Gainax, the studio behind anime hits such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Nadia the Secret of Blue Water, has filed for bankruptcy.

Gainax noted that their financial situation worsened in 2012 due to mismanagement by executives, failed projects, and incurring massive debts.

In addition, many regional branches of Gainax later separated such as Studio Gaina, bringing their talents with them, along with Studio Khara, which was opened by Evangelion director and Gainax veteran Hideaki Anno. These companies stopped affiliating with the main Gainax studio. 

Studio Khara later sued Gainax in 2017 for 100 million yen due to the latter failing to pay alleged debts. Khara won the ruling in the Tokyo District Court.

In addition, Gainax head Tomohiro Maki transferred shares to a person who has no knowledge of filmmaking production in 2018 and later arrested in 2019 for sexual harassment, causing Gainax to “completely lose its ability to operate while still being saddled with a large amount of debt.”

Hideaki Anno later requested the help of Kadokawa, Studio Trigger (also founded by Gainax veterans), and King Records to resolve Gainax’s problems. However, they were confronted with the worsening financial situation and thus were not able to solve it.

During a revamp of management in February 2020, along with creditor Studio Khara, it was discovered a massive amount of debt and many intellectual properties were transferred to other studios without the permission of the original creators.

While Gainax tried to solve their debt problems, it was no longer able to solve it when a debt collection company sued Gainax in May of this year. Studio Khara later took over the Gainax trademark.