What has happened to Gainax?!?!

[bobbarker31]

This year is the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest anime studios ever: GAINAX... They have created some of the most thought provoking, off beat and entertaining anime known.

This is the studio that created:
Royal Space Force
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Neon Genesis Evangelion
His and Her's Circumstances
Fooly Cooly
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

So with the 20th anniversary upon us, what do we get?

Gunbuster 2... a show that thinks it is FLCL.... and turns out it is the only one that thinks that it is this. At least "Groovin Magic" is a cool opening song.

What else do we get? "He's My Master" A show that seems to be framed around fanservice and nods to earlier Gainax greatness. Maybe a horny alligator would have gotten a smile from me if it came from some other studio, but I expected different from these guys.

Now I like fanservice as much as the next person, but somehow maybe I was expecting more this year... Maybe something has snapped inside of me and I am a bit disallusioned by these offerings... I often turned to anime to see series that offered MORE than regular films and television. There was more cutting edge stuff to be seen in Japanese anime than almost anywhere else.... Now things seem to be trending the other direction...Is it me? or am I onto something here? I would really like to hear what others might say.

[angelx03]

You could check out Re: Cutie Honey which was Hideaki Anno's latest work (along with that live-action version). That one has lots of retro style (think Austin Powers style).

And be on a look out for Bushilord which was suppose to come out this spring. Here's the synopsis I found in AS forums (it's the "other" AS forums ):

It was the year 2026

Vernu, a small planet breaching the Earth's orbit shattered into countless pieces, causing an unprecedented meteor shower the Earth had never seen.

The sky scorched, the sea parted, and engulfed in flames were the cities of Mankind--half of whose population perished.

The rising dust, gravel, and the remnants of the shattered small planet encases the Earth, robbing from it the grace of sunlight, the world had returned to an Ice Age.

In this despairing predicament, Mankind, who had just narrowly avoided the fate of extinction, still sought conflict and living space amongst themselves, repeating a lesson unlearned. Mankind no longer has a future.

These are the days of perpetual conflicts repeating themselves, without love, without hope.

Today is no different than yesterday. Tomorrow will just be the same as today--as it will be forever in the next.
It's a world that has forgotten to change.

Day in day out in this cruel and warring world, blood is washed with more blood.

Love and hope, along with ambitions are buried daily in an endless cycle.

However, there is a place called the continent shelf (大陸棚 ).

It is a new land born from the drying sea. Here, by chance on this new ground known as the Sealand (海陸 ),
that guy and I
that person and I
met, and the frozen drudgery of day-to-day life begins moving once again with the burning fire of a new Era...

And I already post my thoughts on He is My Master in the previous thread.

[Tainted_Eden]

I don't know if this counts, but they also did Petite Princess Yucie...

[angelx03]

I don't know if this counts, but they also did Petite Princess Yucie...

That is also a good series and very cute (though I only saw the first 4 episodes). I believe that series based on one of their Princess Maker games.

[OtakuMan22]

I dunno if you can count Hideaki Anno's latest works. After all, the guy left Gainax! In fact, it was BECAUSE of his departure that His and Her Circumstances ended with a VERY unsatisfying ending! I'm talking cliffhanger of NO RETURN!

His genius led to greats such as Evangelion and Nadia. However, for some reason unknown to man, he decided to try his hand at directing live action. This leads to some very whacked out stuff from other Gainax staffers, and with Anno gone, the workflow into Gainax is very important. If they can't get the work they need, then they go under. Simple as that.

I guess getting the style and feel of original Gainax from 20 years ago would require a helluva lot of work to get all the original staff together. Of course, if Otaku No Video is true... ANYTHING can happen!

~Otaku-Man

[bobbarker31]

His and Her Circumstances ended the way it did because everyone there fully intended to continue with another season.... everyone that is except for the writer of the Manga. The author wanted them to focus more on the romance and less on the comedy. And the creative difference led to the plug being pulled on the whole series...much to Gainax's disappointment.

[Tainted_Eden]

Holy carp, seriously? I always thought because they just caught up with the manga and didn't wanna force an ending...

So there'll never be a continuation of His and Hers? *pout*

[OtakuMan22]

Hmm, interesting! I learn something new everyday!

~Otaku-Man

[bobbarker31]

I remember reading an interview with the head of Gainax a few months back (Newtype?). His and Her Circumstances was a great disappointment to him because of this. He felt like he had let down the fans in this regard. Looking at the series, it does just end abrubtly.... but they had every intention to continue on.... it just didn't end up that way.

[Harlock7876]

Gunbuster 2... a show that thinks it is FLCL.... and turns out it is the only one that thinks that it is this. At least "Groovin Magic" is a cool opening song.

I saw the first episode of this and was incredibly disappointed. This is FLCL with the "Work hard! Do your best!" message of the original series. The original was great due to the real world physics, whereas there appears to be nothing but FLCL physics of stretchy limbs and impossible movements.
I want my god damn physics lessons!