Please note: This article has been slightly edited from the original version to remain factual in the face of newer information not available during the original publication. Edits have been approved by the original author, Lawrence Eng. All changes made are [in italics and brackets].

This article was originally published on May 3rd, 1997 in the weekly newsletter of CJAS (The Cornell Japanese Animation Society). The original archived version can be found here:  http://www.cjas.org/~echen/articles/spring97/05_03b.html

Here is the exact link to the Toshio Okada interview: http://www.j-pop.com/anime/archive/feature/04_gal_999/otaking.html

Lawrence Eng is not die-hard Eva fan, but he loves the works of Gainax in general. His website is located at, http://www.cjas.org/~leng
His current obsession is Serial Experiments Lain (see http://www.cjas.org/~leng/open.htm)


In the Eyes of Hideaki Anno, Writer and Director of Evangelion
By Lawrence Eng
 


"Evangelion is my life and I have put everything I know into this work. This is my entire life. My life itself." -Hideaki Anno
(translation from 11/96 Newtype in Protoculture Addicts #43)



As we conclude Evangelion tonight, some of you may leave the series feeling somewhat baffled. You will probably leave with many of your questions unanswered, and you might be thinking to yourself, "What was the guy who made this thinking?!" Don't worry, you're not alone. The ending of Eva was controversial in Japan, too. On the other hand, instead of hoping that the last episode of Evangelion will feature epic revelations or have huge flashy battles, take it for what it is, and think about what the director tried to achieve.

At Anime Expo in California last summer, I had the chance to attend two panel discussions during which director Hideaki Anno (who constantly wore an orange shirt and shades) discussed anime, his involvement with Gainax studio, and Evangelion, which some American fans had seen by that time. I had only seen the first three episodes, so I didn't quite grasp why Eva was such a hot topic of discussion, but I nonetheless listened intently.

A few people asked Anno about why he did the final two episodes the way he did, while noting that they felt the ending was confusing. Anno replied, via his translator,  that he did not think there was anything wrong with the last two episodes at all and that if we didn't like the ending of Eva, that was our problem -- at which point he picked up the microphone and, speaking in English, said "Too bad." Myself and others thought this was kind of funny at the time.

According to an interview of Toshio Okada -- founder and former head of Gainax, personal friend of Anno, and affectionately referred to as the "Otaking" by fans around the world -- Anno received a lot of flak from Japanese fans about the ending of Evangelion, and by  the time Anime Expo came around, the last  thing Anno wanted to talk about was the ending of Eva. As such, Okada was not surprised by Anno's tough attitude toward  the people at the convention. In the  interview (which was held at Anime America that same summer), Okada related to fans how Anno and his staff, in addition to having  troubles with the show's producers (Tatsunoko), simply did not have enough time and could not think of a way to nicely end the series. Okada based his information on conversations between himself and Anno as Eva was being finished, and he told American fans that Anno was very stressed out about the whole thing.

An interesting thing to note is that unlike other Gainax anime series, Eva was written as it went along (sort of like manga), while other Gainax shows such as Gunbuster started with the ending being written first and the rest of the anime leading up to it. Okada said that this may have caused some problems near the end, with the writers unsure of how the series should conclude.

Apparently, Anno shaved his head (a la Rokutanda) in reconciliation to the Japanese fans prior to coming to America (his hair had grown back, I guess). Anno, as late as the November '96 issue of Newtype magazine, still denied that the last two episodes were a "lousy job" and argued that the Gainax crew worked incredibly hard to finish the series, which he thinks "ended beautifully." He regretted that fans cannot appreciate  Gainax's efforts.

Asked about the violence and uncharacteristic sex scene in episodes 18 and 19, Anno said that the scenes were necessary to develop the story and "to understand real life." He felt that children should be exposed early to the realities of  life so that they do not grow up weak and sheltered and so that they will become immune to some of the harsh situations they will eventually experience. Many fans at the convention thought that this was an interesting viewpoint on his part.

Do you wonder why Eva got so dark and psychological near the end? After all, Anno is the guy who directed Nadia of the Mysterious Seas, one of the liveliest and funniest anime I've ever watched. According to Anno, from episode 16 on, he began reading books about human psychology and became very interested. He wanted to explore  "what the human mind is all about inside."

"I wrote about myself. My friend lent me a book on psychological illness and this gave me a shock, as if I finally found what I  needed to say," he says in the November Newtype.

Anno-san, who I respect and consider a truly top-notch director, wanted Eva to be ground-breaking and wanted it to change the industry, urging animators in Japan to stray away from anime stories which have become conventional and overused. He expressed his disappointment that Eva did not have that type of impact. On the other hand, he thought that the American audience was very receptive to the series, which gave him
hope.

Two Eva films are out there. One has just come out, recapping episodes 1 to 24, and  the other is being made, [which is a completely new version of episodes 25 and 26]. [This version is based on the original ending scripts Hideaki Anno had written for the TV series, but was rejected by the Japanese network, TV Tokyo, following pressure from the Japanese PTA. (source: The End of Evangelion theatrical program (RCB) and Protoculture Addicts, Issue 42)]

I leave you with a quote:

"Evangelion is like a puzzle, you know. Any
person can see it and give his/her own
answer. In other words, we're offering
viewers to think by themselves, so that each
person can imagine his/her own world. We
will never offer the answers, even in the
theatrical version. As for many Evangelion
viewers, they may expect us to provide the
'all-about Eva' manuals, but there is no
such thing. Don't expect to get answers by
someone. Don't expect to be catered to all
the time. We all have to find our own
answers." -PA #43, translated by Miyako Graham from 11/96 Newtype

The Toshio Okada Interview can be found at http://www.j-pop.com/. For the full Protoculture Addicts article and Anime Expo newsletters, contact me directly if you want to see them.


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