which was a flashback of a flashback, loads of {{Gainaxing}} which never sat well with MoralGuardians and {{Media Watchdog}}s, and grating examples of OffModel which alienated otakus everywhere.
70	* EvolvingCredits: The ending of Episode 12 has a subtle one, where the bear doll finally succeeded in giving the other doll a love letter.
71	* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The first episode begins with five high school girls promising to make an anime together, then flashes forward several years to them working low-level positions at best and not even in the industry at worst, showing how passionate people are about the anime but how much work it takes to succeed in anime.
72	* ExecutiveMeddling: InUniverse, Yotaka Bookshop ends up being this in regards to [=MusAni=]'s adaptation of ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad''. The demands of the author, Takezou Nogame, are even described as "God's Words." The editor, Chazawa, would frequently wait to the last minute to drop editorial mandates,[[note]]First with changing the character designs, and later with demanding the ending changed.[[/note]] causing production to halt to a complete stop.
73	* {{Fanservice}}: Aside from the characters' GenericCuteness and a bit of CostumePorn, completely averted in the main series. They make up for it in the official art.
74	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Kinoshita often says that his goal for ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'' is to produce a "win-win" project that will make everyone happy. Then in Episode 23 [[spoiler:he goes to talk with the author, Takezou Nogame, trying to find a compromise that will give the anime a proper ending while staying faithful to the source material. The conversation not only results in Kinoshita getting the permission to make a much happier ending than Nogame originally demanded, but it also helps the latter decide how he wants to proceed with his manga. This conversation even results in Shizuka Sakaki getting her first significant anime role. This was foreshadowed back in episode 14, where she was the director's second choice for Cathy; she ends up voicing Cathy's younger sister, a new character created for the compromise ending]]. "Win-Win" all around.
75	* GenericCuteness: Completely incidental to the show's WorkCom plot, but ''all'' characters in the series are uniformly gorgeous. Even the elderly ones, like Marukawa and Sugie spouses are [[SilverFox pretty easy on the eyes]]. The only possible exceptions are the {{Joke Character}}s like Tarou and Tomigaya, but even they are HollywoodHomely at worst.
76	* GilliganCut: Episode 1 starts with a flashback to the five girls vowing to work together one day as professionals by holding their donuts in the air, ending with a shot of Aoi's donut. The scene then abruptly cuts into the steering wheel of her car as she frantically waits out the traffic light in order to check on Misato Segawa and her work for ''Exodus!'' Episode 4.
77	* HateSink: For the first half of the series, Taro screws everything up and doesn't even try to be remotely useful, and a good chunk of the early problems in the series are his fault. However, [[CharacterDevelopment he improves in the second half]], when Chazawa manages to prove worse in every way possible, and with even less redeeming value.
78	* HeroicBSOD: A lot of staff members has this, which was resulted from various stages of realism. Hence, most of the character arcs come from this, and can become easy [[TraumaButton PTSDs]] depending on the person:
79	** Honda's practically OnceAnEpisode cry of "We're out of options!", at various levels of despair.
80	** Yamada's first stint as episode director was Episode 9 of ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven''. Said episode was was so full of OffModel, that the episode achieved an InUniverse MemeticMutation, and he has refused to check online feedback regarding his works ever since.
81	** In Episode 5, it was implied by Honda that the reason Kinoshita is slacking off was due to the poor ratings of ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven'', which dashed his passion.
82	*** He goes through a bad one in episode 12 during the crisis meeting for Exodus' last episode : he's unusually quiet, looks dejected throughout and it takes him a few moments before reacting to bad news, as if he wasn't really there.
83	** As Aoi founds out firsthand, the animation industry isn't pretty, and production schedules can be held back if ''one'' person in the chain screws up. Taro's bungle in Episode 1,[[note]]Not telling anyone when an animator quit the project.[[/note]] for example, disrupts ''weeks''' worth of pre-planning.
84	** Ema has one in Episode 7, when it turns out that she cannot easily balance her efforts between speed and quality yet, and has to do retakes for the full four cuts that she rushed the previous day, severely hurting her self-confidence.
