Neon Genesis Evangelion Creator Is Fed Up with Anime's Complacency

Neon Genesis Evangelion's Hideaki Anno wants more variety when it comes to anime.

By Megan Peters

When it comes to anime, well – the trends are always changing. Isekai may be hot nowadays, but fantasy series are making a comeback. From adaptations to originals, the industry has done it all, and every genre of anime does things differently. But according to the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, well – he is rather bored of the industry's complacency as of late.

The confession comes from Asahi Shimbun as the paper spoke with Hideaki Anno recently. Appearing at a new art exhibition for their work, Anno was asked the state of anime today, and the director admitted the industry weighs safe productions over all else, including creativity.

"Young people today don't want anything new. I think they would rather have peace of mind with things they have seen before rather than feel stressed by watching something they have never seen before," the Neon Genesis Evangelion director explained.

"I'm not part of mainstream anymore, so it's fine if I do work on the fringes. Right now, we're mainly seeing works based on [Shonen] Jump titles and things like that."

Of course, this complaint is hardly new. For decades now, Shonen Jump has been a pillar in the manga and anime industries. Its titles are incredibly popular, and to stay competitive, the action titles tend to follow industry trends. When Jump manga titles are adapted into anime, they come with built-in audiences that make them less risky than any original work. In this day and age, the anime industry far prefers adapted content over original works, but that was not always the case. I mean, the '90s were a great period for original content, and Neon Genesis Evangelion stands as one of that era's best works.

If you have never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion, you can see Anno's work for yourself. The legendary anime is streaming over on Netflix. So for more info on the sci-fi drama, you can read its official synopsis below:

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"In 2015, Tokyo-3 is under attack from "Angels", extraordinary beings that possess various special abilities. Multipurpose Humanoid Decisive Weapon Evangelion is the only method to counter these Angels, and Shinji Ikari is chosen as its pilot. The battle for the fate of humankind has begun."

What do you think about this latest industry take? Do you agree with the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

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