Gainax, the animation studio behind influential anime including Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Gurren Lagann, officially shut down on December 10, 2025. This was revealed by Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno in a statement published on the website of his company Studio Khara, in which the anime director shared his personal thoughts on what he described as a “truly disappointing end” to Gainax’s “nearly 42 years’ of history.”
Anno was one of a group of university students who founded Gainax back in the early 1980s. The company would experience huge success with 1995’s Neon Genesis Evangelion, which became popular worldwide. Evangelion suddenly brought in massive profits for Gainax, however money management issues followed, with then-Gainax president Takeshi Sawamura arrested for tax fraud in 1999. A series of other scandals followed, including Gainax selling off rights to anime series without permission, non-repayment of loans, unpaid royalties, and Gainax representative director Tomohiro Maki’s arrest for sexual harassment of a teenage voice actress in 2019 (Kyodo News). In July 2024, Gainax filed for bankruptcy, which led to the company being dissolved this December.
Although Anno himself left Gainax in 2007 to found his own company Studio Khara, Khara would become Gainax’s largest creditor. Speaking about Gainax’s dissolution in his recent statement, Anno said: “as one of the people who remained there for over 20 years after the company’s founding and remained a shareholder until today, it’s a truly disappointing end, but I accept it quietly.”
In his statement, Anno thanked all of the companies and staff who, since Maki’s 2019 arrest, had worked hard for nearly six years on Gainax’s liquidation. “Thanks to their cooperation, we were able to safely return the rights to each work, as well as various production materials and documents to their rightful owners via proper procedures,” Anno said.
However, Anno added that the investigation into Gainax revealed “a lack of respect” for production materials, creations, and staff. “After we (Studio Khara) had provided an emergency loan during Gainax’s financial distress, we witnessed firsthand Gainax’s lack of integrity regarding repayment,” he said. He also alleged that during the investigation, he learned of various misrepresentations made by former Fukushima Gainax representative director Yoshinori Asao, as well as Hiroyuki Yamaga and Yasuhiro Takeda, whom “I had thought were my friends since our university days.” Anno said he learned that Yamaga, who was president of Gainax at the time, allegedly made hostile statements against Studio Khara, tried to come up with ways to avoid repayment of Khara’s loan, and told Gainax employees to say he was in hospital whenever anyone from Studio Khara called.
Anno is referring to a loan of 100 million yen (approx. $641,000) that Gainax’s Yasuhiro Takeda asked Anno’s Studio Khara for in 2014 to prevent Gainax from going under. However, not only did Gainax not pay back the loan as agreed, it apparently also sold off the rights to Gunbuster, Diebuster, and FLCL without permission from the creators and began to sell off production materials (storyboards etc.) of past works to raise money. As reported by Anime News Network, Anno said at the time: “I could have shrugged off the loan that never got repaid, but we were anxious to preserve the production materials we had poured blood, sweat, and tears into.” Anno’s Studio Khara sued Gainax for 100 million yen in 2016, winning the case. In the recent statement, Anno also mentioned that Studio Khara filed a separate lawsuit in 2023 regarding issues with rights transfers and a lack of transparency on Gainax’s part.
“I have come to realize that we can never return to the relationship we once had, and I feel deep disappointment from the bottom of my heart,” Anno said of the former university friends with whom he founded Gainax.
However, Anno finished by thanking one university friend. Yasuhiro Kamimura was Gainax’s latest representative director, and Anno expressed gratitude to him for dealing with the fallout left by the former management. The Evangelion director praised Kamimura for sincerely dealing with creditors and working hard to prevent any losses of rights or materials.
Image credit: Netflix.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
