Neon Genesis Evangelion was a revolutionary series when it first debuted in the 1990s, changing the way people thought about mecha anime forever. There are many reasons why the series' creator, Hideaki Anno, created the series, but an early interview revealed one reason that becomes incredibly ironic in retrospect.
When Neon Genesis Evangelion hit the airwaves in 1995, there was really nothing like it. With its broken characters, seemingly hopeless battles, and sinister plots at its core, Evangelion created a terrifying world that was completely unique at the time. It exploded in popularity out of nowhere, blowing all expectations away. As revolutionary as Evangelion was, it is now considered a classic, and many other series have tried to replicate its success by copying the formula. However, that seems to be something Hideaki Anno didn't want to happen.
Evangelion has become the very thing it was meant to destroy.
Evangelion Wants to Shake Up the Anime Industry
In an interview in the January 1997 issue of Aerial Magazine, conducted by fansite Evamonkey, Anno commented on the state of the anime industry as follows: “Anime makers and anime viewers always want the same things. The creators have been doing the same story for about 10 years; viewers seem satisfied and there is no sense of urgency. There is no future there.“It's clear from the context that Anno is saying that he wants Evangelion to be something that isn't exactly what anime fans want; he wants to create something new, something that hasn't been seen dozens of times before.
Ironically, 10 years after this interview, Anno would be in the process of giving fans exactly what they wanted: the same thing again, by remaking Neon Genesis Evangelion into Rebuild of Evangelion. The first Rebuild film was almost a shot-for-shot, line-for-line re-creation of the first few episodes of the original series, only with updated animation. Evangelion simply became so popular that what anime viewers wanted was more Evangelion, so it was no longer as subversive or revolutionary as it once was. Many series have tried to replicate its success in the intervening years, including their own broken characters and horrifying worlds.
Of course, that could be why the Rebuild movies took so long to release; Anno was determined to take the story in a new direction that wasn't quite what fans expected. And to be fair, the later Rebuild movies did deviate significantly from the original series' plot, to the point where the third and fourth films were almost completely unrelated to the original ending. Still, none of this changes the fact that Evangelion's success turned its unique aspects into a formula for other mecha anime to follow, and its destructive elements became the norm, creating a future not unlike the one Anno mocked.
Anno's comments may carry a bit of irony today, Neon Genesis Evangelionhis enduring success and impact on the genre, but they reflect Evangelion's status as a relatively unremarkable series at the time, and provide some insight into how he thought about his own creation.