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Insufficient Direction
Long before Hideaki Anno married Moyoco Anno, he was known as the creator of one of the most popular animated works of all time—Neon Genesis Evangelion. But little was known about the author's personal life. Along came comic artist Moyoco Anno...then came love, then came marriage and then came a comic about how they changed each other's lives....Hopefully for the better.
176 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2005
3 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
Moyoco Anno
144 books198 followersSee also: 安野モヨコ
Moyoko Anno (安野 モヨコ) is a Japanese manga artist and a fashion writer, with numerous books published in both categories. Her manga and books have attained considerable popularity among young women in Japan. Though she primarily writes manga of the josei demographic, her most popular series, Sugar Sugar Rune, (serialized in Nakayoshi) is targeted at primary school-aged girls. In a recent Oricon poll, she was voted the number eight most popular manga artist among females and thirteen in the general category. Her manga Happy Mania was made into a television series in 1998, followed by Hataraki Man in October 2007. Sakuran was made into a movie in 2006.
In the movie Japan Sinks, she has a cameo role alongside her husband; their characters were also married. The movie was directed by Shinji Higuchi, who, like her husband Hideaki Anno, is a co-founder of Gainax.
Anno won the 29th Kodansha Manga Award for children's manga in 2005 for Sugar Sugar Rune.
Visit her blog: http://www.annomoyoco.com/blog/
Moyoko Anno (安野 モヨコ) is a Japanese manga artist and a fashion writer, with numerous books published in both categories. Her manga and books have attained considerable popularity among young women in Japan. Though she primarily writes manga of the josei demographic, her most popular series, Sugar Sugar Rune, (serialized in Nakayoshi) is targeted at primary school-aged girls. In a recent Oricon poll, she was voted the number eight most popular manga artist among females and thirteen in the general category. Her manga Happy Mania was made into a television series in 1998, followed by Hataraki Man in October 2007. Sakuran was made into a movie in 2006.
In the movie Japan Sinks, she has a cameo role alongside her husband; their characters were also married. The movie was directed by Shinji Higuchi, who, like her husband Hideaki Anno, is a co-founder of Gainax.
Anno won the 29th Kodansha Manga Award for children's manga in 2005 for Sugar Sugar Rune.
Visit her blog: http://www.annomoyoco.com/blog/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 14, 2021
Molto divertente! Sicuramente curioso per chi ha conosciuto Anno attraverso Evangelion e vuole arricchire un po’ la sua figura.
Non essenziale, diciamolo. Ma mi ha divertito molto ritrovarmi nelle fisse otaku di Anno.
Non essenziale, diciamolo. Ma mi ha divertito molto ritrovarmi nelle fisse otaku di Anno.
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December 4, 2024There are THIRTY ONE pages of notes explaining all the references made in this manga so if you aren’t familiar with tokusatsu and mécha anime and devilman and galaxy express 999 etc you will prob hate this. However I love moyocco anno and will listen to whatever she has to stay about her life with her stinky husband
August 3, 2023
A pleasant read filled with a fun couple doing silly nerdy stuff and trying to make there day to day pleasant
August 12, 2023
Hideaki Anno has an almost mythological status in nerd circles and it was nice to read something that gave me a new perspective on him: he’s just a giant nerd and goofy as hell (in a nice way).
August 7, 2014
I just got this at the library because I am trying to read everything they have, and am dabbling in manga more and more. In this I saw right away I would miss almost all the references to Japanese culture, to famous anime.manga/filmmaker Hideaki Anno as depicted by his wife, manga artist Moyoco Anno, and expect to just shake my head and zip through it to get the flavor, but it turns out to be funny, silly, charming, in a way that make some of the missed references sort of irrelevant, because it is mainly about this happy, loving relationship, and art, and Japanese culture. Fun stuff.
September 9, 2019
Easily one of the worst manga I've ever read. Boring, terrible translation. I wonder why it was even published in English.
