Hideaki Anno was born in 1960 within the city of Ube, Yamaguchi. He attended Wakō Kindergarten and Unoshima Municipal Elementary School before moving to Fujiyama Municipal Junior High School.
Hideaki Anno stopped paying tuition fees while busy making self-financed films during his time as an animator for The Super Dimension Fortress Macross between 1982 and 1983. This financial neglect led to his expulsion which marked a turning point toward independent filmmaking.
Hayao Miyazaki posted an ad in Animage magazine seeking animators in 1984 which Hideaki Anno read in his early twenties. He traveled directly to the film studio and presented drawings that resulted in immediate employment by Miyazaki.
Clinical depression shaped the psychological themes found throughout Neon Genesis Evangelion because Hideaki Anno wrote down details about his own trials and tribulations to inform character development within the show. The series was broadcast during a children's television timeslot despite its introspective nature.
Hideaki Anno officially departed from Gainax in September 2006 after years of collaboration following an update on his official website on the 1st of August 2006. He began job listings for key animators at Studio Khara immediately before launching the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie in Summer 2007.