It's been a few weeks, but IIRC the conflict came out of the director's apprehension over the girl's "moe face" during a moment of anguish, which then became a conversation about the various types of moe that the staff saw in each of the girl - which Miyamori was able to evoke though her speech. It became a discussion about the type of moe that they wanted to produce and it didn't really seem deeper than that to me.
But of course, as an outsider, I would ask why 20-somethings are being depicted as moe lolis in the first place. However, Exodus as a show probably isn't something I'd watch anyway I suppose.
That was one part of the conflict, but it wasn't the only part of the conflict. A lot of it came down not necessarily to 'moe' (even though it was certainly mentioned), but to the characters themselves, as well as the themes and tone of the show. For example, the main problem that the director had to begin with was that it was showing a character looking too cute during a moment of genuine anguish, and he felt like that messed with the tone of the scene. This then lead to a discussion on the character appearances in general, as well as their general personalities.
It feels like a scene I could easily see happening in a writers' room, complete with the director suddenly talking about some complex backstory he had invented for the character but never brought up before.
The scene is about exploring the passion that got the characters into working on an anime in the first place, and showing how such a small thing can dramatically change the tone of a scene.
If you trawl through the threads, you'll find that duckroll got me and a some other people to watch a documentary about the making of Black Rock Shooter, where they explained how they used CG animation as part of their process. It's a discussion that fans have had for years, and I'm sure that people in the industry have had as well. I'm not saying that discussion isn't of interest, but that for me, Shirobako's depiction of that conflict was not as interesting as watching that short piece on how BRS was made.
Well, it's not really trying to be the same thing as a documentary on the process is. More than trying to document the process or add to the debate, Shirobako was just interested in using it to explore the characters' motivations and the production process.
A show like Shirobako is never going to be able to compare in that regard to a documentary, but it's not trying to. It's just looking to be somewhat informative about the process while also entertaining the viewer and trying to create interesting scenarios.
But what it can do that a documentary can't is to present the whole thing in a more dramatic light (such as having an animation struggle that nearly leads to an episode not being completed on time), use it to explore the motivations of the characters and their relationships, and wrap it up in a carefully crafted story.
Their motivations are linked strictly to their jobs though. I mean, even when the five girls meet to drink beer, they're talking about their anime related careers.
Well, this is because they sought out their jobs because of their motivations, right? I mean, a lot of people have motivations which deal with similar ideas, such as wanting to be a writer, or an artist, or a musician, which can wind up being their job. Not that that's anyone's sole motivation for everything they do in life, but it is a prime motivation.
The show could do more to give each person more motivations beyond their biggest dream, but to some extent they only have but so much time to work with. I certainly wouldn't be opposed to it, but I feel like it isn't completely necessary to the story they're telling.
Well, see, I don't know about that.
I watched The Wind Rises recently. I liked it a lot. But I would've liked a lot more if Jiro was building giant robots or computers instead. I don't care about airplanes. I appreciated the portrayal of... the artisan spirit from an intellectual point of view, as someone who likes to dream and create, but there was no real personal connection there. There wasn't an emotional link.
I'm not saying Shirobako's sole point of interest is in anime production. Like I said, people working in modern product development will see a little Shirobako in their own lives, and they can connect on this level as well. But I'll assert that it is the main hook, and a viewer's chances of really enjoying Shirobako like many of us have drastically decreases the further their interests lie from anime production.
Well, yeah, I think there's some truth to that. And I think people are more likely to be interested in Shirobako if they're more interested in anime production, but I think it's not necessarily the
main factor. I think the biggest thing that comes from it is just the sense of how authentic the whole thing feels. It could only ever be done about anime, so I think perhaps this a moot point either way. (There's also a bit of the fact that the further someone's interests are from anime, the less likely they are to find an anime interesting no matter the subject matter, which becomes something of a chicken and egg paradox)
