Gainax, the Japanese anime studio behind legendary series Neon Genesis Evangelion, has gone bankrupt following years of financial mishaps.
As reported by Automaton, Gainax announced on June 7, 2024 that an application for bankruptcy filed on May 29, 2024 had been accepted by the Tokyo District Court. The studio is now defunct, though the Gainax trademark is now owned by fellow anime creator Studio Khara.
Gainax is best known for creating Evangelion, a sci-fi series about a post apocalyptic Tokyo and the mech-piloting teenagers charged with saving it, but is also behind Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, and more.
The studio filed for bankruptcy because former executives treated it like their private property since around 2012, according to a notice on Gainax’s website. Financial and management issues have been an almost integral part of the studio’s history, however, with several high profile incidents throughout the years.
Signs of struggle date back to 1992, eight years after its 1984 founding, when a sequel to its most successful release to date, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, was cancelled due to production issues.
An opportunity to right the ship arrived in 1995 when Gainax released instant hit Evangelion, still considered one of the best anime of all time. But Gainax was dishonest about just how successful the anime had been and was soon found guilty of tax fraud, with the company president and tax accountant arrested and jailed for concealing ¥1.56 billion (more than $10 million by today’s conversation rates).
Gainax found itself sued by myriad companies and individuals over different financial matters in the following years, including in 2016 by Studio Khara, which was founded by Gainax co-founder and Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno. The Tokyo District Court ruled Gainax must pay back a ¥100 million (around $643,000) loan from Studio Khara.
More legal trouble came in 2019 when representative director Tomohiro Maki was reportedly arrested for committing indecent acts against a voice actress and the following year was sentenced to two-and-a half years in prison, according to Anime News Network.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
