Insufficient Direction 🍺

This was a great and what felt like, a deeply personal read, which it definitely is. To get a peek into what it must be like to see legendary Hideaki Anno behind the scenes—in a day-to-day like routine, all through a collection of anecdotal stories, events of which are in some places could be exaggerated, shuffled around, all to make it all the funnier—what a big heart Moyoco Anno injected into her work.

Maybe I’m also deep into the ota-sphere, as I found all the geeking out on old shows, endless references, and expensive merchandise (looking at you, kamen rider belts and figurines) super charming.

The foreword (?) by Hideaki Anno says it best,

What’s amazing about my wife’s manga is that she doesn’t create any "out" from reality. [...] Instead of making you want to dwell in yourself, her manga makes you want to go outside and do something, it emboldens you. It’s a manga for tackling reality and living among others. [...] Her manga accomplished what I couldn’t do in Eva to the end. It was a big shock to me, really. ◼︎