[EVA] Evangelion Kaibunsho

[Otaprince]

Thanks for doing this, Bochan-- It's an interesting
document. I believe that it's "true" insofar as the
author is who he claims he is (an anime industry
dropout) who believes his own opinions. Some points: 

1) Shinji is referred to as "autistic"...!  

2) "Eva [TV] ending was made under conditions with
Gainax's hands tied in terms of budget, time and
content." 

In retrospect that's blatantly obvious, but it's nice
to hear about some of the behind-the-scenes details. I
guess when the Kaibunsho was written, Anno was still
making the excuse (lie) that "he planned that ending
all along." 

3) Miyazaki would have nothing to do with Anno after
Nausicaa. 

Probably true, for the simple reason that if Miyazaki
loved Anno's work on that giant scene, why not invite
him back to work on more Ghibli films? However, Ghibli
later distributed Anno's live action films, didn't it?
I'm guessing that the young Anno rubbed Miyazaki the
wrong way, but after Gunbuster and Eva, Miyazaki must
have realized what a genius Anno is. 

4) "Hideaki Anno’s otaku life starts with his
expulsion from the Osaka University of Arts for
ignoring his studies and pursuing a lifestyle that
focused exclusively on otaku activities." 

Hiiro meant this as a dis on Anno, but those "otaku
activities" were making the Daicon anime and Daicon
movies. Anno dropped out or was expelled from art
school because he was busy launching a career in anime
and sci-fi. Sounds like Anno was the smart one, here. 

5) Anno's first true love was Hidaka Noriko, voice of
Jean in Nadia. 

Again, I believe it. Hiiro tells the story to mock
Anno, but to me it sounds sad and sweet, if somewhat
pathetic (hah, if that sounds like Shinji, it's no
coincidence). Anno fell in love, he got shot down. He
responded, "watch my next work," which fits because
Eva seems like a work fueled by a desire to impress.
It's clear that it was meant to impress the world, but
maybe Anno wanted to impress Noriko, too. 

Note that Anno was 30 years old when Nadia began, so
if Noriko was his "first love," this document backs up
what I always guessed-- that Anno had little
experience with women when he made Evangelion.