June 9, 2020
I will openly admit I'm not very familiar with Moyoco's work and pretty much only read this as a fictionalized mini-biography of Hideaki. That said, the manga probably benefits by having something of an outsider (inasmuch as a wife can be an outsider) rather than being 100% pure H. Anno (not that he'd ever write a biography after NGE).
The premise of the manga is that a fictionalized Moyoco (called "Rompers" here), still a well-regarded manga artist in her 2D world, is afraid of turning into an otaku after marrying otaku god Hideaki Anno (called "Director-kun" here). She succumbs very easily to her husband's influence, but that's not really a Big Thing since the Truth of the manga is to just drop references to classic anime, manga, and tokusatsu shows to wank over the things Hideaki Anno loves.
That is, I watched Power Rangers Ninja Storm as a child, so I can identify with Director-kun watching Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger as an adult. Or, rather, I watched Zyuohger, Kyuuranger, Lupinranger VS. Patoranger, Ryusoulger, and now Kiramager (which I'm pissed got put on hiatus because of COVID) as an adult, and so identify with another grown ass man watching children's men-in-spandex-fighting-men-in-rubber-monster-suits TV shows.
Some of the most interesting elements of this manga are catching the references you understand and leaving the book to look up shit with which you aren't as familiar. The back of the volume has a guide to all the anime and toku references, which could prove invaluable to anyone looking into '70s sci-fi anime classics (unfortunately few have been translated, officially or with fansubs).
Something else interesting is trying to figure out the particulars of the Double Anno relationship. Rompers is good for Director-kun because Director-kun is a fatass who rarely showers or changes his clothes (it's fun to applaud myself for having better hygiene as an otaku than Mr. Anno, but of course I'll never create anything as cool as Gunbuster so what's the fucking point? lol). Director-kun is an otaku, and he ticks many of the "negative" boxes attributed to such people (it's odd he even has a 3D wife...). He benefits from having Rompers as a caretaker. Rompers doesn't seem to benefit too overtly, especially in her early fear of being an "ota-wife." The manga just makes no mention of Anno's big-dick EVA profits. Not to sound cynical, to suggest that Moyoco only married Hideaki for GAINAX money and fame, but it's somewhat strange how otherwise "pure" their marriage seems. EVA is referenced sparingly. I think GAINAX is never mentioned by name in the main body of the text (H. Anno's interview at the end and the index of references mention the company). Rompers is a manga-ka, her husband is a director (I don't even think it's stated explicitly that Director-kun is an anime director...). More importantly, Rompers was an otaku masquerading as a "normal" person, and Director-kun wears his otaku-ness on his sleeve. Through their marriage, Rompers becomes more comfortable calling herself an otaku, even if she continues to treat the subject with some self-irony.
The premise of the manga is that a fictionalized Moyoco (called "Rompers" here), still a well-regarded manga artist in her 2D world, is afraid of turning into an otaku after marrying otaku god Hideaki Anno (called "Director-kun" here). She succumbs very easily to her husband's influence, but that's not really a Big Thing since the Truth of the manga is to just drop references to classic anime, manga, and tokusatsu shows to wank over the things Hideaki Anno loves.
That is, I watched Power Rangers Ninja Storm as a child, so I can identify with Director-kun watching Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger as an adult. Or, rather, I watched Zyuohger, Kyuuranger, Lupinranger VS. Patoranger, Ryusoulger, and now Kiramager (which I'm pissed got put on hiatus because of COVID) as an adult, and so identify with another grown ass man watching children's men-in-spandex-fighting-men-in-rubber-monster-suits TV shows.
Some of the most interesting elements of this manga are catching the references you understand and leaving the book to look up shit with which you aren't as familiar. The back of the volume has a guide to all the anime and toku references, which could prove invaluable to anyone looking into '70s sci-fi anime classics (unfortunately few have been translated, officially or with fansubs).
