Gainax Co., Ltd. (株式会社ガイナックス) was a Japanese animation studio founded in December 1984, known for works including Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gurren Lagann. The company’s visual identity centered on a simple typographic wordmark spelling “GAINAX” in red, a mark that appeared on the studio’s official website and merchandise for decades.
Design and History
The Gainax logo was a straightforward wordmark consisting of the company name in capital letters. The mark was hosted on the official Gainax website as logo_entrance.gif, and a vector version of the logo was created from that source file in 2007.[1] The logo’s red color was noted in contemporary coverage of the company, with one 2016 article observing that “GAINAX’s logo is also red.”[2] Official merchandise, such as a white T-shirt sold through the anime retailer Otaku Mode, also displayed the Gainax logo in red.[3]
The company name itself has a documented origin. Gainax was based on an obscure term from Tottori Prefecture meaning “giant,” with the English suffix “-x” added because it sounded “good and was international.”[4] The studio changed its name to Gainax in 1985, having previously operated as Daicon Film.[4]
Gainax filed for bankruptcy in May 2024, and the company’s official website announced that the “GAINAX” trademark had already been transferred to Studio Khara for management.[5] The company was formally dissolved on December 11, 2025.[6]
Meaning and Symbolism
No official documentation has been found that explains a specific symbolic meaning for the Gainax logo’s red color or its typographic form. The wordmark’s meaning is tied directly to the company name, which derives from a regional Japanese term for “giant” combined with an international-sounding suffix.[4] The red color was a consistent visual element of the identity, but its intended significance, if any, has not been documented in available sources.
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