History CreatorBreakdown / Anime

* The most famous instance of this in the world of anime is Creator/HideakiAnno and ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The first half of the show was made while he was deep in depression over his career and the {{otaku}} lifestyle of the time. The atmosphere is bleak and moody, but also calm. Everyone has problems but they are downplayed as the series goes on and takes a turn for the optimistic towards the middle. The second half was when he was going through therapy and started to recover. Shinji becomes suddenly competent and gets eaten twice [[spoiler:and is completely shattered after Kaworu's appearance and death.]] Asuka gets mindraped and her massive, ''massive'' issues are revealed. Rei's emotional development is undone [[spoiler:because she dies to protect Shinji, and the Rei from the end of the series is a clone with her own issues]]. Misato finally rekindles her romance with Kaji [[spoiler:only to have him shot the next episode]] and spends the rest of the series crying, completely broken - it's like all the bottled emotion in the first half gets let loose, as everything the series has shown so far gets deconstructed in the second half. Anno's efforts to understand his own troubles also shows in how the last two episodes put the cast through a psychological examination. Finally in ''End Of Evangelion'', Anno included quite a few {{Take That}}s against the sections of his audience that he had come to hate.
** All this makes ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' a shining example of CreatorRecovery. Hideaki Anno is now well adjusted, HappilyMarried to the manga artist Moyoco Anno (''Manga/SugarSugarRune'' and the last part of ''Manga/HelterSkelter''), and the director of a very successful franchise. The atmosphere is less bleak and carries more energy, the characters are more stable and the story is not unrelentingly downbeat. Yet they are still just as dark, in some ways darker, as characters change and make choices, but not always for the better.
*** ...until the third film, that is. In a late 2014 interview, Anno revealed that he experienced a relapse in his depression while making the film, "thanks" to its ''very'' TroubledProduction. But this time, [[HesBack he managed to stand back up]] with help from his wife and Creator/HayaoMiyazaki.
* The other (in)famous example is Creator/YoshiyukiTomino. Reportedly, the famed director struggled with depression for decades, and this was expressed by the high body count of many of the series he directed, such as ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon,'' ''Anime/AuraBattlerDunbine,'' ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]],'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]].'' Not surprisingly, this earned Tomino the nickname "KillEmAll". In his defense, however, he likes to do what he can to ensure that his series will not have a sequel. After his battle with depression his work lightened considerably, producing stories like ''Anime/OvermanKingGainer'' and ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', which contain positive messages and very few deaths. ''Anime/GundamReconguistaInG'' is a relatively by-the-numbers ''Gundam'' story, but is said to be expressly aimed at new fans and features a peppy ending theme that shows the entire cast, hero and villain alike, participating in a kick-line.
** One of the big rumors surrounding ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'' claims that Tomino was [[SpringtimeForHitler intentionally trying to sink the Gundam franchise]], in particular by making it dark and depressing as well as trying to deny Sunrise their [[MerchandiseDriven merch money]] by having the villains' [[HumongousMecha mobile suits]] be so ugly as to be completely unmarketable. This isn't helped by an infamous interview on the ''V Gundam'' Laserdisc where Tomino supposedly declares "This series is garbage, don't waste your money on it", which actually has him discussing his mindset while making ''Victory'' rather than being an outright condemnation.
** Like Anno, he remade ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' into a movie series but with a better ending after he got over his depression.
* [[Creator/TiteKubo Noriaki "Tite" Kubo]] has stated that he's had at least two of these:
** Kubo's first manga ''Manga/{{Zombiepowder}}'' only lasted four volumes due to low sales. In a veiled reference on the inside cover of the final volume, Kubo acknowledged a nervous breakdown also contributed to its cancellation.
** Some months after the end of his most famous manga, ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', he revealed on Twitter that the tenth year of publishing was incredibly hard on him due to stress and bad health.. Then a letter gave him his spirits back - it was from a deceased 10-year-old IllBoy, whose LastRequest was to have an anonymous letter with encouraging words given to him after his death. At the end of the reveal, Kubo [[http://archive.is/JNIBt asked for leads about the boy's family's whereabouts]], [[IWillFindYou intending to find them.]] ([[http://solcito93.tumblr.com/post/168489224969/ And around a year later, he did.]])
* InUniverse example: In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', Drosselmeyer [[spoiler:traps the entire town of Kinkan]] in a story [[spoiler:after the villagers began to fear his story-turning-into-reality powers and cut off his hands]]. That story? Written with ''his own blood'' from [[spoiler:the stumps of his arms where his hands were cut off]]. Which, of course, explains why the man is so insane and [[spoiler:obsessed with tragedy]].