85	** Episode 15's finale was one for the producers, after Katsuragi and Nabe-P learn that Takezou Nogame, author of their current project ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'', didn't like the character designs af all, and ordered to redo them -- after the first episode already progressed well into key animation stage. The blame for this lies with [[TheLoad Shinsuke Chazawa]], Nogame's liaison and probably the worst man on the job after ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'''s Maeno, who airheadedly reassured [=MusAni=] that everything is OK ''without even consulting Nogame in the first place''.
86	** The first half of Episode 22 explores at length a past one of Hiraoka, who was hit by the dark side of the industry, so much so by the time he was introduced he is but a burnt-out shell of his past self.
87	** The second half of Episode 22 has another one for [[NervousWreck Katsuragi]], which mirrors the character design crisis in Episode 15, only this time Nogame the author didn't like the ''script'', with Chazawa to blame again. [[spoiler:This is resolved when Kinoshita defies Chazawa and arranges a meeting with Nogame himself, who turns out to be a pretty nice guy who agrees on a compromise ending for the series and later has Chazawa sacked for his incompetence.]]
88	* ImagineSpot: Aoi has an active imagination, and frequently imagines her two favorite dolls talking to her, offering advice or giving voice to her fears. Occasionally the two will also act out little skits to illustrate Aoi's state of mind.
89	* InkSuitActor: Aside from the newbies like Shizuka, the more popular voice actresses are practically copycats of [[AsHimself their actual voice actresses]], some of which are even [[BlandNameProduct Bland-Named]].
90	* {{Irony}}: While more than likely nothing more than coincidence, the episode that focuses on outside episode subcontracting was in and of itself also outsourced to another studio. Specifically, notable episode co-production studio Creator/MagicBus.
91	* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: Episodes 11-12 revolve around Aoi's desperate search for someone to animate a herd of horses for the ''Exodus'' finale. [[spoiler:Her meeting with Kanno revealed that Sugie, one of their senior members, was a master at animating animals; it turns out he even worked on her favorite anime from her childhood, ''Andes Chucky''.]]
92	* LastNameBasis: Since the series takes place in a professional setting, most characters call each other by their surnames or titles. Some of the few exceptions include Tarou, who's referred to his first name as a sign of how little he is respected, as well as Aoi's group of friends, who use first names or nicknames on each other.
93	* TheLoad: A number of characters' less than stellar performances have endangered the studio more than once.
94	** Tarou Takanashi is an airhead who always forgets things and has the sensitivity of a sleepwalking hippopotamus, though at least he can be trusted to get the basics right with regular supervision. In spite of his shortcomings, he is cheery, enthusiastic and readily available to lend a hand at the mere mention of his name. When Doumoto and Shinkawa discuss the slackers who are working with Aoi, the former mentions Tarou [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment three times]].
95	** Shunsuke Chazawa, the editor assigned by the ''3rd Aerial Girls Squad'''s publishing house to oversee the adaptation, is even worse, so much so he makes ''Tarou'' look like a workhorse. He's a LazyBum who barely shows at meetings and discussions, consistently fails to connect the studio with the author despite this being his main job ([[spoiler:leading to a pair of crises in Episodes 16 and 22-23]]), and always runs off to have fun in the middle of work.
96	* MemeticMutation: InUniverse, Yamada mentioned that his first stint as an episode director for anime was ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven'' Episode 9. It was so full of OffModel the episode became famous for all the wrong reasons, and the backlash burnt him so hard he lost the guts to read online feedback regarding his work ever since.
97	* MirrorCharacter: Shimoyanagi and Endou might be [[TheRival rivals]], but they are actually pretty similar to each other and have the same interests, bonding over the Idepon Exhibit in Episode 6 -- it was a show that motivated both of them to take up animation, in fact. By the end of their argument arc they even asked each other to be taught with their respective disciplines.
98	* MoodWhiplash:
99	** As Ema is depressed over Segawa's criticism of her work, the scene briefly cuts to Kaori and Midori enjoying themselves in Tokyo.
