“In school tests, there’s only one answer for each question, and you might get zero or half points if you’re wrong. But in the real world, things aren’t so black and white, so think about things on your own and express them in words or pictures. That’s how you communicate with people. That’s so important.”

–  Hideaki Anno (“Welcome Back for an Extracurricular Lesson, Senpai!” 1999)

I first watched Neon Genesis Evangelion in the summer of 2019. I had heard of the series because of its legendary status in the anime community and had dabbled briefly in the manga years earlier. That July, I soldiered through the twenty-six episodes and completed the movie. Although some of the themes were lost on me, I was struck by the incredibly complex storytelling, realistic and deep characters, and ambiguous ending. The next summer I watched Evangelion again, and again this year. I have been fascinated by the story which I discovered was inexplicably tied to its creator Hideaki Anno.

Hideaki Anno created Neon Genesis Evangelion to tell the story of his four-year battle with clinical depression⁶. As someone who struggles with self-esteem and mental illness as well, I find his story to be incredibly inspiring. Although I am certainly not an artist, Anno and I share a passion for storytelling, writing and, of course, anime and manga. I aspire to create something as beautiful, empathetic, and well-written as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno’s clear compassion that is communicated through his work is something I aspire to achieve T.A.L.O.N.S. and in life. Neon Genesis Evangelion is a series that touched the hearts of many for its incredible critique of the human spirit. Evangelion alone is evidence of Anno’s mastery of storytelling and the critical acclaim of his other work shows that it is not far behind⁵.

Although Anno and I share many qualities, my connection with him is not without barriers. Hideaki Anno’s life is very tied to his Japanese heritage, which is something I do not share. A lot of his work critiques aspects of Japanese society, which although I can read about, I can never hope to fully understand. Hideaki Anno and I also have very different perspectives on schooling. There are clearly many flaws with the education system but throughout his school career, Anno was labelled as a problem child¹ and actively rebelled which is an experience that I cannot relate to.

Hideaki Anno’s contributions to the anime community are hard to understate. Neon Genesis Evangelion was created at a time when Anno felt that most anime airing on TV was of low quality with surface-level themes⁵. Neon Genesis Evangelion changed that, being a series with action, drama, and mature, deep themes. Neon Genesis Evangelion also changed the Mecha genre of anime. At the time, the most popular giant robot series was Mobile Suit Gundam³. The show focused mainly on the robots which sold a copious number of models. On the other hand, Evangelion focused on the psyche of the pilots and their relationship with the supernatural mech combat in the show.

Hideaki Anno has left a ding in the universe in a very real way. In 1994, the minor planet 9081 Hideakianno was named by Japanese astronomer Akimasa Nakamura⁵. While this planet means that Anno’s legacy will likely last forever, his work has also forever changed the themes and ideas present in anime. As Hideaki Anno is still alive, it is unlikely he will fade away from the public consciousness any time soon, but as anime’s popularity continues to grow, many more people will look back on Evangelion and see it as the pivotal moment in television that it is.

Anno’s legacy was not created without challenge. As mentioned earlier, Hideaki Anno fell into depression in 1991 after the airing of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, an anime he directed¹. “[Anno] learned firsthand the horrors that lurk within the production of a TV anime series” (Hideaki Anno Personal Biography, 2008) through this project and Gunbuster, another TV anime he directed. Anno felt that he poorly handled the new scenarios he encountered as a director and was not satisfied with the result¹. Anno lost motivation and spun his wheels for several years working on projects which all failed. Evangelion was the reason Anno was able to overcome his depression. Toshimichi Otsuki met with Anno to discuss the creation of an anime original series in 1993. Otsuki told Anno “Bring me something, anything, and I’ll get it green lit”¹. If Anno had not poured his conclusions post-depression into Evangelion, I do not think he would have recovered. However, that is far from the only challenge Anno has gone through. Hideaki Anno’s least favourite subject in school was English and chose to not study for the class. Unfortunately, the year Anno was set to graduate, English was added to the Japanese college entrance exams¹. Anno lost motivation to study and flunked the test. Thankfully, Anno found the application-based Osaka University of Arts. However soon after Hideaki Anno was then expelled from the school after no longer paying tuition, rather spending money on self-financed films¹. Hideaki Anno was miraculously able to break into anime production by working as a key animator on the Hayao Miyazaki film Nausicaä Valley of the Wind⁵. Anno took an incredible risk moving to Tokyo to work on the film, and it became his first celebrated work in anime.

I chose to research Hideaki Anno because he is the director, writer, and artist who has affected me the most. Hideaki Anno’s story tells us that often our greatest struggles in life are our battles against ourselves, but overcoming these battles is what gives us our humanity. I do not doubt that there are other artists and writers who do the same with their work, but there is no other writer and artist I have a deeper connection with than Hideaki Anno. I hope that sharing my research on Hideaki Anno allows his incredible work to find a home in the hearts of many others and for his indisputable eminence to be recognized. To continue my research on Hideaki Anno I would like to learn more about his less popular work and more about Anno’s personality, mannerisms, and perspectives.

References

1. Anno, H. (2015, June 29). Personal Biography – 庵野秀明公式web. Web.archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20150629113703/http:/khara.co.jp/hideakianno/personal-biography.html
2. (2011). Hideaki Anno. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030417/bio
3. Roe, M. (2021). Hideaki Anno: A Career Retrospective. Anime News Network. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/watch/2021-10-01/hideaki-anno-a-career-retrospective/.178012
4. Wikipedia Contributors. (2019, November 23). Shin Godzilla. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Godzilla
5. Wikipedia Contributors. (2021a, September 18). Hideaki Anno. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideaki_Anno
6. Wikipedia Contributors. (2021b, October 19). Neon Genesis Evangelion. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion#cite_note-25