In 1993, Gainax published a presentation document for Neon Genesis Evangelion entitled to find potential sponsor for the series, containing the initial synopsis for the planned episodes. For the first twelve episodes aired, the company roughly followed the schedule envisioned by the Proposal, with only a few minor script differences. From the thirteenth episode onward, however, the production deviated from the original plan of the writers and from what was initially envisioned in the submission document. Neon Genesis Evangelion main director Hideaki Anno initially intended to give the whole story of the anime a happy ending, but during production he realized that he had created characters that were too problematic, so he changed his plans. According to Hiroki Azuma, a culture critic who personally interviewed the director, Anno during the airing of the series also began to criticize otakus, whom he considered too closed-minded and introverted, so he changed his original plans by creating a more dramatic and introspective story toward the middle of the series. The fourteenth episode of the series was to be titled , and not "Weaving a Story"; during the installment, the second of a trilogy of episodes with the same basic theme, Shinji would learn "true fear and despair". The staff in progress abandoned the original project, and some of the ideas for the trilogy were later transferred and condensed into the sixteenth episode, "Splitting of the Breast".
