The Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン Shin Seiki Evangerion) franchise is an umbrella of Japanese media properties generally owned by the anime studio Gainax. It has grossed over 150 billion yen since 1995.[1] The central (and original) works of the franchise feature an apocalyptic mecha action story which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization Nerv to fight hostile beings called Angels. Nerv's primary weapon against the Angels are giant humanoids called Evangelions which are piloted by select teenagers, one of whom, Shinji Ikari, is the primary protagonist. Other works deviate from this theme to varying degrees, focusing more on romantic interactions between the characters, side stories which did not appear in the original works, and/or reimaginings of the conflicts from the original works.
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The franchise's central works, both titled Neon Genesis Evangelion, are an anime and a manga serial, both of which follow the same storyline, although with numerous minor differences between them. The manga, written by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, debuted in the February 1995 issue of Shōnen Ace (published in December 1994) and is still running as of 2011. The manga was intended to raise interest for the anime (directed by Hideaki Anno with character designs by Sadamoto), which was in development at that point and was intended to be Gainax's next major anime release.
The anime consists of 26 television episodes which were first aired on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network from October 4, 1995 to March 27, 1996.[2] It was later aired across Japan by the anime satellite television network, Animax. The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1995 and 1996.
Early on, Anno Hideaki promised the series would give "every episode...something for the fans to drool over". He began removing the fan service imagery in later episodes; in addition those later episodes that did contain fan service elements juxtaposed them with imagery of the character in some kind of emotional trauma.[3]
The anime succeeded beyond expectation and has spawned countless derivative works and imitators.[4] The series established a number of distinctive features of future works in the franchise: a stock set of distinctive characters such as Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Soryu, Rei Ayanami, Toji Suzuhara, and others such as Misato Katsuragi (for a complete list, see here); a number of philosophical, psychological, and religious themes; and an idiosyncratic vocabulary of symbols and allusions drawing heavily on Christian and Kabbalistic symbolism, Buddhist beliefs, and the Japanese otaku subculture. Similarly, Evangelion properties consistently focus on a number of themes and dilemmas, as discussed by Anno:[5]
Eva is a story that repeats. It is a story where the main character witnesses many horrors with his own eyes, but still tries to stand up again. It is a story of will; a story of moving forward, if only just a little. It is a story of fear, where someone who must face indefinite solitude fears reaching out to others, but still wants to try.
Fifteen years before the beginning of the series, a disaster called Second Impact annihilated Antarctica, shifted the planet's axis, and halved the world's human population. In the present day, fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is summoned to the fortress city of Tokyo-3 by his estranged father, Gendo Ikari, for reasons he does not know. He discovers that he is needed to pilot a Mecha called an Evangelion, to battle physics-defying beings called "Angels" that threaten to destroy what remains of humanity.
Gainax launched a project to create a movie ending for the series in 1997. The company first released Death and Rebirth, consisting of a highly condensed character-based recap and re-edit of the TV series episodes 1-24 (Death) and the first half of the new ending (Rebirth, which was originally intended to be the full ending, but couldn't be finished due to budget and time constraints). The project to complete the final episodes was completed later in the year, and released as The End of Evangelion. The End of Evangelion is an alternate ending of the series and retells episodes 25 and 26. The End of Evangelion replaces the Rebirth portion of the first film Death and Rebirth. The two films were compiled as a single movie called Revival of Evangelion in 1998.
The two endings are similar in plot, but while in the film Shinji rejects Instrumentality, the television series ends after his decision is made but before it is clear which occurs next. In still frames in episodes 25 and 26, Unit 01 is depicted with wings and the corpses of Misato and Ritsuko are shown, hinting that these events had been planned. In the English-language Director's Cut version of episode 24, the preview of the next episode shows concept frames from the fight between Asuka and the mass-produced Evas, and the title of the next episode is presented as "Air", which is the title of the first chapter from The End of Evangelion, rather than showing scenes from the TV series ending as it does in the original cut. There was a sudden shift in tone around episode 16 of the series. This was partly due to scheduling restraints, which drastically reduced the number of frames that could be drawn for each episode,[6] and partly due to the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway on March 20, 1995, which occurred while the series was under production; Anno decided to remove elements of the series plot that he felt were too similar to the real-life attack.[7] Anno stated before production that he did not know how the show would end, nor what would become of the characters.[8] Reaction was decidedly mixed; reception of the latter quarter of the TV series had often been hostile to the point of death threats, and the movies were seen as being even more incomprehensible (such as the ending), bizarre and even disgusting.
