Toshio Okada wrote:I think the style, or mood, of EVANGELION, is not so far, not so different, from the serious side of GUNBUSTER or NADIA. The biggest difference would have been in the style of planning the last episode. My style is to always plan the ending *first,* as I did with GUNBUSTER--everything then follows from that. In NADIA, Mr. Anno couldn't decide on the ending--it wasn't fixed until only three months before the final episode was shown. So subsequently, I was confused about NADIA, and there was a lack of control over the various episodes. EVANGELION is a very great series--I think it's one of the top anime ever made. But--the last scenes were never fixed. When I talked to Mr. Anno a month ago, he said he couldn't decide the ending until the time came. That's his style. So, if I had made EVANGELION with him, I couldn't do such a thing. I'd think I'd have to fix the ending, what would happen with every character. Then, everything would follow: the first episode, the second episode...If I wanted to show a boy's coming-of-age story, a *bildungsroman,* the last scene would show the grown-up man; the first scene, a boy who hates everything about the adult world. That would be the structure; I'm very careful about a regular construction. But Mr. Anno's style on EVANGELION was not so. He wants to put it together episode-by-episode. It's just like the style of a manga. In your typical manga, the artist doesn't have any picture of the last scene, or the last episode. They just think of building up on past episodes. And finally, the manga artist, and his assistants, and editor...[BURIES HEAD IN HANDS], they work out an idea about the last sequence. If it's a good idea, the whole episode is very good. If they can't make a good idea, the whole episode is not so good. It's an unhappy story. And I think that's what happened with the last two episodes of EVANGELION. Mr. Anno and his staff couldn't make a good idea for it. He told an anime magazine in Japan that he couldn't make what he wanted because of schedule or budget. But that's not correct. I talked with Mr. Yamaga and Mr. Anno. They said, "It's not only a problem of schedule or budget. It's a problem of what the ending is going to be." Mr. Anno couldn't decide. Mr. Anno's and my own style of production are very different.

Okada wrote:I talked with Mr. Yamaga and Mr. Anno. They said, "It's not only a problem of schedule or budget. It's a problem of what the ending is going to be."

Xard wrote:It surprises me you guys even considered taking his ridiculous "EoTV was planned ahead" statement seriously.

Sailor Star Dust wrote:So uhh...does Okada's statement means there were budget--not just scheduling--problems?

Otaking wrote:You must remember that EVANGELION is produced at Tatsunoko, so the schedule is out of the control of Gainax--it's the responsibility of Tatsunoko. Tatsunoko almost rules, when it comes to control. So, I think, the responsibility was not with Gainax. People say, "It's the responsibility of Mr. Anno," but they're wrong. Control over schedule is the responsibility of the producer. But Tatsunoko and T.V. Tokyo couldn't handle it. It was out of Gainax's control. [...] I talked with Mr. Anno about this a month ago, and then he said, "I'm *almost* the producer of EVANGELION, but I must be so, because Tatsunoko did not do anything for EVANGELION." See, he is very disappointed with Tatsunoko, and some rumors have said that Tatsunoko lost the film, or cels before they were shot. And I asked Mr. Anno, "Is it the truth?" And he says, in a dark voice, "Yes." But that was in the middle of the episodes. That wasn't the trouble with the last two episodes, the confusion. It was just Mr. Anno's teleplay.

NAveryW wrote:they weren't GAINAX's fault, because the animation wasn't done at GAINAX

NAveryW wrote:because GAINAX only had three staff members dedicated to anime.

Xard wrote:Those were not part of animation staff I gather but as they were animators in the past GAINAX used them too.

JoeD80 wrote:They worked (and still work) for Gainax as key animators, so how were they not part of the animation staff exactly? I suppose I don't really know Gainax's business practices, but that sounds a little odd.

The Eva Monkey wrote:This reminds me of Takeshi Honda at Katsucon many years back. He said that Anno constantly changed things. He changed many of the later episodes at the last minute, and that was so frustrating for him that he did not speak to Anno until after The End of Evangelion was completed.

gwern wrote:Were these comments at Katsucon written up or recorded anywhere?

The Eva Monkey wrote:I have a DVD of it, courtesy of a friend of mine. I started transcribing it, but haven't finish it yet.

The Eva Monkey wrote:I have a DVD of it, courtesy of a friend of mine. I started transcribing it, but haven't finish it yet.

gwern wrote:Hm. So you were not present? Your phrasing implied that you were.

gwern wrote:In any event, if the audio is good and you don't have time to transcribe it, I wouldn't mind doing it.