Takami Akai,
Hiroyuki Yamaga and
Hideaki Anno were film students at the
Osaka College of Art during the early eighties. Living together in the same cramped apartment they
"had this dream", according to Yamaga and over the next couple of years they formed
Daicon Film, produced the
Daicon convention openings, and then formed Studio Gainax to produce
Wings Of Honneamise. In the years that followed they produced such anime cult classics as
Otaku no Video,
Gunbuster,
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, the acclaimed
Neon Genesis Evangelion,
Kareshi Kanojo No Jijou,
Ebichu,
FLCL,
Mahoromatic and
Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai to name a few.
Particularly after the commercial success of
Evangelion Gainax have been able to expand their creative genius even more than they did before, becuase as Yamaga puts it, the sponsors say
"Oh, it's Gainax, we'll probably make some money on it". They are an
Otaku studio, made up of anime fans, who make anime for fans. They haven't always had mainstream success, but they are one of the most respected studios in Japan and are highly respected by fans and other studios alike.
Name: Gainax Co., Ltd.
Founded: December 25, 1984
Capitalization: 20,000,000
Yen
Located at: Nakamachi Bldg., 2-5-22 Nakamachi, Musashino-shi,
Tokyo 180-0006,
JAPAN. Just five minutes walk from the North Exit of Mitaka Station, on the JR Chuo Line.
Contact: Voice: 0422-53-5568 (Reception; 81 422 53-5568 outside Japan--
Japanese only)
Fax: 0422-53-5565 (81 422-53-5565 outside Japan)
Number of Employees: Approx. 100 (which is quite a lot for an
animation studio).
The above details are correct as of
March 1, 1999. Below is an extended and heavily annotated
timeline history of Gaianx based off the brief one portrayed on the Gainax homepage.
The History Of Gainax
1981 - August: DAICON 3, the 20th Annual Japan SF Convention. It is here that Gainax's origins lie. Diacon 3 is an "
amateur"
science fiction convention organized by
college students in the
Osaka area. The core members of the Diacon 3 convention committee built upon the experience they acquired while running the event and used it to open
General Products,
Japan's first specialty SF shop.
1982 - February: General Products opens for business.
1982 - August: Premiere of
"Kaiketsu Nootenki" and
"Aikoku Sentai Dainippon" (
Patriot Taskforce Great Japan).
1983 - March: Kaettekita Ultraman (
Return of Ultraman) completed and screened. This was directed by
Hideaki Anno, who is a huge fan of
Ultraman.
1984 - August: DAICON 4, the 22nd Annual Japan SF Convention took place.
1984 - September: Planning on
The Royal Space Force -
Wings of Honneamise Project begins.
1984 - December: Gainax Co., Ltd was founded. The main reason the studio was founded was so that they could make
The Royal Space Force -
Wings of Honneamise.
1985 - January: Design studio opened in
Takadanobaba,
Tokyo. Production begins on
The Royal Space Force Pilot Film which is a four minute pilot for what was later released as
Wings of Honneamise.
1985 - May: New studio opened in Takadanobaba, Tokyo.
The Royal Space Force design work begins.
1986 - January: Studio moved to
Kichijoji,
Tokyo. Proper production on
The Royal Space Force begins. As you can see it was a long process in actually getting the production of the final
Wings of Honneamise under way.
1987 - March: The feature-length
animated film
The Royal Space Force -
Wings of Honneamise opens in
Toho movie
theaters. It was distributed by
Toho Towa, presented by
Bandai and had the 24 year old
Yamaga Hiroyuki as its director. This film really legitimised the concept of
feature films made using
animation.
1988 - October: Vol. 1 (of 6) of the
original video animation series
Gunbuster, "
Aim for the Top!" (
Top o Nerae!) goes on sale. Presented by
Bandai and
Victor Music Industries.
1989 - August: Denno Gakuen 1, Gainax's first
computer game goes on sale. It was prodcued almost eitirely by
Akai Takami.
1990 - March: Nadia:
Fushigi no Umi no Nadia/
Nadia: The secret of Blue Water, a 39-episode animated TV series, premieres on
NHK. Presented by NHK Enterprises, Sogovision, and Toho.
