New Shirobako Film Debuts First Trailer

Shirobako was one of the biggest anime hits of 2014, and fans have been anxiously waiting to see if the series was ever going to continue ever since. Although it may not be the full second season fans were hoping for or expecting, the series is indeed going to continue its story with a brand new feature film coming next year. While little is known about how the story is going to continue, Shirobako did share the first teaser trailer for this new film project.

The Shirobako film is currently scheduled for a release in Japan in Spring 2020, but there is currently no word on its release to other territories as of this writing. Tsutomu Mizushima will be returning from the original anime to direct the film for P.A. Works, Michiko Yokote will be supervising the script, Ponkan8 will be designing the characters, and Kanami Sekiguchi will be serving as chief animation director.

The new film will continue the story left off from the original anime series, and the cast of characters will be returning to reprise their roles for the new movie. They include the likes of Juri Kimura as Aoi Miyamori, Haruka Yoshimura as Ema Yasuhara, Haruka Chisuga as Shizuka Sakaki, Asami Takano as Misa Todo, Hitomi Ohwada as Midori Imai, Shuya Nishiji as Yutaka Honda, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Tatsuya Ochiai, Yuri Yamaoka as Erika Yano, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Taro Takanashi, Ai Kayano as Rinko Ogasawara, Masaya Matsukaze as Hayabusa Watanabe, and Mai Nakahara as Yuka Okitsu.

Shirobako is an original anime series directed by Tsutomu Mizushima for Warner Entertainment Japan and P.A. Works. Airing 2014-2015, this 24 episode series follows Aoi Miyamori and her four friends who continued their love of animation in their high school’s animation club, and have made a full career out of it! The series became immensely popular with anime fans as they referenced many of the production trials and tribulations in the industry at large.

Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series for an English language release, and describes it as such, “Aoi will never forget how she felt the day her high school animation club’s labor of love was shown at the cultural festival. But two years after graduating, she works as a production assistant for an animation studio, the reality of her job has somewhat diminished her enthusiasm. Despite the long hours and the daunting schedule, she still hopes to fulfill the promise she and her friends Ema, Shizuka, Misa, and Midori made: to one day reunite and make a real anime of their own as professionals!”