Something else interesting is trying to figure out the particulars of the Double Anno relationship. Rompers is good for Director-kun because Director-kun is a fatass who rarely showers or changes his clothes (it's fun to applaud myself for having better hygiene as an otaku than Mr. Anno, but of course I'll never create anything as cool as Gunbuster so what's the fucking point? lol). Director-kun is an otaku, and he ticks many of the "negative" boxes attributed to such people (it's odd he even has a 3D wife...). He benefits from having Rompers as a caretaker. Rompers doesn't seem to benefit too overtly, especially in her early fear of being an "ota-wife." The manga just makes no mention of Anno's big-dick EVA profits. Not to sound cynical, to suggest that Moyoco only married Hideaki for GAINAX money and fame, but it's somewhat strange how otherwise "pure" their marriage seems. EVA is referenced sparingly. I think GAINAX is never mentioned by name in the main body of the text (H. Anno's interview at the end and the index of references mention the company). Rompers is a manga-ka, her husband is a director (I don't even think it's stated explicitly that Director-kun is an anime director...). More importantly, Rompers was an otaku masquerading as a "normal" person, and Director-kun wears his otaku-ness on his sleeve. Through their marriage, Rompers becomes more comfortable calling herself an otaku, even if she continues to treat the subject with some self-irony.
June 22, 2020
The stories in this were pretty cute and it provides a lot of background information about the characters and the things they're referencing, but I think it would have worked better presented in a different order or format.
It was a little hard to get into this book at the beginning because it starts out with a lot of references to Japanese pop culture, which I think will go over the heads of a lot of Western audiences because a lot of what they're referencing isn't as popular here. I expected there to be a lot of references to older anime or manga, which I feel I know enough about to get those references, but it mainly seemed to be referencing things like Kamen Rider and those sorts of live action TV shows. There are annotations in the back which explain all the references, but I think these would have worked better as footnotes so you wouldn't need to keep flipping back and forth. They also probably should have had asterisks or something on the references to indicate when there would be an explanation in the annotations in my opinion. This was especially confusing to me because some references were explained in notes in the margins of panels but then others weren't, so you have a mix of some explanations being right where the reference is and others being hidden in the back of the book.
The book starts to improve as the comics go on because earlier chapters mainly focus on Director-kun referencing pop culture and how he's an otaku, while later chapters start to focus more on his relationship with the author. These later chapters worked better for me because they were easier to relate to since I wasn't having to wade through a ton of references I didn't really get. The chapters are pretty much like those little extra comics that will sometimes be in the back of a manga volume, so if you like those, you'll probably like at least some of these chapters.
I also think I would have preferred if the section written by Hideaki Anno where he talks about the book and his wife had been at the beginning of the book rather than the back. Really, the format of this book was very strange to me. The annotations and whatnot start at the back of the book and are going in the Western direction (left to right) while the actual book starts at the front and goes right to left like most manga does. I don't really get why the publishers decided to make the book like this. I feel like if the content of this book were moved around a bit, it would read a lot better.
It was a little hard to get into this book at the beginning because it starts out with a lot of references to Japanese pop culture, which I think will go over the heads of a lot of Western audiences because a lot of what they're referencing isn't as popular here. I expected there to be a lot of references to older anime or manga, which I feel I know enough about to get those references, but it mainly seemed to be referencing things like Kamen Rider and those sorts of live action TV shows. There are annotations in the back which explain all the references, but I think these would have worked better as footnotes so you wouldn't need to keep flipping back and forth. They also probably should have had asterisks or something on the references to indicate when there would be an explanation in the annotations in my opinion. This was especially confusing to me because some references were explained in notes in the margins of panels but then others weren't, so you have a mix of some explanations being right where the reference is and others being hidden in the back of the book.
The book starts to improve as the comics go on because earlier chapters mainly focus on Director-kun referencing pop culture and how he's an otaku, while later chapters start to focus more on his relationship with the author. These later chapters worked better for me because they were easier to relate to since I wasn't having to wade through a ton of references I didn't really get. The chapters are pretty much like those little extra comics that will sometimes be in the back of a manga volume, so if you like those, you'll probably like at least some of these chapters.
