GAINAX Co., Ltd., the legendary animation studio behind classics like Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Gurren Lagann, announced last June that it was filing for bankruptcy, sending shockwaves through the anime community.
Yesterday (June 7), the bankruptcy proceedings were officially completed, bringing an end to the company's nearly 42-year history. Hideaki Anno of Khara, Inc. released a statement, saying, "I was with the company for over 20 years from its founding and remain a shareholder. It is truly regrettable to see it end this way... but I can only accept it calmly." He also provided a report on related matters.
▼ The keyword "Gainax" trended on X shortly after the news broke.
GAINAX's financial situation began to deteriorate around 2012, at which point Khara provided financial assistance. In 2019, then-president Tomohiro Maki was arrested on criminal charges. To prevent the incident from affecting related works, Hideaki Anno dedicated significant effort to investigating the situation and worked with industry partners like KADOKAWA, King Records, and TRIGGER to establish a new management structure.
In an announcement on the official Khara website, Anno stated that with the help of all parties, the transfer of rights, intellectual property, and production materials for various works has been successfully completed. Through proper procedures, these assets have been returned to their original rights holders and creators.
However, what the public has known about GAINAX's situation until now was only part of the story. Anno took this opportunity to discuss newly discovered issues.
Specifically, during the tenure of the former management team, there were instances of improper transfers of rights and materials. In response, a civil lawsuit was filed against the management at the time. The case was settled in 2023, with the defendants issuing an apology that was accepted.
By the time the new management team took over GAINAX, the company was already on the brink of collapse. To grasp the full situation and prevent the further loss of rights and materials, an investigation into contracts and past correspondence was conducted. Anno stated, "As the largest creditor, we did our best to cooperate and get to the bottom of things."
"In this process, we discovered that after accepting our emergency financing, the former GAINAX executives engaged in dishonest behavior. This included false statements regarding repayment, gross mismanagement of company operations and the preservation of creative assets, and a general lack of respect towards us, their largest financial backer. We were shocked by these revelations."
"To be specific," Anno continued, "Yoshinori Asao, the former representative of Fukushima GAINAX, as well as Hiroyuki Yamaga and Yasuhiro Takeda, whom I had considered friends since college, engaged in various forms of deceptive conduct toward our company and myself. They once instructed a GAINAX employee to lie that one of them was hospitalized to avoid our calls. They also sent hostile correspondence and employed tactics clearly intended to evade their repayment obligations. As these facts came to light, my initial anger turned to sorrow."
"I came to the deep realization that our relationship could never return to the 'friendship' of the past. That is why, even though the settlement is complete, I am no longer willing to spend any more time on them. Finally, I want to say this: the responsibilities that should have been shouldered by the old management were instead pushed onto GAINAX, an animation company with a brilliant history. Amid the mess they left behind, the new team worked tirelessly to handle miscellaneous tasks, reorganize scattered rights and materials, and face the creditors."
"The one who supported this effort to the very end and saw the cleanup through was GAINAX's final president and my friend from college, Yasuhiro Kamimura. Kamimura, thank you for everything. Your hard work is appreciated."
The crisis escalated when it was discovered that GAINAX's debt was spiraling, and there were no longer any animators available to handle production work, leaving the once-glorious animation brand in ruins. It is a truly lamentable end for a veteran studio of over 40 years to conclude its journey in such a manner, marred by such embarrassing revelations.
via： Khara官網