by On June 7, 2024, GAINAX Inc. (from now on referred to as Gainax) announced its bankruptcy. The company, which had previously produced numerous hits such as the OVA “Top wo Nerae!” and the TV anime series “Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” had been almost inactive since the mid-2010s.
However, for anime fans who lived through the 1980s and 1990s, the six letters of “GAINAX” shone brightly. Whenever a new Gainax show was broadcast, it was natural to record it, and I remember as if it were yesterday, the days when I was seated in front of the TV, wanting to burn it into my memory as soon as possible. Gainax was a company founded in the 1980s by the amateur video group “DAICON FILM,” which included Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who were college students at the time, to produce the theatrical animation “Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise.”
Initially, the company was scheduled to disband after the one film “Honnéamise.” Still, it ended up with a large debt. It decided to continue operating to repay it (“Honnéamise” is a work of exceptionally high quality, so if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend watching it).
In 1988, Gainax’s first directorial work, the OVA’ Aim for the Top!’, gained popularity. However, their uncompromising commitment to quality led to an increase in debt rather than a decrease. Gainax ventured into the PC game market to alleviate its financial situation, a move suggested by Takami Akai.
The first work, “Dennou Gakuen,” became very popular and was made into a series. After that, “Silent Mobius” by Kia Asamiya and the “Princess Maker” series, a pioneer of training simulation games, continued to be hit, and Gainax survived.
Then, in 1990, the TV anime ‘Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water’ was broadcast and became a hit. However, the company’s insistence on maintaining high production quality led to excessive costs and a third deficit for Gainax.
