Neon Genesis Evangelion

Did You Know?

• Hideaki Anno attempted to create characters that reflected parts of his own personality.
• Shinji Ikari says to himself 'I mustn't run away' as a means of encouraging himself to face threats.
• The Angels' force fields are known as Absolute Terror Fields, or AT Fields.

Production

Hideaki Anno fell into a depression after completing Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and the 1992 failure of the Uru in Blue project. According to Gainax co-founder Yasuhiro Takeda, following that failure Anno agreed to a collaboration between King Records and Gainax while drinking with King representative Toshimichi Ōtsuki; King Records guaranteed Anno a time slot for "something, anything". Anno began developing the new series in 1993 around the notion of not running away, the underlying theme of Uru in Blue, focusing on a protagonist who avoids personal responsibility and tries to save the heroine. Early in production, he stated his intent was to increase the number of anime fans (otaku) and bring fresh air to the mecha genre. Several formats were considered—film, television series, and original video animation—before the producers chose television as the most accessible medium in Japan at that time. Anno originally proposed the title Alcion, but it was rejected for lacking hard consonant sounds. He conceived the series as a metaphor for his four-year depression, putting his whole self and feelings into the work.

Related media

In May 1996, Gainax announced a film project for Evangelion, driven by fan discontent with how the TV series ended. The first release, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth, came out on March 15, 1997. Its Death segment was a sixty-minute compilation of footage from the first twenty-four episodes, while Rebirth acted as a teaser for the theatrical conclusion, which reworked the series' final two episodes. The second film, The End of Evangelion, debuted on July 19, 1997, offering a complete theatrical ending that retold those same two episodes. Unlike the series' internal, psychological climax, this film delivered a more straightforward, action-oriented resolution. It collected multiple awards and earned ¥1.45 billion in its first six months. In 1999, Ex.org ranked it the fifth best "All-Time Show," with the TV series in second place; in 2009, CUT magazine called it the third greatest anime film ever. In July 1998, the two films were re-released together as Revival of Evangelion, pairing a new version of Death called Death(true)² with The End of Evangelion. In February 2003, ADV and Gainax signed a deal allowing for the possible creation of at least three live-action films, five TV shows, and three direct-to-video movies. ADV paid US$100,000 in 2010 to secure the series' copyright for a live-action film, but Gainax later tried to change the agreement. A lawsuit followed in 2011. In 2015, Evangelion: Another Impact, a 3D short directed by Shinji Aramaki and produced by Khara and Dwango, streamed as part of the Japan Animator Expo on February 8, depicting an Evangelion's activation, rampage, and howling in an alternate world.

Releases

In Japan, the initial home video releases on VHS and LaserDisc followed a "Genesis 0:(volume number)" structure. The first twelve volumes each held two episodes, with episodes twenty-one through twenty-four receiving extended scenes and minor tweaks. Volumes thirteen and fourteen presented both the original and alternate versions of the final two episodes, as seen in The End of Evangelion. A fifteenth LaserDisc, "Genesis 0:X", offered the broadcast versions of episodes twenty-one through twenty-four as a mail-in bonus for those who bought all prior discs. The first Japanese DVD release came in seven volumes, each containing four episodes; the seventh included both versions of the last two episodes, matching the earlier VHS and LaserDisc sets. The movies also got a special set. Between 2000 and 2001, three box sets commemorated the fictional Second Impact from the year 2000. The Second Impact Box held the original episodes and both movies across nine DVDs, using the original broadcast and theatrical versions. The third box set also included the video game Girlfriend of Steel.

Reception

Neon Genesis Evangelion received widespread acclaim domestically and internationally during its initial broadcast and in the decades since. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 100% approval rating based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10; the critical consensus calls it a cultural touchstone for Japan and an uncompromising auteurist vision that doubles as an enthralling apex for the mecha genre and a harrowing exploration of depression. Paste and IGN named it one of the best anime series of all time. Critics praised the richness of the characters and the complex, layered narrative. In 1998, Max Autohead of Hyper rated it 10 out of 10, praising the brilliant storyline and amazing characters. The same year, Shidoshi of GameFan gave it an A rating, calling it an awesome series. Mike Hale of The New York Times described it in 2009 as a superior anime with unusual depth, feeling, and detail. Following the original broadcast, reception to the final two episodes was polarized; the experimental style confused or alienated many fans and spawned debate and controversy, with criticism largely directed at the lack of storyline resolution. The audience was divided between those who found the episodes successfully introspective and those who felt their meaning was more apparent than real. The English voice actors admitted they also had trouble understanding the conclusion. The Mainichi Times wrote that after the penultimate episode, nearly all viewers felt betrayed, and a letter from commentator Eiji Ōtsuka to the Yomiuri Shimbun complaining about the ending sparked nationwide debate. Despite the criticism, Anno stood by his artistic choices. Critic Zac Bertschy remarked in 2003 that most backlash existed because people don't like to think. The initial controversy had no lasting negative influence on the series' popularity.