Hideaki Anno

Anno is closely tied to Hayao Miyazaki through early animation work rather than a Ghibli staff role: he provided key animation on Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind before co-founding Gainax in 1984. He also worked on The Super Dimension Fortress Macross earlier in his career.

Hideaki Anno conceived, wrote and directed Neon Genesis Evangelion for the studio Gainax, bringing a psychological approach to the mecha genre. Budget and schedule pressures during production forced him to close the television run with two introspective, mostly interior episodes.

After the original television series ended, Anno returned to direct The End of Evangelion as a theatrical alternative ending. The film gave him a chance to revisit the story's conclusion outside the constraints that had shaped the TV finale.

Yes, Anno spent 2007 through 2021 writing and directing the four-film Rebuild of Evangelion series. The project was aimed at reaching audiences beyond the original Evangelion fanbase.

Anno helped found the animation studio Gainax in 1984 and served as lead director on early hits like the mecha comedy Gunbuster and the sci-fi series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. Outside the studio, he has directed Love & Pop, Cutie Honey, and the live-action Shin trilogy of tokusatsu reboots: Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, and Shin Kamen Rider.