The Japanese animation studios Gainax was ordered by the judge of the Tokyo District Court (Tachikawa Branch) on Friday to pay Studio Khara its debt of 100 million yen. Studio Khara filed a lawsuit against Gainax last December 2016 in regards of a 100 million yen debt that Gainax owes. The company no longer made a further comment on the matter and Gainax will not appeal to the said decision made by the court.
Khara loaned 100 million yen to Gainax in 2014. Both companies had made an agreement previously that Khara would earn royalties from the received income on the works that Gainax and Khara founder and co-founder Hideaki Anno is producing. Based on the filing at the Tokyo District Court Tachikawa Branch, Khara alleged that Gainax delayed the royalty payments which inncured a large debt with Khara. Ever since Khara loaned the money to Gainax, the company has not yet been paid and which escalated the decision to brining this matter in court.
Gainax president Hiroyuki Yamaga released an public apology on the official Gainax website in December after Khara filed a lawsuit against the company. He apologizes to all the involved parties of the issue and admits that the company is going through some reconstruction. He requested all involved parties of the case to continue supporting the company for the benefit of producing more anime productions and the related.
Yamaga and Anno were colleagues at the Osaka University of Arts and they co-founded Gainax along with the following individuals: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Takami Akai, Yasuhiro Takeda, Toshio Okada, and Shinji Higushi. Before it was known as Gainax, it was formally named Daicon Film, named after its production of anime shorts used for the sci-fi conventions Daicon III and IV.
Gainax became such a big name in the industry due its production of the following productions (under the direction of Anno): Nadia – The Secret of Blue Water, Gunbuster, Kare Kano, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Anno left the company in 2007 and founded Studio Khara where he worked on new anime films for Evangelion in collaboration with Gainax. Along with Shinji Higuji, he was also able to direct the film Shin Godzilla.
Source: The Sankei Shimbun