* The author of ''Manga/BitterVirgin'', Kusunoki Kei, explains that a story arc of a character's stillborn child was drawn from experiences after ''her own miscarriage''. As it is often with Creator Breakdowns, the writing has emotional honesty and power, which stands out in the story's ''extremely'' [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy melodramatic]] tone.
* InUniverse example: Yusuke Yoshino of ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}''. [[spoiler:Meeting a group of kids in a hospital that are fans of his music made him question his singing for his own sake, preventing him from writing new songs. Then, when the biggest of said fans committed a huge crime, he blamed himself and let that bitterness crawl into his work. It eventually led to a downward spiral where he left the music scene a broken man]].
* Creator/OsamuTezuka's, in the wake of personal betrayal, having his manga altered in serialization and anime adaptations, and health problems. His stories always had a certain 'edge', but you can see him subverting and deconstructing the ever living life out of some of his previously innocent [[ReusedCharacterDesign characters and archetypes.]] The most blatant product of this is ''Alabaster''.
* Yukito Kishiro suffered one ''plus'' was ill, leading to the [[WrapItUp abrupt and confusing ending]] of ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}'' (or as it's known in the US, ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita''). After trying his hand at [[Manga/AquaKnight a new series]] which sadly never caught on, Kishiro [[UnCanceled returned]] to his [[FranchiseZombie staple franchise]] and [[ReVival picked up where he left off]], [[RetCon rewriting the events]] that [[SeriesFauxnale concluded the first installment]].
* A particularly ugly, messy example for Kentarou Yabuki, the illustrator for ''Manga/ToLoveRu''. Its cancellation was abrupt due to Yabuki and his wife Shiho's [[https://otakuartist.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/the-truth-behind-why-to-love-ru-ended/ very messy divorce and even messier custody battle over their 2-year-old child]]: it's not exactly easy to continue writing a story of the sweet and lovely GirlNextDoor when [[WriteWhatYouKnow the woman she's based on]] is involved in such... stuff. Which is a double shame considering the writer of the manga, Saki Hasemi, didn't base the character on the ex-wife. One year after the series ended, Yabuki and Hasemi continued the series as ''To Love Ru Darkness'', where Haruna is DemotedToExtra and Momo and Yami become more important.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' fandom has speculated that [[spoiler:the [[TheReveal business with Portgas D. Rouge, Ace, and Roger]]]] was at least partially a product of Creator/EiichiroOda's anxiety over his wife Chiaki Inaba's pregnancy and himself becoming a father.
** On a more humorous note, it's been joked (and outright stated) by the anime staff that the reason the amount of fanservice spiked upward was because of Oda getting married to a gorgeous Ex-CosplayOtakuGirl like Chiaki and being horny for her all the time - and to the displeasure of fans who liked the general lack of such things in the manga early on. For a guy who prefers not emphasizing romance that's not an obvious huge joke in his stories, he sure is a massive softie for his family.
* In-universe example in ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}''. Ryu Shizuka, author of "True Human" (a manga about the conflict between the "true humans" and the normal "old" humans), kills off all the human males and focuses the story around the young women serving the "true humans" around the time he starts going to cabaret clubs and socializing with the hostesses. His editor takes him to a tea date with Aoki and her assistants, along with Hiramaru and his editor, which turns out to be quite awkward due to Shizuka's poor social skills and gloomy demeanor. Shizuka realizes that the hostesses were only paying attention to him for money, and plans on writing about their false love in "True Human".
* One of the reasons why the ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'' movies are in DevelopmentHell is the ''very'' serious illness (unspecified, but speculated to be a nasty combo of cancer '''and''' depression) that affects Chiaki Morosawa, head script writer and wife to director Mitsuo Fukuda. [[AuthorExistenceFailure Mrs. Morosawa finally passed away in February 2016, which left all of this unresolved.]]
* More of a fanwork example, but the {{doujinshi}} Takotsuboya K-ON Trilogy involves Azusa being unable to find success as a musician, Mio being extremely jealous at Yui for her success, and Ritsu resigning herself to a low level job because she believes she lacks talent. All of these can apply to the creator, TK, who tried for decades to become a published mangaka, but never could.
* In 2006, {{Creator/Nitroplus}}' Creator/GenUrobuchi confessed in his afterword to the first volume of ''[[Literature/FateZero Fate/zero]]'' to a loss in the ability to write heartwarming stories and a "tragedy syndrome" which compels him to make things tragic for the characters he conceived. He has later explained that a childhood trauma from a near-death experience is at least partly responsible for this. Such tendencies showed up in spades in ''[[Literature/FateZero Fate/zero]]'', which was a much darker prequel of ''[[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]'', and then, in 2011, in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. [[spoiler:Judging by the BittersweetEnding of that anime though, he appears to have gotten better, though it's up to the individual's thought of whether or not he's fully recovered judging from his later works.]]
