アニメタ！（１）

Animeta! #1

by Yaso Hanamura

テープが擦り切れるほど観たアニメは、あたしの人生を変えた。あたしも……こんなアニメを作ってみたい！　九条監督はすごく厳しいけど……それでも、アニメーターになるんだ、絶対!!　技術ゼロの新人アニメーター・真田幸（19歳）が、0.1％の「才能」と、99.9％の「熱意」で、プロフェッショナルが集結するアニメ業界に挑む!!　スポコン・アニメーター物語、開幕!!

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Contemporary, Comics, Comics Manga

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 22, 2015

Reviews

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty cool manga about a young girl trying to make it in the tough world of Japanese animation. The book is very focused on technical aspects of creating anime, so at least some interest in the subject matter is probably required from readers, but if you are interested in the inner workings of animation studios then you’re in for a treat. The more personal aspect of the story is a bit tropey and shounen-esque, but it keeps the book lively in moments when technical details can get overwhelming. I keep thinking that this would make a better anime (as meta-meta as that would be), but manga has the ability to pack more information in a more compact form, so there’s that.

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this!!!

Talk about stirring a new appreciation in readers for anime! I definitely have no intentions to go into animation, but I was pretty shocked by the different jobs, what they do, the amount of work, and how little they get paid. It hurts to know that there is anime being streamed illegally and robbing these companies of their work (and could imagine pay too). They work wayyyy too hard to have their life's joy stolen from them like that!

I really liked the main character, Miyuki, and while my heart aches a little bit for her in how hard things are in starting animation, I found it fascinating to see her beginning journey. I really loved being able to see a lot of the "ins-and-outs" and how she views things in regards to anime. (Her love for anime and it getting her into animation was relatable I feel!) Makes me thankful for the "purple notes" and her willing to keep going regardless of how hard animation is.

I liked the supporting casts as well! I think the mangaka did an amazing job of creating different personalities in the studio that I imagine reflect a lot like real people in animation studios. It made a nice "clash" at times (and I mean this in a good way) and really gave the overall story more personality.

I'm definitely wanting to get my hands on the rest of the series! Animeta! sort of reminds me of Blue Period in how it teaches you about art, but instead of art, the reader is learning about animation. Would highly recommend to those are curious about the behind-the-scenes of animation, manga that "teach," and a main character that you hope will overcome the odds stacked against her.

[Nick Pell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this way more than I expected to. It certainly helps that I recently watched the "Shirobako" anime so I have a general idea about animation terms used here. I like Miyuki as the main character. She seems very realistic in the way she was portrayed and her reactions seemed genuine. I also like that while she seems to have some degree of talent, harnessing it isn't going to happen overnight so seeing her struggle with otherwise basic drawings makes sense instead of becoming a prodigy in one or two days. Digging this a lot and will be grabbing the new few volumes soon.

[Tabrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be very interesting. You really get to see the insides of Japanese animation and painstakingly process that it takes in order for it's beautiful result to occur. All Miyuki is trying to do is make her dreams come and create artwork that invoked the same passionate emotion and love after viewing her favorite, something that most of us can relate to.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! I'm curious to see where the story goes. One star off because the prodigy storylines are a little overdone and I can see that it's kind of headed that way. Obviously, that one dude who's training with her is a bad guy and shouldn't have said what he said to her but in real life her getting hired is the kind of thing that would piss off a lot of people for very good reasons. I think her getting hired was super intense for where her skill level is - a school or vocational education setting probably would have made more sense.

Also, that Souji animator dude is a giant trashfire and I hate that the narrative is treating him like a funky and weird uncle type dude instead of a weirdo with creepy tendencies that need to be squashed asap. Another star off for that.

I really enjoyed the insight into animation! I've consumed a fair share of anime but have never been interested in learning it myself so most of the information in the manga was new to me and very interesting! It did make me really sad to read about the work conditions though - I know the narrative and the social understanding of animators' jobs is that the terrible work standards are the price you pay to do what you love but it really shouldn't be that way. How much talent is the industry missing out on because people can't afford to be paid a pittance for 2 or 3 years?

Sidenote: I don't know why but the physical weight of the manga is so good? It's floppy and heavy and the pages have good weight - obviously has nothing to do with the book but I just wanted to share that I love how this book felt (literally in the physical sense) to read.

[TheEJHeider · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my friends recommended me this manga to me since we used to read Bakuman which was a manga about 2 boys trying to create their own manga. My friend sold this to me as an animation studio-Bakuman and as a former digital arts student, this manga brought a lot of memories from art school.

Animeta! is a slice of life, seinen manga telling the story of Miyuki Sanada as a late-night anime changed her life and created her passion for animation. She manages to get a job at one of the top animation studios in Japan, N2 Factory. However, Sanada lacks the required intermediate skills of an entry-level animator so she needs to learn fast.

