 Takami Akai, the producer of the series and a co-founder of Gainax, announced that he would resign his position effective episode five, which aired on April 29, 2007, over comments that he made regarding posts on the Japanese textboard 2channel.Akai and another Gainax employee, Keiko Mimori, made disparaging remarks about comments criticizing the animation style of the fourth episode of "Gurren Lagann", which was completely directed by guest and friend Osamu Kobayashi.With regard to reading the fan criticisms, Akai stated that it was "like putting [his] face next to an anus and breathing deeply."