Document of Evangelion
1993↔2003

Author: NewType USA
Source: Originally published in the April 2003 issue of NewType USA
Dated: April 2003

Neon Genesis Evangelion left an intense impression on us. But have we said all there is to say about it? Have we forgotten how much it moved us when we first saw it? Now, after a long silence, Eva has begun to stir once again… Even after all these years, it hasn't faded. The creative staff is finally ready to talk about it. Here we reveal previously unseen details about the “Neon Genesis Evangelion Renewal Project,” with reports and comments from people involved in this major new project.

After seven years, they have run the race and now find themselves back at the start

Ten years have passed since planning for Neon Genesis Evangelion first began in 1993. While the series aired, the staff was hard-pressed to meet the tough production schedule. The result of their efforts created a boom so large it was called a “social phenomenon.” After it was over, they probably needed some sort of cooling off period.

Along with Hideaki Anno, one of the key players in the boom was Toshimichi Otsuki from King Records. We asked him his thoughts on Eva after all this time.

“I feel like I've finally reached my goal. For the seven years after Eva first started airing on TV, it's been at the heart of everything I've done. It's like I'm bound to it, for better or for worse. And now seven years later, I feel like I'm finally standing at a new starting point.”

“A new starting point” seems to imply a sequel or a new series.

“I've thought about that, and it would be nice to do it if I could sometime in the near future. But Eva isn't mine. It's Hideaki Anno's baby, so I don't have a say in it. I can only hope that people watch the DVD with a fresh perspective and come away with a positive impression. If that happens, then maybe Anno and I can do something together again. So please, tell me what you think of it.”

Eyewitness Testimonies

Presenting the staff of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Newtype Japan was determined to find out everything they'd seen and experienced during the making of this anime landmark.

Question

1. What is your most lasting impression about working on Eva?
2. What made you the happiest about working on Eva?
3. Conversely, what was the hardest thing about working on Eva?
4. With the “Renewal” edition soon to be released, are there any episodes in particular you'd like to rewatch? If so, why?
5. What was your favorite character and/or mecha?
6. It's been ten years since the Eva project got off the ground. What are your thoughts on the “anime boom” since that time?
7. How do you feel things have changed from the time you worked on Eva as opposed to other projects you've worked on these past ten years?
8. How would you respond if the release of the “Renewal” sparked an outcry for a new Eva? Would you consider being a part of one?
9. What does Eva mean to you?

Illustration Director

Shunji Suzuki

1. A1. The Great Hanshin Earthquake, the subway attack by the Aum Shinri Kyo cult—it certainly felt like the end of the century. In relation to the show, it was receiving feedback from the audience online; it was so new and exciting then.
2. A2. I got goose bumps when I watched Episodes 1 and 2 at the preview.
3. A3. The pressure we got from the production company (even though the director covered for us whenever he could).
4. A4. Only those who watched the episodes when they aired every week can understand what an exciting time it was. Watching them all together gives a different kind of pleasure, I suppose.
5. A5. Misato Katsuragi and her gun the H&K USP, Hikari Horaki and Ritsuko Akagi.
6. A6. Except for the fact that the anime of Studio Ghibli has become universally recognized, I really don't think it reflects a diversification in the thinking of the advertisers and the media they've chosen to use. As a person who works in this industry, I'm very concerned that the average age of our target audience is really getting up there in years [laughs]. My worry for the future is the fact that young people today aren't being educated in this industry, so the workflow is no longer adequately structured. In the past we used overseas sources not because we were trying to cut down on the cost of labor, but instead because of the strength of the yen. Soon we'll be facing both inflation and an ever-weakening yen. As a result, we'll be forced to scale our budgets back.
7. A7. My energy, eyesight and concentration are definitely getting weaker. I don't think I can do what I used to be able to.
8. A8. Evangelion is what it is because of who Anno was when he made it.
9. A9. Even a guard in the Vatican City knew about Evangelion! My Canadian friend calls it a legend. I think with Eva, we've shown the world what anime is all about.

Scriptwriter

Hiroshi Yamaguchi

1. A1. The meetings for the script used to take five to six hours easy. And on top of that, we had to make so many corrections. We used to call it Judgment Day for scriptwriters.
2. A2. I was very pleased with the quality of the film and excited because it was building in popularity.
3. A3. Despite the best efforts of the staff, Episode 25 still turned out the way it did. The hardest thing was seeing Mr. Anno getting chewed out like that on the Internet.
4. A4. I haven't watched them for a long time. I'd like to watch them all again.
5. A5. Because I'm a scriptwriter, I don't really think about which one is my favorite. If I had to answer, I'd say Gendo Ikari.
6. A6. I wonder if you can really call it a “boom.” I think it's just that there are a lot of shows out there, that's all.
7. A7. After experiencing what it's like to do storyboards, direct and produce, I realized all over again how great Evangelion was.
8. A8. Only if Mr. Anno asked me to… (I don't think it will happen, though.) For the time being, I want to watch Tsurumaki's new stuff.
9. A9. It was such a great experience. I'm really thankful to every person who worked on it.