100	** Episode 15 is mostly a walkthrough of the various meetings involved in anime production with commentary by Roro and Mimuji, Aoi's toys and the most purely comic relief characters, Watanabe gets a call from Katsuragi and learns that Nogame rejected all the character designs, forcing the staff to start key animation from scratch.
101	** Episode 22 ends on a positive note, with ''Third Aerial Girls Squad'' completed and everyone celebrating, and then in the last minute or so of the episode, [[spoiler:they learn that Nogame rejected the last episode's storyboards]], thus causing the drama in the penultimate episode.
102	* MostWritersAreWriters: To be precisely, "Most Japanese Animation Industrial Workers Are Japanese Animation Industrial Workers." This show is obviously talking about anime production from the eyes of the anime staff.
103	* NerdGlasses: Realistically speaking, a decent amount of people working in this industry wear glasses. It's a lot easier to count the cast members that actually ''don't'' wear them than the ones that do.
104	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Or "No Known Anime Production Staffs Were Harmed."
105	** Mitsuaki Kanno for Creator/HideakiAnno.
106	** Endou's sensei in ep. 5, [[https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/3/189408266.30a/0_101351_cf64b7d0_XL.jpg Saburo Kitano]], refers to veteran animation director [[http://myanimelist.net/people/8268/Ichiro_Itano Ichiro Itano]], famous for his stylized ''[[MacrossMissileMassacre Itano circus]]'' and his other groundbreaking contributions to the mecha genre, which have laid foundations of its modern form.
107	** ''Exodus'' voice actresses Mei Nakaharu, Suzuka Itou, and Mui Kayana are not only the Bland-Names of their respective real-life counterparts, Creator/MaiNakahara, Creator/ShizukaIto and Creator/AiKayano, but they also made the case of being [[InkSuitActor Ink-Suited]] too.
108	** In ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'', there's voice actress Popomi Toyomori, which is Creator/MegumiToyoguchi in name but not performed. Then there's this [[http://imgur.com/Bb2NWPw very well-defined unnamed voice actress with no speaking role suspiciously being a]] [[TheCameo visual cameo]] of Creator/MegumiOgata.
109	** Manga author Takezou Nogame is based on Takeshi Nogami, who also provided the art for ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'', itself a blanded-out version of his own manga ''[[http://imgur.com/yy1WhFn Shidenkai no Maki]]''. Nogami himself was also the supporting designer for Mizushima's previous anime, ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer''.
110	** Sugie-san, the elderly animator who turns out to have had a big hand in creating ''Andes Chucky'', is based on veteran animator Yasuji Mori, who worked on the Anime/WorldMasterpieceTheater anime ''Anime/RockyChuckTheMountainRat'' (which ''Andes Chucky'' is largely based on).
111	** In regards to her [[http://imgur.com/Bb2NWPw suspected]] visual cameo, fans have been pouring onto her in search for her answer. And Creator/MegumiOgata [[http://imgur.com/k0h4UV3 did made a reply on Twitter.]]
112	--> '''Megumi Ogata:''' "I've been getting a lot of 'Is Ogata the model!?' kind of messages in regards of 'a voice actress character' within ''Shirobako'' lately. But I'm really unaware of anything at all! So maybe you guys can ask Creator/PAWorks about it~. ...But indeed, she does have the looks of my younger self...[[IAmNotPretty but perhaps she's]] [[RealWomenHaveCurves too slim?]]"
113	* PoorCommunicationKills: In episode 5, huge schism grows between the 2D and 3D department due to Tarou doing a really bad job relaying messages about who would do an important cut. 3D's opinion that them doing it would give 2D time for other cuts is relayed as 3D being much faster than 2D. 2D's response that doing it by hand leads to more expression is relayed as 3D being crappy and not as good as 2D. Tarou also falls prey to this trope when he calls Aoi when she's out drinking with her friends, since he fails to make it clear that he's dealing with a serious problem. Aoi assumes he's just jerking her around and ends up getting annoyed and hanging up on him, not realizing the seriousness of the situation until the next time she comes in to work.
