@hikari It can't be understated how hot the anime market was & how hot that creative team was in particular. Lain was a massive hit that even aired on cable after a bidding war, Haibane was a hit, NieA did well enough for a reprint & that's just aBE's side of it. Konaka was a hot writer at the time between Digimon & being the Lain co-creator. To Geneon USA, they'd have been foolish not to write aBE & Konaka a blank check & see if a classic fell out, well, a very cult one did after a fashion.