Art Director

Hiroshi Kato

1. A1. I got married during the production.
2. A2. I enjoyed going to Hakone to do background research.
3. A3. Now I know what “very busy” means. Sometimes, I didn't even know which episode I was working on.
4. A4. I've noticed recently that there are some episodes I haven't watched in their completed form.
5. A5. Casper and Pen-Pen.
6. A6. I'm very grateful for it.
7. A7. My kid's already going to elementary school. And I wonder if I am aging gracefully.
8. A8. Are you serious?
9. A9. The very last anime with a hand-drawn background.

Scriptwriter

Mitsuo Iso

1. A1. Director Anno's personality.
2. A2. I was very happy when I wrote some action recorder software in C. I used it for the first time in Evangelion.
3. A3. When we were working on the original cels for the first episode, I was also working on the setting for Kokaku Kidotai (“Ghost in the Shell”). I didn't have time to sleep back then.
4. A4. I can't think of anything.
5. A5. Nothing in particular.
6. A6. I was reacquainted with the idea that what you see isn't always what you get.
7. A7. I'm still the same person.
8. A8. I will look forward to “The Renewal.”
9. A9. An anime from the 90's.

Illustration Director

Kise Kazuchika

1. A1. I read the project plan before I joined the team, and I thought it looked interesting.
2. A2. Being able to read the original manga prior to publication.
3. A3. In many ways, I wasn't quite ready for it.
4. A4. No episode in particular.
5. A5. Ritsuko.
6. A6. A question mark for that one.
7. A7. I got old.
8. A8. I'm not sure.
9. A9. Hard to explain.

Scriptwriter

Shinji Higuchi

1. A1. For the TV series I was so totally absorbed in my own work that I hardly remember anything about what happened around me. Taking a look at the production schedules, it shows that I was involved up until the airing of Episode 8 or so. Anyone who cares to check will see the same thing. Halfway through the scripts for Episodes 17 and 18, though, we started preparing for Gamera 2, so I got taken off the Eva project. One night while I was having dinner, I turned on the TV and they were showing Episode 3 of Eva. I told everyone that when I'd been at Gainax, I'd only worked on the storyboards up through part A of Episode 3. But no matter how I tried to explain that fact to the people there, they wouldn't believe me. They figured I'd done at least up through the storyboards for Episode 8 and 9. But it's the truth, I swear.
2. A2. How about the time I saw Yuki Masa at the preview screening of the film version of Eva, which was his directorial debut. His eyes were as big as saucers, and he was screaming something about the image and sound being ONE FRAME OFF! I saw him just as he was tearing up the stairs to the projection room like a madman, skipping every other step. I'll never know whether that one act is what started the legend of the “reel-house bully,” but all I did was giggle fiendishly and say “Welcome to purgatory, my friend!”
3. A3. It was pretty painful for me listening to all those slippery-tongued actors call out the main character's name, Shinji (which happens to be my name, too). But I don't know if “call out” is quite the word for it. Curse the name is more like it. And curse it in voices that carried so well it was like hearing them blasted through a megaphone. It was psychological torture at the time, but now I look back on those memories with fondness.
4. A4. Maybe now I'll watch all the episodes straight through one more time.
5. A5. I like the computers built by Ritsuko's mom where she said she put a little bit of herself into each one. That's the episode that sold me on the Eva series as a viewer. For characters I'd have to say Kaworu.
6. A6. Anything I have to say about the “anime boom” is from the perspective of a viewer rather than as a player, but all I want to know is when the hell did they start running anime shows in the middle of the night? I guess that time slot gives all the “offenders” of the anime world a stay of execution. At this point, they'd never even consider running those shows at 6:30pm on a Tuesday.
7. A7. It's been ten years already?! What we did then has become more or less permanently emblazoned on our careers and can't be erased no matter how hard we try.
8. A8. This isn't a very easy question to answer, but wouldn't doing something like that be sort of indicative of a drop-off in the passion that the creators, studio executives and viewers have for the show? Since there hasn't been anything for the past ten years, it'd probably end up being some kind of forced run through the history thus far. I for one am against doing anything like that.
9. A9. I know I've got to come up with something clever to say here, but I'm completely at my wits' end.

Scriptwriter

Hiroshi Enokido

1. A1. The production ended up being different from anything we'd seen in that genre, transforming the genre itself into something more essentially thematic. The process was so interesting it was almost scary.
2. A2. At that time I was living in Hibarigaoka, and whenever there was a meeting with Gainax, I'd ride my bicycle there. I seem to recall being on my bike, spinning those light pedals around and daydreaming about the Evas and the angels. That's a fond memory for me.
3. A3. When the meetings at Gainax were finally over and day would turn into night, I used to get lost on the way back home [laughs].
4. A4. Once I reach a stopping point on the job I'm working on now (and if I have time), I'd like to go back and watch them all from the beginning.
5. A5. Maybe it's just because they let me work on Episode 8, in which they appeared for the first time, but I've always had a soft spot for Asuka Langley and Ryoji Kaji. I've always thought it'd be great if these two could find happiness.
6. A6. It's been exactly ten years since I first started writing anime scripts, and things have changed so dramatically. I wouldn't even know where to start comparing.
7. A7. To me, it feels as if these ten years have gone by in a flash. So naturally, I feel that I myself haven't changed that much. When I worked with Gainax again for FLCL, things went pretty much as expected—it was a lot of fun, but it also reacquainted me with just how much physical exertion is required to work in that environment [laughs]!
8. A8. For the moment, I'll just look forward to it like any other fan.
9. A9. My first and last robot anime… at least, that's what I thought at the time [laughs].

