It saddens me that this movie was good in a bad way.

There are three main factors that made season 1 of Shirobako good to me: 1) a diverse set of goofy, sincere, passionate characters, 2) funny jokes that are creatively mixed in to the daily struggle of these characters, and 3) nerdy details about the anime industry beloved by us anime nerds. This movie only replicated half a point out of three from the magical recipe of season 1.

The diverse set of characters was the most obvious problem to this movie. Without the luxurious 24 episodes of screen time of the original series, it's impossible to give all the characters the breathing space they deserve to come to live. And yet, every single memorable and even some not as memorable characters got to do their thing. Our Gothic legal loli had her gag about upholding the Gothic personal; the "we're out of ideas" producer-turned-baker got to show off his bakery while saying his trade-marked line; the bicycling enthusiast animator got caught on his bike instead of working on his assignment. Literally everyone got their bit. While that is not a bad thing on its own, a movie quickly runs out of screen time for the characters that really matter when you do that. The lack of character development is exacerbated by the premise that the original studio fell apart and most people have moved on. It is understandable that the movie needs to show how the characters have progressed in the years since season 1 into competent professional, but their original struggles to find their own footing in the industry were not adequately replaced by new obstacles, leaving most characters not enough space to continue their growth. To the movie's credit, there were new plot lines with Enma, Toudo, and Shizuka all finding themselves the senpai of the next generation and trying to help the newbies, but the movie does not give enough time for those plot points to be fleshed out, nor for everybody to get the same treatment. Without the room to overcome obstacles, most characters can't demonstrate their sincerity and passion and are left with just their gimmick.

The second problem I realized was that the movie had no new jokes. It was funny in a way that I felt thinking about the empty calories after I finished a bag of junk food. I laughed at every character doing their shtick, but I've seen all of those jokes before in the original show. This gets exhaustive as I got further into the film and Miyamori goes into her third surreal musical theatre number with the dolls coming to live sequence. The entirely playing safe writing does not make me feel the heart and passion of the writers that I felt from the original series.

What made me realize the fundamental problem about this movie was the lack of any nerdy anime production details in this film. As an anime movie about making an anime movie, this film did not talk about how the higher production and higher budget circumstances change the animation process, nor the significance of how box office revenues can revitalize the studio, nor how the larger investments from the capitalists in suits can limit the creative freedom of a staff crew. Then it dawned on me that the reason why the Shirobako movie don't have all the nerdy details that made the original series great is because the suits that funded this movie would consider this too high risk and not accessible enough to the general audience at the box office. This explanation provides a cynical lens that can resolve all the problems plaguing this film. The Shirobako movie showed me what it means to make a commercial anime movie by not showing me anything very little about making an anime movie.

Despite my complaints, this was a very professional film. The animation was fluid. The music had its highlights. The voice acting even penetrated my disappointment in a few moments. Nevertheless, the bland execution of this film earns it a barely above mediocre 5.5/10, with a bonus point for its ironic meta-statement.