December 21st, 2021 
Charles Solomon 
Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995), which ranks among the most popular, influential and controversial series in anime history, is finally appearing on Blu-ray in two multi-disc sets from GKIDS and Shout Factory! featuring a new dub and script.
A complex, compelling saga that juxtaposes mecha battles with apocalyptic Christian symbolism, Jewish mysticism and teenage angst, Evangelion (pronounced Eh-van-Gel-ee-on, with a hard “G’‘) ranks as a watershed in animation history. The series was so popular, more than 10 percent of all televisions in Japan were tuned to the final episode when it aired in March 1996.
Its influence extends from sci-fi anime to the Pacific Rim features.
But the ending satisfyed no one—including Anno. He recut the last episodes, then reworked them in the feature Death and Rebirth (1997). A second feature, End of Evangelion (also 1997), offered a different ending that some fans found incomprehensible. In 2002, Anno announced a four-feature “rebuild,” unconstrained by the financial and technological restraints he had originally faced. Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007) was a spectacular retelling of the first six episodes. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009) and Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012) took the story in new, unexpected directions. Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (2021) brought Anno’s epic to a surprising but definitive conclusion.
The broadcast series story unfolds 15 years after the Second Impact, a cataclysmic explosion in Antarctica that devastated much of the Earth. The destruction was caused by a human encounter with the first of the mighty, sentient creatures known as “Angels.” Increasingly powerful Angels are now attacking the planet; the defense of Earth rests with the secret UN agency NERV. The only effective weapon against the Angels are the Evas (short for “Evangelions”), enormous cyborgs piloted by psychic teen-agers. Fourteen-year-old pilot Shinji Ikari, the alienated son of NERV Commander Gendo Ikari, is the central character of the series.
The Collector’s Edition offers, Death and Rebirth and End of Evangelion–and the broadcast series in its original form—plus the new translation and dub of the TV show. The new scripts are better focused than the original: They make some story points clearer and eliminate a lot of unnecessary verbiage. But fans who’ve listened to the original cast for decades will find the new voices a decidedly mixed bag.
Evangelion must be a singularly difficult series for a voice director to cast. All the characters are is alienated, neurotic and, at times, obnoxious. Although he performs heroic missions as an Eva pilot, Shinji spends a lot of time whining. Spike Spencer who created the role—and spoofed it as Akito Tenkawa in Martian Successor Nadesico—managed to strike a credible balance. Casey Mongillo is less grating in places, but her voice is too obviously female, which adds odd overtones to the character’s relationships.
Carrie Keranen’s Misato Katsuragi is more modulated and likable than Allison Keither’s original. Similarly, as Asuka Langely Soryu, Stephanie McKeon, avoids both the faux honeyed tones and screeching insults of Tiffany Grant. Clifford Chapin gives the mysterious Kaworu Nagisa a gentler, warmer voice than his predecessors.
The Collector’s Edition includes more than seven hours of extras that range from animatics of several episodes and audio of some of the Japanese vocal cast auditions to TV commercials, music videos (including one to the theme song, “Thesis of a Cruel Angel”), and a deleted live action scene from The End of Evangelion. It also offers art cards of eight major characters and a 40-page booklet.
Every Evangelion fan will want this key series on Blu-ray. The Collector’s Edition was clearly designed to be the definitive issue of Evangelion, and it will likely remain so—unless Anno decides to revisit his creation yet again. In a recent interview, he told me, “I don’t feel a need to see Shinji and the other characters any time soon. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see them ever again: There might come a time when I meet them again.”
Neon Genesis Evangelion
GKIDS Shout Factory!: $ 59.98, 6 discs, Blu-ray
Neon Genesis Evangelion Collector’s Edition
GKIDS Shout Factory!: $219.98, 11 discs, Blu-ray, plus booklet and art cards.
(limited edition of 5,000)
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