I completed the Shirobako series over the past few weeks.

This is probably one of the most relatable anime for me. At first I thought it’s because 95% (or some other stupidly high percentage) of software development work is in fact common to most other jobs as per Working with Coders.

However, the more I watch it, the more I realised just how similar anime production is to software development. It’s not just the stand-up meetings, the team dynamics, suffering from burnout, etc. Even the creative process - the way animators / designers / etc approach their work - is so similar to building software.

Picking just one example out of many,

Shirobako spoiler

when the goth animator drew that one line to make the animation complete, it’s basically like when a senior dev make a change to just one line of code that resolves a big issue.

With all the similarities, this anime may have as well been about making software.

Quality-wise (encompassing characters, story, and everything else), this anime is top-notch too. To be fair, it’ll be ironic if an anime about making anime is badly produced.

As with any series that I’m extremely impressed by, I’m giving it a 10 / 10.

P.S. I would totally watch 3rd Girl Fighter Wing if it’s an actual anime