Evangelion is popular among doujinshi.[9][10][11]
In May 1998, Gainax was audited by the National Tax Agency at the urging of the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau: Gainax was suspected of committing tax evasion on the massive profits accruing from various Evangelion properties. Gainax had concealed 1.56 billion yen worth of income (thereby failing to pay 560 million yen due in corporate taxes) which it had earned between the release of Evangelion and July 1997. Gainax would pay companies closely related to it various large fees, ostensibly to pay for animation expenses, but then immediately withdraw 90% of the sums from the other company's accounts as cash and store it in safe deposit boxes (leaving 10% as a reward for the other company's assistance).[12]
Eventually Takeshi Sawamura and tax accountant Yoshikatsu Iwasaki were arrested on 13 July 1999 for concealing income of 1.5 billion yen failing to pay corporate taxes of 580 million yen.[13] Yasuhiro Takeda defends Sawamura's actions as being a reaction to Gainax's perpetually precarious finances and the shaky accounting procedures internally:
"Sawamura understood our financial situation better than anyone, so when Evangelion took off and the money really started rolling in, he saw it as possibly our one and only opportunity to set something aside for the future. I guess he was vulnerable to temptation at that point, because no one knew how long the Evangelion goose would keep laying golden eggs. I don't think he purposely set out with the goal of evading taxes. It was more that our level of accounting knowledge wasn't up to the task of dealing with revenues on such a large scale."[14]
On September 9, 2006, Gainax confirmed a new animated film series called Rebuild of Evangelion, consisting of four movies to be released in 2007 and 2008 originally. However, only the first film was released in 2007, and the second in 2009. The first three movies will be an alternate retelling of the TV series (including new scenes, settings, backgrounds, characters), and the fourth movie will be a completely new conclusion to the story.[15] The first of the new movies was released in Japan on September 1, 2007 under the name Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. The second, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance debuted in theaters on June 27, 2009. The third, will be released in the Fall of 2012 under the name Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo.
The franchise has spread beyond the anime into a number of different media.
A number of manga series based on the anime have been released. Neon Genesis Evangelion, by series character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, has been serialized since February 1995, eight months previous to the official premiere of the series. Evangelion was originally conceived as an anime series, and the early publication of the manga appears to be a way of promoting the anime even before its actual release. Two other manga based on non-canonical video games have been created: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, by Fumino Hayashi, Shinji Ikari Raising Project by Takahashi Osamu and Gakuen Datenroku by Min Min. Evangelion has also inspired various doujinshi, like RE-TAKE. Even famous manga artists have contributed their own NGE manga: "Birth of Evangelion" was drawn by Yun Kōga, the manga artist who designed Earthian and Loveless.