I also think I would have preferred if the section written by Hideaki Anno where he talks about the book and his wife had been at the beginning of the book rather than the back. Really, the format of this book was very strange to me. The annotations and whatnot start at the back of the book and are going in the Western direction (left to right) while the actual book starts at the front and goes right to left like most manga does. I don't really get why the publishers decided to make the book like this. I feel like if the content of this book were moved around a bit, it would read a lot better.
May 10, 2023
Hmm... I struggle to decide if this is 3 or 4 stars for me. Always especially hard to rate memoirs.
Hideaki Anno is one of my favorite directors of all time (Neon Genesis Evangelion, among other things). This is a manga by his wife, Moyoco Anno, about their daily life together.
What threw me off a bit was the attitude towards otakus (nerds, basically). It seemed really old-fashioned for Moyoco to be so condescending about it, especially as she liked the same things as her husband. But she also explains it in a way that makes it seem she was just raised that way - to have a nice stylish home and not focus so much on "weird" special interests.
This book pretty much chronicles her journey from trying to be "normal" to embracing the otaku-ness and letting go of societal expectations.
To some extent. Because there is also a lot of focus on what Hideaki Anno, or Director-kun as he's called in the book, looks like. He's "too fat". He has the wrong hair. He has too few sets of clothes. He doesn't shower often enough. And so on.
Overall, I found it a charming look into everyday life (if a bit heightened for comedy) of a person I look up to, and the person who has been such a huge influence and support for him. The nagging did get a bit grating though.
In the book they've also included an afterward with Hideaki Anno himself, where he talks about his thoughts on the manga and how he was part of making it. I think the afterword helps set the tone for the book, and in the end it really shines through how much they both admire and respect each other.
I'm glad they decided to share this with us, and that it got published in English!
Hideaki Anno is one of my favorite directors of all time (Neon Genesis Evangelion, among other things). This is a manga by his wife, Moyoco Anno, about their daily life together.
What threw me off a bit was the attitude towards otakus (nerds, basically). It seemed really old-fashioned for Moyoco to be so condescending about it, especially as she liked the same things as her husband. But she also explains it in a way that makes it seem she was just raised that way - to have a nice stylish home and not focus so much on "weird" special interests.
This book pretty much chronicles her journey from trying to be "normal" to embracing the otaku-ness and letting go of societal expectations.
To some extent. Because there is also a lot of focus on what Hideaki Anno, or Director-kun as he's called in the book, looks like. He's "too fat". He has the wrong hair. He has too few sets of clothes. He doesn't shower often enough. And so on.
Overall, I found it a charming look into everyday life (if a bit heightened for comedy) of a person I look up to, and the person who has been such a huge influence and support for him. The nagging did get a bit grating though.
In the book they've also included an afterward with Hideaki Anno himself, where he talks about his thoughts on the manga and how he was part of making it. I think the afterword helps set the tone for the book, and in the end it really shines through how much they both admire and respect each other.
I'm glad they decided to share this with us, and that it got published in English!
November 20, 2023
This was a great and what felt like, a deeply personal read, which it definitely is. To get a peek into what it must be like to see legendary Hideaki Anno behind the scenes—in a day-to-day like routine, all through a collection of anecdotal stories, events of which are in some places could be exaggerated, shuffled around, all to make it all the funnier—what a big heart Moyoco Anno injected into her work.
Maybe I'm also deep into the ota-sphere, as I found all the geeking out on old shows, endless references, and expensive merchandise (looking at you, kamen rider belts and figurines) super charming.
The foreword (?) by Hideaki Anno says it best,
Maybe I'm also deep into the ota-sphere, as I found all the geeking out on old shows, endless references, and expensive merchandise (looking at you, kamen rider belts and figurines) super charming.
