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Last month, NHK General broadcast a documentary about the development of the film Evangelion 3.0+1.0. This follows Hideaki Anno from the beginnings of production in 2016 to the end of 2020 and also deals with the problems of the series creator.
Hideaki Anno lost desire for anime
A very present topic was Hideaki Anno’s struggle with the development of the script. At the beginning of the production, he rarely appeared in the Studio Khara. He often felt that the work he had done at that time was not enough and always wanted to discard everything completely. The last part of the script was not completed until the beginning of 2019, at the latest possible date to meet the deadline.
The documentary also tells of Hideaki Anno’s feelings in the creation of “Evangelion”. After putting “everything” into the history of the 1995 TV series, he later came across threads on Internet forums where people debated “how best to kill Anno.” As a result, the series creator lost his desire to produce anime.
During this time, when Hideaki Anno was not doing well, there were also two “dangerous incidents” in which he tried to take his or her life. In both cases, however, he decided against it because he “wanted to die in a way that does not hurt”.
After a break in which he made live-action films, Hideaki Anno returned to the anime business in 2007 to produce the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy. After six years, however, he had a burnout and became ill. During this time, his wife stood by him until he finally decided to return to Khara to finish the last film.
“Over time, I stopped thinking that I was done. There were times when I thought I was incapable of making the film, but I stopped thinking that I didn’t want to make it, “Anno said. “I have a duty to finish what I started. Towards myself, my employees, and, above all, my audience.”
Asked why he felt so committed, he replied: “It is the only way I am able to do the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.”
“Evangelion: 3.0+1.0“, the fourth and last part of the Rebuild of Evangelion series, was released in Japanese cinemas on 8 March 2021.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Visual
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Action [SPOILER]:
Shinji Ikari is still helpless after losing his will to live, but the place where he arrives teaches him what it means to hope. Eventually, the Instrumentality Project is set in motion and Wille makes one last grueling attempt to prevent the Final Impact.
