2005 Updates

11/2/05

THE FORUM IS BACK! Last one got hacked, so we're trying something new. Drop by and re-register while we curse the names of Turkish hackers.

10/8/05

ONE YEAR OF GAINAX PAGES!! It's gone by so quickly. In that time, I've been able to put up pages for most of the shows, get an active forum going (only got hacked once), get some features written, attended two convention panels, climb up to the first Google hit for "Gainax" second only to the official site... good time.

8/25/05

Book review: Notenki Memoirs. Originally published in Japan in 2002, is a memoir by Yasuhiro Takeda, a longtime producer at Gainax. After reading nearly 200 pages of what is essentially a business memoir, however, I am hard pressed to say what, if anything, Takeda ever did at the company... read the full review

8/23/05

7/18/05

7/12/05

6/23/05

6/10/05

Added Gainax Cosplay. Recoded much of the site with fancy pcp, er php. Still waiting for some new Gainax stuff. In the meantime, waste your time here:

5/18/05

Back from Anime Central-- good times. My writeup is in the forums here. Coverage of the con is available here, including info on the Pillows concert.

We're only a few weeks away from the Notenki Memoir and Diebuster 3, so stay tuned for some major additions!

5/10/05

Otaku no Roadtrip! Otaprince will be attending Anime Central this weekend. Bunch of Gainax stuff to check out:

Join the party--!

4/21/05

Die Buster news and info

Some of the Die Buster staff have home pages worth checking out (all Japanese):

3-25-05

Added Ebichu.

3-19-04

The new US Nausicaa DVD contains a featurette on the history of Studio Ghibli, including how Hideaki Anno joined the team for Nausicaa and what scenes he animated.

click for larger

click for larger

3-11-05

• Hiraoki Inoue, one of Gainax's founding members (apparently) and a producer of such shows as Gunbuster will be doing an appearance at a round table talk in Washington DC on April 6th. This is pretty underwhelming news-- as a producer, he was never in a creative role, you'd assume. Someone go and grill him on Gainax trivia. More info here.

2-23-05

2-10-05

2-1-05

Gainax Year in Review: 2004 and how we got here

This was an active year for Gainax, with the release of Kono Minikuku (13 episodes), Melody of Oblivion (26 episodes), and two OVAs by its greatest creators: Gunbuster 2 by Kazuya Tsurumaki and Re: Cutie Honey by Hideaki Anno, not to mention Anno's live action Cutie Honey film, some more Eva manga by Sadamoto, and a gaggle of video games and merchandise shamelessly cashing in on Evangelion. It's easy to forget now, but until Evangelion, Gainax produced only one anime at a time.

The volume of anime we see today is the result of Hiroyuki Yamaga's overhaul of the company. Until the success of Evangelion, Gainax made no profit from its anime, and was kept afloat through sales of video games developed in-house (Princess Maker, Girlfriend of Steel) and licensed products. The informal, haphazard approach to business portrayed in Otaku no Video characterized Gainax until about 1999, culminating in the disastrous arrest and imprisonment of Gainax President Sawamura Takeshi for tax evasion.

Around the same time, Hideaki Anno left anime to pursue live-acton film while original Gainax founding member Shinji Higuchi (whom Anno named Shinji Ikari after) joined the new anime studio Gonzo. With founding member Toshio Okada off teaching anime at Tokyo University, that left only Sadamoto and Hiroyuki Yamaga as founding members still actively involved with the company. Sadamoto was off tinkering with motorcycles and slowly finishing the Eva manga, so Yamaga stepped up to the plate and began transforming the company, making Gainax into a viable business for the first time in its almost twenty year history.

Gainax now produces two types of work, for better or worse: commercial works, which are often manga adaptations (Mahoromatic and the upcoming Goshijun-sama, both ecchi), and experimental works (Abenobashi, Gunbuster 2, Re: Cutie Honey, Melody of Oblivion). Although even these mostly fall short of the old Gainax greatness, 2004 was Gainax's best year in years.

So what does 2005 hold for Gainax?

Hideaki Anno: Recent interviews suggest that he is comfortable in live action, for now. He may return to anime with another brief foray like Re: Cutie Honey.

Tsurumaki: will finish Gunbuster 2, but he may take another four years to come up with something else, as after FLCL.

We know where Yamaga is heading the company: more commercial works are on the horizon (Bushilord, Goshijun-sama). He may still long to complete the big budget anime film Aoki Uru-- its creations depends on the market for big budget anime films from the likes of Oshii, Miyazaki, and Otomo, while how it turns out depends on the extent of Yamaga's creative involvement (sorry, Honneamise fans-- look at Mahoro and Abenobashi for irrefutable proof).

In terms of new blood, most people don't know that the really crazy action of Kare Kano, FLCL, and Re: Cutie Honey (ep. 1) was the product of Hiroyuki Imaishi, a wildly talented animator who is heavily influenced by American comic books. Imaishi is the best gun in the Gainax arsenal, but I doubt that he could become the next Tsurumaki, let alone Anno. Imaishi is all style, no substance, as can be seen from his first directorial effort, the film Dead Leaves. He needs someone else for the vision and the story.

Shouji Saeki seemed to be taking a step forward with Kono Minikuku, which, although no masterpiece, was at least better than his previous directorial work, the Mahoromatic Summer Special (quite possibly the worst thing Gainax ever did, even for fans of Mahoromatic!) Disappointingly, however, Saeki will be directing He is My Master in 2005. Judging from the manga, there is no possible way to inject any sort of experimentalism or seriousness into a crocodile that's always biting the dresses off of maids.

Tadashi Hiramatsu has worn a lot of hats at Gainax: animation director, character designer, animator, some directing. Hiramatsu is an intellectual, is more interested in drama than action, and has quite a humanist touch. He is starting to gravitate toward more directing work, and just may be the saviour Gainax needs.

That said, let's enjoy the rest of Gunbuster 2 and expect some surprises from Studio Gainax... oh, and another Eva box set of some kind.

1-14-05

		3/25 Gainax will release a DVD for their new anime, He is my Master (Kore ga watashi no goshujin-sama). It's priced at ¥1,995, so I'm unclear if this is just a preview (Gainax OVAs are usually a shocking ¥6,090 for single episodes). I'm not sure whether Gainax Pages will cover this series at all. If the image didn't already indicate, He is my Master is an ecchi maid anime that's offensively retarded. It's directed by Shouji Saeki, who directed Kono Minikuku, which at least was a step forward. Some familiar voices are Sayoko from Melody of Oblivion and Ando from Mahoro (not that she ever said much). Speaking of Saeki, his home page can be found here.
		Petite Princess Yucie- first DVD (eps 1-5) out now from ADV. Good review here.

1-2-05

Added FLCL Manga, with tons of info on mangaka Hajime Ueda

Also picked up some manga at Books Kinokuniya in NYC:

		Eva and Eva 2 Anthology (June 2004, ¥540). A tribute volume comprised of short humorous manga and single Eva illustrations by such famous manga artists as Hiroaki Samura (Blade of the Immortal), Takeshi Obata (Hikaru no Go), and Mine Yoshizaki (Sergeant Frog). Two of the stories have been translated by Bochan Bird (Eva2 manga spoofs). Scans coming soon.
		Evangelion manga 9. Picked up the Japanese version cause I still can't find the US release in any stores! This volume introduces Kaoru, who seems somehow less alien and otherworldly than in his brief anime appearance (it's hard to believe that Kaoru appears in one, ONE episode of the anime). There's lots of plot in this volume, angels, Lance of Longinus, Seele, etc. I personally preferred volumes like #6, which simply let us hang out more with the characters we miss.