If you live in North America, you’ll finally get the chance to see the cute girls of Shirobako on a theatrical big screen, this summer!
According to a new listing on the Fathom Events website, the Shirobako movie will finally be released in theaters in North America a year and a half after the movie was released to theaters in Japan (February 2020) and almost a full year after distributor Eleven Arts revealed that they licensed the movie for international distribution (November 2020).
According to the listing, the movie will be screened on Tuesday, August 10th, with tickets going on sale starting Friday, July 2nd. Unfortunately, those are the only details we have so far but the J-List Blog will update you with further developments as they surface, closer to the pre-sale date.
Shirobako started as an original animation project from studio P.A. Works, which is essentially what would’ve happened had Animation Runner Kuromi (kids, ask your parents) been modernized and given a full television run. In the 24-episode series, the audience follows a group of young women who all grew up loving anime together to the point where they all decide to join the industry after college in various roles, with the ultimate goal of one day regathering to create a series together. Unfortunately, real-life gets in the way very quickly and all of the young women learn that dreams don’t come true that easily.
Airing between October 2014 and March 2015, this series took off quickly and received rave reviews from fans and critics alike for its realistic take on the challenges that studios face when creating the anime that we all know and love. When a movie sequel was announced shortly after the series finished airing, fans were ecstatic and waited not so patiently for the movie to be released. Fans in North America have had it even worse since we knew the movie had been licensed in late 2020 but, due to the world being on fire, we had absolutely no idea when we were going to get to see it in theaters (if ever)!
I know I use the word “special” a lot when it comes to series I like, but Shirobako is truly one of those great shows which did a big service to the industry. I know that I learned a lot while watching it and enjoyed every moment, from Aoi peeling rubber during the first episode to the director’s triumphant march down the hallway to save his series from being ruined towards the end of its run.
Shirobako is just fantastic and if you have any interest at all in how modern anime gets made, you owe it to yourself to check this one out and laugh yourself silly, while learning all about the various support staff that bring animated series to our screens on a weekly basis (almost) without fail.
If you live in North America (and you feel safe about it), go see this movie and let it help you forget the nightmare that we’ve all been living through for the last year!
Source: Anime News Network
