The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested the president of anime studio Gainax Co. on Thursday for allegedly coercing a teenage woman into posing for nude images and touching her, on the pretext that he was training her for photo shoots as an entertainer.
Tomohiro Maki, 50, president of the studio known for producing “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and other famous TV anime, denied the allegations, saying he took the photos at the woman’s request, the police said.
Maki is suspected of making the woman bare her upper body, taking photos of her and touching her between Feb. 6 and 23 this year at his condominium in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward, according to the police.
Maki is also an executive of a company that trains voice actors and allegedly made the woman, who signed a contract with the company, live at his residence saying it was a women’s dormitory.
A different company, Khara Inc., is currently making the Evangelion movie series.