The foreword (?) by Hideaki Anno says it best,
What's amazing about my wife's manga is that she doesn't create any "out" from reality. [...] Instead of making you want to dwell in yourself, her manga makes you want to go outside and do something, it emboldens you. It's a manga for tackling reality and living among others. [...] Her manga accomplished what I couldn't do in Eva to the end. It was a big shock to me, really.
April 18, 2020
A bit of a slog at times but it has some genuinely rewarding and funny moments. I always appreciate a biography that keeps it real; iconic director Hideaki Anno (and even the author, his wife) is represented akin to something like peopleatwalmart [dot] com. It's a pretty ballsy exhibition of their normal, unassuming lives, and I like that. The annotations are pretty helpful, essentially an otaku starter kit.
June 9, 2021
This was good, but felt like homework.
I didn't dislike it, but was hoping to like it a lot more.
Even an Otaku like me maybe got half of the references in the book?
Thankfully theres a COMPREHENSIVE annotations section. Of 38 pages.
The story proper is 138 pages.
Some of the panels were just so relatable though. We all hope to find out Ota-Wife one day.
I didn't dislike it, but was hoping to like it a lot more.
Even an Otaku like me maybe got half of the references in the book?
Thankfully theres a COMPREHENSIVE annotations section. Of 38 pages.
The story proper is 138 pages.
Some of the panels were just so relatable though. We all hope to find out Ota-Wife one day.
October 18, 2025
The annotations alone made me feel like a newly minted anime and manga historian. Recommended read for all those open even slightly identifying as or adjacent to being an adult otaku/nerd. Rarely will anything of bibliographical nature be this fun to ingest. It happens but this is still a rare find. Enjoy it.
August 17, 2020
If you have ever wondered what Hideaki Anno is really like, then Insufficient Direction is a must read. Anno's wife is a professional mangaka who created this hilarious manga about their relationship where all things Otaku abound.
May 28, 2021
Anno’s wife depicts the hard work of being with an obsessive. And depicts herself as a giant crazed baby? Very disconcerting. Vague sense that I shouldn’t be seeing these things. Certainly not unless I was a thousand times more interested in Anno than I am.
December 3, 2025
Very fun and silly. If you are a fan of Hideaki Anno (Evangelion), then it is worth reading in order to get an insight into the interests and habits that make him who he is. If you are not, it may not be as interesting.
September 8, 2017
This endeared me more to Hideaki Anno than anything he's ever actually made.
July 27, 2019
The first few years of married life told from the perceptive of a mangaka. Funny, poignant, and a quick read.
Read
January 6, 2022Really sweet...
January 28, 2023
So adorable!!😢😢
December 27, 2023
Tooooo relatable lol
Read
May 3, 2025シン・エヴァ視聴記念。奥さんも可愛いが、奥さんが書く庵野秀明がそれ以上に可愛くてビビる。いろいろとぶっ飛んだ人なんだけれど、一緒にいて本当に楽しいんだろうな。
February 23, 2022
Cara Moyoco, dopo questo fumetto provo strani sentimenti per suo marito, più strani di quelli di prima, anche perchè pare proprio una persona strana.
December 28, 2014
What do you do when you are a wife to a hardcore otaku? For Rompers the answer involves tolerance and learning to go with the flow. Through a series of wacky episodes this fussy, hardworking mangaka, who is already a quasi-otaku herself, finds a balance that works for them both. In place of their real names, Anno uses nicknames, Rompers for herself, and Director-kun for her husband Hideaki Anno, creator of Evangelion. These names give her the freedom to portray both of them in silly ways. She looks like a toddler, a visual reference to her infant knowledge of fan culture. Next to the fully grown appearance of Director-kun, this has its irony, for it is Director-kun who acts almost infantile with his youthful exuberance and dependency. Despite Rompers' attempts to make her life more "normal" she finds herself getting sucked into her husband's world, and it is fun. There are a ton of references to anime, manga, toys, and music, many of which are given a quick side note within, or next to the panel, however, more extensive notes are contained in the back. All the silly fun leaves us grinning, while the compromises they make shows how much affection they have for one another. They may have their differences, but they nicely compliment and round out the other.
