Anno Hideaki
The Enigma of Evangelion

His latest television series is currently the hottest item in the anime world. His studio is seen as the maverick of the Japanese anime industry. And his personality has left a bitter taste in many fans' mouths. Brought to ANIME EXPO 1996 courtesy of A.D.Vision, Anno met the fans in what can be called a "showdown" of sorts.
Rather elusive in giving out answers, Anno brought an attitude that could be interpreted as laid-back by some and was seen as arrogant by most. Perhaps he felt many of the questions fielded were either too simplistic or ignorant, but whatever the case, Hideaki Anno was seen as sort of a quandary by the fans.
Anno first stepped into the limelight by starting his own animation studio, Gainax, with several fellow employees from Studio Artland. Becoming something of a renegade in the anime industry, Gainax set out to produce top quality anime projects. Most significant are the series AIM FOR THE TOP! GUNBUSTER, the beautiful film WINGS OF HONNEAMISE, the fan video OTAKU NO VIDEO, and NADIA OF THE MYSTERIOUS SEAS.
With NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, Anno and company have taken the anime world by storm. Even the success of EVANGELION has taken Anno himself by surprise. Initially, Anno set out to make a personal television series that would be good in quality, both in animation and story. The success that EVANGELION has garnered knocked him off his feet. "I didn't expect the sudden success of Eva," explains Anno, "because all of the characters are sick."
Sick? Sick as in mentally unstable. Anno produced a show that tackles several issues of mankind, all layered underneath an action-laden plot. Death, life, family... these are just a few of the subjects with which Anno deals. And does Anno see Ikari Shinji, the show's protagonist, as himself? Admittedly, Anno says yes. The character of Shinji-kun reflects himself, both consciously and unconsciously. One amusing fact about this relationship that Anno had to concede was that, like Shinji-kun, he himself is foolish.
Although the target audience in Japan for EVANGELION was teenage boys, the show has too deep a meaning to be limited to such a circle. Does this reflect an older Studio Gainax and perhaps an older, understanding audience? Anno does open up and say that since he is a bit older, his approach to anime is much more serious. But when it comes to the audience, he isn't very lenient. He sees the anime industry in a "critical condition." To him, the future of anime isn't very bright and both the producers of large studio anime and the audiences are to blame. Too much is being produced that is just the same old, tired thing. Too much of the audience is just accepting it for what it is. To grow, according to Anno, one must always be looking for a "new inspiration."
Anno cites a fondness for outer space and space travel. It's one thing he hopes to do within his lifetime. It's also a source, he says, for his "new inspiration." That statement, although moot because it's actually been used by Gainax as inspiration before, is very apparent in the Gainax-produced film, WINGS OF HONNEAMISE.
When it comes to critics of EVANGELION, Anno is equally blunt. Criticism that the show is too obscure in meaning and that it doesn't have a clear-cut ending doesn't find much meaning to Anno. "There's no problem [with the ending of EVANGELION]. I understand it. The problem lies with the critic." Said statement is somewhat typical of Anno's answers: Elusive and yet confrontational.
So then the inevitable question: what's next? Planned is an EVANGELION movie due sometime early next year. Will it offer a better ending? Not really. To Anno, EVANGELION is like his life; it keeps going so there's no real ending. There may be a different "ending" to each project because that's how his life is. Will it be as thought-provoking as the television show? You can almost be certain of it.

Oshii Mamoru
Discerning Director

Director of both PATLABOR films and GHOST IN THE SHELL, Oshii Mamoru is known for his uncanny ability to make audiences forget that the movie they're watching is animated.
Originally starting his film career directing live-action films, Oshii's conversion to anime films seemed only natural. His experience in the live-action film industry seems to give him a leg up on his competition. While other directors who's only experience is with anime films are limited in their vision, Oshii brings to his anime films an aspect that is just that much more real.
Much of Oshii's influence comes from European cinema. Oshii lists Les Fontaria and Luc Besson as two of the directors who most influenced his career. A notable mark in Oshii's career is that after the American release of GitS, Oshii received a congratulatory note from director and anime fan James Cameron. Oshii has never spoke to Cameron personally but remarks that he feels that "Cameron is just producing live-action animation with his films."
Oshii's dedication is enviable and a driving force behind his films. For GHOST IN THE SHELL, Oshii took his direction crew to Hong Kong to shoot rolls and rolls of still monochrome pictures of the buildings there as models for the city. To research the weaponry used in the film, Oshii consulted weapons analyst Masami Tokoi about current and future weapons. Taking that information, Oshii then added his own imagination. Perhaps the only thing in GitS that isn't grounded in reality is Batou's anti-tank cannon.
One stage of production that Oshii takes very seriously is storyboarding. The basis and skeleton of a film, the storyboard is the drawn out "map" of a film's script, whether it be live-action or animated. However, more importance is placed on the storyboard with anime because if a scene goes wrong, it's not as easy as re-shooting and re-directing that scene; the whole scene would need to be re-animated, which is a large expense. Oshii slaves over the initial storyboard in an attempt to prevent things going wrong during the filming.
Many of his later works, including the PATLABOR movies and GitS, take a dark view of mankind's future. It is his personal feeling that future is not bright for humans, although he hopes it will be. He says that he "doesn't look forward to the future." One part of the world that he really wishes a bright future for are animals. Oshii is a renowned basset hound lover and hopes that they live on in the future.
As for his immediate future, Oshii plans to take it easy and then after that, direct an easy, non-violent film. PATLABOR fans should know that even though there is a third film planned, Oshii has nothing to do with it and, in fact, is just plain tired of PATLABOR in general. Let's just hope that Oshii doesn't become of directing anime.

--Ken Jin-ho Cho