It’s here!!! The re-release of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s the original animation but with new voice actors released by Netflix today!
Neon Genesis Evangelion, was the first anime series that I was able to watch from start to finish, so it holds a special place in my heart.
The series is set in the future in Tokyo-3. It focuses on a teenage boy named Shinji recruited to pilot a giant mecha called Evangelion (EVA Unit 01). The mechas are needed to protect Tokyo-3 from the invading ‘Angels’ that appear to be set on destroying the human race.
At the time Evangelion was ground breaking and still is to this day. It’s said that Evangelion was the rebirth of the anime industry in 1995, which is why it is so iconic. With a mix of science fiction, religion, philosophy and self-awareness, this series is fascinating, addictive, confusing and profound. I won’t explain why these emotions take place, but once you watch the show you will understand.
As I mentioned, the emotions you will feel whilst watching Evangelion will be extremely varied throughout the series, which is why the studio also released two films providing alternative endings: The End of Evangelion, 1997 and Evangelion Death (True)² 1998, both of these are also available on Netflix from today. Please note the absence of the film Neon Genesis Death and Rebirth, 1997, this is because most of the film is a recap of the series with only about a half hour of new animation at the end, however this new animation was used to create the first part of The End of Evangelion.
Even though the show was originally released in 1995, the animation in Evangelion is still great, apart from the lip-synch, which translated anime still has some issues with today. It has been redubbed, which I think is a good thing as the dubbed versions from over 20 years ago lacked some emotion in the performances and also had some translation problems. Evangelion hasn’t been easily available for years in the west due to distributing rights. I was lucky enough to have bought the whole series on DVD back in about 2003 and I still love it!
One criticism I have of the new release is the fact that they’ve changed the end title music. Everybody who is an Evangelion fan expected Fly Me to the Moon, written by Bart Howard 1954, to be played at the end of the episode, but were left disappointed. I’m pretty sure this is down to copyright and distribution issues. Although this is a little disappointing, I’m more than happy that Evangelion is back on our screens!
Neon Genesis Evangelion is rated age 12 on Netflix and is a must for any hardcore anime fan! If you like Darling in the Franxx, Ghost in the Shell or Akira, you’ll love this series!
Published: 2019.06.21