An Animation Production Company's Group Drama - Producers Discuss Why "SHIROBAKO" Was a Hit on Blu-ray

An anime about an ensemble drama of an anime production company - a subject that had never been explored before, but "SHIROBAKO" was an unprecedented project to be developed as an original TV series. Although some people were indifferent to the show prior to its broadcast in October of last year, once it began airing, its reputation as a professional drama began to grow, and it was finally broadcast in March of this year to great acclaim. In addition to its on-air reputation, the video package release of "SHIROBAKO" has been one of the best sellers among the productions broadcast during the same period. What was the reason why a work that was initially difficult to even explain became a "sellable work"? We spoke with producer Kohei Kawase of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the video maker of the film, about its marketing and creativity.

The film was accepted by potential users because it was made universally

--The content of the original anime work, which is set in an anime production company, has been well received by viewers, and videogram sales appear to be strong. How do you view the current situation as a videomaker producer?

Above all, I was confident that director Tsutomu Mizushima, with whom I have known for about 10 years, would present the film the audience wanted to see as long as he was in the director's chair. Therefore, I consider the fact that the film was a hit to be one of the results. We were not unselfish, but we were not too optimistic because of the assumptions we had made earlier. I think we were going forward during the production with the thought, "If they see it, they will be pleased.

--Kawase: I think a producer's job is very diverse.

Kawase: The way I do it is that I first tell them the concept. However, for this film, President Horikawa of P.A. WORKS and Director Mizushima had their own clear arguments, so I was in charge of connecting them with the audience, thinking about how to make them interesting to watch and how to make their intentions understood. In other words, I understood that this is what the audience wanted for this kind of subject matter, and I communicated this to the creative side. On the other hand, a producer also has the aspect of a promoter, and is responsible for laying the groundwork for the creators' work to be seen by as many people as possible. Specifically, in cooperation with our advertising department and the production side, we use a variety of methods to create an entry point that says, "There is no harm in seeing this work. However, we only sow the seeds, and it is up to the customers to nurture the works. Today's customers have a variety of individual tools to spread the word, and once they hear that a work is interesting, they will come to see it. I think this year's film was a particularly good example of such a positive cycle.

--The video package sold out as soon as it arrived at the store, which is rare for anime these days. As a producer, what did you think of this situation?

Kawase: I think the sales of this year's product were certainly unique. The first time I felt a positive response was around the time when the second course started in January of this year. We just released the first volume of BD/DVD at the end of December and it sold out immediately. Orders for the video package were closed about a month before the release, which was around the time of the 7th or 8th episode of the on-air program, so I think customers were still waiting to see what would happen since it was an original anime work. The first volume was wholesaled based on the numbers at that time, and the sales were slow starter because of the excitement that came later. I think another reason is that this work was a two-cour production. With 4 to 50 new productions being aired each season, people who had narrowed down the number of productions they wanted to watch knew about the popularity of this work, and since we held a screening of the entire series right around the end of the first season, they caught up with it and started watching the second season together, which increased the excitement of the entire audience and led to sales. I think this led to the sales.

--Do you have any analysis on the demographics of the users who purchased your products?

--What do you mean by "essence"?

Kawase: The point is that it was not a work that was created to meet the current trends of today's users. I think it was because we created a work with universal contents that can be enjoyed even 10 years later that it sold so well. In other words, it was a work that appealed to a potential audience that thought, "I have to buy and keep this work," rather than "The first volume has been released, but it's too old now, so it's okay. I think that's why people have continued to buy subsequent volumes.

--Kawase: From the standpoint of the product, the archival contents such as video materials and booklets are very attractive.

Kawase: That was our goal from the beginning. We thought, "If customers are going to like this film, they will like what is in the film, and what do they want to know more about in order to enjoy watching it? It would be meaningless unless the product benefits were in line with the nature of the work. For example, given the direction of the film, I don't think it would be appropriate to include a character song as a bonus. Since this work is based on the backstage of anime production, we thought that customers would want to know "the backstage of the people who created the backstage", so we asked Tamari Kimura, who plays Aoi Miyamori, to report on the production site and a writer with experience in production to write a 40-page booklet. I think it is important for the product to provide feedback through these bonus items so that people can watch the film again and become more aware of how interesting it is.

--I think that the official website's glossary of terms and pages explaining the production process were also features of this film that responded to the questions and interests of the viewers.

Kawase: I discussed this with the production team, and P.A. WORKS cooperated with us to create the official website, which is the only way to follow up on the minimum terminology. The production team naturally understood the terminology, but the viewers didn't know which terms were special, so we all worked together to create the text one by one.

We all worked together to create the sentences one by one--I think the viewers are now well-trained, but you never know what will be understood before going on the air. For example, what do the words "part A" and "part B" mean?

Kawase: That's right. The title "White Box" is not understood (laughs). I thought it would be "white disc" now because it is a disc, not a box, but it is still called "white box" in this industry, strangely enough (laughs).