The anime is Genshiken (2004), I picked it up on a whim. It’s alright so far. Very “by weebs, for weebs”. The manga is from 2002.
The 80s and 90s being a pass of the baton from veterans of the early days to more modern staff, which already grew up with anime, and the success of Evangelion and merchandising had some awful long-term consequences even if it was probably unavoidable under capitalism.
I remember the late 90s and early 2000s where self described “otaku” insisted that the end of Evangelion was really mysterious and deep and would never be fully understood.
It was Anno directly saying “look. LOOK. THIS. Is this what you wanted? HUH? You’re so fucked up.”
