SHIROBAKO is a 2014 original television anime series directed by Tsutomu Mizushima, and produced by studio P.A. Works. Staff credits also include series composition writer Michiko Yokote, character designer Ponkan8 and music composer Shiroh Hamaguchi. The series first aired in Japan on October 2014.
Background:
“Once upon a time, five girls made an animated film and it was so much fun that they pledged to get jobs in animation so that someday they could make another film together. Now, two years later, Aoi, Shizuka, Ema, Misa and Midori have learned the truth about the anime industry: it’s not always fun, it’s anything but easy, and having talent isn’t always enough to open the right doors. Which is why Aoi’s overwhelmed by her job as a production assistant, Shizuka’s waiting on tables between auditions, Midori’s currently scriptless, Misa’s switched to CG, and Ema’s working long hours as a key animator. Is it what they imagined? No. But are they ready to give up? Not just yet! Sometimes, when things happen in animation, they can happen in the most wonderful ways in SHIROBAKO!”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, December 2023.
When I got into anime during the early 2010s I was going to University and one of the first things I did was join an anime society and also pick up a subscription to Crunchyroll which was heavily supported by Sentai Filmworks and their catalogue. This was also during the time where simulcasts started to grow and I had more options to watch. 2014 is a pretty interesting era for Sentai as they had the licenses for a lot of intriguing titles.
Amongst the adaptations of books and video games, SHIROBAKO is an original project instead focusing on creating an anime. While I never bothered to watch the series during its simulcast, I was fully aware of how loved the series was for a lot of anime fans. It’s gathered a solid following and it even received a theatrical film later down the line. I think the first image I saw was the magical girls cheering on Seiichi Kinoshita, one of the characters in the series.
Now SHIROBAKO was licensed by Sentai Filmworks for both streaming and home video, and was released subtitled only across two-parts for the United States & Canada. This led to a lot of western anime fans not particularly happy that one of their favourite shows of that year didn’t receive an English dub. Eventually Sentai Filmworks started to go back and add dubs to a number of catalogue shows which included SHIROBAKO. Meanwhile the UK & Ireland never received the series at all for home video, not until Anime Limited when they announced that SHIROBAKO was one of the titles they were able to pick up from Sentai Filmworks at MCM London Comic Con in October 2023.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
SHIROBAKO didn’t receive a collector’s release over in North America. Because it was released as a subtitled only series, Sentai only provides special editions for those with an English dub. Now Anime Limited provides a collector’s edition for pretty much anything at this point, but SHIROBAKO is one of their favourites and has been requested a lot by UK fans to be released over here so it was a donut made in heaven.
This release is presented with a rigid box containing an Amaray case to house the Blu-ray discs, and alongside the case is a 48-page booklet as well as 8 Art Cards. The booklet is well-detailed with character bio and designs, illustrations, background artwork and more from the anime series.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The limited edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £79.99, and is expected to receive a standard edition Blu-ray release later down the line.
The series was included as part of their 12 Days of Christmas 2023 Early Bird line-up so I ordered it alongside five others. The set was on offer for £44.99 with the Anime Unlimited membership lowering the cost down to £40.49.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 48-page Booklet
- 8 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 18th December 2023 (AllTheAnime), 29th January 2024 (General retailers)
The collector’s edition release for SHIROBAKO contains all 24 episodes across three Blu-ray discs, with the encode & authoring done by Sentai Filmworks via their complete series collection version from 2020. The audio options include Japanese with English subtitles and the Sentai Studios English dub.
The yellow subtitles are locked during playback, and the regions are accessible to Blu-ray players set to A & B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | A B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 3 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 3:
- Clean Opening Animations “COLORFUL BOX” & “Treasure Box”
- Clean Closing Animations “COLORFUL BOX”, “Animetic Love Letter”, “Platinum Jet” & “Yama Harinezumi Andes Chucky”
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
SHIROBAKO is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The collector’s edition Blu-ray release can be bought through different retailers including Amazon UK, AllTheAnime Store, and Anime-on-Line.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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