Gainax founder exposes “disappointing” controversy as anime studio shuts down

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After over forty years, the famous anime studio Studio Gainax has closed its doors. Hideaki Anno, a key founder and the creator of Evangelion, recently discussed some of the difficulties the studio faced during its history.

Founded in Tokyo in 1984, Gainax was a pioneering anime studio known for its innovative and often unconventional stories. They created many original and influential series, including popular titles like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gunbuster, FLCL, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and Gurren Lagann.

Despite the rise of new animation studios and changes in the industry, Gainax remained influential, with many of its former employees founding successful companies like Studio Trigger and Khara. However, this success masked years of hidden financial problems and poor internal management that were slowly harming the studio.

The situation reached a critical point in May 2024 when Gainax, the anime studio, declared bankruptcy and officially closed down. Hideaki Anno, the founder of Khara, has recently explained the reasons behind the studio’s failure.

Studio Gainax officially closes after 42 years

Studio Gainax officially closed down on December 11, 2025, after finishing its bankruptcy process. This was announced in a statement by Anno on the Studio Khara website.

After 41 years, the renowned anime studio GAINAX, famous for groundbreaking series like Neon Genesis Evangelion, has officially closed its doors due to bankruptcy.

— TopMob (@TopMob) December 11, 2025

Wow, it’s hard to believe! This news means a studio that was huge in the anime world – a real cornerstone for over 40 years – is closing its doors. It feels like the end of an era, honestly.

Hideaki Anno, a co-founder of Gainax and long-time shareholder, called the company’s closure “deeply disappointing” but stated he’s approaching it with acceptance and peace of mind.

He confirmed that Gainax’s financial issues and assets have finally been resolved. After years of doubt, the rights to their work have been returned to the original creators and owners.

Things took a turn for the worse after Tomohiro Maki, the company’s CEO at the time, was arrested in 2019. He was later convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison in 2020 for sexually assaulting a minor voice actress.

Anno began by thanking the companies that had worked with Gainax for almost six years without charge. Their help was crucial in rebuilding and restructuring the company after the 2019 arrest of its then-CEO, Maki Tomohiro.

We successfully managed the rights for all works thanks to your help. This included transferring ownership and returning all materials to the correct owners and creators.

He then thanked Yasuhiro Kamimura, the last president of Gainax, for saving the studio’s assets and intellectual property. He explained that despite the previous management team leaving without addressing the studio’s issues, Kamimura successfully prevented everything from being lost.

Anno stated that Kamimura took over leadership with everyone’s agreement, honestly addressed the studio’s debts, and worked tirelessly until the very end, despite ultimately seeing the studio close. He expressed gratitude to Kamimura and thanked him for his dedication.

Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno exposes behind-the-scenes issues

Despite being known for many popular and well-loved shows, Hideaki Anno’s comments reveal a difficult final ten years for the Gainax studio.

The creator of Evangelion explained that past management made mistakes with how ownership rights were handled and didn’t fully pay royalties, even after Khara stepped in with financial help to keep the studio afloat.

Following a dispute, Khara sued Gainax. The case ended in early 2023 with a settlement of 100 million yen (around $640,000). This settlement validated Khara’s claims and included a formal apology from Gainax.

According to Anno, after Gainax reorganized its leadership, they carefully reviewed contracts and emails to assess the company’s financial health and protect its valuable assets and intellectual property.

We worked with the investigation as the company’s main lender, and during that time, we directly observed Gainax’s dishonest practices.

He’s talking about dishonest behavior regarding how the emergency funding Khara provided was paid back, and also about disrespectful treatment of Gainax’s creations and employees within the previous management team.

I was shocked to hear he found internal emails and instructions that painted Khara in a really negative light. Apparently, they were actively trying to mislead him and the rest of the team – it’s just awful to think about!

Discovering that former president Hiroyuki Yamaga had asked employees to falsely claim he was in the hospital deeply upset Mr. Yamaga, moving him past anger and into profound sadness, and ultimately ending several close friendships he’d had since college.

Throughout the 2010s, the studio steadily declined, eventually leading to significant debt and the 2019 arrest of its founder, Maki. By 2024, Gainax had filed for bankruptcy, and the company is now fully dissolved.

Gainax Representative Director Tomohiro Maki arrested for inappropriately touching and taking nude photos of a voice actress
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He explained that the company had settled previously simply to avoid further time and effort dealing with the other party.

I’ve realized things with them probably won’t ever go back to how they used to be, and I sincerely apologize.

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2025-12-11 14:53