On 22 July 2010, Fuji-Q Highland opened a 1,460m2 section devoted to Evangelion, featuring a lifesize entry plug & statue of Mari Makinami[16] & a ~3-meter titanium Lance of Longinus,[17] NERV hallways with character cutouts[18] that lead to a hangar room with the 1:1 bust of Eva Unit-01, SEELE monoliths, appropriate cosplay,[19][20] Eva-themed hotel rooms,[21] and food products.[22] A similar bust of Eva Unit-02 from a scene in Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 was announced in 2011[23] and has been installed.[24][25]
| Untitled Evangelion Project | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Hideaki Anno (creator), Matt Greenfield (screenplay, no writer - producer) |
| Release date(s) | TBD |
Development of a live-action movie version of Neon Genesis Evangelion was announced in May 2003 by the Houston-based anime distributor ADV Films, who held worldwide rights to the series outside of Asia and Australia, and Universal Studios would be the American distributor. The film was to be be made by ADV, Gainax, and Weta Workshop Ltd.. Its release is currently projected to occur at any time ranging from as early as 2010 to as late as 2015. In December 2005, Fortune magazine reported in an article about ADV Films that it had raised "about half of the $100 million to $120 million" needed to produce the film.[26]
The project has since become considered to be in "development hell", as a director has yet to become available or announced officially. In a panel discussion at Tekkoshocon on April 2, 2006 featuring Matt Greenfield and wife Tiffany Grant, many aspects of the project were revealed.[27]
Beyond these official announcements and some concept art produced by Weta Workshop,[28] little or no more information about the film(s) has been made available. At Anime Expo 2008, ADV founders Matt Greenfield and John Ledford, in response to a question over the progress of the live-action film, revealed they had hired the producer for Appleseed Ex Machina, John Woo, and pitched the idea to other producers such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg.[29] They went on to say that interest in the project had been boosted by the success of the 2007 film Transformers.[30]
At Ohayocon 2009, ADV director Matt Greenfield announced that several U.S. studios are competing for final rights to the project, meaning that actual production would soon begin. Matt Greenfield predicted that an official announcement, including naming the studio, the director, and perhaps casting information, would be made within the next 9 months. During the opening ceremonies when ADV head Matt Greenfield was introduced, someone in the crowd shouted a question about whether or not fans would ever see the long-promised live-action Neon Genesis Evangelion movie. "Soon, and I'm not kidding" was Mr. Greenfield's response. He clarified a bit later that evening during an Evangelion panel, saying that the closer he gets to sealing the deal, the less he can say anything about it.[31]
The current status of the film is unknown following the sudden collapse and asset sale of A.D. Vision on September 1, 2009; producer Joseph Chou said in February 2010 that the project was still active, and delays owed more to the general deterioration of the US anime market than to ADV's internal issues. John Ledford, a co-founder of ADV Films is still attached to the film.[32] During a panel at the June 2011 Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Greenfield said that while he now had only minimal involvement, the project was still alive at a studio and Chou still involved, and it was searching for a director.[33]
In August 2011, A.D. Vision sued Gainax over Gainax's refusal to accept an option payment for the perpetual live-action rights to Evangelion, including the planned live-action film; ADV charges that by refusing to accept payment, Gainax broke the contract and is asking for the rights and legal fees.[34]
Tiffany Grant stated through interviews and self-published articles, that the film would feature a cast "mostly of European descent," as well as mentioning ADV Films toying with the idea of giving the English dub actors cameos in the film.[35] Not long after Grant's statements, concept art produced by Weta Workshop was released featuring character slug names such as "Kate Rose" (in lieu of Asuka Langley), "Ray Ayanami" (Rei Ayanami), and "Susan Whitnall" (assumed by some to be Misato Katsuragi). The art was later changed to reflect the original, Japanese names.
The Keroro Gunso (Sgt. Frog) anime features many aspects of the Evangelion series, when Saburo first appears in the Hinata's House it is shown his A.T. field is appearing through the door. Later he descends to their underground base, much like Kaworu Nagisa (the final angel in the series, Tabris), with the same music, Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, playing in the background. Episode 48 is almost seen as a tribute or parody to the series when Keron March Energy gains a human like form that resembles Rei Ayanami and threatens to destroy the planet with the March Impact (a parody of the series' plot device "Third Impact", being as March is the third month). There are many more small references to the series in the manga of Sgt. Frog, such as the representation of Aki Hinata as an angel to represent her dangerousness, or the one of Keroro portraited as a "children" in the entry plug going berserk to show his shock for some spoiled Gumpla.
British Post-hardcore band Fightstar's album Grand Unification is a concept album based upon the anime franchise. Grindcore band Discordance Axis also referenced it in some of the song titles of their album The Inalienable Dreamless.
The long-running Super Robot Wars video game franchise features Evangelion characters in Super Robot Wars F, Super Robot Wars Alpha, 3rd Super Robot Wars Alpha, Super Robot Wars MX, and Super Robot Wars L. In the video game KOF: Maximum Impact 2, the character Leona Heidern has alternate costumes based on Asuka and Rei's plug suits.
The video game Final Fantasy VII contains Asuka's D Type Equipment from the Neon Genesis Evangelion episode, "Magmadiver". Located at the Gold Saucer casino, this addition was made to the game as an homage to the anime.[36]
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