Back in 2014 (wow, has it been that long already?), P.A.Works gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the industry we love with Shirobako , a fictionalized account of what it’s like to work at an anime studio. Now they’ve made the real-life version. The 30-minute …Read more »
An anime adaptation of gag manga Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan (“The Disaster of Psi Kusuo Saiki”) is due out this July, and we’ve got our first peek at what the series will look like with a visual released today. Psi-nan , which begins airing July …Read more »
Anyone who’s spent time reading up on the behind-the-scenes of the anime industry knows that the talent folks behind our favorite pastime face a lot of difficulties, from low wages to overwork to burnout and even serious medical issues. The latest report about the sometimes …Read more »
The Tokyo Anime Award Festival, the snazzy Oscars of anime, has announced the results of its Anime of the Year Grand Prix, given annually to the best television series and film of the year. Which 2015 anime won? You will just have to click the …Read more »
The Tokyo Anime Award Festival is, well, pretty much what it sounds like: a yearly award show that bestows prizes on the best anime of the year. The nominations for best anime of the year are out for this year’s TAAF. Let's check out who …Read more »
Featured Spotlight: Most of us will never get the chance to work at an actual anime studio, but at least we can live vicariously through Shirobako . You can dive into the behind-the-scenes fun at home with Sentai Filmworks' Shirobako Collection 1, Even the …Read more »
Nikkei Entertainment, a pop culture magazine published by the Japanese media giant of the same name, has an anime-centric issue out this month, and it’s highlighted five anime directors fans might want to keep their eyes on. Let’s check out the list. In no specific …Read more »
Fans of Shirobako , hold onto your hats. The team behind the 2014-15 series, which detailed the lives of anime creators, are at work on an anime made for theatrical distribution, according to a tweet from the official Shirobako Twitter account. “This has nothing to …Read more »
There’s an old maxim in screenwriting that goes “write what you know.” The idea is that if you write about situations in which you have some personal experience, your stories will carry a certain sense of reality. And what do anime creators know more than …Read more »
Fans of Shirobako (are there people who aren’t fans of Shirobako ? who are you monsters?) will remember the second cours’ anime-within-an-anime was The Third Girls Aerial Squad , written by fictional manga-ka Takezo Nogame. Nogame was based on real-life manga artist Takeshi Nogami, who …Read more »
Wonder Festival: that wonderful twice-a-year event where makers of models known as garage kits are allowed to throw copyright to the wind and design, build and sell whatever they want. Wonfes hits Makuhari Messe next week, and photos of kits that’ll be on sale are …Read more »
Last week we posted a primer detailing many of the real-life counterparts to characters in Shirobako , the recently-finished very meta series about working in the anime industry. Some of those characters’ real-life inspirations were more obvious than others (Masahiko Inami/Masahiko Minami, for instance, was …Read more »
Shirobako has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the anime season: a delightful office comedy about the work of actually putting together anime. This is a very meta premise, with more than its share of industry in-jokes and not one but multiple shows-within-the-show. …Read more »
It’s been about a week since animator, character designer and blogger Sachiko Kamimura stirred up a lot of discussion – both in Japanese and English – about the low wages paid to new animators in Japan. Kamimura wrote in her original post that because animators …Read more »
Matt Schley
Otaku USA Staff
David Cabrera