In some startling news, the anime studio responsible for the likes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Gurren Lagann has declared bankruptcy. Studio Gainax, which first opened its doors in 1984, released a new statement confirming that they filed bankruptcy in the Tokyo District Court on May 29th. Both Gainax, and Studio Khara, have released statements confirming the bankruptcy report, along with what the future holds for the studios.
On Gainax’s official website, the production house confirmed the bankruptcy report, “On May 29th, Gainax Co., Ltd. filed for bankruptcy at the Tokyo District Court, and we are pleased to announce that the petition has been accepted. With the cooperation of Khara and the directors of the new system, we have been working with the cooperating companies to confirm the rights of the works, protect the rights of the writers and creators, and properly manage and operate the intellectual property and materials that were being scattered so that the main works can be operated in the future through each production committee, etc. However, in addition to the situation where many of the former management remain shareholders, we have not been able to resolve the large amount of debt that had accumulated under the previous system.”
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Gainax’s Future
In conjunction with this announcement, Studio Khara released a statement of their own to add context to their relationship with Gainax during the studio’s bankruptcy proceeding, “Following the announcement regarding the bankruptcy proceedings on the Gainax official website , we would like to provide some additional information from our company’s perspective, and after taking into consideration our relationship with Gainax and its current management structure, we are posting this comment on the official website.”
Khara continued, revealing more details about the future, “We are very sad that an animation studio with a history of nearly 40 years has come to an end like this. As for the GAINAX trademark and title, as stated in the release from GAINAX, we have acquired and are managing it ourselves. In addition, “Gainax” is a separate legal entity from similar companies such as “Gaina Co., Ltd. (Studio Gaina)” and “Fukushima Gaina” (both of which were formerly known as “Fukushima Gainax”), “Gainax International”, “GAINAX Kyoto”, “Yonago Gainax”, “Gainax Niigata Co., Ltd.” and “GAINAX WEST”, and there are no trademark license agreements between our company and the above similar companies.”
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