February 15, 2016
It never fails - everything that I've read that has been written by Moyoco Anno has been something that I could directly relate to, even when I wasn't expecting to. As I'm a fan of Double Anno as is ("Evangelion" being my favorite anime, and I can't honestly speak highly enough of Moyoco Anno's manga), picking this up was a given. If you've ever been in a relationship with a diehard nerd (or you're one yourself, and your partner somewhat shares your interests), then I suggest picking this up. Don't put it aside and think, "Oh, I'll get to this one later." No, seriously. Right now. Get a copy of it and read it. You will thank me. Moyoco Anno has the wonderful ability of both gracefully and accurately describing relationships - the good, the bad, and the mundane- without being smaltzy or pandering. If you're looking for an over the top, feel good, hearts and flowers romance between two people and a perfect validation of nerd love, this isn't a good choice. Avoid it, actually. But if you've been itching for someone to take a no-holds barred look at marriage, having an imperfect partner, and trying to meld two lifestyles together, well, it really doesn't get any better than this.
June 29, 2015
Uh oh I think I've met a manga artist to fan-girl out on -- fairly unexpectedly, I must say. This book is an adorable, silly memoir of living with an otaku husband (and being a wife who...is a baby? or just looks like a baby) even though that otaku husband happens to be one of the most celebrated anime directors around (Hideaki Anno of Neon Genesis Evangelion). But basically it's the story of being in love with a nerd and slowly realizing *gasp* that you're a nerd too. We've all been there. It's pretty fluffy, and there's a lot of anime and manga and other otaku culture reference that I did not get AT ALL, but by virtue of being a schlubby nerd married to a schlubby nerd, I got it. It was delightful. :)
December 30, 2017
I fangirled over this one. Neon Genesis and Kare Kano are two of my favourite Anime so reading a Manga based on Hideaki Anno's life was all kinds of fun.
Also Moyoco Anno has great style (both in drawing & writing) and she can be a funny storyteller. Something you might not have guessed if you've only read her dramatic Manga.
And yes the fact that she is his real life wife just adds a whole layer of awesome sauce to the reading experience that may or may not actually be related to the story itself. (I love her work, I love his work and this brings it all together *insert fangirl squeal here*.
It gets 3 stars because if you've never heard of these people, I'm not sure you'd love it as much as I did.
Also Moyoco Anno has great style (both in drawing & writing) and she can be a funny storyteller. Something you might not have guessed if you've only read her dramatic Manga.
And yes the fact that she is his real life wife just adds a whole layer of awesome sauce to the reading experience that may or may not actually be related to the story itself. (I love her work, I love his work and this brings it all together *insert fangirl squeal here*.
It gets 3 stars because if you've never heard of these people, I'm not sure you'd love it as much as I did.
January 14, 2015
awww. nerd couples: always cute! the humour doesn't always quite land and i was obviously missing a few of the references but this was a pleasant enough way to while away an hour
also i don't generally do sister books for manga but in this case a title pops instantly to mind
sister book: my girlfriend's a geek by pentabu - don't let the title translation throw you off, this is definitely a otaku love story
also i don't generally do sister books for manga but in this case a title pops instantly to mind
sister book: my girlfriend's a geek by pentabu - don't let the title translation throw you off, this is definitely a otaku love story
March 5, 2014
I'm more familiar with Moyoco Anno's work on Sakuran so the style of this is a bit bizarre, but it definitely fits the narrative and works well at depicting the not-so-accurate (but still totally accurate) scenes of daily life between two otaku.
May 6, 2016
There were some funny bits, and I liked seeing inside the marriage and how some pieces of their relationship worked, but I am not into the otaku thing and a lot of the 'And now I learn to be a better ota-wife' was kind of ugh. So... I am not sorry I read it, but I am pretty sure I am not the target audience in any way.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews