The End of Gainax, RIP 1984-2024

[FelipeFritschF]

Gainax has finally filed for bankruptcy, and Khara has stated it will find new homes for its remaining IPs, like FLCL, Gunbuster and Nadia.

https://www.khara.co.jp/2024/06/07/240607/

Khara also provided a statement on the bankruptcy announcement on Friday. In the statement, Khara states that it had been aware of Gainax's "poor management and debt" for a while, and Hideaki Anno had expressed his concerns to Gainax and made proposals to improve the company's management, but Anno's proposals were not accepted for a long time. Despite all this, Khara continued to accept the proposals of Ganax's management, and provided supportive loans.

Khara stated that Gainax's situation continued to worsen, and then Maki was arrested in December 2019. Following Maki's arrest, Anno requested the collaboration of Kadokawa, King Records, and studio TRIGGER to "prevent damage to the reputation" of Evangelion and other works. Representatives from those companies were appointed as board directors at Gainax, and they worked to try to understand the situation and resolve unpaid debts to studios, writers, and creators in the animation industry. However, by the time this new management team understood the overall situation, Gainax was already in a state of insolvency, with unmanageable debts.

Khara said that in order to "ensure that creators, original authors, and writers can continue to manage and produce their works" in the future, it and Gainax are working with each production committee to confirm, organize, and transfer the rights to either companies or individuals they believe are most suitable.

Khara considered providing support to help alleviate Gainax's debts, but decided it would have not been possible to make sufficient repayments.

Personally this is for the best and now we can finally be rid of ambiguity over the future of those franchises. I'm also slightly surprised at the amount of people confused and who think Gainax still makes Eva today.

[The Killer of Heroes]

It's a little sad to see the Gainax name for sentimental reasons go but yeah its for the best.

[Clowncarcrash]

Yeah its unfortunate.... howver I've gotten over from the love of Gainax so it doesn't hurt that much.

I am grateful that they Gainax divested themselves from NGE and Anno got creative control. I'm kinda curious how that business deal went through because I know Gainax was going broke...but merchandising from NGE must have been lucrative so idk what the business logic was to sell off NGE.

Because in today's business world and how IP is EVERYTHING.... I'd imagine it'd be way easier to buy Gainax rather than buy the IP.

[Asugran233]

I'd imagine it'd be way easier to buy Gainax rather than buy the IP.

Hey, all in all, as you say now it would make more sense than selling the IP

[Mr. Tines]

The bankruptcy process has now concluded, and Gainax wound up - Anno's announcement here

[Weird_ocean]

Under the Gainax banner, the most talented and original animators, screenwriters, and producers of recent decades were assembled. The Gainax philosophy—"We are Otaku. We don't know how we'll do it, but we'll do it better than anyone"—attracted the kind of people who later became industry legends.

I don't even know who could compare to them today. And perhaps no one ever will again.