Adolescence of Utena does for the magical-lady anime what Neon Genesis Evangelion did for the mecha anime: lay squander to the principles that arrived right before to craft a daring new language all its possess. Animation director Kunihiko Ikuhara, dissatisfied with the amount of creative management Toei permitted him when he was a collection director on Sailor Moon, fashioned his individual innovative team, Be-Papas, in 1996.