114	* {{Prequel}}: The manga spinoff, ''Shirobako: Kaminoyama High School Animation Club'', which, as its title implies, details Aoi, Ema, Shizuka, Misa and Midori's high school days.
115	* QuitYourWhining: Endou ends up receiving this from an old colleague, who tells him not to blame the rise of 3D animation for declining work opportunities.
116	* RedOniBlueOni: [[{{Hotblooded}} Endou]] and [[NiceGuy Shimoyanagi]].
117	* RomanAClef: Nearly every character is a thinly-disguised version of a well-known personality within the anime industry. The [[strike: inspiration for Chazawa]] real-life editor for Nogame's [[BlandNameProduct counterpart]] even threw a fit on Twitter...in response to his assigned author, who ''perhaps'' [[TrollingCreator took advantage of this scenario]].
118	-->'''Takeshi Nogami:''' "[[IllKillYou I wanna kill]] [[http://imgur.com/tBNu7x8 that Editor."]]
119	-->'''[[MisBlamed Katsushi Oota]]:''' "[[{{Catchphrase}} Funny story]], [[http://imgur.com/mAdxyou as the editor for Mr. Nogame...I mean, Nogami,]] [[ThisIsGonnaSuck I don't think I can watch my recorded]] ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Shirobako]]'' [[ThisIsGonnaSuck lightheartedly... (Twitter) Timeline-wise]]."
120	* {{School Club Stor\|ies}}y: The manga {{prequel}}, serialized at the same time the anime airs. It's mainly about the time when the girls were still in high school.
121	* SchoolgirlSeries: The manga {{prequel}}.
122	* SequelHook: [[spoiler:Watanabe and Katsuragi announce that [=MusAni=] will now have to work on two projects at once; also, now that they finally made a professional work together, Aoi, Ema, Shizuka, Misa and Midori renew their vow to one day remake their animated short from their high-school days.]]
123	* SerkisFolk: Shown during the opening theme.
124	** Though oddly enough, no motion capture occurs in the actual series.
125	* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Turns out to be painstakingly funny, especially when a character gives [[DoubleMeaning flattering comments]] about "Voice Actors".
126	--> '''[[Creator/HiroyukiYoshino Tarou]]:''' "Oh Boy~ Voice Actors sure are AWESOME!"
127	* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/{{Shirobako}} Now has its own page]].
128	* ShowWithinAShow: Given the nature of the show, this will naturally abound.
129	** ''Exodus!'' is the project for the first cour, a 13-episode anime which has its first full episode {{OVA}} release tied into ''Shirobako'''s UsefulNotes/{{DVD}}[=/=]UsefulNotes/BluRay Volume 3 limited edition.
130	** ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'', the A-list project for the second cour and the adaptation of the popular manga by Takezou Nogame.
131	** ''Andes Chucky'', Aoi's favorite anime that was produced in TheSeventies, among whose artists was none other than [[spoiler:current key animator Shigeru Sugie]], and had a great deal of input by his then production manager, [[spoiler:current Musashino Animation president Masato Murakawa]], who was personally responsible for the very tone of Aoi's favorite episode.
132	** ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven'', the infamously fanservice-overdosed anime which drove [=MusAni=]'s reputation to the ground and ruined Kinoshita's once-promising career six years ago.
133	** ''Sailor Suits and [=F3s=]'', a previous work by Nogame, which suffered an InUniverse AdaptationDecay, the backdraft of which slightly ruined Nogame's reputation and served as a further catalyst for Hiraoka's bitterness.
134	** ''Shinbutsu Koukou: The Seven Lucky Battle Gods'', Aoi, Ema, Shizuka, Misa and Midori's animated short during their high-school days. [[spoiler:At the end of the series they vow to one day remake it.]]
135	* SitcomArchnemesis:
136	** [[BigBrotherMentor Erika Yano]] to [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Tarou Takanashi]]. With a [[TheLoad reason]].
137	** [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism Endou to Segawa]], whom are implied to have known each other early in their careers.
