Randomness Ensues

Shirobako’s Studio Titanic Brought To Life In Ibaraki


For fans of Shirobako, the oh-so-addictive office dramedy about the anime industry, the name “Studio Titanic” should sound familiar. It’s the driving force of a lot of the second season’s conflict, staffed by second-rate animators who don’t share the love of the process that’s seen at Musani Animation.

That said, though, the face of the studio building is incredibly distinct. With a bold sea-blue sign, and a full sculpture of the front of the RMS Titanic crashing through an iceberg, it’s a powerful impression to make.

Studio Titanic Ibaraki - Anime Reference - 20150316

Of course, one could argue that a studio that uses the Titanic as its namesake and literal masthead would be a bad place to go, but such is the nature of anime.

Anyway, the studio is based on a real location. Vintage Club Murai, a liquor store and café, features the same basic design, from the blue lettering to the ship masthead poking out the front.

Vintage Club Murai.  Image credit: Esuteru
Vintage Club Murai.
Image credit: Esuteru

Over the past few weeks, though, the shop’s gotten a bit of a face lift. On Saturday, Vintage Club Murai unveiled their new storefront, which is modeled after Shirobako‘s Studio Titanic, down to the triumphant HMS Titanic bursting through the ice.

Keen-eyed fans will also notice that the car parked in front is identical to Musani Animation’s own transport car!

Rough Translation:Good morning. Thanks to everyone’s effort, we completed Studio Titanic. ^_^ Thank you all!

We’ve gathered a few photos from the new storefront below, so be sure to check them out!

Source: Esuteru

About the author

Samantha Ferreira

Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.

Anime Herald

Support Anime Herald

Anime Herald is brought to you through our Patrons and Ko-fi supporters. Consider backing us for as little as $1 a month to help us keep the site ad-free and pay a fair rate to our writers.

Patrons and backers can access several benefits, including Early Article Access, our members-only Discord, and the ability to suggest articles for our team to write on your behalf.



Latest Posts

Columns

The Evolution of Abridged Anime Part 4 – No Screwing The Rules

Fears about legal ramifications were fairly common in the world of comedic anime fandubs, despite some arguing they might be protected under parody laws. Philip Sral of Sherbert Productions shared a story of how three fans caused a large amount of stress while trying to get a copy of one of their works by pretending […]

By Borealis Capps