Ah yes, Gainax, one of the industry's most famous studios. Founded in the early 80s as Daicon Films, they started off doing some independent animations before changing their name to its current incarnation a few years later. Their earliest works include the OVAs, Wings of Honnêamise and Gunbuster, and the TV series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. But, it is in 1995 that they influenced an entire generation of animation.
「初」by touge666
Yeah, Neon Genesis Evangelion is kind of a big deal. It's pretty easy to see its influences today (and not just in anime), fifteen years out, and it's even easier to see its popularity, what with two of four remake films currently released. But yeah, lots of psychological themes, subversion of tropes, and just not very easily digestible stuff. Probably the most influential anime in the 90s.
「彼氏彼女の事情」 by AX
So you've made a groundbreaking mecha show that explores issues in human psychology. What to do next? How about a shoujo romance? Because that's exactly what Hideaki Anno did. Kare Kano is a fantastic shoujo manga (it's my favourite) that's about the individual one presents to others versus the person that they actually are. The results of the anime adaptation are mixed, with a lot of people enjoying most of it until the final few episodes. It's this show that spawned the Gainax End phenomenon.
「ベスパ女とカンチの空」 by 葛西 心
FLCL is a fairly interesting show because it continues in the Gainax tradition of animating weird things, this time about growing up. It's not really my thing, but I've gotta admit that the production on this thing is pretty fantastic. It looks way better than anything I'd expect from 2000. Also, points for the soundtrack, which consists entirely of music by the pillows, who are fantastic.
「グレンラガン」 by huke
It's the year 2007. By this point in time, Gainax can't seem to dodge their reputation for ruining endings. While they haven't reached Gonzo levels of awful, their reputation had definitely dropped. So in the same year that Gainax shows off yet another Evangelion thing (Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE), they have this goofy robot show about drills running in a Sunday morning timeslot, traditionally the kids/toy fodder timeslot.
Reading through the Spring 2007 season previews was pretty neat, because expectations for Gurren Lagann were not very high. But the little Ganmen that could turned out to be the most universe-warping show that Gainax had produced since Evangelion. This homage to mecha through the ages marked a turning point for Gainax's reputation and is one of the best shows of the decade.
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So clearly, Gainax have still got it in them. They've still got two more Evangelion movies to produce, but their team behind Gurren Lagann should be watched pretty closely. And that's why there's a lot of buzz behind Panty and Stocking, despite the name and concept. It'll be interesting to see what Gainax will have in store for the next decade.
NEXT TIME
ISAAAAAAAAACU~ MIRIAAAAAAAAA~
