Donut Quintet -- Platina Jet （プラチナジェット）

It's not quite April 1st yet, but since today was Monday, the changes have already started in Japan. It won't be too long before the new school year begins but I'm sure job transfers are taking place, old TV shows are ending and new ones are coming in, and there were some major staff changes on the nightly NHK news desk from this morning. Plus, yesterday at my buddy's place, we got to see the endings of a few of our favourite anime that we had been enjoying for the past few months.

One is "Shirobako" which launched back in October 2014 and finished off its 24-episode season this month. I already talked about the show when I wrote about the ending theme for the first half, the energetic "Animetic Love Letter". The anime about life in the anime production industry was special in that it seemed more like an animated dramedy than the usual over-the-top anime although there were some moments which were pretty whimsical. The second half had the five former high school classmates and still good friends continuing their young lives through the industry that they vowed to join. As another business year began, there were a few staff departures and some new arrivals including the equivalent of an angry Vietnam vet and a young lady so shy to the point of incoherence.

And there was one scene with one of the quintet, Ema Yasuhara, performing the Angel Exercises which has made a bit of a minor sensation on YouTube.

Anyways, in the article on "Animetic Love Letter", I mentioned some regret over the fact that the second round of 12 episodes was going to go with new opening and closing themes. But I have to say that the new closing theme has grown on me considerably since January. Titled "Platina Jet" (Platinum Jet) in reference to the new project that Musashino Animation has to tackle, "Dai San Hiko Shojotai"（第三飛行少女隊...The Third Girls Aerial Squad）, this time, the full group of five women, The Donut Quintet: Aoi, Ema, Shizuka, Misa and Midori as played by Juri Kimura（木村珠莉）, Haruka Yoshimura（佳村はるか）, Haruka Chisuga（千菅春香）, Asami Takano（高野麻美）and Hitomi Owada（大和田仁美）respectively hit the mike.

It's another peppy way to end the show and I enjoy the popping string-like synths that bookend the verses. Halko Momoi（桃井はるこ）once again wrote and composed the ending theme to "Shirobako" as she did for "Animetic Love Letter". I also enjoyed the nifty ending credits that closed almost every episode in the second round with the gradual creation of each of the five main characters and even the two dolls, Mimuji and Roro.

(Aoi version)

Not sure whether "Shirobako" will be making a comeback although my buddy tells me it could be a while since the director is pretty much up to his ears in projects for the next few years at least. But perhaps that might not be a bad thing since I think it would be more interesting to see how MusaAni and the motley crew change over time. And if not, I think Episode 24 ended the run with a very nice bow.

Juri Kimura, Haruka Yoshimura & Haruka Chisuga -- Animetic Love Letter

Today, January 5th 2014, is the first designated Dread Day for this year. It is, after all, the day that everyone gets back into the usual routine after the Holidays...namely getting back to work. And here in Toronto, following a balmy Holiday season, the temperatures have plummeted down to a high of -7 degrees Celsius, and therefore all those rain-slicked sidewalks from yesterday (it was actually +7 yesterday) have become impromptu skating rinks. Nothing like meteorologically-induced reality to wake the commuters up.

Anyways, speaking of work, one of my favourite anime from 2014 has been a dramedy of sorts titled "Shirobako". Literally meaning, "white box", the anime industry term refers to the final product of a produced episode via a VHS tape placed in a white case for preview by the animation company staff. But as it is here, it's the story of five former female high school animation club members, three of whom now work for the fictional Musashino Animation, a bit of a cute tweak at the real-life Kyoto Animation.

(cover version)

I figure since there have been movies about the movie industry (The Artist) and television shows about the television industry (30 Rock), there probably has to have been an anime about the anime industry, so I was surprised that something like "Shirobako" hadn't been made sooner (although my anime buddy told me yesterday that there had actually been such a program although on a much fluffier level). But I digress. After watching the first round of "Shirobako" (it will be continuing for a second round from next week apparently), I rather thought that this was something that Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) would have produced if he had been an anime otaku: there are tons of characters (the first few episodes even had to provide captions identifying them and their job titles) all going through the various trials and tribulations of pushing through the final episode of an anime, punctuated by a number of walk-and-talk cellphone scenes.

Life in the anime industry is probably even tougher than portrayed in this series, but at least we have been privy to a bit of the life there. "Shirobako", by the way, has been produced by P.A. Works, the same company behind another anime whose ending theme I've also enjoyed.

And yep, the ending theme here is one I do enjoy. Sung by seiyuu Juri Kimura（木村珠莉）, Haruka Yoshimura（佳村はるか）and Haruka Chisuga（千菅春香）, who portray three of the five young women (Aoi, Ema and Shizuka) from that high school club, "Animetic Love Letter" is this catchy uptempo tune with that hint of City Pop (especially the punchy synths at the beginning) that has become the earworm of the moment. And watching the two mascots of the main character dance around while the song is playing, I can consider the ending credits as arguably one of the cuter anime moments I've come across over the past year.

http://www.nhaccuatui.com/bai-hat/animetic-love-letter-shirobako-ending-juri-kimura-ft-haruka-yoshimura-ft-haruka-chisuga.5Dnv4sv1QnFo.html

Halko Momoi（桃井はるこ）wrote and created "Animetic Love Letter" alongside the opening theme of "Colorful Box" by Yoko Ishida（石田燿子）. Apparently, for the second round of the show, there will be new opening and ending themes which is a bit of a pity but understandable.