The announcement was made on July 18 JST.
The news comes about a month after the announcement of a capital and business alliance deal that will result in Hello Kitty owner Sanrio becoming the (co-)fourth-largest stakeholder of Production I.G’s owner, IG Port.
In January, IG Port announced that Production I.G will absorb sister company Signal.MD to improve and increase profitability.
Anno is perhaps best known for directing 1995’s Neon Genesis Evangelion and key animating the God Warrior from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. He founded Studio Khara in 2006, and the studio produced the four Rebuild of Evangelion films as well as the TV anime The Dragon Dentist and Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX (co-credited with Sunrise on the latter). Some other notable titles associated with Anno include Gunbuster (director), Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (chief director), His and Her Circumstances (director), Love & Pop and Ritual (director, live-action), Shin Godzilla (co-directed with Shinji Higuchi, live-action), Shin Ultraman (writer, live-action), and Shin Kamen Rider (writer and director, live-action).
Anno was recently one of the scriptwriters and storyboarders for Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX.
Production I.G was founded in 1987 as I.G Tatsunoko. It has produced anime like Ghost in the Shell, ONE PIECE: Taose! Kaizoku Ganzack, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Blood+, xxxHOLIC, The Sky Crawlers, Psycho Pass, Haikyu!!, Miss Hokusai, B: The Beginning, and Kaiju No.8.
Source: Studio Khara (via Denfaminico Gamer)