THIS WAS A VERY TECHNICAL MANGA. If you already have some knowledge about animation, then you will absolutely like the level of technically this manga had. This didn't just bring back the memories from animation classes in art school but it provided me with so much refreshers about animation.

The art was good, very fresh and clean. This was supposed to be a seinen, so I don't know how seinen it will be in the future volumes but as for this volume, I actually do not know why this was a seinen manga. Maybe because of how technical this manga was or maybe because it dealt with company life, maybe that's why.

Story-wise it kinda reminded me when I transferred to art school, I was lacking in skills but as time goes by, surprisingly I had improved and this story absolutely captivated that energy. It's just a simple slice of life but I can't wait to follow her journey to become a great animator.

Highly recommend this to everyone who's into arts.
5/5

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little while back I found a LOT of volume 1 manga at the Goodwill Bins - close to 30 different series. Anything that looks like a cartoon gets priced as a children’s book, so I took home an enormous variety of manga for 59 cents each. I’m starting to work my way through all these volumes and started my dive with this one.

Honestly - I’m pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of technical detail about animation, but not so much it makes me skip ahead. The main character is determined in a head down, push through it kind of way - not flashy or prone to excessive declarations of intent. I mean, there are a couple, it’s still a manga. But it felt more realistic! I also really liked that the main character is legitimately not good and while it seems that someone has spotted potential in her, she’s still having to put in the time and hard work. She’s not a prodigy and I appreciate that.

I’ve got a lot more to go through but this was one a solid entry and I’m seriously thinking about getting more of this series.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this late last year (2021) and thought maybe — mainly because I’ve been in a slump for slice-of-life type manga. I figured it would be similar to Bakuman so I thought I’d be okay waiting on it — also, I’m a binge reader when it comes to manga 😅.

Needless to say, I didn’t wait that long 🙌🏼.

So I found the whole the concept of reading a manga about creating anime super interesting. This first volume, to me, reminded me a lot of Behind the Scenes when it came to the aesthetic. Meanwhile the plot reminded me a lot of Bakuman — mainly because it provided a lot of information about the process and skills/tools needed. The characters made me think of Blue Period in the sense that the MC is inspired by some (in this case, the animator/director of the MCs favorite show) and how you have some that just have the skill but even they still have to work for it.

Anyway… It has a strong start, im looking forward to the next volume.

[Nick H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved how deeply it went into the animation workflows, tools and lingo, but why does this ostensibly trained professional animator not know a damn thing about the industry? Even if she’s a new hire or new to the industry, surely she’s been doing her best to learn until now. There’s no way she’d be ignorant of the most basic terms. And if she were, the company wouldn’t have hired her. Either way, I’m interested to read the next one.

アニメーションについて話がいつも好き、そしてこの話にもその部分が好き。けど何でこんな「プロ」の入社の人は全然プロのことわからない？ちょっと苛々になった

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is interesting to me, because there's a lot of setup and explanation about a specific industry that no one really hears the backend of, and I love it! The animation industry, especially in Japan, has such a secretive energy around it, and there was even a good peek into it through just the first volume, I'm intrigued to see where this goes and get all the information at the same time.

[Jillian -always aspiring- · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reminded me a bit of Wotakoi, though a story about anime development...well, this take on it here was a bit boring. I didn’t care much about the characters either because the focus was mostly on steps in studio production. Sadly, this series is just not for me.

[Max Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

The charming story of a girl trying to follow her dream seems like an atavism in the age when the majority of animation work is subcontracted to the Chinese resulting in a sub-par product.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't dislike it, but there were times where it got a little too technical for me and I found myself skimming. It could just be my personal opinion, but I'm just not sure I find the storyline and characters compelling enough to continue.

[Patrick Flannery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty solid first volume. It rings very true for working in a creative industry and has cool info on the animation process. I like a main character that has to work really had to achieve any success too so that's nice

[Surfy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟
Estuvo bien, algo pesado porque aparecían muchos términos de anime (aunque te explicaban cada uno de ellos) y los tenía que releer para entenderlos bien, pero creo que los siguientes tomos serán mucho más ágiles porque poco a poco voy conociendo los termino que usan.
Apresar de lo anterior, me gustó que aprendí mucho de cómo se realizan los animes.

[Mercedez · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5/5)

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Can’t wait for the next book!

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although doubt a "junior" can join the pressure cooker anime industry like that even at an entry level...interesting slice of the life on animation pipe line production it self.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this manga and look forward to what it will bring in future books.

[Cameron Young]

I really like it and am invested in the main character's journey.

[Meg]

How are you going to get it together animation girl? Who is your secret helper? *learns things about how animation works*

[Niche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anime animation framework

The heroine is a totally inexperienced newbie who enters the animation industry and tries to get by on hard work and passion. The story lightly highlights the industry grind and work that goes into manually making animation frames (no computers).

[kinsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

ain’t no one getting into an animation studio with zero drawing skills and no idea how to animate. the concept just cannot suspend my disbelief for a second. i disbelieve