Director Hideaki Anno's depression is what led to the dark themes of Shinseiki Evangelion. Budgetary problems and parental complaints about content led to the original ending being scrapped and replaced with an extremely limited-animation ending breaking from the main plot. A movie, Air/Magokoro wo, Kimi ni, was later made based in part on the original planned ending and in part on Anno's increasi

Director Hideaki Anno's depression is what led to the dark themes of Shinseiki Evangelion. Budgetary problems and parental complaints about content led to the original ending being scrapped and replaced with an extremely limited-animation ending breaking from the main plot. A movie, Air/Magokoro wo, Kimi ni, was later made based in part on the original planned ending and in part on Anno's increasing frustration with the otaku fanbase. The series' mix of psychoanalysis, religious symbolism, and genre deconstruction proved extremely influential on mature anime in the late '90s onward. The Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006 ranked it as the most popular anime of all time.