Hideaki Anno, The Ultimate Otaku

With the release of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time and the announcement that the OVA series Gunbuster is getting a Blu-ray release in America with a brand new English dub, the name “Hideaki Anno” seems to be on everyone’s tongues recently. However, while I could certainly write an article on the filmography of Hideaki Anno (which I should probably do someday), I’ve become more interested in him lately due to his lifestyle, his passions and being, in my own words, the ultimate otaku.

I should probably first define what an otaku is. The term “Otaku” is basically the Japanese equivalent of the word “Nerd” and while the word can refer to a variety of interests in Japan, in the West the word is typically associated with enthusiasts of Japanese popular culture, specifically anime and manga. While the word is considered to be offensive in Japan, typically because it implies a lack of social skills, the word has been embraced by the Western fandom to identify themselves. However, even the most seemingly passionate of Western otaku pale in comparison to Hideaki Anno, the ultimate otaku.

While I’d made it a point of interest to watch the Evangelion anime series early in my discovery of anime and manga, I still knew very little about Hideaki Anno, the man who directed the series. It wasn’t until a few years later when I read a manga series called “Insufficient Direction” which was written by his wife, Moyoco Anno, about when she began to live with him and how she observed his lifestyle that I would learn more about him. While I was certainly interested in checking this manga out, due in part to reading some of Moyoco Anno’s previous works, the fact that it was published by Vertical and wanting to learn more about Japanese popular culture, I realise now that I was very much unprepared when I first read the series.

I had considered myself fairly knowledgeable when it came to Japanese popular culture but I found myself quickly overwhelmed with numerous references that I did not understand. To give you some context, the manga has 37 pages of annotations explaining the references to anime, manga, tokusatsu, celebrities etc.! Many of these were relatively obscure and were practically unknown by the majority of Western otaku. I had heard that many were put off by how dense and seemingly impenetrable the manga was but I myself was fascinated by the revelation that I still had a long way to go when it came to learning about Japanese popular culture.

As I continued to learn more and more about Hideaki Anno, one of the aspects that I’ve come to respect about him the most is his passion for reinvigorating franchises that he loves. Recently, as I discovered the Godzilla franchise, I learned that Hideaki Anno had codirected Shin Godzilla as well as written the screenplay. Apparently, he was initially lacking confidence when Toho first offered him the chance to work on the film due to concerns that he could not live up to the original movie. However, he eventually took the offer and the film ended up becoming a big box office success and earned critical acclaim.

Since then, it seems that this has lit a fire under Hideaki Anno and he is now producing and writing a new Ultraman movie called “Shin Ultraman”, a franchise which he’s exceptionally passionate about to the point where he produced a fan film called “Return of Ultraman: MAT Arrow 1 Takeoff Order” in which he starred as Ultraman. He’s also going to be directing and writing a new film in the Kamen Rider franchise “Shin Kamen Rider”, another tokusatsu series that he’s highly passionate about.

The passion that Hideaki Anno has for Japanese popular culture continues to amaze me and I hope that more people decide to look beyond the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, as important as it is, and learn more about the man himself, his enthusiasm and his efforts to revitalise various aspects of Japanese popular culture. Let me know your thoughts on Hideaki Anno, the ultimate otaku, your thoughts on his lifestyle and passions, whether you’ve read Insufficient Direction and, if you have, your thoughts on it, your thoughts on the upcoming Shin Ultraman and Shin Kamen Rider movies and any additional information you might have on the topic.

Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!