Hideaki Anno Rejects Global-First Anime Creation

Acclaimed anime director Hideaki Anno has pushed back against the idea that Japanese creators should tailor their work primarily for overseas audiences, arguing that doing so risks diminishing the medium’s cultural nuance. On Dec 24, 2025, Anno along with sat down with Forbes Japan to discuss “2026 Comprehensive Predictions,” and highlighted that he never considered making anime for foreign audiences.

Anno, best known as the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, said he does not believe creating for the global market is the right approach, adding that foreign audiences should adapt to Japanese works rather than the reverse. He stressed that his own projects have never been designed with international viewers in mind, despite achieving significant global reach.

According to Anno, preserving anime as a distinctly Japanese form of expression is becoming more urgent as the industry scales rapidly. Global demand for anime continues to accelerate, with market forecasts projecting the sector to reach ¥20 trillion yen ($126M) by 2033, driven largely by streaming platforms and overseas licensing.

His comments land at a moment when Japanese studios are increasingly balancing domestic identity with foreign investment, co-productions, and algorithm-driven commissioning from Western platforms— a structural shift that is reshaping how anime is written, financed, and marketed.

Why Anno Insists Anime Must Be Made in Japanese

Anno argued that anime should be conceived and produced in Japanese because language shapes thought, emotion, and storytelling structure. He stated in the interview that when artists try to universalize their work at the onset, subtleties ingrained in Japanese speech, timing, and cultural reference points cannot be entirely retained.

Anno used a comparison between anime and Japanese video games, and pointed out how and why audiences should adapt to the film. He stressed that film is not a medium that accommodates its contents for the audience.

Anno’s view is simple for anime production; he believes that the work should be good. He stated that while working for Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, he never considered creating it for the overseas market. He chose to produce it the way he wanted, while taking full responsibility for its commercial performance.

Anno also rejected the assumption that Japanese-language works are inherently harder to export. He pointed to the long-running global success of anime franchises, notably Ghibli and creators like Hayao Miyazaki’s works, that were deeply rooted in local culture yet resonated abroad precisely because of that specificity. Anime made for a domestic audience can still be understood overseas, he said, arguing that emotional clarity travels better than calculated universality.

Anno’s remarks align with broader concerns raised by industry figures such as Tomohiko Itō, who has warned that anime’s push toward Western tastes could undermine the qualities driving its success. As production volume rises and global capital plays a larger role, Anno’s statements underscore the central tension facing the industry.

A recent anime trend analysis also pointed out that producing for a global-audience has resulted in genre-saturation. Ito also talked about similar concerns, stating that such measures could make the American audience think, “Japan is the only country that still produces works in which scantily clad girls battle, the kind of stuff that would be considered strange in North America.”