HIDEAKI ANNO

, born 22 May 1960 in Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan, is a Japanese animation and video director. Anno is best known for his work on the popular anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''. His style has come to be defined by the touches of superflatism and postmodernism that he injects into his work, as well as the thorough portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions, often through unconventional sequences incorporating psychoanalysis and emotional deconstruction of these characters. He married comics artist Moyoco Anno in 2002.
Anime directed by Anno that have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award have been in 1990, Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995 and 1996, and The End of Evangelion in 1997.

Contents

Biography

Early work

''Neon Genesis Evangelion''

Recent work

Trivia

Filmography

Director

Storyboards

Animator

Actor

References

External links

Biography

Early work

The God Warrior from ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'', animated by Anno.

Anno began his career after attending Osaka College of Art as an animator for the anime series ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross'' (1982–1983).^[1]
However, he wasn't a recognized talent until the release of his work on Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 film ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind''. Running short on animators, the film's production studio posted an ad in the famous Japanese animation magazine Animage, announcing that they were in desperate need of more animators. Anno, in his early twenties at the time, read the ad and headed down to the film's studio, where he met with Miyazaki and showed him some of his drawings. Impressed with Anno's work, Miyazaki hired him to draw some of the most complicated scenes near the end of the movie,^[2] and regarded his work highly.^[3]
Anno went on to become one of the co-founders of Gainax in December 1984. He worked as an animation director for their first feature-length film, '' (1987), and ultimately became Gainax's premiere anime director, helming the majority of the studio's projects such as ''Gunbuster'' (1988) and '' (1990–1991).^[4] However, Anno fell into a four-year depression following ''Nadia'' — the series was handed down to him from NHK from an original concept by Hayao Miyazaki (of which ''Castle in the Sky'' is also partly based upon) and he was given very little creative control.

''Neon Genesis Evangelion''

Anno's next project was the anime TV series ''Shin Seiki Evangelion'' (Japanese:新世紀エヴァンゲリオン known internationally as ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''), (1995–1996), which has ultimately gone on to be one of the most influential anime works ever, championing a return to older styles of drawing and themes in Japanese animation and taking them to new heights of precision and depth. Many believe that Anno's four-year period of depression was the main source for many of the psychological elements of the series and its characters, as he wrote down on paper many of the trials and tribulations of his condition. During the show's production, Anno became disenchanted with the Japanese "otaku" lifestyle, considering it a form of forced autism. For this and other reasons, ''Evangelion's plot became increasingly dark and psychological as the series progressed, despite being broadcast in children's television timeslot. Anno felt that people should be exposed to the realities of life at as young an age as possible, and by the end of the series all attempts at traditional narrative logic were abandoned, the final two episodes being a kind of bad trip taking place inside the minds of the main characters. (However, many suspect that the exclusion of narrative action was due largely to lack of funding and threats of cancellation from the network.) The show did not garner high ratings at its initial time slot, though it was soon moved to a later, more adult-oriented venue and became exceptionally popular throughout Japan.
After the ending of Shin Seiki Evangelion ''(Neon Genesis Evangelion)'', Anno received numerous letters and emails from fans, both congratulating him on the series and criticizing the last two episodes. Among these were death threats and letters of disappointment from fans who thought Anno had ruined the series for them. Partially in response to this outcry, a project was launched to create a movie with a "proper" ending for the series in 1997, eventually culminating in the controversial ''The End of Evangelion''.
Following the release of Evangelion Anno appeared on the NHK TV-documentary "Welcome Back for an Extracurricular Lesson, Sempai!", answering many Evangelion related questions, including the origin of the name Evangelion.^[5]

