The Fall of Gainax

With Gainax's recent bankruptcy I wanted to do a video on its history, and the things that lead to its ultimate failure, and while researching it, it seems only by luck and talent that they managed to last as long as they did. I could have done a multipart series on it. When I first heard about it I was a bit said since it was like the premiere studio when I was first getting into anime, but after thinking about it, pretty much everyone that made it that has left long ago and doing good work now. Though I'll always remember watching FLCL for the first time on Adult Swim and thinking it was something that was made for me specifically. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTSLUjK8UNU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTSLUjK8UNU)

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Commentaires

Komorebi_LJP2026-01-24 21:04

Gainax mostly just existed in name only, all the people who made it what it was left of to studios like Khara and Trigger

Underhandedghost2026-01-24 21:10

100%, and both has been doing some great work.

bravetailor2026-01-24 21:07

Gainax holds a unique position in anime history as selling itself as being anti-corporate and unabashedly about anime made by fans, for fans. They billed themselves as a "super otaku company".

Their appeal was that they were a studio that made the anime THEY wanted to watch, with commercial appeal/finance being a secondary factor. Luckily they had a cult fanbase who would watch anything they made so they were guaranteed to at least make SOME money in every show. Unfortunately, their producers and accountants were also befitting a "super amateur company" (not to mention corrupt) so naturally it ended up in a ditch.

I think they could have lasted had they turned more corporate and had real accountants but it would have lost a lot of its "indie" type rep in the process. I think post KareKano they were already moving that way anyway. I remember some of their 2000s stuff like Gurren Lagann and Princess Yucie, though good, being more slickly produced and written and commercial friendly than anything they did before that and if they had kept moving in that direction they'd probably would have turned into something like Wit Studio, which is a respected studio of quality works but more a middle ground between commercial and "artsy".

There really aren't any studios like 90s Gainax anymore. Any startup today basically NEEDS to be somewhat corporate in order to pay the bills. There are studios that take wild creative risks every once in a while, but they would also do 3 other shows at the same time that would strictly "pay the bills"

Underhandedghost2026-01-24 21:15

I think there is a balance out there that could have worked with financial and creative, but would have been very hard to find that level that worked. In the end it was the fiscal side I think ultimately doomed it as they were really overreaching towards the end with expansion, and not enough focus on stuff on making anime.

bravetailor2026-01-24 21:22

Most of the best "quality" studios today diversify, they have 1 show once in a while that's an original work and a labor of love, and then secure the rights to 3 or 4 other commercial properties to "pay the bills".

I don't think any studio today could belt out 4-5 original works in a row and survive. Even back then it was fairly risky to do almost ALL original works 9 years in a row. If Evangelion didn't become a worldwide phenomenon they definitely would have gone bankrupt and shuttered even earlier regardless of the fraud and corruption.

ShadowGuyinRealLife2026-01-25 00:50

>I don't think any studio today could belt out 4-5 original works in a row and survive

I think with enough money it could work. It would have to be a big studio since you can only do so many in a single year with a medium studio and not work your teams to death. Gainax making so many original works will always get respect from me even if the end wasn't a happy one.

Releasing a lot of original anime doesn't mean going away from cooperate culture. The bean counters might ask the higher ups to keep making safe bets and encourage minimization of originals, but if the studio is big enough they can make 3 to 5 commercial properties every year for a bunch of years while releasing less than 1 original a year and then make 3-5 originals (as long as the first few aren't bombs).

Also as boring as the bean counters are, they are good for catching fraud. If it is a subordinate, they can just report to the boss and if the boss is the one doing it, in a functioning corporate culture they tell the board who can then remove the C-suite.