Hiroyuki Imaishi is a Japanese key animator, animation director and a co-founder of Studio Trigger. His style is marked by fast and frantic animation combined with elaborate storyboarding and punchy direction. Prior to founding Trigger, he was an animator and director at Gainax. His most well-known works include Gurren Lagann (2007), Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (2010), Kill la Kill (2013), Promare (2019), and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022).
Imaishi in 2008
Gainax Co., Ltd. is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Royal Space Force, Gunbuster, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Kare Kano, FLCL, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, and Gurren Lagann, which have garnered critical acclaim and commercial success. Evangelion has reportedly grossed over ¥150 billion, or approximately US$1.2 billion. In a discussion at the 2006 Tekkoshocon, Matt Greenfield claimed that Evangelion had grossed over US$2 billion; Takeda reiterated in 2002 that "It sold record numbers of laserdiscs in Japan, and the DVD is still selling well today", as well as for their association with award-winning anime director and studio co-founder Hideaki Anno. The company is headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo.
DVD cover of North American release of Otaku no Video
Gainax's offices in Koganei, Tokyo, circa 2004. The studio since moved to a modest two-story premise, also in Koganei, before moving again to another premise.
Former Gainax headquarters in Koganei, Tokyo since 2013. In 2016, Gainax moved to a room in an apartment in Musashino, Tokyo.