Recent work

After ''Evangelion'', Anno directed a significant portion of the 1998 anime series Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō (known in English as ''His and Her Circumstances'' or ''Kare Kano'' for short) — the first Gainax work to be directly adapted from previously-written material — until disputes with both the show's sponsors and the original manga author ended in the director's departure, leaving the show in the hands of his protegé, Kazuya Tsurumaki (see also ''FLCL''). Since that dispute, Anno has gone on to work with Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli on several short films which have been shown at the Ghibli Museum.
The director has also made forays into live-action films, beginning with ''Love & Pop'' (1998), a cinéma vérité-style film about enjo kosai ("compensated dating", a form of teenage prostitution) in Japan, of which a major portion was shot on miniature digital cameras with constantly shifting aspect ratios. His second live-action film, ''Shiki-Jitsu'' (2000) (''"Ritual Day"'' or ''"Ceremonial Day"''), is the story of a burnt-out former animation director (played by popular indie director Shunji Iwai) who falls in love with a woman disconnected from reality. Though a n experimental work like ''Love & Pop'', this film was shot using the more traditional aspect ratio and has a generally more polished presentation, eschewing the cinéma vérité grittiness of Anno's first live-action film.
Anno's third live-action film, released in the summer of 2004, was an adaptation of the manga and anime franchise ''Cutie Honey''. A stark contrast to his earlier, more realist live-action works, ''Cutie Honey'' is a lighthearted fantasy/superhero movie. Later in 2004, Anno supervised but did not direct the three-part OVA, ''Re: Cutie Honey''. The directors are Hiroyuki Imaishi (part 1), Takamichi Ito (part 1), and Masayuki (part 3).
Also released in 2004 was the movie , in which Anno makes several acting cameos: as the student in the front row of the "HOME ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!" skit sitting next to Hataru, in "Who's the Director?" as an animator who feels he is being overworked, and finally in "Singles Picnic" he is among the men awaiting females who never come.^[6]
On August 1, 2006, Hideaki Anno's official website was updated with job listings for key animators and production staff at a company he founded, Studio Khara.[1] In September 2006, it is reported by the October edition of the Japanese animation magazine Newtype that the new cinema series "REBUILD of Evangelion" will be released in the summer 2007.^[7] On September 9, 2006, GAINAX's official website confirmed that four new Evangelion movies are in the works. The first three movies will be an alternate retelling of the TV series (including many new scenes, settings, backgrounds, characters), and the fourth movie will be a completely new conclusion to the story. Hideaki Anno will write the scenario for the first movie and will be the general director and manager for the entire project. Kazuya Tsurumaki will direct the movies while Yoshiyuki Sadamoto will provide character designs and Ikuto Yamashita will provide mechanical designs. Shinji Higuchi will provide storyboards for the first movie. The first one will be launched in Summer 2007, the second in January 2008, and the third and final movies will be shown together in Summer 2008. On February 17th, 2007, Anno published an official statement [2] on the Japanese Yahoo Portal for the films regarding his personal involvement and goals in their production. ^[8]

Trivia

★ Anno is a vegetarian^[9].

Filmography

Director

★ ''Gunbuster'' (1988)

★ '' (1990–1991)

★ ''Shin Seiki Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion)'' (1995–1996)

★ '' (1997) [Executive Director]

★ ''The End of Evangelion'' (1997) [Executive Director]

★ ''Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances)'' (1998)

★ ''Love & Pop'' (1998)

★ ''Shiki-Jitsu'' (2000)

★ (2002 short film)

★ ''Cutie Honey'' (2004)

★ '' (2004) [Supervising Director]

★ ''Rebuild of Evangelion'' (2007-2008) [Executive Director]

Storyboards

★ ''Gunbuster'' (1988)

★ '' (1990–1991)

★ ''Shin Seiki Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion)'' (1995–1996)

★ ''The End of Evangelion'' (1997)

★ ''Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden'' (2001)

★ ''Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi'' (2002)

★ ''Gunbuster 2'' (2004-2006)

★ ''Sugar Sugar Rune'' (2005-2006)

Animator

★ ''Macross'' (1982-1983)

★ ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' (1984)

★ ''Birth'' (1984)

★ '' (1987)

★ ''Crystal Triangle'' (1987)

★ ''Grave of the Fireflies'' (1988)

★ ''Gunbuster'' (1988)

★ ''Madox-01'' (1988)

★ ''Crimson Wolf'' (1993)

★ ''Macross Plus'' (1994)

★ ''Macross Plus Movie Edition'' (1995)

★ ''Shin Seiki Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion)'' (1995–1996)

★ ''The End of Evangelion'' (1997)

★ ''Sugar Sugar Rune'' (2005-2006)

Actor

★ ''FLCL'' (2000), (voice of Miyu-Miyu, uncredited)

★ ''Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi'' (2002), (cameo role in Episode 12, uncredited)

★ ''Cutie Honey'' (2004), (office worker)

★ ''Japan Sinks'' (2006) - Actor

References

1. Official biography
2. Studio Ghibli, ''The Birth of Studio Ghibli'' video, c. 2003 (included on UK Nausicaä DVD)
3. Evangelion Special: Genesis of a major manga
4. IMDB Profile
5. Hideaki Anno talks to kids. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2007-05-03
6. ナイスの森
7. NEON GENESIS EVANGELION RENEWAL ANIMATION MOVIE

8. REBUILD OF EVANGELION

9. Buried Treasure: Hideaki Anno Talks to Kids

External links

★ English profile page, Gainax

★ Hideaki Anno Official site

★ Hideaki Anno's IMDb Listing

★ Anno Hideaki's JMDb Listing

★