138	* SleeperHit: InUniverse, this is how ''Exodus!'' was described, in the process helping Musashino Animation regain its reputation dashed by the infamous ''Jiggly Jiggly Heaven''. In RealLife the show itself is this for Creator/PAWorks, being their first A-list hit after a series of lackluster performances.
139	* SmallNameBigEgo:
140	** Tarou, who somehow thinks he's the greatest thing to happen to Musashino. That he manages to avoid being a KnowNothingKnowItAll (as he practically ''brags'' about how incompetent he is) while pulling off this trope says much about his character. WordOfGod also has it that Tarou is essentially series director Tsutomu Mizushima's [[CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation projection of his younger self]], when he was incredibly arrogant and self-important but had little to back it up with.
141	** Downplayed with Hiraoka. He's less arrogant than cynical and abrasive, but regards his coworkers as beneath him despite his poor work ethic and tendency to cut corners making him more of a liability than an asset. Madoka calls him out on it, asking Hiraoka if he thinks he can make a career with his attitude.
142	* SoundtrackDissonance: The series begins with an intense car chase between Aoi and Tomigaya to see who gets first to Misato... all the while Aoi sings along to the cheerful opening theme of ''Exodus!'' over her stereo.
143	* SpeakInUnison: In Episode 6, Endou and Shimayanagi, both Idepon fans, yell "You're wrong!" in unison when correcting Aoi and Tarou's misconceptions about the show, despite both men being at odds over the animation.
144	* TheStinger: Episode 18 ends with Ookura on vacation, getting out a can of beer and some dried cuttlefish... then starting to work on his art.
145	* StockFootage: The whole "first episode broadcast party night" scene at [=MusAni=],[[note]]Only smart enough to add the NewMeat and change some people's clothing colors.[[/note]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLc3E_RQ97M even some staff members' spoken lines are completely the same.]] This is basically [[Creator/PAWorks P.A.Works']] sarcastic way of saying "HereWeGoAgain".
146	* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: Late in the Exodus arc, [=MusAni=] holds job interviews, and most of the interviewees end up making mistakes like misidentifying an anime as a [=MusAni=] production. Surprisingly, ''two'' of the applicants get hired, even though Andou admits to wanting money for her hobbies and Satou wants a shorter commute.
147	* ThemeNaming: Creator/PAWorks somehow loves the name "Musashi," based on the legendary samurai UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi, and can be seen littered around on anything in the ''Anime/{{Shirobako}}'' universe ranging from company names, people's names, and random brand names.
148	** '''Musashi'''no Animation
149	** Takezou Nogame's first name is written with the same kanji as "Musashi," which was leaked as a FreezeFrameBonus prior to his introduction, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS But was confirmed with a different reading upon his formal introduction]].
150	** The ''Exodus!'' universe has an amusement park named "Musashino". There is an amusement park in Musashino in RealLife, but as it is in the middle of a large Inokashira park that straddles the border between the Musashino's neighborhood of Kichijouji and the adjacent Shimorenjaku, most of it is technically in ''Mitaka'', a neighboring suburb.
151	** Musashi was an ancient name of the province where Edo was located, so it naturally survives in a lot of names in the Tokyo area, especially to the west of the city, including the suburb of Musashino ("The Fields of Musashi") itself. Miyamoto Musashi also took his name from the province of his birth, his original name being Shinmen [[AlternateCharacterReading Takezo]].
152	* ThoseTwoGuys:
153	** The editors, Yamada and Madoka, are frequently used like a compound character which is a {{foil}} and the OnlySaneMan to the [[ManChild childish]] Kinoshita.
154	** Watanabe and Katsuragi, the producers, also regularly work as a unit.
155	* UnlimitedWardrobe: Quite realistically varied: some characters are almost never seen in the same clothes, or at least regularly mix-and-match their available options. Others, OTOH, are characterized by their {{Iconic Outfit}}s; for example, when Tarou awkwardly asks Aoi if her brown overalls are new, she quickly points out that she's often worn them.
156	* ViewersAreGeniuses: This anime literally dumps tons of characters filled with professional terminology BossSubtitles towards us right from the first episode, ''with no further explanations''. [[note]]Even their [[AllThereInTheManual Official Website]] doesn't serve any purpose.[[/note]] As if they assumed their [[{{Demographics}} target audience]] knows ''everything'' about the business already.
