Postscript

Postscript

 

MY VOCABULARY is somewhat lacking, and I’m sorry that I occasionally repeat similar expressions.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA was a serialized, illustrated novel printed in Dengeki Hobby Magazine (from publisher ASCII Media Works) from 2007 to 2013. During pre-production on The End of Evangelion, Director Anno asked me if I could develop a spin-off, separate from the main continuity, like the ones Gundam had. I thought, Sure, I’ll give it a try! And that was how ANIMA came about.

At the start, Takuma Kageyama wrote the story, and Hiroyuki Utatane drew the title page character designs throughout the whole project, while the magazine occasionally made physical models. All I did was come up with vague approximations of ideas, and those don’t amount to anything on their own. The person who made those ideas into something real, and who is ANIMA’s true architect (including telling me to make lots of Ayanamis), was my former manga editor at Gainax, Yasuo Kashiwabara. I think his plan was for me to come up with the rough plot first and then take my time drawing all the mecha I wanted. But partway through, I shifted from just doing the outline to also writing the story, and then I had my work cut out for me. Could I really do the illustrations and the writing? Well, it was a lot of tough work for every issue.

—IKUTO YAMASHITA,
EVANGELION MECHA DESIGNER