Hideaki Anno

Okay, here's the thing about Hideaki Anno: the man basically grew up obsessed with anime, tokusatsu, Godzilla, and Ultraman, and then spent his whole adult life lovingly remaking all of it for real. Neon Genesis Evangelion melted everyone's brains in 1995 and we're STILL arguing about what it means decades later, which honestly tells you he won. He's a notorious perfectionist who'll never settle for "good enough," and you feel that in every frame, that gut-punch precision. I love the weird little details too, like refusing all meat and fish while living on snack food. Then he turns around and gives us Shin Godzilla, a masterclass in bureaucratic dread. The guy clearly never stopped being a fanboy, and that's exactly why his stuff hits so hard.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter, and producer born on May 22, 1960, in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture. He rose to international prominence with the 1995 television anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which became a major cultural phenomenon in Japan and worldwide. He co-founded Khara (Studio Khara) in 2006 and has served as its president and representative director, going on to direct Shin Godzilla (2016) and the final Rebuild of Evangelion theatrical film (2021). His work has earned him multiple Japan Academy Film Prize awards and the Spring 2022 Medal with Purple Ribbon from the Japanese government.

Name (English)

Hideaki Anno

Name (Japanese)

庵野秀明

Reading

あんのひであき

Born

May 22, 1960 (age 66)

Origin

Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan

Occupation

Anime director / Film director / Screenwriter / Producer / Animator

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Rat

Blood type

A

Agency

Khara, Inc. (President and Representative Director)

Agency history

Gainax Co., Ltd. (until 2007)

Active years

1981–present

High school

Yamaguchi Prefectural Ube High School

University

Osaka University of Arts, Faculty of Arts, Department of Image Planning (withdrew)

Debut

In 1981, produced an opening animation for the 20th Japan Science Fiction Convention as DAICON FILM. Made his directing debut in anime with the 1988 OVA Aim for the Top! (Gunbuster).

Awards & achievements

• 1997 18th Japan SF Award (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
• 2017 40th Japan Academy Film Prize – Outstanding Film (Shin Godzilla)
• 2017 40th Japan Academy Film Prize – Outstanding Director (Shin Godzilla)
• 2017 37th Japan SF Award Special Prize (Shin Godzilla)
• 2022 Medal with Purple Ribbon (Spring 2022)

Timeline

1. 1981Produced opening animation for the 20th Japan Science Fiction Convention as DAICON FILM
2. 1984Joined in founding Gainax; participated in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind as a key animator
3. 1988Made his directing debut with the OVA Aim for the Top! (Gunbuster)
4. 1995Neon Genesis Evangelion TV anime began broadcast, triggering a social phenomenon
5. 2006Founded Khara (Studio Khara) and became its president and representative director
6. 2016Shin Godzilla released theatrically, winning multiple awards
7. 2021Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time released, concluding the Rebuild of Evangelion series
8. 2022Received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in the Spring 2022 imperial decorations
9. 2023Shin Kamen Rider released theatrically

Spouse

Moyoco Anno (manga artist; married March 26, 2002)

Hobbies

• Watching tokusatsu (special effects) productions
• Collecting scale models
• Independent film production

Specialties

• Animation
• Storyboarding
• Tokusatsu direction

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttps://www.khara.co.jp/hideakianno/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%B5%E9%87%8E%E7%A7%80%E6%98%8E
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23261

Tags

• From Ube, Yamaguchi
• Studio Khara
• Anime director
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Shin Godzilla
• Tokusatsu
• Medal with Purple Ribbon

Last updated

October 18, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.