Excerpt from the Evangelion Kaibunsho

In February 1997, an anonymous document circulated through Japanese anime bulletin boards and internet chat rooms. This nearly 40KB text-only document written under the pseudonym "Hiiro Yui", a self-professed "[anime] industry dropout", claimed to expose various behind-the-scenes secrets surrounding the Evangelion TV airing, Director Anno, Okada Toshio (Gainax founding member), and other Gainax/Eva related matters that had thus far circulated only as rumors among industry people and otaku "in the know". This document, which came to be known as the Evangelion kaibunsho*, quickly disappeared from the bulletin boards and chat rooms, but copies had been made and the document was also posted anonymously to several prominent Eva-related websites, so it saw widespread exposure. The "Eva boom" now past, most of these websites no longer exist, and the document can currently be found only at a few forgotten web pages and mirror sites. (Links to the complete original Japanese text and English translations of relevant parts can be found below.)

It is important to note that although this document was the first to openly state much of the information, it was not the original source of the rumors, and while some minor errors can be found (i.e. Anno's roles in "Nadia" production), much of the information corroborates with other sources. Some sections are irrelevant or uninteresting, others typical of a rant, and the overall tone tends to be that of a personal grudge against Director Anno, Toshio Okada and the anime industry in general. However, for reasons of accuracy and completeness these parts have been left uncensored and intact. We apologize if these sections offend readers, and ask that readers instead keep in mind the fact that this document claiming to expose insider(?) information circulated widely through Japanese fan circles for a period of time.

* Kaibunsho = Lit.: Mysterious/subversive/defamatory document. Generally an insider expose written for reasons of spite, a grudge or other resentment, but also sometimes out of a desire to expose the truth and/or draw attention to an injustice.

Evangelion Kaibunsho Text - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rant Rant Rant...
SKIPPING to:
SECTION.02 • About Director Anno

- Part1: His past

Anno made some patronizing statement in Newtype magazine to the effect that “(Evangelion was) a message for anime otaku who tend to stay cooped up in their rooms.” In light of that and upon reflection of Anno’s past, I would like to take the liberty of evaluating his current comments and ideology. (laugh)

The [anime] industry chapter of Hideaki Anno’s otaku life starts with his expulsion from the Osaka University of Arts for ignoring his studies and pursuing a lifestyle that focused exclusively on otaku activities. Several of the people currently serving as key personnel at Gainax were among the friends expelled along with him at that time. Anno met Okada Toshio at the Osaka SF Convention (this story is told in detail later), and thereafter Anno piggybacked on Okada as he alternately joined and left General Products (Japan’s first specialty SF shop) and took various jobs such as genga sketch artist for the latter stages of Macross. After that, perhaps because his high-tension drawing was highly regarded, Anno was suddenly invited to work on Miyazaki Hayao’s cinematic anime “Nausicaa of the valley of the wind”. This is the scene where the kyojinhei (giant god warrior) breathes fire. According to interviews, Anno seems to have had various opinions concerning Miyazaki Hayao, Studio Ghibli and the current state of the anime industry at that time, but these all came about afterwards. (laugh) But one thing that can be said is that Miyazaki Hayao would have nothing to do with him after “Nausicaa”, and that he was out of luck until gaining a position at Gainax. Basically, he holds a grudge because “he was not treated fairly in consideration of his accomplishments.” (laugh)

(This entire post was copied from www.evaotaku.com)