1990 - August: The Silent Mobius computer game goes on sale. In order to conquer the
anime and
entertainment software fields,
General Products got out of the business of
merchandising, withdrew from
Wonder Festival, and merged with Gainax in order to focus its efforts on project planning and development.
1991 - February: The computer game
Super Battleskin Panic goes on sale.
1991 - May: The original
Princess Maker goes on sale. This was probably the best "child-rearing" simulation game ever!
1992 - March: The
Nadia:
Fushigi no Umi no Nadia/
Nadia: The secret of Blue Water computer game goes on sale. The
original video animation series
"Otaku no Video 1982" and
"More Otaku no Video 1985" goes on sale. These two
OVAs capture
otaku history by telling the story of Gainax itself.
1993 - May: Princess Maker 2 goes on sale. All the package art and other design work was done entirely with
desktop publishing. This was when Gainax started making substantial use of
Macintoshes and
SGI Indigo machines for
computer graphics work as well.
1994 - March: The first
Gainamatsuri (
Gainax Festival) takes place one weekend in Mikami, Gunma Prefecture.
1994 - December: Gainax's first
CD-ROM art collection, done mostly by
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, goes on sale.
Princess Maker and Other Stuff, the first
Akai Takami CD-ROM also goes on sale
1995 - July: The Second
Gainamatsuri (Gainax Festival) takes place at
Itako,
Ibaraki Prefecture.
1995 - October: The animated TV series
Neon Genesis Evangelion premieres on the
TV Tokyo Network, lasting 26 episodes. I can't say enough about
Evangelion. It is the best show I have ever seen, period. As
anime goes it it terrific, as
life goes, it is the
best.
1996 - February: Neon Genesis Evangelion Collector's Disc Vol. 1 goes on sale.
1996 - May: The
Gunbuster, "
Aim for the Top!" -
Top o Nerae! CD-ROM Encyclopaedia Concentrate goes on sale.
1997 - March: Neon Genesis Evangelion The Movie,
Evangelion: Death and Rebirth opens in theatres.
1997 - April: The Windows version of the
Neon Genesis Evangelion -
Girlfriend of Steel computer game goes on sale.
1997 - July: Neon Genesis Evangelion DVD Vol. 1 (of seven) goes on sale.
The End of Evangelion premieres in theatres.
1997 - November: The Royal Space Force -
Wings of Honneamise, the
Sound Renewal Version, is screened at the 1997
Tokyo Fantastic Film Festival, and at the
Tachikawa CineCity 2, one of the few
THX-certified theatres in Japan.
Gainax Night took place at the 1997
Sapporo Film Festival.
1998 - January: Hideaki Anno's live-action directorial debut,
Love & Pop opens in theatres. Work on this film began immediately after
Evangelion was finished. If you can get your hands on this beauty I recommend it. Anno is just as good directing a
live action film as
anime.
1998 - March: The combined
Evangelion movies,
Evangelion: Death (True)² and
The End of Evangelion, opens in theatres as
Revival of Evangelion. The PlayStation version of "
Neon Genesis Evangelion -
Eva and Good Friends" goes on sale.
1998 - July: The
Aoki Uru Frozen Designs Collection goes on sale.
1998 - October: The animated TV series
Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou premieres on the
TV Tokyo Network, lasting 26 episodes. The title of this anime translates roughly to
His and Her Circumstances, and was directed by
Hideaki Anno.
1999 - February: The Windows version of
Shinji and Good Friends - Is That Solitaire? goes on sale.
2000 - April: Furi Kuri/
FLCL OVA 1 (of 6) was released. Directed by
Kazuya Tsurumaki this has got to be one of the best looking
anime I've ever seen. It's crazy in the typical Gainax style too.
2001 - Current: Abenobashi Mahô Shôtenga (
Abenobashi Magical Shopping District) is being produced for
Japanese TV. It is about two girls who are transported to the parallel universe which has a
magical shopping district. More great
mad Gainax stuff.
I'll updated this as time goes by and Gainax releases more masterpieces.