Founded in 1984, Gainax was an anime studio that was different from the norm at the time. Founded and established from the ground up by anime fans, those of which were talented artists and animators, there was something about the studio which seemed uniquely authentic that it showed in the works the studio produced and passion which seemed to have drove the studio forward.
While many people outside of Japan will know of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gainax has produced other shows which many would deem just as good if not better. Shows such as Nadia: Secret of Blue Water, Top wo Narae (Gunbuster), Fooly Cooly (FLCL), and some of its later works such as Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Diebuster (Top wo Narae 2), & Gurren Lagann, Gainax was able to show that they can produce works for almost anyone in many genres.
In recent years, a few spin-off studios were founded in the anime scene such as Studio Khara & TRIGGER, this was due to many issues of mismanagement within Gainax when it comes in terms of finanaces.
As posted on the Gainax official site, the company has filed for bankruptcy as of May 29, 2024 and explains how the company came to be in this situation. To many in the know or those whom have been following Gainax over the recent years, this news has been a long time coming, as Gainax has been in trouble in terms of inordinate amount of debts for a good while.
Also, Studio Khara has also made an official statement which also includes their own explanation of events, as the studios are linked not only creatively through Hideaki Anno but also because Khara has been trying to help Gainax pull itself out of the mess it created.
The most concerning thing here is where all of Gainax’s intellectual property rights will end up. In all honesty, it would be nice if Nadia & Top wo Narae would end up with Hideaki Anno at Studio Khara, while shows like FLCL & Gurren Lagann would end up with Studio Trigger but that’s not going to happen…..especially since FLCL was sold off by Gainax to Production IG (the studio behind Ghost in the Shell among others).
All things considered, this marks a very sad day in the anime landscape and it’s never good when a once prominent studio goes under. Gainax was one of the shinning beacons in the anime space in terms of creativity and innovation which showed much of the studio’s love for the medium.
