by iserlohn » Sat Jan 18, 2003 8:52 pm
According to the LD liner notes for KareKano, the paper doll episode was done simply because they could. It was also done right after Anno had been fired from the show for artistic disagreements with the manga artist, so perhaps it was the staff's way of protesting. Either way they only had one volume of manga left that they could animate, and finding ways to make it interesting as they dragged it out was a priority (especially since KKnJ was only planned as 24 episodes...25-26 were requested later on)
Gainax has done unusual and creative things before Eva, such as the last episode of Gunbuster (filmed in Black and White) and the live-action meshing with Otaku no Video.
"I'm recording an album tonight. Funny material and laughter will be dubbed in later."
--Bill Hicks