157	* WhamShot: In Episode 23, [=MusAni=] casts a new character for the role of Lucy, and asks if she's come for ADR yet. The door opens and [[spoiler:Shizuka Sakaki]] comes in.
158	* WritersBlockMontage: A couple for Kinoshita, though in his case it's the storyboard sheets and pencils that suffer rather than typewriter. In fact, it was ''Exodus'' scriptwriter, Maitake who pulled Kinoshita ''out'' of his blockage by clever managing their script brainstorming session. Inverted when work begins on ''3rd Aerial Girls Squad'' - apparently, the process of working on ''Exodus'' invigorated Kinoshita, and he manages to finish the storyboards ahead of schedule, as also shown in montage.
159	* WorkCom: More on the work side than comedy, however.[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Tropes Present in the ''Exodus!'' OVA]]
162	* ArtStyleDissonance: The three main characters have cutesy designs that make them look as though they've stepped out of kid-oriented idol franchises like ''VideoGame/{{Aikatsu}}'' or ''[[Anime/SpellboundMagicalPrincessLilPri Lilpri]]'', which contrasts with the murder mystery plot of the anime (as well as all the {{Fanservice}} the girls provide).
163	* ColorCodedCharacters: The three main characters; Akane is red, Aya is blue, and Alpine is yellow.
164	* IdolSinger: The three main characters are this, making up the idol group Tracy.
165	* OlderThanTheyLook: Alpine's publicized age is 17, but she's actually 29. Aside from having a noticeably bigger chest, she doesn't look that much older than the other two idols.
166	* ReallySeventeenYearsOld: Inverted; Alpine is 29 years old, but her age is publicized as 17.
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder:Tropes Present in the ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'' OVA]]
170	* AcePilot: all the girls are ''incredible'' Aces, taking their outdated late-60s aircraft up against F-22s and F-35s, and winning.
171	* AlternateCharacterReading: Aria's surname is read Hitotose ("one-year") yet written with kanji that means "Spring-summer-autumn-winter."
172	* AuthorAppeal: The story is about girls who pilot vintage fighter jets. Tsutomu Mizushima, ''Shirobako'''s director, seems to be fond of the MilitaryMoe trope; he previously directed the "girls operating tanks" anime ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', and would later direct ''Anime/TheMagnificentKotobuki'', which has a very similar premise to ''Third Aerial Girls Squad'' as it focuses on girls who are fighter pilots.
173	* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: Aria uses the Mitsubishi F-1, which is long outdated and out of service with the JASDF. Everyone else is using similarly outdated craft from the 1960s and early 70s.
174	* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to ''Exodus!'' which at most dealt with false accusations of murder, this series deals with an alien invasion, psychological trauma (at least on Aria's part), and [[spoiler:the death of one of the main characters towards the end of the series]].
175	* EverythingIsBigInTexas: Cathy plays just about every Texas stereotype perfectly straight. Outlandish cowboy outfit? Check. Grew up on a ranch? Check. Always talking about cattle? Check.
176	* FreezeFrameBonus: In Chofu Base, you can see a map of the world with red circle indicating the presence of Builder territory.
177	* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: In spite of being in jet fighters no one is wearing helmets or oxygen masks.
178	* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: Lucy, Cathy's sister, and Shizuka's breakout role.
179	* MildlyMilitary: All five girls are wearing completely different outfits, most of which are fetishized.
180	* MilitaryMoe: It's about a group of cute girls who pilot vintage fighter planes in order to fight an alien invasion. A pretty straightforward example, really.
181	* MultinationalTeam: The five main girls hail from Japan (Aria), the United States (Cathy), Sweden (Christine), Israel (Noa) and Russia (Tatiana).
182	* ReiAyanamiExpy: Aria, at the beginning. Stoic, emotionless girl with a short bob haircut? Yep! She turns more into a DefrostingIceQueen over the series.
183	[[/folder]]

Context Anime / Shirobako