Illustration Director

Shinya Hasegawa

1. A1. When I arrived at my office one morning, I found staff members on the floor in sleeping bags.
2. A2. It was the first time a copyrighted illustration of mine was used for the cover of a magazine.
3. A3. I was crazy poor at that time. I won a Disneyland Passport in some contest, and I promptly traded it in for cash.
4. A4. Episode 1. I think the world of Eva is very well portrayed in that episode.
5. A5. Asuka. It's a lot of fun to draw a character like her who displays such a wealth of emotions.
6. A6. Let me use a metaphor. It's kind of like this—it makes me feel like going back to watch an old Mutsugoro [a famous Japanese naturalist] nature film. Even though all the marshland has been reclaimed and turned into city, sometimes I still feel like I want to see the old scenery again (sorry if that's a little difficult to understand).
7. A7. I've come to learn that roads don't just head upwards—there are descending ones and level ones as well.
8. A8. The “new Eva” is already in the hearts and minds of fans.
9. A9. It's not often that one comes across a work that remains popular for such a long period of time. I think it's really quite difficult to turn out something like that, which is why I'm so happy to have come across such a project and to have had a hand in its making.

Mechanical Director

Ikuto Yamashita

1. A1. Between Eva and my other commitments, I had a lot of work. So when I got a phone call from Gainax, I'd frequently pretend I wasn't in. But when Seiji Kio, who was practically chained to his desk doing mechanical design at Gainax HG, found time to sneak me a phone call, I would answer those.
2. A2. I didn't think it'd get anywhere near as big as it did and was pretty surprised at the response we got. The old ladies in the neighborhood used to say, “That Mr. Yamashita's son doesn't work at any company. What's that boy doing with himself?” Now thanks to Eva, they have an answer to their question.
3. A3. I don't have the skill to just come up with an idea all at once, which means no matter what project I'm working on, I tend to experience utter boredom rather than the “birth pains” of creativity.
4. A4. As it turns out, I haven't had the opportunity to watch them all. I've only gotten as far as “Magma Diver.”
5. A5. It has both its good and bad points, but I'd have to say Unit 01.
6. A6. My way of thinking is that a “boom” can help some great stuff get made. That's important, but what's most crucial is the frame of mind of the staff—the guys who want to put this stuff out for the rest of the world to see—and whether that frame of mind gels with their target audience. If it does, you're going to have quite a reaction on your hands. With Eva, the audience started going into a frenzy, and in turn so did the staff. Being in the middle of that group fever was a great experience for both the audience and the staff.
7. A7. There was the time when my beloved cat Duskin went missing. And the time when I hadn't been paying any subscription fees for my satellite, but someone spotted my dish, and I had to start paying.
8. A8. All I can say is that it'd have to be with Anno directing again, and that doesn't look likely at this point.
9. A9. —

Illustration Director

Takeshi Honda

1. A1. At that time I was really into karaoke and would even sing at work. At least, I seem to remember doing that...
2. A2. Maybe that I got to travel a few times.
3. A3. I have forgotten!
4. A4. If you're going to rewatch one, you may as well just watch them all.
5. A5. No one in particular. So I guess I'd have to say all of them.
6. A6. I'm not sure if this is related to the “anime boom” or not, but judging from several of the series on TV nowadays, it looks like Eva's influence hasn't died down just yet.
7. A7. I breathed a big sigh of relief when Sennen Joyu (“Millennium Actress”), which I worked on, finally premiered last year. As for me personally, I've gotten married, moved, had a kid, stuff like that. Man, I'm getting old...
8. A8. If we were to do another Eva, it'd have to be… the ANNO EVA! Looking forward to that one!
9. A9. When the series first started, I sort of wanted to take off running in the opposite direction, but I ended up staying right to the end. To me, Eva is something you can never quite get away from.

Illustration Director

Sadafumi Hiramatsu

1. A1. Having a blackout while we were in the middle of a rush check.
2. A2. Losing over 20 pounds while on the job, which is why it's commonly known as the Eva Diet!
3. A3. Being bombarded with questions after the show finished.
4. A4. From a sound-effects point of view, I would say Episodes 5, 8, 18, 19, and 21.
5. A5. Kensuke and Hikari. Though as it turns out, I didn't draw them even once...
6. A6. Mmm, I'm not sure. I'm not really aware of any sort of “boom” and personally haven't felt anything like that.
7. A7. The way I do jobs hasn't changed, but the way I approach them probably has—like the fear of simply doing what I want to do.
8. A8. If it's something like a brand new show loosely based on Eva, I'd really like to see it. If I see a spot for myself, I wouldn't mind taking part.
9. A9. Oigawa.