* When playwright and Manga/DetectiveConan script writer Hisashi Nozawa committed suicide in summer 2004, fans wondered if Nozawa already had a breakdown when he penned the series' NonSerialMovie ''Phantom of Baker Street'' about 2 years prior. This is fueled by the fact that there has been a constant suspicion that the local WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds OneSceneWonder was Nozawa's AuthorAvatar, and, well, this movie StartsWithASuicide...
* In 1972, Creator/GoNagai released 2 manga around the same time: ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' and ''Anime/MazingerZ''. The former was something that he considered to be his greatest work, while the latter's popularity heavily overshadowed it at the time. Toward the end of Devilman, his depression got the better of him and left the series with an ending that would put Anno to shame. Amusingly, the series became much more popular after its run finished.
* A FanSub example: the final two episodes of LIME Anime's subtitles of ''Manga/StrawberryOneHundredPercent'' begin with detrimental messages from the subber: "We recommend you stop watching now! Please watch something else!" on Episode 11, and "Why did you download this? It sucks!" on Episode 12.
* ''Anime/CatSoup'' was based on the works of the female underground manga artist Chiyomi "Nekojiru" Hashiguchi. She and her husband Hajime Yamano made a lot of really dark, twisted and weird stories in which the hate for society and culture in general were very common. And then, in 1993, Nekojiru commited suicide under really mysterious causes, and that very same year, an anime based on her works, called ''Nekojiru Gekijou'', was broadcasted on Japanese television in the form of 26 short animated sketches, portraying that very crude humor and disgust for society in general.
* Creator/ArinaTanemura
** ''Manga/FullMoonOSagashite'' was done not necessarily because she was breaking down, but as a sort of apology or way to make up for [[MyGreatestFailure not being able to help a friend when they really needed it.]] Could be a reason why the series is actually surprisingly dark in various aspects...
** She did have a breakdown during ''Manga/TimeStrangerKyoko''. She was suffering emotional problems and didn't feel like she could give it her all for the manga, with her even asking her publishers if the series could be ended a bit early. This led to the entire series being only three volumes long, for the last six Strangers to just be brought in and appearing, and for the revelations of the story to be rather hurried.
* Creator/YuuWatase went through one when she was working on ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden''; she was thinking of ''maybe'' [[spoiler:sparing Takiko's life]], but then one of her best friends died in an accident, and she decided to [[spoiler:go "StatusQuoIsGod" and kill Takiko off.]]
** She had another [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2014-01-29/mangaka-yuu-watase-blogs-about-editorial-harassment when working on]] ''Manga/ArataKangatari'', since her editor during the Suzukuwa arc (named "Mr. I") was so exigent that he constantly ordered her to redraw pages and story the way he wanted and not how she planned because he didn't understand her ideas and thought ViewersAreMorons. Watase was so mentally and physically exhausted that ''she considered quitting manga business as a whole'' over the mistreatment, but thankfully, "Mr I" was replaced by new editor whose was more understanding and didn't interfere in her work during the Yataka Arc.
* The novelist Kyouko Mizuki has said that she wrote the original ''Manga/CandyCandy'' novel, which would later become a manga series, as a consequence of the deep effect that [[ParentalAbandonment her parents' deaths]], specially [[MissingMom her mother's]], had on her:
-->"I lost my mother when I was 21, then I was all alone in the world. To write the story healed my sorrow";"Before I wrote the story of Candy, one of what some decided was "Who is her mother is not the theme". Whoever are your parents, you must accept your destiny and stand on your own feet---I wanted to say so. When I started to write the story, it was two years after my mother passed away. My father passed away at my 12th year, I lived in solitude because I am the only child of them. Looking back on my years of writing Candy story, I realize that I healed my pain by writing".
* Yomi Hirasaka became more and more disillusioned as ''LightNovel/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai'' dragged on, as he started to feel like it was a chore to write but [[ExecutiveMeddling he was forced to keep it going by his publisher because of its popularity]]. As such, he began to deliberately write the characters to make as [[ConflictBall stupid and melodramatic decisions as humanly possible]] in order to drive the fans away and force the novels to get canned. After he was finally allowed to end the series after 11 volumes, his next novel series ''Imouto Sae Ireba Ii/A Sister's All You Need'' took several [[TakeThat pointed shots]] at the light novel industry.
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