Gainax, the studio behind anime series such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, has filed for bankruptcy after 40 years of operation.
Founded in 1984, Gainax was a different kind of anime studio. Built and run by anime fans, who also were incredibly talented artists and animators, there was a unique authenticity and passion that drove the studio and its work.
While many outside of Japan will know of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gainax’s other anime were as good if not better. With shows like Gunbuster and Nadia being some of the best the medium of anime has to offer.
However, in more recent years and with foundation of spin-off studios such as Khara and Trigger, Gainax has been pretty badly mismanaged in terms of its finances.
As laid out on Gainax’s official site, the company filed for bankruptcy on May 29 and explains how the company came to be in this situation. This is also something that has been a long time in coming, as Gainax has been in trouble in terms of inordinate amount of debts for a good while.
In addition, Khara also posted their own explanation of events, as the studios are linked not only creatively through Hideaki Anno but also because Khara has been trying to help Gainax pull itself out of this mess.
The big thing here is where all the intellectual property rights will end up. In an ideal world, shows like Evangelion, Nadia and Gunbuster would go to Hideaki Anno at Khara, whereas series like FLCL and Gurren Lagann would end up at somewhere like Trigger. With Trigger also being a company that has been trying to help Gainax, due to sharing staff such as Hiroyuki Imaishi among many others.
All told though, this is still a sad day for anime. Gainax was one of the shining beacons of creative innovation in anime, underpinned with a deep love of the medium. Having that seemingly upended by bad actors and going bankrupt is just very upsetting.
Studios like Khara and Trigger are very much the children of Gainax though, so there’s that at least. That said, here’s hoping Gainax’s creative legacy doesn’t end here and that its rich library of intellectual property isn’t strip-mined into oblivion.
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