Videos by ComicBook.com
Whether it’s a comedy portraying the beginnings (and shortcomings) of pursuing a passion or a series showing the gritty behind-the-scenes process of what it takes to make a production, these shows reveal the sweat, blood, tears, heartfelt moments, and laughter that come with turning these characters’ dreams into realities. And with some of them going through challenges that are actually pretty true to their respective industries, their experiences can hit pretty close to home with how relatable their struggles are.
1) Bakuman
Creator of a popular gag manga, Tarou Kawaguchi is Moritaka Mashiro’s uncle and childhood role model to become a mangaka. But when his uncle dies, so too do Moritaka’s dreams of becoming a mangaka, eventually settling on becoming a run-of-the-mill salaryman instead. But when classmate Akito Takagi notices drawings in Moritaka’s notebook, he confesses he himself wants to be an author mangaka, so he proposes they team up. With the potential for his crush, Miho Azuki, to become a voice actress for an eventual anime adaptation of the manga they create, Moritaka becomes convinced, and his passion for creating manga is rekindled. And so, hoping to become the greatest mangaka in Japan, Moritaka and Akito begin their manga journey under the pen name Muto Ashirogi.
If you want to go far in the industry, you definitely need to have the passion to do so. And if you can start as early as possible, the better. But whatever the circumstances, if you want to break into the industry, such as striving to become a mangaka like Moritaka, in the words of Shia LaBeouf, “Don’t let your dreams be dreams. Just do it!”
Bakuman can be streamed on Hulu, Peacock, or Tubi where available.
2) Shirobako
Five best friends at Kaminoyama High School, Aoi Miyamori, Ema Yasuhara, Midori Imai, Shizuka Sakaki, and Misa Toudou, who share a love for anime, decide to not only start their own animation club, but create their first amateur anime together, showcasing it at the culture festival. And so, the friends promise to pursue careers in the industry and eventually work together to create their own full-fledged anime. After two and a half years, though Aoi and Ema managed to break into the industry, their friends struggle to catch up with Shizuka struggling as a voice actor, Misa designing 3D models, but for a car company, and Midori studying at university to be a story writer. While they find the road to succeeding in their dreams to be a difficult one, they still pursue achieving them through determination and creativity.
Breaking into the industry can be hard work and take some real elbow grease, like what these five friends discover. But it’s not impossible! Whether you want to pursue drawing, animating, 3D modeling, voice acting, writing, or what have you, strive for your passion until you achieve it!
Shirobako can be streamed on HIDIVE.
3) Seiyu’s Life!
With a passion for voice acting, aka “seiyu”, Futaba Ichinose constantly fervently searches for auditions and performance sessions to try to get her career started and break into the industry. Along the way, she befriends two other voice actors, Rin Kohana, a child actress struggling to balance her career and school life, and Ichigo Moesaki, an aspiring idol claiming to be a princess from Planet Strawberry. Together, they face the challenges of the entertainment industry, honing their own unique voices and styles.
Seiyu’s Life! gives an interesting behind-the-scenes perspective into the trials and triumphs of what it’s like to strive to be a professional voice actor. The series even includes a bit of an educational edge, too, explaining certain terms and processes alongside characters’ entertaining endeavors. Which must be pretty meta for the voice actors playing the roles of said characters striving to be voice actors.
4) Look Back
Although fourth grader Ayumu Fujino receives praise for her hand-drawn, four-panel comics, when classmate Kyoumoto also receives a chance to feature art in the school’s newspaper alongside Fujino’s, for the first time, Fujino feels inadequate to her faceless rival. Obsessing over drawing and studying the process of creating manga to the point of becoming reclusive over the course of a year to overtake her artistic adversary, Fujino ultimately gives up. After another year passes and graduation day has come, Fujino finally meets her unknown rival, Kyoumoto: a reclusive, unkempt, shy girl who’s actually Fujino’s biggest fan. Reigniting Fujino’s passion, the two become close friends, sharing in their love of manga and admiration for one another.
The process of trying to be a virtuoso within a certain field can be one with a great many challenges. While sometimes such competitiveness can be a driving force for determination, other times it can drive one to have feelings of inadequacy or hopelessness. But while the road to achieving one’s goals is never easy, so long as you have the passion and gumption, never stop doing what you love!
Look Back can be streamed on Prime.
5) Zenshu
Natsuko Hirose kicks off her career in animation with a bang as an absolute virtuoso in the industry, quickly rising to the rank of director with renowned recognition. With her next project, a rom-com film themed around first love, Natsuko finally faces a new challenge in her career that she’d never come across before: not understanding the concept herself. As she struggles to figure out where to even start storyboarding, her life is brought to an end. Awakening to find that her life has begun anew, Natsuko isn’t just transported to any world, but the one within her favorite childhood anime movie, A Tale of Perishing.
While many anime fans would think being isakai’d into their favorite anime would be a dream come true, Zenshu brings to light the consequences that would become as real as the worlds. As an animator herself, Natsuko may think she has the upper hand in understanding her favorite animation, but does she truly understand the world within?
Zenshu can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
